MUPPET BABIES!

It's a new year!

And I assume by now most of you

heard about this:

I mean,

you probably read about it in

VARIETY

ten million week ago,

right?

But if not...

YES!

MUPPET BABIES IS COMING BACK!

It's gonna be on Disney Junior

as part of a joint venture with

DCPI Content and Media

and I'll be serving as

the mighty

Executive Producer!

We've been working on it since the summer

and let me tell you,

this puppy is rollin' like a freight train 

that's fueled by coffee-infused energon cubes

wrapped in a caffeine tortilla!

In other words,

it's moving 

FAST,

fam.

I can't tell you much about the show because

it's a sooper secret...

But I CAN tell you that it's

BEAUTIFUL

(the CG looks like REAL Muppets!)

It's funny!

(we've got a KILLER writing team)

And it's soooooper cute!

(it's for Disney Junior.

 So don't be expecting any 

big, giant explosions or Muppets wearing

Battle Ready Armor)

Buuuuuuuuut...

listen to the voices.

You might recognize one or two.

I know...

I know.

You want

Galactic: Kids Next Door.

So do I.

But this is what's happening right now.

AND 

I'M 

PSYCHED!

G:KND-- ANIMATED!!!

Somewhere out there is a Codename: Kids Next Door sooper-mega-ultra-fan who's making awesome use of their time.
How,  you may ask?
By actually  ANIMATING the  Galactic: Kids Next Door animatic!
And it's one hundred and sixteen kinds of AWESOME
Check it:

I especially love the message at the end:

Way to go, Rat Animation!

You've earned a killer promotion in the KND!

Please report to Moonbase for your celebratory ice cream party!

And in case you've lived under a big, dumb and

 very quiet rock that doesn't have an internet connection,

the original 

g:KND animatic is over

HERE!

HI HO! TO SEASON TWO WE GO!

So I'm a little late reporting this...

but after achieving

rockin' ratings

for our first season on

Disney XD,

the 7D

are coming back for a

sooper huge

second season!

I'll be reprising my role

as the fabulously handsome

Co-Executive Producer

Mr. Warburton

who's helping bring

Happy

Sleepy

Grumpy

Sneezy

Dopey 

Bashful

and 

Doc

to your 

television screen!

Read more about it over 

HERE!

THE 7-D!(or what the heck I've been doing lately)

So lots of people ask me...

Whatcha doin'?

And I'm all like,

You know... stuff.

And they're like,

Cool.

What kinda stuff?

So I go,

7-D stuff.

And everyone's 

SO 

like,

Um...

what's 

The 7-D?

Well, it's a re-imagining of

those dudes from

Walt Disney's first

feature length film

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.

But they don't look like this:

They look like this:

And here's how it's going down:

Set in the contemporary storybook world of Jollywood, 

"The 7D" follows brave little heroes Happy, Bashful, Sleepy, Sneezy, Dopey, Grumpy and Doc 

as they work together to maintain order in the kingdom. 

Standing in their way are Grim and Hildy Gloom, a novice warlock and witch couple, 

who haplessly plot to dethrone the Queen and take over Jollywood.

Executive Producer

Tom Ruegger

(Tiny Toons, Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain)

developed the series for Disney

and has brought his signature funsanity

to the project.

Me?

I hopped on board as

Co-Executive Producer

to bring my own brand of fun.

It's been a crazy ride

and now the show's

about to hit the airwaves

July 7th

on

Disney XD!

Check the promo:

Don't be shy to  download the game  before the show hits!

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 SCREENING

Perhaps you heard 

whisperings 

of the

Below The Line

sooper special

advance screening of

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2

that happened the other night?

If so,

you probably heard that the movie

ROCKS

SO

DARN

HARD!

Just like the first one, 

I found myself

laughing,

crying

and leaning forward in my seat

in slack-jawed giddiness...

ESPECIALLY

during those gorgeous flying scenes.

But you?

Maybe you'll hate it.

Which goes to show how I

can still totally love someone who's

WRONG.

(which could be considered a problem)

After the screening

there was an art show

and reception with lots of

food

folks

drink

and

SOOPER

BEAUTIFUL

ARTSY

FARTY

STUFF!

Check it:

Thanks

Dreamworks

for a stunning movie

and

thanks to

Below The Line

for a great screening!

THE 12 PRINCIPLES OF ANIMATION

I bought my copy of THE ILLUSION OF LIFE when I was in high school. I saw it a  B. Daltons bookstore  in the  Montgomeryville Mall and asked my Mom to  buy it for me.
I studied it obsessively, even if I couldn't  remotely  draw what was inside.
But I could follow the PRINCIPLES described in this thick slab of animation knowledge.
And those very same principles have been described wonderfully by  Cento Lodigiani in this sooper fun video:

If you don't have THE ILLUSION OF LIFE make sure to pick it up.
It's STILL an important part of an animator's  balanced breakfast.

MICHAEL SPORN

Another

legend 

has left us.

Michael Sporn

His name was synonymous with animation in New York.

He

hired, taught, nurtured, advised, mentored, 

and/or remained friends with 

so many in the 

New York animation community

over so many decades.

The thing I remember most 

about Michael is that he 

seriously,

really and truly

wanted to make films

that would change the world.

I'd periodically get into good-natured arguments 

with him about this.

Why wasn't it okay to just want to make people laugh?

What's wrong with a film about

FARTS?

That's not to say Michael didn't like funny films.

(or farts)

Quite the contrary.

But he thought that

animation,

as a medium,

had so much more to give:

Heart

Intelligence

and especially

Social Awareness

I can think of very few people who

saw animation as such a pure art form.

And I'll always respect him for that.

You can check out some 

of Mr. Sporn's work over

HERE.

And

if you get a chance,

take a long walk

through

his

SPLOG.

Rest well, Michael.

You defined what it was to be an

animator in

New York City.

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:

RANDOM ACTS OF BEAVIS AND BUTTHEAD-NESS

There once was a time when I was the

production designer on the first season of

Beavis and Butthead.

I designed characters.

I designed props.

I animated the boys banging their heads and scratching their crotches.

Which was a privilege

because we actually animated the entire first season in-house at

J.J. Sedelmaier Productions

instead of shipping it overseas.

Therefore,

I made sure to keep a lot of rough animation art

that would have otherwise been lost to the trashcan.

Here's a random sampling:

That first season was kind of wild.

We knew we were working on something exciting

and it was incredible to have a front row seat to the show blowing up!

I'm glad I kept so much delicious art from such a talented crew!