ARMS SHIPMENT

I always got a kick out of the boxes that shipped KND toys.

THE DELIGHTFUL DOLLS FROM DOWN THE LANE

Yes...
I think we're all in agreement that it's
a darn shame no
Delightful Children From Down the Lane
plushies or action figures were ever made.

Well, except for these:


Sweet, right?

These were hand-crafted by Tab Leslie,
someone who's been a KND sooper fan
since as long as I can remember!










Yeah... these pretty much rock my world!

Thanks, Tab!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

MAY YOUR HOLIDAYS BE...


DELIGHTFUL!

2011 ASIFA EAST ANIMATION ART AUCTION SNEAK PEAK #5

Aw boy!

The ASIFA-EAST Animation Art Auction is tomorrow!

And wouldn't tomorrow be so much more awesome if you won this:


Yes, it would.

So if you live near NYC,
now's the time to get over to the School of Visual Arts
and camp out overnight so you're first in line for the auction.
Not that being first in line gets you anything.
(except frostbite)
It just sounds hardcore.

Have fun and BID HIGH!
All money made goes directly to ASIFA-EAST
to allow them to keep smothering you
with animation awesomeness through the year!

December 20
ASIFA-East Animation Art Auction
7:00 pm SVA Amphitheatre
209 E. 23rd Street, 3rd Floor
NYC

In other news,
if you wanna get something from the printlab
ya better order it ASAN!
(As Soon As NOW!)
All orders made after today won't be shipped until
December 30th!

2011 ASIFA EAST ANIMATION ART AUCTION SNEAK PEAK #4

This is YOURS!



It's YOUR original Fish Hooks sketch.

It's YOUR original Fish Hooks sketch hand-crafted by creator Noah Z. Jones.

You're not gonna let some sap just take it out of your
grubby little lobster claws, are you?

Then get on down to the auction and
BID ON IT!

TAKE WHAT'S YOURS!

December 20
ASIFA-East Animation Art Auction
7:00 pm SVA Amphitheatre
209 E. 23rd Street, 3rd Floor
NYC

2011 ASIFA EAST ANIMATION ART AUCTION SNEAK PEAK #3

Do you know Sherm Cohen?

He's the storyboard supervisor on Fish Hooks
who leaves me notes like this:


He's also the face of Bud,
the guy at the beginning of every Fish Hooks episode:


And he's also the guy behind Storyboard Secrets,
which is
the
the
THE
go-to video series for anyone who wants
to become a storyboard rockstar.


Seriously...
this guy eats, drinks, and bleeds storyboards.
And he's worked on a lot of awesome shows in his time.
Like, you know...

Spongebob.

So how awesome is it that he's donated some hard rockin' art
from the Spongebob movie to the ASIFA EAST auction?




Go ahead.
Say it.

"WANT"

For more sooper hot Sherm Cohen action
hit up Cartoon Snap over HERE!

2011 ASIFA EAST ANIMATION ART AUCTION SNEAK PEAK #2

It's no secret I love me some
Joe Murray art.

And I know you do, too.
That's why you'll be dropping everything to run,
cash or check in hand,
to this year's auction to bid on these:




Yeah...
these sketches he did just for the auction are,
as the kids say,
pretty tight.

But what about THIS:



You are correct.
That IS an original, one-of-a-kind. hand painted title card from Rocko's Modern Life.
How do I know?
Because all of Mr. Murray's items come with a certificate of authenticity.


Yeah...
I know you gotta have one of these.
So be there:

December 20
ASIFA-East Animation Art Auction
7:00 pm SVA Amphitheatre
209 E. 23rd Street, 3rd Floor
NYC

NUMBUH 362 IS IN THE PRINTLAB

Yup!
A lot of you have been asking for it.
So now you're gonna GET IT!

Rachel T. McKenzie,
aka Numbuh 362,
Supreme Leader of the Global KND.
is making her debut in the mighty printlab!
Just in time for the holidays!

And as an added holiday bonus...
all printlab orders made before January 1st
will include an absolutely totally sooper 100% free
sketchcard of your favorite KND character signed by me,
Mr. Warburton!

For details, get your keister over to the printlab
RIGHT NOW!

VINNIE CAFARELLI

I got word yesterday that my very first mentor in animation,
Vincent Cafarelli,
has passed away.

