Channel Frederator Blog

Our friends at Pulp Secret have given their viewers a preview of today’s Channel Frederator episode featuring the Harvey Kurtzman cartoon ‘Hey Look!’ I mentioned a couple of weeks ago (we also posted the entire introduction to the only ‘Hey Look!’ reprint ever). And PS conducted a rare interview with animation director Vincent Waller talking about we came to produce the film.
Vincent Waller, director and sex symbol

Oh yeah, PS is also kicking off Spider-Man week in New York.

And here’s the CF episode with the entire Harvey cartoon:

–Fred

I’ve posted about Frederator Veteran John Fountain, before. Well, here’s an even better Posting!!!
John Fountain took some time to answer some Channel Frederator Qs early November 2006. Thanks for the Interview John!!!
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Epsiode 74

A young superhero gets the “bad guys” to back down by throwing an ungodly, painful tantrum…works every time! This short was part of the “Oh Yeah! Cartoons” series.

Blogger/Interviewer extrordinaire, Jeaux Janovsky did a terrific feature on John Fountain a while back, and in addition to that, I asked John some specific questions on the making of The Tantrum in hopes of harnessing more of his creative brilliance into this blog.

MELISSA: What inspired “The Tantrum”?

JOHN: I desperately wanted to do a story with a comedic superhero… I used to love shows like ‘Underdog’ and ‘The Greatest American Hero.’ I always thought it was cool that THE HULK’s powers were triggered by his frustrations, and there’s nothing more frustrating than being a kid, so it just seemed like a natural formula for a comedic-kid-superhero.

MELISSA: Do you usually write a script out for your film, or do you work mostly from storyboards?

JOHN: Both. Like all art, [Read more…]

Episode 70

Peter Patrick and Persian Puss battle the evil Dr. No who is attempting the unthinkable: Stealing Peter Patrick’s LUNCH!! This short was featured as part of Frederator’s “Oh Yeah! Cartoons” shorts program, and like many creators, Vince Waller has gone on to do some pretty neat things since then.

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Episode #70 has arrived. After podcasting now for nearly a year and a half, we’re really finding our groove. Our days of wild promiscuity and partying in our 20’s are over. We popped out a few more podcasts in our 30s. We accepted hair loss in our 40s, libido loss in our 50s , memory loss in our 60s, and finally, in our 70s, tooth loss. Which is fine by us, since we like pudding and Cream of Wheat. Things couldn’t be better, really.

— The Jimmy Swift Band—Turnaround, submitted by Brad Cayford, Copernicus Studios. It’s always pleasing to see an animated music video where the visuals and the band pretty much blow your mind. This video is just that. Plus, it has singing puppets. And we like singing puppets.

— What’s for Lunch?, by Vincent Waller. As seen on Oh Yeah! Cartoons, Pete Patrick and Persian Puss must prevent the formidable [Read more…]

Upper left illustrated by Lou Brooks

I don’t know, I’m asking.

One of my favorite projects back in the day was one few people have ever seen. It started out as a TV network branding assignment, our agency’s specialty, for HA!: The TV Comedy Network. And it led to one of our favorite cartoons that not enough people have seen. Cartoon creator Bill Burnett was at the center of it all.
Viacom’s HA! was their answer to HBO’s Comedy Channel. They both lost the competition and merged into Comedy Central. Some of Fred/Alan’s best work for the network, the naming of Comedy Central, and the conception and writing of the cartoon were all done by Bill (also the co-creator of ChalkZone).

Once our agency helped name HA! we went to work on its branding, figuring out the belief system of the channel. Our creative director, Noel Frankel, designed the distinct shouting logo, with various illustrators and models depicting the shout. [Read more…]

Episode 58

It’s another average day at the office, until a pesky pigeon steals Max’s pencil. Watch as Max embarks on a death defying journey to get back his #2.

For those of you unfamiliar with Dave Wasson’s work, and where on Earth he came from, some of his credits include: Oh Yeah! Cartoons, “Max and His Special Problem”, featured on Episode 13 of Channel Frederator. “Max” also won an Emmy. Wasson also created the Oh Yeah! short series, “Tales From the Goose Lady”, with “Hamsel and Grande” being featured on Episode 30. He created and directed the series, “Time Squad”, has won a Clio for his commercial work, and animated the opening title sequence to the film, “Down With Love”.

When asked about “Max and the Pigeon Incident”, Dave filled me in a bit on how he came up with the idea. “Some people say that pigeons just amble along harmlessly with no [Read more…]

Frederator Veteran John Fountain, looks back on his time spent working on Rob Renzetti’s My Life As A Teenage Robot.

“I haven’t had time to do any new doodles or paintings lately, so I’m just going to wax nostalgiac.
Unfortunately, tragically and disappointingly, not all that many people are familair with the show ‘My Life as a Teenage Robot’.
It was created by Rob Renzetti who, apart from just being an overall good guy, has been instrumental in shaping some of the better cartoons from the last decade or more.
‘Robot’ was, originally, part of the ‘Oh Yeah! Cartoons!’ anthology series on Nickelodeon.
Anyway, it became a series and I had the honor of working on it in a number of capacities.
Rob let me write, direct, storyboard and - oftentimes - design entire characters. Rob was one of those rare directors who was able to step back, hire folks he trusted and just let them run.
This [Read more…]

Miles Thompson is a Frederator Alum who made a successful jump from the Animation Industry into the world of Art. In between freelancing and painting like a madman, he took the time to give us a few A’s to a few CH.FRED Q’s.
Click here to view Pt.1 & Pt.2!

CH.F: What are some of your hobbies outside the world of animation?
MT: I love hiking and surfing - cooking is pretty cool too - we have 4 dogs we love - I collect records and have more music than Napster ever will…
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Miles Thompson is a Frederator Alum who made a successful jump from the Animation Industry into the world of Art. In between freelancing and painting like a madman, he took the time to give us a few A’s to a few CH.FRED Q’s.
Click HERE, to view Pt.1!

CH.F: Working on anything currently in the animation industry?
MT: Nothing really - I am freelancing some BGs and color designs for the first time in over a year.

I’d do a short, but I’d have to have a development deal on the table first - none of this “do the board on spec” stuff - say you do a pitch board for a studio - you pitch and the reaction is luke (no matter HOW good you are, they gotta cut you down to prime the potential deal) - you revise it - reaction is luke again and suggestions are made to “help” the cartoon get [Read more…]