Stephen M. Levinson's Blog

Great job steve!

Congradulations Steven! I can’t believe you finally finished it! Your art and technique has improved a lot since you started this project. It’s really top notch buddy. I wish you great success in all your future endeavors! If you even need an assistant keep me in mind ;-).

Thanks Manny! It’s really great to see how much my skills have developed and my techniques too! I remember when i had that poster made with your help.. the designs went through so much after that, and they came out the way they did for the better! And yes, if I ever need an assistant you’ll be hearing from me Take care Manny!

Congratulations, Steve. Great work!

Thanks Eric! Look forward to an Ace & Aqua pitch soon!

Stephen, this was really impressive! Funny and well animated. Great job, I know you’ll go far if this is where you are already.

Thanks Dan, I’m really glad you liked it. Best of luck in the animation biz with you as well!

Congratulations Stephen. Super job!

Russ, im glad you dig it and I’m glad it didnt end up falling flat

Wow, very impressive first short. I think we’ll all be working for you one day……I hope you pay well….Good luck.

Adam I pay what I can.. to start off you will swab the deck, make all the animation and design, and I’ll pay you $1/3hours.. It’s pretty good compared to that Frederator who only pay $1/9840hours

Congrats Steve, finally we got to see if the squirrels were his parents. Nice work dude, we’re really impressed. You’ve done a really great job.

Awesome guys, I’m glad you like it! It’s awesome to hear such great comments from such a great animation studio! You guys be well!

Hi Stephen, this is so much fun! Great job! I really like the character design on Ace (love his eyes!) and some great details you added to the animation throughout. Good luck in the film festival!

Thanks Therese! I’m glad you like Ace’s crazy design, he is really fun to draw! I will do my best in that contest and even better, I’m hoping A&A gets picked up as a series.. that would be totally mathematical! ( props to pen )

steve you did an awesome job! im so proud of you! i looovveeee it <3
its hard….and wooden…..and cold!
love you <3

This little short is really entertaining. The character is very likable and funny. Keep up the great job! I want to see more of these guys.

Thanks Eric! It’s great to hear what you think! Your ice monster design kind of inspired the ice castle thing in Antarctica that Aqua lives in!

that was so great im so happy for you and i think ull win… GOOD JOB!

brother i must say you are freakin amazing!! i love your cartooon adn i love you! awesome job.. im soo proud of you = )

Once again, great job Steve!

Thanks man!

Great job Steve. And an impressive group of commenters, not an easy crowd to excite. Congratulations.

Thanks Fred! It means a lot! Can’t wait till the next season of Random! is announced to accept pitches for it!

excellent fart joke, stephen.
great job!

haha pen! I was waiting for someone to point that out! Especially since there was like a big post about fart jokes once ahha.. Be well buddy!

Congrats Stephen… It was well worth the wait… I look forward to the next one…

I’m glad you enjoyed it! There may be another short one on its way

Wow! That’s an excellent job Stephen! I can’t wait for the first season DVD!

Thanks MIke! Lets hope this bad boy makes a television series

Steve,
I know I told you this before: but I’ll tell you again!
Great job!!! very awesome short!
Keep up the good work and I know you’ll go far!!!
yr pal,
JX!

Thanks Jeaux, it means a lot! I’m glad you liked the film!

Good on ya, Stephen! I’m not from Australia, just trying to think of something more original than ‘congratulations.’ Best of luck, and may the force be with you. Can’t wait to see more–let me know when you sell the show and make a bundle.

Roxanne it was great having you record a character from me. April and Penguin #2 were awesome! You really matched the personality of April and I couldnt be happier! You will definitely hear from me if a studio gives me a call Be well!

Stephen,
Incredible job!!!! Love it:) Glad I could be a part of this project. Thanks, Stephen! Hope this leads to great things for you.

Brian you did one hell of a job as both beck and ACE!! That’s right ladies and gentlemen, BRIAN IS THE AMAZING VOCALIST OF THE CRAZY, IDIOT, UNBELIEVABLY WEIRD ACE!! You’re the one who really deserved a pat on the back! Your voice fit perfect and I couldnt imagine ace sounding any different! I hope there will be more projects between us, you did a killer job! Be well Brian!

Congratulations Stephen! Scott and I just watched the movie and we both cracked up. The animation looks great too! Soo much talent…we know you’ll go far!

Anne I’m glad both you and scott like it! It’s really nice to hear my film ended up a success! Talk soon and have fun in Europe!

Jeaux showed me your animation Steven!!! It was really funny! Great work! I’m sure you’ll be a rising star by the time you’re in your twenties!

Yay! Tell Jeaux to send it to anyone he wants!! There will be many more cartoons from me, just gotta keep improving as much as I can Be well! Hope to see you on the blog-o-rama again!

ahhhh that’s amazing i love it!!

Holy Cow Stephen!!!
Man! You did an awesome job on this film. Your timing is wonderful as well as your attention to time laps action to avoid excess animation. Your choice on voice tallent is great!
Overall; I’m real proud of you buddy.
This is real pro and you have an awesome career in animation ahead.
Thanks for sharing your film with us.
Take care Stephen and we’ll talk soon!
Your Cartoon Pal…….Jeff

Jeff, I dont even know what to say! You’re a great guy!

Wow. This is a really great short. You should be proud. If you’re in San Diego anytime soon, let me know and I’ll buy you the non-alcoholic beverage of your choice.

