First Look: Napolean Dynamite Trailer

So apparently Napolean Dynamite is going to be an animated series on FOX in 2012.  I watched the trailer with apprehension.  I thought Napolean Dynamite was alright as a movie, but it's true comic genius was in how it inspired the people around me to imitate it in various situations that had no connection to the movie at all.  That I appreciated.

I watched the trailer for the animated series with apprehension because I thought that it would be a producers wet dream as opposed to something of any comedic value.  Looks like I might be wrong though.  After watching the trailer and various clips from the show it appears that it might be able to hold it's own and take the show into the arena of original animation.  Here's hoping.

Gypsy Cab by Jordan Rubin: Clips on Vimeo

Gypsy Cab was written and created by Jordan Rubin and developed by the Cartoon Network.  It was designed to be an animated show featuring 30 Rock star Judah Friedlander as a wacked out gypsy cab driver cartoon character whose greatest ambition in life is to be the best cab driver on the east side of west. When Judah’s not scheming to get his real cab license, he roams the streets of Manhattan picking up celeb fares like Sarah Silverman, Jim Gaffigan, John Mayer, Tracy Morgan and Dave Attell.

The show consists of celebrities doing "stand-up comedy style" rants from the back seat of the cab. During the rants the animation cuts from the cab to illustrate the celebs story and then back again for Friedlander to put in his two cents.

From the two clips I've seen, the show really rests on the shoulders of the guest talent. If you like the talent then you'll like Gypsy Cab... if you don't then you'll likely give it a miss. Friedlander's character just doesn't have what it takes to upstage the talent in the same way that guests can appear on The Simpsons or South Park and the show still retains it's integrity.  My guess is that that's one of the quirks that killed this show during development.

I found out about Gypsy Cab while perusing Cold Hard Flash.

Online Animation: Dick Figures Rules!

Alright.  Need a laugh?

Check out Dick Figures from Mondo Media.

DISCLAIMER: People easily offended or highly impressionable should watch at their own risk.

Dick Figures is the ultimate buddy flick.  It's like the classic buddy stereotype on acid.  Stickman fuelled acid.

Note: Random and glorious quotes are in abundance.

In this animation it's not the end that counts.  It's how Blue & Red get there. Sometimes you never even see the end, as in Zombies & Shotguns,  but it doesn't matter.  That's how good this show is.

The animation is also top notch.

Some people discount their artistic skills by saying they can only draw stick figures.  This show is a testament to how amazing the ability to draw stick figures can be.

This animation, on the Somnus scale of awesome, is a 10/10.  It is flawless.  A perfect victory.

Check it out!


Dick Figures: Flame War

Red and Blue turn a simple video game shopping spree into a black-ops killing spree. Dick Figures was created by Ed Skudder, who wrote, directed and voiced the episode along with Zack Keller.

Dick Figures on Facebook
http://tinyurl.com/dick-figures-FB

Eggs Gone Wild T-Shirt Debut

Sergio wearing an Eggs Gone Wild T-Shirt

My buddy Sergio made an appearance on Rayme The Minx, one of the top Canadian Blogs, a little while ago. Guess what T-Shirt he was wearing at the time? An Eggs Gone Wild T-Shirt!

See for yourself: http://raymitheminx.com/2011/06/05/the-revolution-will-be-blogged/

Sergio has written a couple Eggs Gone Wild episodes and also runs the Gay Bachelor Blog.

A Wendy's Career: Serves Me Right

A Wendy's Career: Serves Me Right

Alright, so we're finally going to break away from my tangent on adult animation and move into the realm of other media.  Such as the new brochure designed to entice people to consider a job at Wendy's as a solid career move.

Now, Wendy's has always held a special place in my heart.  My grandmother used to take my sister and I there when we were on road trips and as a result it became my 'happy' place.  However, since Dave Thomas passed away Wendy's has headed steadily down hill.  Their square burgers have now become an anachronism since it seems that all Wendy's is capable of doing is upping the price and cutting corners on quality.  I long for the days of the 99 cent junior Hamburger Deluxe where neither price nor flavour was an obstacle to enjoying my Wendy's indulgences.

