Thursday, June 28, 2012

Monday, June 25, 2012

THE PLOT THICKENS


Okay,
so I used to make sure the studio was well stocked with
candy during Codename: Kids Next Door:


Is that so wrong?
Regardless...
I always loved the gag cartoons by
KND prop designer Robert Kopecky.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

HARRY POTTER AND THE KND (part 2)


After my last post,
I remembered that
 just because Codename: Kids Next Door 
has long since kicked the bucket, 
it doesn't mean we don't have any buckets left to kick around.

Specifically this KND popcorn bucket circa 2002:
These were distributed at Loews theaters just before the show premiered.

Imagine what a proud daddy I was when I went to see the very first Harry Potter movie, 
and everyone's walking around 
with the KND on their popcorn buckets.

Monday, June 18, 2012

HARRY POTTER AND THE KND


Okay.
So one day I'm walking down the hall
of Curious Pictures.
It's, like, third or fourth season of
Codename: Kids Next Door
and I'm stomping around the studio 
in my usual rush.

When suddenly,
a lowly, unwashed intern
steps into my path.
She jabs a finger in my face
and growls,

You know people at Warner Brothers!

Taken aback,
my usual droll and witty riposte
was reduced to a quizzical, 

"huh?"

You know people at Warner Brothers!
she repeated, her glasses flashing 
and nostrils flaring.

I managed a weak, 

"uh huh?"

Her index finger, 
strengthened from months 
of pressing the copier button,
jabbed into my sternum.

Get us tickets to the world premiere of 
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 
at Radio City Music Hall!

"I wouldn't even know who to ask for something like that!"
I replied cautiously,
(After recently becoming a father,
I had become more concerned 
regarding events that might 
affect my personal welfare)

JUST DO IT!
hissed the intern.
She shoved me backwards with her cast-iron finger
and stormed away.

With the immediate threat gone,
I instantly forgot the request and went about my business.

But later that day I just so happened to get a call from 
the wonderful woman who handled KND's merchandising.

Who worked...
 at Warner Brothers!!!

Here's how the conversation went down:

Soooooooo, if I wanted, let's say... a couple tickets to the 
Harry Potter premiere at Radio City, 
who would I call over there?

Are you serious?
I wouldn't even know who to talk to.

Oh, okay nevermind.
No big deal.
I'll just get killed by an intern

We hung up.
I made sure my will was in order.
And I went on with what might have been my last day on Earth.

A couple hours later,
the phone rang.
It was the merchandising lady again.

Hey, guess what?
I got you guys 20 tickets!


Whoa.

Like...
WHOA!


So after giving the scary intern two tickets,
(and saving one for me)
we raffled the rest off to the KND crew.


And it was 
AWESOME!

The stars were there!
There was free popcorn and soda!
And goody bags!

The only bummer was that since our baby was so new,
Mrs. Warburton couldn't go!
But I think she was just happy I was alive.

And the intern?
Alison Wilgus?
She eventually became a writer on KND.

Told you she was scary.



















Thursday, June 14, 2012

CLAMANTHA GETS THE PILLOW TREATMENT!

Move it along.

Nothin' to see here.

Just this sooper triple cool
Clamantha pillow:




Carmen Woods 
just 

Monday, June 11, 2012

SMELLS LIKE OLD SKETCHBOOK

So while you're waiting for me 
to finish my latest book of sketchiness
why dontcha take a look at
this big fat sandwich
of an old school sketchbook
instead:


Yes, 
I'm proud to say that this one,
circa 1998 to 2000 or so,
earned itself a Caldacott Medal.
And when I say
"earned"
I mean
stole from Mo Willems' office.

Regardless,
this baby is packed
with all sorts of 
late 90's
photos:


Wishes...


and odd doodles...


At this time in my life
I was working as a director on 
Sheep In The Big City:





And all the while I was waiting to see what would happen
with the pilot I had recently made at Cartoon Network.
Something called 
Codename: Kids Next Door.

So the book has a lot of early 
KND ideas in it:


There's even a sketch of Numbuh Two 
by Maxwell Atoms:


And then one day it happened.
KND was greenlit to series.
 I left for a two week vacation 
to Japan the next day:


Production began when I got back.

Here are some rough ideas for the KND's 
snow gear in Operation: ARCTIC:








After a year of having Mr. Willems 
abuse my Sheep drawings,
I didn't feel so bad making 
fun of his KND drawings:


I really like
this early sketch of 
Numbuh One and Lizzie
I did:


But when
supreme storyboard artist 
Guy Moore
drew stuff like this 
I crapped in my pants,
ran home to change,
and then promptly 
crapped my pants again:


Here's an all-mighty ratings report:


Here's an example of a storycard we'd hang on the wall:


The ATT represents 
one of our story types:

ATTACK - The KND are attacking something
DEFENSE - The KND are attacked BY something or someone
BUDDY- Focus is on two characters
TEAM - A story with all 5 characters as a team
SOLO - A story that focuses on one character

We always tried to spread the stories out 
so we didn't get too many of the 
same type too close together.

The other side of the card had a brief synopsis of the story:


I always LOVED how hyper-mega-awesome 
storyboard artist Kim Arndt 
drew the characters:


I could go on and on.
This books is just 
PACKED 
with fun stuff.

Literally:


Look...
I know I say it all the time.
But you should keep a sketchbook.
Seriously.
Just shut up and do it.
You'll be glad you did 
when you dig it out years later.







Thursday, June 7, 2012

OFFICIALLY UNOFISHAL FISH HOOKS

Check this out:


I know..
you're all like,

AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
What happened to the main characters of Fish Hooks?!

And I'm all like,

Relaaaaaaaaax.
That's just an early drawing of the gang 
that Fish Hooks creator 
Noah Z. Jones 
did while the show 
was being developed
at Disney.

Cool, right?
I mean, it's
ALWAYS
interesting to see how 
shows gets made.

So wouldn't it be 
BLOCK ROCKIN' 
if there was a place
you could go 
to learn 
all 
about
EVERYTHING 
Fish Hooks?

And wouldn't it be great if it was 
made by the very same people who 
MAKE
Fish Hooks?

Yeah.

So...

BOOM!

It's the 

UNOFFICIAL
OFFICIAL
FISH HOOKS 
FAN PAGE

Set your bookmarks for
AWESOME
and check it out
right
over 


Monday, June 4, 2012

GODZILLA vs RODAN!

 One of my sooper pal's kids is turning 5!
And he 
LUUUUUURVES
him some
Godzilla!

So his Dad asked
if I would draw him 
a sooper birthday 
Godzilla 
picture.

Yeah, I will!

So I doodled up something rough on my Cintiq...


Printed it out...


Cleaned it up on my lightbox...


Cleaned it up again in color...


And 
WOOT!!!
there it is...


I also did this for the
gift bag cards:


Happy Birthday, Dashiel!