A true veteran of New York Animation,
he was the guy who gave me my first job.
(along with Buzzco Associates partners Candy Kugel and Marilyn Kraemer)
I've told you the story of how I got started at Buzzco before,
but I never told you that Buzzco always had champagne around.
This stuff, to be exact.


In the middle of the studio was a mini fridge,
the freezer of which was completely iced over
except for two holes we called the torpedo tubes.
Every day around 5:00pm, Vince would shout:

"TOMOTHY! LOAD TWO!"

That was my call to put two bottles of champagne in the freezer.
Work would carry on for a while
until inevitably another shout would come from the back of the studio:

"TOMOTHY! FIRE ONE!!"

So I'd get some paper cups,
pop open a bottle,
and pour some for everyone in the studio.
It was a great way to end the work day.
But it wasn't over for Vinnie and I yet.

"TOMOTHY! FIRE TWO!"
would occur after everyone else had gone home.
That's when I got to sit at the feet of the master.
We'd park ourselves at the conference table and Vince would say,
"Alright! Today we learn about exposure sheets!"
or
"Let me show ya how to animate a fun walk cycle!"

We often just sat around talking about animation.
He told stories about his days in the business.
About the studios he worked at and the animators he knew.
And we talked alot about my future.
Vinnie always told me I was going to be great.
He always had this crazy faith in me.
I loved him for that.

I was at Buzzco for less than a year.
There wasn't enough work to keep me around.
As I've mentioned before,
animation work is sporadic so you're always moving around.
But I still saw Vince often.
ASIFA-EAST meetings were held at Buzzco every month.
And he'd show up for the occasional party or screening.
Sometimes I'd just stop in to say hi.
(but never often enough, which I always kicked myself for)

Now Vinnie's gone.
He was 81 years old but wasn't sick or anything.
He was just doing what he always did.
Animating.
After work last Thursday
Candy asked Vince if he wanted to hit Veselka for some soup.
He declined and said he was tired.
He went home.
He went to bed.
And never woke up.


I got the news from Candy this morning and have been heartbroken all day.
I've cried 17 times while writing this.
But I know something that'll make me feel a little better.


"Fire one, Vinnie."

I don't wanna put words in the guys mouth,
but I'd like to think that if Vince knew he was leaving us,
his face would have broken into that big Italian grin,
and he would have said the same thing
he said almost every time I saw him:

"WHAT A PARTY!"


Much love, Vince.
I miss you already.

If you want to learn more about the man and his work,
Michael Sporn wrote up a wonderful post over at his blog.
Check it out HERE.

2011 ASIFA EAST AUCTION SNEAK PEAK #1

Look out, New Yorkers!

The 2011 ASIFA EAST USED ANIMATION ART AUCTION
is set for December 20th!
Sadly it'll be happening without me.

But I can still use my sooper powers to help rustle up some of the awesomest, high biddingest art by some of the rockingest animation folk I run into, can't I?

Take this million dollar baby, for instance:


Yup... only Phineas and Ferb creator Dan Povenmire
can wield a blue sharpie like that.
And this original, one of a kind drawing can be YOURS.

If you've got the mad bidding skills to make it yours, that is.

Keep it locked here for more sneak peaks, ya'll.
I think you'll like whatcha see.

SCRUMDILLY-DO!

Someone flipped me this nice little review of 1000 TIMES NO
over at a blog called SCRUMDILLY-DO!

Check it out over HERE!

And, as always, you can order a signed copy over YONDER!

The 22nd Children's Illustration Exhibit

Okay...

Let's say you're a sooper villain.
And you call yourself, I dunno, something like,

THE DE-PICTUREBOOKANATOR!

Because, you know...
You HATE picture books.
Especially people who MAKE them!
(like Jarrett J. Krosoczka... Grrrrrrrr!)

So what should your latest evil plan be?

How's about gathering your evil henchman and
heading out to Northampton, MA
to attack the opening night party for the
Children's Illustration Exhibit at the R. Michelson Gallery?!



GREAT IDEA, right?!

Except that you missed it.

Me?
I was totally there.
It just so happened to fall on the weekend I was visiting Mr. Willems.

