Channel Frederator Blog

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.

CH.F: Where were you born?
MT: 1971, on a naval base in Pennsicola, Fl - being that my folks were Ca natives, I was legally born as such - my dad was stationed there for only 4 months after my birthday - then we moved back to Sherman Oaks, Ca and then on into the ugly Republican community of the OC.
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Channel Frederator, Episode 49

‘Pat’ Ventura has been one of my cherished cartoon companions since I got into the business in 1992. He was on my Hanna-Barbera Cartoons staff writing for Joe Barbera’s Tom & Jerry Kids Show when John Kricfalusi introduced us and suggested I talk to Pat about a revival of Screwball Squirrel. Pat went on to be the first creator I made shorts with and was the person responsible for convincing me that in cartoons “short” meant “7 minutes” (I wanted to make them three minutes!).

After a great re-invention of Tex Avery’s George & Jr, his original Yucky Duck and Sledgehammer O’Possum (which got me in a bunch of trouble), Pat came over with us to Oh Yeah! Cartoons. Soon you’ll be hearing about his Random! Cartoons short.

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A lot of you know Carlos Ramos as the creator of The X’s. Dedicated Frederator Studios watchers will also know Carlos as the creator of the
Oh Yeah! Cartoons shorts Twins Crimson, A Dog & His Boy, and the designer of ChalkZone.

While he was at Oh Yeah! he seemed to have a Mick Jagger fixation, cause he kept dropping me these sketches. Or maybe he was just trying to kiss the a– of his baby boomer boss.

–Fred
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Little did creator Rob Renzetti know that when he made this short, it would lead to a hit series on Nickelodeon! Part of the Oh Yeah! Cartoons shorts program, this 7-minute-wonder introduces the fabulous Jenny, and also captures the show’s signature design, color, and fabulous backgrounds. The title of this short later got changed to “My Life As A Teenage Robot” when Nickelodeon picked it up to go to series.

Says Renzetti, “The origins of (this original short) are a lesson in the laws of reverse effort. Fred and I were both strongly pushing Mina and The Count during the second season of Oh Yeah. I really wanted it to be a series. The network was not buying it, so much so that they cancelled the sixth episode I was slated to do. Fred let me keep the slot. I had an idea about a normal human emotional teenage girl who’s boyfriend was a normal [Read more…]

If there’s one thing that makes Dan Danger run screaming like a little girl, it’s…danger. To quote Dan, “I am NOT going to my happy place. I am NOT going to Bunny Land!!”

This short is hysterical. Which isn’t surprising, because it was created by “Fairly OddParents” creatorButch Hartman and former FOP Producer, Steve Marmel. It was produced as a Frederator short for “Oh Yeah! Cartoons” in 1998.

Says Butch Hartman, “When we (Steve Marmel and Myself) decided to create a new action hero, we thought it would be funny if he was terrified of action. Plus, you can’t spell “Danger” without “Dan”!” How right you are, Butch.

Thanks so much for the great work!!

Melissa

“In my childhood I struggled with such problems as obesity and questionable lumberjacks. Thanks to Frederator I was finally give a format to talk about the issues that really matter.” Dave Wasson.

Thanks so much for this wonderful film, Dave. We are proud to have you as part of the Frederator Family.

For those of you who are curious who Dave Wasson is, and where on Earth he came from, some of his credits include: Oh Yeah! Cartoons, “Max and His Special Problem”, also featured on Episode 13 of Channel Frederator. “Max” also won an Emmy. 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”.

Dave, you’re an amazing talent. Keep it up!

Melissa

To download Episode 30 and all other 29 Channel Frederator podcasts, click here or go directly to iTunes for a free download.

Rob Renzetti has been a steady companion of ours for longer than he would like to admit. He created Mina at Hanna-Barbera as part of our original shorts laboratory What A Cartoon! Having always loved it, when we started Oh Yeah! Cartoons at Nickelodeon in 1998 it was the first show I wanted to do. “The Vampire…” was one of six shorts we did.

When asked what inspired him to write “Mina”, Renzetti says, “When I was a small child I was able to get over my fear of Nighttime Monster Attacks by convincing myself that I could convince any lonely monster that came my way that I would make a better friend than a victim. This mental security blanket from my childhood was the start of the idea for Mina and the Count.”

Of course, Rob’s legions of fans know him as the creator of the hit series My Life as a Teenage Robot, but how [Read more…]