I was recently in a Wendy's in London, ON (ever hopeful that maybe this time I might get a Wendy's meal I can once again enjoy) and was yet again shocked at the high cost and poor quality of the meal.  Immediately after finishing I noticed the brochure in the image above advertising for Wendy's Careers.

Now, maybe it was that the food wasn't sitting right with me, or maybe I would have picked this out anyway, but I can't recall a place or time when the catch phrase "Serves me right" has been used in a positive context. All I could think upon seeing it was that someone in middle management told the Wendy's marketing firm that they were going to do a paradigm shift on the "serves me right" slogan, but I really can't see how a fast food chain could ever think they were going to accomplish something like that. Yes, if they succeeded they would have bragging rights, but it's like me trying to climb a Indian coconut tree in bare feet (it's not likely to end well). Whoever made the decision to go ahead with this was either really proud of Wendy's or oblivious to the nature of North American culture and either can be very dangerous when it comes to marketing campaigns.

However, before posting this, and just to make sure I wasn't alone in my assumption that this brochure was highly ironic I've been showing it to countless folks and asking for their opinions on it.  So far only one person, we'll call her Rosemary, didn't get the irony of it.  Rosemary did get it once I asked her what her opinion of the brochure would be if the people had label's like W.o.W. (World of Warcraft) Addict and so on.  So for her and the people like her I added the labels to the image to make sure the irony wouldn't be lost on anyone.

In conclusion, if you'd like to impress family and friends with your media savy sense of humour all you have to do is visit a local Wendy's, pick-up one of these brochures and share it at the appropriate time.  I guarantee you'll get chuckles and if you don't you're probably not hanging out in the right groups of people - not that I'm judging ;)

The Adult Animation Scene back in 1998

Adult Swim's Ignignokt 

Ignignokt

I just stumbled across The Mainstream Business of Adult Animation, which is an interesting article by Sean Maclennan Murch about the business of adult animation back in 1998.

In this article Sean Maclennan Murch says that in 1998 broadcasters were looking to replace their children's animated programming blocks with adult animation programming because their children's animation block's couldn't compete with the animation programming provided by specialty youth and children's channels.  

So now it's thirteen years later and I'd have to say that while Sean was right that many networks experimented with adult animation programming, after his article, very few were actually successful in making the jump and many adult animation shows were cancelled.

The most notable exception to this rule is the Adult Swim programming block of the Comedy Network which is still the shining start of Adult Animation programming today.

Anyway, if you're interested in reading what the atmosphere for Adult Animation programming was like 1998 check out Sean Maclennan Murch's article.

Punch TV will be looking for original animation soon

I was browsing Cartoon Brew last night and found out that Punch TV has hired Leo Sullivan to expand their animation programming.

It's exciting when a network decides to expand it's animation programming, but this one is particularly inspiring because they are looking to expand their block for all ages.

Punch TV said in their press release that "a majority of the new animation projects will be geared to children, but with the success of Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, Punch TV is also hoping to offer new innovative animated series for adult viewers."

Like I said, pretty exciting. If you've got a gem of a pitch and want further details on Punch Television's animation programming expansion to see if your idea fits, contact Media Director Rachel Ramos at (310) 328-9400 or e-mail her at rramos@punchtv.com.

P.S. Punch TV also has a general pitching section on their website that is for any type of show.

Allen Gregory - First Look Trailer for the New Animated Series

It's here! The first look at Jonah Hill's animated brain child, Allen Gregory.

I'd say they nailed the principal's character, but I'm rather disappointed that Allen is looking to to the same. Could do without seeing those "bits".

The plot conflicts all look pretty minor in the series. The Gregory character doesn't seem invested enough in trying to fit in and I fear that is going to hold back the show. That is... unless they have him become determined to do anything to please the principal. We'll see. Could be interesting. I've always been a fan of Jonah Hill, so I'm going to reserve judgement until it airs.