And what a night it was!
Mr. Michelson's Gallery, in the heart of Northampton, is stunning.
Built in an old bank building with ultra high ceilings
and lots of nooks and crannies,
it is THE go-to place to see the work of local artists that have reached a worldwide audience.
And it specializes in picture book artists!
I'm talkin' folks like:

Eric Carle
Kadir Nelson
Tony DiTerlizzi
Barry Moser
Rebecca Guay
Scott Fischer
Mo Willems
(who's work showed in the old bank vault)



and honored guest of the evening:

Jules Feiffer!



A lot of those people were on-hand that evening, too.
In fact, here's a picture of all the folks who were there that have a published picture book:


(check out the R. Michelson Gallery's Facebook page to see who (most of) these people are!)
(that's me in the back)

It was a really fun night, hanging out with old friends and new!

If you're ever in Northampton,
you should stop by the R. Michelson Gallery.

Unless you're a sooper villain who hates picture books, that is.

A VISIT TO KNUFFLE MANOR

You know that secret project me and Mo Willems have been working on?

Well, this post isn't about that.

It's about a new one.
(Although I assure you the first one is totally rockin' the casbah)

This new project required a trip to Knuffle Manor
for some serious brainstorming
so I hopped on the Warburton Laboratories Inc corporate jet
and made my way to Northampton, Massachusetts.

We had an amazing time kicking around stories, characters and ideas.
But what were we gonna do?
Sit around WORKING all weekend?

Ew.

Fortunately there was plenty to do that weekend,
like visiting the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art!



I wasn't gonna miss a chance to see Mo's first
soopergiantbig metal sculpture in person:



The sculpture was great, but kinda paled in comparison to the fact that
my book was on prominent display in the gift shop:



And NO... i didn't sneak some copies in and put them there!
They were like that when I arrived, thank you.

While there, we stopped in to see the legendary Jules Pfieffer,
whose work the gallery had a big show for.



He was also in town to be honored at the R. Michelson Gallery's 22nd Annual Children's Illustration Show.
But more on that in the next post.

I'm a couple episodes behind on watching The Walking Dead!

XIAOLIN SHOWDOWN

I always liked this show when it was running on WB.
Great designs.
Awesome action.
And funny, too.



So I was excited to meet Christy Hui, the creator of the show.
We were introduced by our mutual voice director
(the mighty Collette "Sunderwoman" Sunderman)
and met in Santa Monica for some Japanese food and animation talk.

Joined by her fiance, we talked about our respective shows...
the networks they were on...
the artists we worked with...
our top secret future projects...
and why some people like uni and other don't.



(I don't)

And then the sketchbook came out.
Christy protested fiercely,
claiming to be a writer and not an artist.

So I told her to write something.



And look what I got:



Not an artist, eh?
I think it's pretty rockin'.

Anyway... we had an AWESOME evening and
hopefully we'll do it again some time!
In the meantime, keep an eye out for her latest project that's in the pipeline.

It's gonna be fun!

THERE IS ANOTHER!

Remember when I posted my 7 year old son's sketchbook over HERE!

It was BRILLIANT, right?!

But guess what...
There is another.
A 4 year old.
And he, too, wields the power of sketchiness!

As you can see, K went with an unadorned,
right-out-of-the-store look for his cover.


It's clearly his comment on the crass commercialism
that's infected the current zeitgeist.

I think this piece will be important 25 years from now:


Brad and Angelina wanted to buy this for some outrageous sum
but K hated the idea of his art rotting away in one of their mansions,
unseen by the people.


Demi-European Macro-Politics is a frequent subject of K's:



You know, I appreciate Byzantine whimsy as much as the next guy,
but even I agree this one's kinda too much.



Pretentious?
Or poignant?
You decide.



This was done the day after being put to bed early for throwing
hot dog bits at his brother.
You can really see where rage meets shame.



Whatever...
Even I don't get this one:



Ethical nihilism, I know.
But he's FOUR, for crying out loud.



Man's ability to create lunch...
and destroy it.



I apologize for this. Who would think a 4 year old has such a filthy mind?
But all art is filthy in it's own way.



War.
What IS it good for?



I know, right?
K makes me feel my sketchbooks are no better than the
mushy, woody pulp they were created from.

But that's why I keep trying.

Regardless, it's never too early to get your kid drawing, is it?
Get 'em a sketchbook and get 'em drawing.
Then keep it forever.