LAST CALL FOR FREE SKETCHCARDS

I'm back from my

TRIUMPHANT HOLIDAY

on the

East Coast!

And now I gotta

unpack

answer e-mails

take the Christmas tree down

shave the chickens

pave the lawn

and

most importantly

CATCH UP WITH

PRINTLAB

ORDERS!

Thanks for being patient

if you ordered while I was away

eating too many delicious holiday cookies.

Speaking of which,

here's something sweet I

found in my mailbox from 

sooper special operative Tori:

Daaaaaaaaw shucks!

Thanks, Tori!

You rock!

There's only a couple days left 

to get your

free sketchcard

with any

printlab 

order.

Do it now 

by clicking 

HERE

or 

kick yourself

 later!

HAPPY HAMSTERDAYS 2013

LAST MINUTE HOLIDAY GIFT!

If you're looking for a last minute gift,

don't forget about this thing

Mr. Willems and I

rocked last year:

Here are a couple Amazon.com reviews:

Freaking awesome! If you love the books you will love this activity book. 

It's HUGE! Like the biggest activity book ever! 

It's totally awesome and fun and both my kids love it.

my 7yo kid loves this and will go from page to page

 reading, writing, and making projects. 

It's kept him entertained for hours. 

It is not a standard activity book, this one is FUN!

WOW this book is HUGE and awesome!! I can't wait for Christmas

 so my son can open it! He is going to flip out. 

I'm very impressed with this order! :)

The only problem we have with this book is that he's almost done with it. 

He's always eager to share/show what he's done. 

And it's good fun to sit down with him and work on it, 

but the best part is he picks it up and entertains himself with it

 - peace and quiet to get diner completed laundry done, etc - 

since we don't have a TV this is worth it's weight in gold! 

And no guilt as I feel like he's learning...

It's a great stocking stuffer--
if you happen to have large
book-sized stockings!

KANO'S SECRET HIDEOUT

Last week I gots to have lunch

with old school

NYC sooper friend

Danny "KANO" Kimanyen.

We ate fish.

Talked about work.

Caught up on what fellow NYC pals are doin'.

Then we went around the corner 

to his sooper secret hideout/art studio!

It's a crappy picture...

but this is where

Kano 

gets it 

DONE!

Seriously.

Kano defines 

HUSTLE.

He's always got

a million things goin' on:

Paintings for gallery shows:

Products:

And most importantly,

VINYL TOYS:

In fact, 

I scored a couple of his latest:

And I'm keepin' em

MIB, yo!

That's 

MINT IN BOX

for all you---

Oops.

Well, they'll look better up on my shelf this way.

Kano also does animation character design rock solid.

Stuff like

Batman: Brave and the Bold

Venture Bros

New Teen Titans

and yeah

he worked on

KND, too!

Before I left,

he had me ruin his guest book with 

this:

It's always great talking shop 

and cracking jokes

with Mr. Kimanyen.

You should meet him.

Hit him up at

KANOKID

THE THIEF AND THE COBBLER

On Tuesday night I ventured out to

meet some old NYC animation pals

and watch the first public screening of

Richard Williams'

unreleased 

"director's cut"

for

THE THIEF AND THE COBBLER.

It's not really a director's cut, though.

Technically it's the last surviving workprint

before the film was 

taken away from Mr. Williams in 1992

by the company that was financing the film.

Seeing no end to the film's ambitious production

(it started in 1964)

(yes... 1964)

they decided to steal away with Mr. Williams' baby 

and hastily hack and slash it into a more mainstream

Disney-esque musical:

Needless to say,

it didn't do well

at the box office.

That's not to say that

Mr. Williams' version

(if ever finished)

would have done well.

It's one of the most

gorgeously animated films of all time,

especially taking into account that there were 

no computers used 

to create the most 

technically and organically

animated scenes

EVER

drawn by hand.

But where the design and animation shines,

the story and characters fall down and go pbbbbbt.

Scenes and sequences are gratuitously looooooong

and lead us far, far away from the plot.

Too much time is spent on execution instead of emotion.

Perhaps that would have all been solved if the film was finished.

But we'll never know.

All we've got is this time capsule

showing an unfinished labor of love.

Regardless,

all fans of animation should watch this cut.

There are copies around.

