Thursday, October 31, 2013

MONSTERS UNIVERSITY SCREENING


I feel a little guilty.


Monsters University
has been out for a while but I
didn't see it until last week.

Mainly because of Cars 2.

I'm one of the few people I know
that actually liked Cars!
(but that might be because I watched it 
eleventy hundred times with my kids)
So I was totally on board for a sequel!

KACHOW!

But... 
It kinda stunk.

And I was afraid that
Monsters University,
would stink, too.
So I was in no rush to see it.

But 
ASIFA HOLLYWOOD
was having a 
screening the other night so
I thought I'd go.


There was a really nice reception beforehand
with lots of delicious food, drink
and passed appetizers:




Director Dan Scanlon
and producer Kori Rae
were on hand to introduce the film:


And do a 
Q and A
afterwards.
(I love these!)


And you know what?

LOVED
Monsters University
and LOL'd
lots of times!

I thought it was a great
 prequel to the original
and they did a wonderful job setting up 
Mike and Sully's relationship.

Sooper fun!
And I feel bad that I
didn't give it a chance 
earlier on.

So there.










Monday, October 28, 2013

DEAD MEAT!



That big dummy 
Maxwell Atoms 
(creator of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy)
has done it again!

He's come up with an
APOCALYPTAMAZING
project
with
puppets
mutant dogs
car chases
and
bullets.

Unholy mackerel...
SO
many 
bullets.

It's called:


It's not animated like everything else he does.
It's a labor of love.
Sick, twisted love
that only Mr. Atoms can make.

But he can't make this love himself.
I mean,
he 
COULD.
He can do anything.

But
he needs
puppets
and
people
and 
props
and 
camera folk.

And therefore he needs 
YOU! 

Although he needs your money more.
Therefore he's instigated a
Kickstarter
so folks like us 
can watch him make stuff like 
THIS:


Want to learn more?

Want to see Mr. Atoms
in real life
pitching his wares to you?

What to see what kinda
PRICELESS SWAG
he's offering 
for getting involved with this project?

Then go to his Kickstarter page.

Go.



Thursday, October 24, 2013

KND VOICE ACTOR REUNION LUNCH!


These pictures have already
spread around the
Facebook
Twitter
Tumblr
universe
but I thought I'd post them here
with a little more context.

Last week the mighty
Lauren Tom
(aka Numbuh Three)
successfully staged a 
Codename: Kids Next Door
voice actor reunion!

Held at an 
undisclosed location, 
to keep evil adult sooper villains
from showing up,
almost all the regular cast
(and some little Numbuh Fives)
were able to make it out for 
a tasty lunch.


Pictured from L to R
First row:
Candy Milo (Numbuh Two's Mom and Grandma)
Dee Bradley Baker (Numbuh Four, Toiletnator, every monster/animal in the show)
Jennifer Hale (Numbuh 86, voice of KND computer)
Collette Sunderman (Voice director and casting)
Cree Summer (Numbuh Five and Cree)
Cree's daughters, Hero and Brave (adorable and awesome)

Second row:
Lauren Tom (Numbuh Three and Genki Sanban)
Ben Diskin (Numbuh One and Numbuh Two)
Dave Wittenberg (Numbuh 74.239, Chip and Dodgeball Wizard)
Mr. Warburton (Voice of Ridiculousness)

Totally missing from the event
because they couldn't make it
OR 
we were dumb and thought they 
were on the e-mail chain 
when they weren't:

Tom Kenny (Mr. Wink, Common Cold, Knightbrace)
Maurice LaMarche (Father)
Grey DeLisle (Lizzie, Gramma Stuffum, Crazy old Cat Lady)
Jason Harris (Numbuh 274)
Tara Strong (Mushi)

Before we left we snapped
a shot of 
Sector V 
doing their famous logo pose:


To compare,
here's a pic from one of our
very last records:


Yup.
These
guys are
STILL
awesome.

SO GREAT
seeing 
everyone 
again!



Monday, October 21, 2013

A VISIT TO LOYOLA MARYMOUNT COLLEGE


Last week I had the honor 
of blathering inanely about my career
in front of
animation class
at

He's got a great bunch of students who
asked smart questions
and were polite enough to stay awake
while I answered them.

I don't have much to show from my visit
other than these pictures I snapped
of drawings done by
assorted luminaries who
have stopped by to tell
their stories:







Wow, right?

Van's really had some
sooper talented people
visit his class...
and 
ME!

Thanks for bring me in, Mr. Partible!

And sooper huge props to the student
that showed me the laminated 
KND id card
he still has in his wallet!
That made my night!

Thursday, October 17, 2013

ALL HANDS ON DISNEY!


Every so often
Disney Television Animation
gets together for a sooper big
All Hands Meeting.