Floyd im glad you like the short and I am very proud of myself. Even tho I exhausted the hell out of myself to a point that was unhealthy: I think a sprite, hold the lemon, and off the rocks in San Diago would be great!

Hey Stephen! I finally got a chance to watch this! It’s really great!! You are pretty funny! Congrats!

Thanks Aliki! I appreciate your very kind words! I cant wait to see girls on the go! Be well! -Steve

Great work Stephen! What a blast to see it all finally come together!

Thanks Tom! Your “loser” was really great! It was great having you apart of this!

Congrats Steve! It was fun being a part of this project. Looking forward to working with you again. And thanks for your help on the “Teapot” website! Oh, that reminds me…do I owe you a check????

Greg you did a great job as aqua! I couldn’t have asked for a better abominable snowman!!

Again, awesome work! I’m glad I can always say I was there when you did your first recording session.

I’m glad you liked it Dahveed! Thankyou for everything and especially taking me to the studio that we couldnt find for like 5 minutes haah

I am sooo impressed by everything that you do! I love ace and aqua and hopefully I’ll watch it while im babysitting

Show it to everyone you babysit for and tell me what they think of it!! They’ll be my test audience!

Very inspiring. Maybe one day I’ll quit being so lazy and start making shorts again. I’m glad to see you got it done… and fast! A small critique: on the next one you should try experimenting more by straying from your stock models, the characters seem a little stiff at times. You can get Ace a lot looser with a few more poses and really make a huge difference. But still really good as is. Keep it up!

Thanks Pringle, it means alot coming from you and I’m glad you enjoyed it! Your critique is great and much appreciated! I will keep that in-mind on my next animation or the next A&A is there is one. Talk soon!

awsome cartoon levi. keep it up and you’ll have a show soon

What a great cartoon. Visually excellent. The subtle eye movements and expressions were prefect. The backgrounds were also great. A great sense of color. The non sequiters were humorous to boot. I hope it gets picked up for TV. I’d love to see a full length cartoon!

Thanks for your nice comments Michael! I’m pitching it to many studios over the summer so let’s hope they love it! Thanks for commenting! all the best, Steve

you dont have to post this, but I was disappointed with the way the shortfest went…you deserved more as did a few..any thoughts on that contest? (NAthan’s dad)

If you would like to speak with me, feel free to email me at stephenstudios ( at ) gmail ( dot ) com

This is a potential show!!??? You have to be kidding me.

Excuse me? You wanna go in more detail about your comment?

Hey Stephen, We’ve crossed paths over at Keyframer, and I just wanted to say that when I saw your film I thought you where a seasoned pro, now I am reading that this was your first film. Wow what a way to start! Great job, way to develop your characters in such short time.

I am inspired! specially liked the Backgrounds which happen to be my ‘Achilles’ heel’ right now.

I want to say good luck in the future but I believe that Preperation + opportunity = Luck!!! So it’s just a matter of time.

Thank you very much Alex for your extremely kind words! I actually developed the characters in about 9 months time and then just redesigned them abit in about 2-4 weeks and then I took 2 months for the animation. Be well! -Steve

Hey Steve,

Why are you so obsessed about getting a show on TV? That will come if you work on one thing: telling fun stories with interesting characters. Currently, your characters seem very generic on your pitch website. For example, “Beck is a chilled dude who just doesn’t seem to care much. He is one of the popular kids.” I mean, that’s so generic. I don’t know who he is, besides a zillion other teen-aged cartoon characters. Every show has one. And Squirrels as parents and friends? That’s just trying to be funny and weird, but it’s just weird in a not funny way. And a fart joke…with the butt in the frame…again, not funny. It could have been funnier if we just saw Ace or Aqua’s face…or even one of the penguin’s. If I were you, I’d work on your visual style and stories rather than creating a HD version and fancy show website…that seems like wasted time to me. That’s all fluff that won’t help unless you’re pumping these out. But it doesn’t look like you are. Keep up the good work. You’ll get there.

Hi Sam.. The characters on the website aren’t the characters in the pitchbook. I should probably change the information on the site to what’s in the book. Beck isn’t a character in the show, just for the pilot which is why he’s a kind of a generic character. About the HD stuff, that was the original file and I just exported it smaller when I first announced the short. I have been working on stories, they’re in my pitch book. I should update the site with the correct information. Working on this short took much more time than expected and now that I’m animating for Animax that’s coming first. I literally have no time to work on another Ace & Aqua. I’ve been pitching Ace & Aqua to many places so It’s not like I’m done after the first episode I released. I am currently discussing with an animation studio that is interested in producing another A&A episode. Thanks for your interest. Best, SL

By the way, what about the “My Step” posts I’ve been creating? Do you find those helpful? I’d hope they are. I know people have been gaining interest in the show just from those. It’s obvious some of the humor in the show isn’t what you think is funny, but other people have told me those things are. It depends who the critic is you know? What one might not find funny, another person might. Best, SL

“And Squirrels as parents and friends? That’s just trying to be funny and weird, but it’s just weird in a not funny way” Well then perfect. The squirrels being his parents and friends is a cover up to show ace doesn’t have any friends because he’s weird and that he just doesn’t have any family. I covered that up with what you obviously don’t find humorous. Best, SL

well done. i would have liked a more happy ending but deadlines are tough. for your first cartoon, you get an A+.
good luck in selling this or you to the studios..

haha stephen this just gets better and better every time i watch it!! good luck, you really did an amazing job.

Great job bro. keep up the hard work, hope see another A&A soon, or even on NickToons or something.

Loved the CFL.