(most of us in the business saw pencil tests and workprints

on illicit videotapes that were floating about

before the internets)

And while you may have missed the screening,

an exhibition of Mr. Williams' work 

is still up in the 

Samuel Goldwyn Theatre.

Go check it out if you get a chance!

And if you're interested in being an animator,

Mr. Williams'

ANIMATION SURVIVAL KIT

is a 

MUST HAVE:

SKETCHIN' SKETCHCARDS!

Tis' the season

where I ask:

WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO?!

As mentioned last week,

if you order a print from

the mighty

printlab

then I'm drawn'

you a free sketch card with the

character of your choice.

So guess what I'm up late doodlin'?

The Delightful Children:

Numbuh Three

(El Salvador-style)

And this is the first year 

someone asked for

Pepper Ann:

And there's more comin'!

I just wish I would remember to

take a picture of each one!

Why not order

a print for

yourself 

or a loved one?

Heck...

buy one for your worst enemy

and they'll quickly become

your best friend!

Each order comes with bonus goodies, too!

(but they vary depending on what I've got hangin' around)

Alright...

gotta get back to sketchin'!

OPERATION: NAUGHTY STORYBOARD PAGES

Remember when I

showed you 

all the 

original

storyboard pages 

I saved 

from each episode of

Codename: Kids Next Door?

And how I seem to have misplaced

seasons five and six?

Well, guess what?

I STILL 

HAVE NO IDEA

WHERE THEY ARE!

But for some bizarre reason I

DO

have pages from the

KND Christmas Special

Operation: Naughty.

So here,

for your holiday enjoyment,

they are:

53B: Operation: NAUGHTY (part 2)

Writer: Mr. Warburton

Storyboard: Matt Peters

Fun Fact:

I've mentioned before that 

The Uncanny X-Men

was my 

ultra 

mega

favoritest 

comic book 

since 7th grade.

So how fun was it to come up with their 

Christmas versions:

Wolverine = Wintergreen

Nightcrawler = Nutcracker

Colossus = Coniferous

Storm/Angel = Snow Angel

Bonus Fun Fact:

That's 

Tom Kenny

doing his best

Stan Lee

impression

in the opening narration!

_______________________________________

53B: Operation: NAUGHTY (part 2)

Writer: Mr. Warburton

Storyboard: Kim Arndt

Fun Fact:

The Faculty Four was originally called

The Secretarial Six!

They were a team of villains who

were fed up with Christmas

getting more attention than

Secretary's Day.

But Cartoon Network thought kids wouldn't

be familiar enough with secretaries and what they do.

So we went the school route and changed it to

The Faculty Five.

_________________________________________

 And there's a little holiday magic for ya!

Now where 

ARE

those pages

from 

seasons five 

and six?

HOLIDAY ACTION IN THE PRINTLAB!

It happened again,

didn't it?

You were just hangin' out...

Having some nachos...

Thinkin' about ninjas...

And then

WHAM!

IT'S HOLIDAY TIME AGAIN!

And you know what that means?

Time to hit the mighty

PRINTLAB

for 

ALL

your holiday 

gift-giving needs!

I know 

that you know

someone who knows

someone that wants

one of these:

Or maybe this: 

Perhaps this:

Or... 

might I 

suggest the newest 

addition to the 

PRINTLAB

that will elicit a

high-pitched

SQUEE

from the

3/4 

fans out there:

"SINGIN' IN THE RAINBOW MONKIES"

And

YES!

Every print

comes 

SIGNED

and

INSCRIBED

to the 

person of your choice!

Aaaaaaaaaaand...

(wait for it)

...

...

....

Okay, I can't wait any longer--

YES!!!

YES!!!

YES!!!

As per holiday tradition,

with any

printlab order

you'll receive a

SOOPER ORIGINAL  

HAND-DRAWN

SIGNED

SKETCHCARD

of the 

character of your choice

for the 

sooper dumb

price

of

FREE!

Here are some examples from

previous years:

Too good to be true, right?

Yeah,

but there are rules:

• One sketchcard per person

• One character per card

• You get what you get and don't get upset

• Orders made after December 17th

will not be shipped until 

after Christmas!

* Offer ends on January 1st, 2014

So why dontcha start the holiday season 

off with a stroll

down the luxurious aisles of

the mighty

printlab.

It's right over

HERE.

Still skeptical?

Check out some

testimonials from

satisfied customers over

HERE!