EARLY DAYS OF NO

I came across an early dummy of 1000 TIMES NO the other day and was sooper happy to see this spread:


Yup... that's 50 NO's on one page!

Originally there was a lot more set-up to the book before we got to all the NO's in different languages. But when my editor, the mighty mighty Laura Geringer, saw this spread, she said, "THIS is the book!"

So we went with it!


But unfortunately, many NO's got cut out.

French.

Semaphore.

Klingon.


Ugh... I'm still bummed we couldn't use Klingon.

ASSORTED STUFF FOR SOOPER PALS

When I'm not working on Disney's sooper mega rockin' new show
Fish Hooks...

Or on my own sooper secret projects...

Or trying to keep my kids from destroying the universe...

Or out crime fighting vigilante-style...

I try to squeeze in some drawings for my sooper pals out there.
So I thought I'd share some recent examples for ya:

Here are a couple puppies I did for some friends of my sister-in-law:


Sooper pal and even more sooperer artist Rebecca Guay was nice enough to send me some signed Magic: The Gathering cards she illustrated so I sent her a couple signed cards from the long dead Codename: Kids Next Door TCG:


Next up, sooper fan Emma decided that for her birthday present she would like to send me some of her awesome Kids Next Door art!
Which is TOTALLY awesome! Check this one out:


AMAAAAAAAAAAAZING, right?

Buuuuuuuut I'm not sure where she learned about birthday's from. You're supposed to GET presents on your birthday. So she's getting this:


Aaaaaand then... Mackenzie's parents told me she was a sooper triple huge Numbuh 362 fan (who says all adults are bad, right?).
And I just KNOW that the leader of the Global KND would want her to have this:


And lastly, this was a sooper fun Halloween surprise! A couple months back I met a family that lives down the street whose two boys are sooper mega KND fans. So I invited them over to the Treehouse to draw some pics and bestow some swag upon them. It was good fun--- these guys knew EVERYTHING about the KND!

So on Halloween night when I was out trick or treating with my little maniacs (doing our best to avoid Stickybeard and his Candy Pirates) we happened upon their house. Their mother beckoned me inside to show me the "shrine" the boys had set up.
Check it out:


I LOVE IT!

So there ya go...
After working on a Cintiq so much these days, it's nice to rock some drawings on good old fashioned paper!

DEE BRADLEY BAKER

You all know Mr. Dee Bradley Baker as the voice of
Codename: Kids Next Door's Numbuh Four.



And the Toiletnator.



And Perry the Platypus in Phineas and Ferb.



Klaus in American Dad, too.


And yeah... he's ALL the clone troopers in the Clone Wars.


But did you know that he's THE go-to guy for monster sounds?

Yuppers.

Pretty much any show that needs a creature, monster, mutant,
robot, or wolf fish hires Dee Bradley Baker to make awesomely awesome sounds.

So, for your entertainment, here's Mr. Baker rockin' a wolf fish for a future episode of Fish Hooks:

SHEEP IN THE BIG ANNIVERSARY!

Approximately twelve million years ago in LA, I had JUST finished up the pilot for Codename: Kids Next Door and lay on the floor in my office, phone in hand, talking to sooper high powered Cartoon Network Executive Linda Simensky. The conversation kind of went like this:

Me: Can I have a series?

Linda: No.

See, Cartoon Network was making TEN pilots that year and mine was the first done. Absolutely no decision was going to be made until all of them were finished so I basically had to sit on the pilot for a year. So the question was:

What was I gonna DO?!

The answer came relatively quickly in the form of a Sheep.

A Sheep in a Big City.

Yup... Mr. Mo Willems was in need of a director for 2nd season of Sheep in the Big City. So, was I in?

Well, kind of.

After working on Kenny and the Chimp, Pepper Ann, and KND, I hadn't actually worked in anyone else's style in a loooong time so I was a bit scared. But then again, I desperately needed the production experience if I was ever going to get my own show.
And Sheep DID look like fun to work on.
Oh, and they were paying money, too.

So yeah... I was in.


And it turned out to be one of the best things I ever did.
I worked with an awesome crew...
I learned a ton about tv series production...
And I really liked working with Mr. Willems.
(but don't tell him I said that)

Unfortunately, the show got canceled after second season.
Fortunately, the show got canceled to make way for Codename: Kids Next Door.

And after much deliberation, it was decided that the Sheep production model would become Kids Next Door's. So we flipped the production staff, switched up artists, and to punish Mr. Willems for bossing me around so much, I hired him as the head writer. Good thing, too since it was his architecture that helped solidify the KND's world.

So why am I taking this trip down Sheepy Lane?

Because Mr. Willems just reported that last Thursday, November 4th was the 10th Anniversary of Sheep In The Big City's premiere. If you're a fan, definitely go check out his reminiscing over HERE!

And just for fun, here's one of the 'bits' I directed:

OTTAWA (belatedly)

I know ...
I know...
Everyone has been like,

Dude, where WERE you from October 20th to approximately October 25?!

And I've been all like,

DUDE... I was TOTALLY in Canada for the 2010 Ottawa International Animation Festival!

And they were like,

WHAAAAAAAAAT?!

And I was shakin' my head like,

YEEEEEEEEAH!

Because the animated short we did for 1000 TIMES NO that's been airing on Nick Jr. got into the festival so I went to represent! And as ALWAYS, I had a blast. Ottawa is STILL my favorite festival. I mean, it's got EVERYTHING!

First off, Ottawa is a beautiful city. It's got that old world European flavor mixed in with awesome modern culture. There's great architecture, tons of public art, tasty restaurants, and of course...

Beaver Tails.


Secondly, you get to watch a TON of films from all over the world. And yeah... a good portion of these films aren't for everyone. In fact, as I get older I'm finding that I have even LESS patience for stark, suicidal, misery-inducing, artsy fartsy films that run on for 25 minutes.
But there's almost always something you can take away from every film.
(A good nap, oft times)
In general, I find the children's films to be the most satisfying since they involve the most storytelling blended with interesting new (and sometimes old) techniques.
And there are usually a couple fun features to check out as well.
This year I was psyched that the 10th feature-length One Piece movie was playing:



So okay then...

Great town

Great films

And, of course, great friends!

I spent most of the trip hanging with fellow decommissioned KND operative Numbuh of the Beast (aka Andy Rheingold to you adults out there) and a guy I had only met briefly many many years ago but now know WAY too much about:

Mr. Craig Kellman.

Aw, you know-- the guys who designed characters on Dexter's Laboratory?
And Powerpuff Girls?
Samurai Jack?
Foster Home For Imaginary Friends?
You KNOW... the guy who designed the characters for MADAGASCAR?!
Wait...
Maybe you'll recognize Craig from this picture of him eating bread budding:


Yeah.
That guy.

Mr.Kellman also designed and directed The Ricky Gervais Show for HBO, which had the honor of being accepted into the festival.

Andy, Craig and I spent most of the trip going to screenings, drinking root beers, seeing films, eating lunch and drinking root beers while comparing animation war stories, watching cartoons, and scarfing down dinner and root beers before attending parties where we ate hors de oeuvres and drank MORE root beers.

Rinse.
Wash.
Repeat.

I know... rough life, right?

And while NO didn't win the sooper big prize for Best Children's Film, it was awesome to be included.

So thanks Ottawa, for another ROCKIN' trip.

Can't wait to see you again!

HOW TO DRAW NUMBUH ONE!

Uuuuuuuuuum...

Well...

YEAH!



Kakko ii, ne?!