Here's proof:


This year we gathered
 in the fancy theatre
on the 
Main Lot

<sigh>
I miss working there.

Anyway...
The meeting started like this:


Sooper Senior 
TV Animation
Admiral
Eric Coleman
got up to tell us all the latest stuff.
Like how we had a new logo:


NICE!

Then
Craig McCracken
showed us a clip from
his brand new show
Wander Over Yonder:


Jamie Mitchell and Craig Gerber
showed us a 
sizzle reel from 
an upcoming
Sofia the First 
episode:


Dan Povenmire and Swampy Marsh
presented a clip from
the animatic for the
upcoming
Phineas and Ferb
Star Wars Special
(fun!):


Sam Levine rocked a 
sequence from the pilot of his 
recently greenlit show
Penn Zero: Part Time Hero:


Rob LaDuca showed us a song from an upcoming 
Jake and The Neverland Pirates episode:


There be some 
Gravity Falls shorts 
that'll air inbetween seasons
and Alex Hirsch was there to prove it:


Daron Nefcy snuck us a peek at
some new character designs 
and a clip from the pilot of her
new show:


Tom Ruegger
presented a clip
from the first episode of
Disney Jr's
next sooper big series
The 7-D
(that I may or may not be helping out on)


And
aaaaaaaaw yeaaaaaaah...
Paul Rudish 
blessed us with his team's latest 
Mickey short
which was
of course
beautifularrific:


AND THEN
we were shown
ALL
the latest sooper secret stuff 
currently in
development.

CHECK IT OUT:






...






AMAZING, RIGHT?!

please note that ONLY those with 
officially registered 
DISNEY TVA DEVELOPMENT
OCULAR IMPLANTS
can see the above photos.
we apologize
for the inconvenience.

After the show
we were treated to some
tasty food and beverages outside:


And look who showed up in a
centerpiece:



There's a lot to love about
Disney TVA




Monday, October 14, 2013

WHAT EPISODE IS THAT FROM... REVEALED!


So 
last week I
challenged
KND operatives
to try and find the 
episode
and exact frame
that this
original production drawing
came from:


And it didn't take
sooper operative
Andre Nassif
long to find it:


That's a screenshot from
Operation: ELECTIONS
and
YES
the exact frame
from the above drawing.

So
as promised
I'm sending Andre
this set of KND figures:


 And 
three
KND TCG
booster packs:


And
this:



Thanks, Andre!
You rock!


Thursday, October 10, 2013

WHAT EPISODE IS THIS FROM?!


This...


is an actual animation production drawing from
Codename: Kids Next Door.

Hand drawn.
Inked.
And then scanned into 
a computer and colored.

Nowadays everything is drawn
right into the computer on
a Cintiq.
No paper involved.
So this is kind of old school.

AND IT'S THE ONLY ONE I HAVE!

KND Production Coordinator
and
Erin Finnegan
got it when she was in Korea
and visited
our overseas studio,

And she was kind enough to give it to me!

But I can't remember what
episode it's from.

Any ideas?

Tell you what...
if you can find 
a screenshot of this 
EXACT
frame
(or prove that this drawing was never used)
(which is possible)

I'll draw you up an 
original 
color sketch
of the 
KND.

I'll even throw in this:


Or you can say,

I ain't got time for that crap, Warburton

Either way is cool with me.

Good hunting!

Hint:
The drawing looks
a little like the way
supreme storyboard artist
Maurice Fontenot's
used to draw Numbuh One.
I'm not positive but it might be a good
starting point!

UPDATE!

The mystery has been solved!
And in record time, too!

Check back in on
Monday
to find out the
WHO
WHAT
and
WHERE!!!


Monday, October 7, 2013

GLEN E. FRIEDMAN



Sometimes...
when I need a little inspiration
I'll hit the bookshelf and check
a book by


You might not know who he is.
But if you're a child of the 80's
you've seen his photographs.

ESPECIALLY
if you were into
skateboarding
punk rock
and 
rap.

Mr. Freidman shot all 
that was cool in those days;
Like...

The Dogtown Boys:




Black Flag:





Run DMC:





And 
of course
The Beastie Boys:




Not to mention
Ice T
Fugazi
Tony Alva
L.L. Cool J
Public Enemy
Stacy Peralta
Bad Brains
and any
other
band/rider
with a
rebellious streak.

 Henry Rollins
(lead singer of Black Flag)
said this about Mr. Freidman:

The bottom line is that he was there at the beginning of 
so much cool stuff in so many different areas it's not funny.

Yeah.

For me,
his pics are a 
lightning bolt
that's struck
a single moment of
attitude.

It might not be pretty.
But there's 
always a
feeling of
movement
edge
and 
grit
in front of 
his lens.

If you like that kinda stuff,
pick up 

It rocks.