So our good friend Rita Street tricked me into participating in an event she and her Radar Cartons pal, John Hardman, put together with the New Zealand government. Basically, a bunch of Kiwi creators and studio reps fly to L.A. to meet, greet, and pitch mighty development executives (like me) from benevolent cartoon companies (like Frederator). Held throughout the day at a Burbank hotel, the event saw all the usual suspects from the suit side – Disney, Starz, Cartoon Network, Nelvana, Cookie Jar, and so forth were all represented (Nickelodeon sat out because the projects weren’t from the U.S.).
Anyhoo, the New Zealand folks I met with were very nice, had great ideas, and were soldiering on despite having pitched the same ideas up to ten times in the course of a few hours. I offered all the usual wisdom and advice (“Maybe a cartoon about a development executive who eats pretzels?”), ate [Read more…]
(Sorry this is so late. Even though I blogged about her nomination in May, I was thinking the Awards were to be held this past weekend. When I looked this morning to see what went down, it turns out the awards were June 7.)
Two Friends of Frederator – “Mind the Kitty” creator Anne Walker and Fanboy storyboard revisionist Stephanie Arnet – have art featured in a brand new group show in downtown L.A. beginning this weekend. Now, you’re not going to believe this, but all of the group’s artists are chicks! That’s right, they’re Girls Drawin’ Girls – “cute girls with T&A (talent & ambition).” The gallery show, kicking off tomorrow night with an opening at the Hive, is promoting the release of Girls Drawin’ Girls Vol. 2 – Once Upon a Girl. While the new book won’t be available until July at Comic-Con (booth #5428), you can still order Volume #1 here. See you tomorrow night.
The poster designer has died at the age of 67. Read his New York Times obituary here not only to learn more about Kelley and his life, but also to see how the Times, per house rules,refers to Kelley’s partner, Stanley Mouse, straight-faced, as Mr. Mouse.
This Thursday night, 6/5, watch the premiere of The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack on Cartoon Network. It’s the brainchild of Mr Thurop Van Orman, and, because he’s such a good guy, I’d want the show to do great even if it were terrible, which it’s not at all. Far from it. Too occupy your time until the premiere, you can watch some previews online and read Jeaux’s interview with Thurop here. I’ve looked forward to this show for, what, five years (I’m not exaggerating) and everything I’ve seen tells me it’ll be worth the wait. Hats off to Thurop and his terrific crew on a job well done.
If you’ve been waiting for merchandise based on Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! (and we know you have), your wait is almost over. By the end of this summer, you’ll see loads of toys, games, dolls, and books from licensees that include Fisher-Price, Hasbro, Scholastic, and Simon & Schuster. The Wubbster’s first DVD in the U.S., A Tale of Tails, will be released on September 23. The 92-minute set is available for pre-order on Amazon right now for the low, low price of just $11.99. Cheap!
Lincoln Peirce, creator of the Random! Cartoon “Super John Doe, Jr”, has a brand new book out starring his comic strip character, Nate Wright, AKA Big Nate. I Smell a Pop Quiz! is available through Lulu.com. Please buy a copy to keep Lincoln distracted until “Super John Doe, Jr” airs on Nick and makes him super famous. The book is 128 pages, so maybe we’ll finally get to see Jenny come around.
Congratulations to Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! creator and executive producer Bob Boyle for winning his first Emmy in the category of Individual Achievement in Animation. Bob, pictured above with sk8rgurl Michelle Kwan, will be honored at the June 13th Emmy Awards ceremony. Congratulations, again, Bob. You deserve this one.
Congratulations to Nicole Mitchell. Her CalArts hand-drawn cartoon, “Zoologic”, is one of eight films nominated in the animation category in this year’s Student Academy Awards. Frederator knows the film real well; it won Grand Prize in the Nicktoons Network Animation Festival last year (that’s Nicole with NNAF host Hal Sparks above). Winners of the Student Academy Awards are announced at a ceremony in Beverly Hills on June 7. Nicole, we’re keeping our fingers crossed for you.