China, Illonois: Adult Swim's Best Draft Pick

I've taken a look at what's available on the various new shows that Adult swim has given the green light on and I have to say that Brad Neely's show "China, Il" looks like the best original animation of the lot.

Luckily, seeing Brad's previous work on the series is actually easy to do. Check out his website's video page to see all the videos he has posted about the characters from China, Il.  Be warned, his sense of humour is not for the timid, weak of heart, or the easily offended.  The style isn't really animation at all in those videos though... they're based around perfectly timed still plates with the occasional crudely animated section thrown in.  Hopefully, with the Adult Swim deal, Brad will have the budget to add more animation sequences.

I haven't watched all the episodes on Brad's website yet, but a friend directed me to the two funniest videos that I've seen so far. "George Washington" and the "The Professor Brothers - Bible History #1 (Sodom & Gomorrah)".

Bible History


The Professor Brothers - Bible History #1 (Sodom & Gomorrah)

Cartoon Network's Adult Swim announces new & returning shows

The latest shows for Adult Swim's next season have been annouced!

Jay-Z performed at the party but there were no forthcoming details on the original animated show he is rumoured to be developing with Adult Swim.

Two of my personal animation heroes were in attendance at the party. They are of course Seth Green and Matthew Senreich.

Anyway, here are the new shows in the Adult Swim Programming Lineup that I'm interested in checking out:

NTSF:SD:SUV: (National Terrorism Strike Force: San Diego: Sport Utility Vehicle)
A clandestine team of government agents work together to protect San Diego from numerous terrorist threats which come in daily from such evil countries as Mexico, Canada and Guam.

This team of highly trained operatives has only one job: saving your ass so you can drive your Prius and see your movies in 3-D without worrying about living in a country run by no-good terrorists.

As with many other acronym-ed police procedurals that dominate the airwaves, NTSF:SD:SUV’s season of 15-minute episodes is ripped from the headlines and full of suspense, action, drama, cliffhangers, yelling, passionate love-making, more yelling, death and plenty of pregnant pauses. 

NTSF:SD:SUV: is created by Paul Scheer and stars Scheer, Rebecca Romjin, Rob Riggle, Kate Mulgrew, Brandon Johnson, June Diane Raphael, Martin Starr and S.A.M., the first sentient robot on television. Paul Scheer and Jonathan Stern are executive producers. Curtis Gwinn is co-executive producer. Series premieres this summer on Adult Swim.

THE VENTURE BROS. SPECIAL—FROM THE LADLE TO THE GRAVE: THE STORY OF SHALLOW GRAVY
See the Venture Family as you’ve never seen them before: in a 15-minute documentary-style animated special. Follow the meteoric rise, the equally meteoric fall, and the decidedly un-meteor-like second coming of the most important band Hank Venture, Dermott Fitctel and H.E.L.P.eR. robot have ever been in: Shallow Gravy. If you’re hungry for rock, then open wide, because here comes a ladle of heavy metal fire and metaphoric meat drippings.

Launched on Adult Swim in August 2004, The Venture Bros. is an inspired spoof of 1960s action cartoon shows such as Johnny Quest. Created by Jackson Publick III (King of the Hill, The Tick), the 30-minute animated series follows the bizarre misadventures of the Venture family. The Venture Bros. Special—From the Ladle to the Grave: The Story of Shallow Gravy premieres July 24 on Adult Swim.

The Professor Brothers

CHINA, IL

Frank and Steve Smith are brothers who teach in the history department of a state university in China, Illinois. They also happen to be legends in their own minds who will often sacrifice facts, lessons and syllabi for the sake of being awesome. Created by Brad Neely, executive produced by Brad Neely (Creased Comics) and Daniel Weidenfeld and produced by Titmouse, Inc. (Metalocalypse), China, IL premieres this fall on Adult Swim.

TIGHT BROS
Tight Bros is a new animated comedy that follows two moronic “clergybros” who are on a quest for fat beats, hot chicks and tricked out cell phones.

Vince and Aaron were called by God to spread a holy message: one of peace, love and tearin’ up the club. By day the two sell religious kitsch at a kiosk in Viceroy Del Sol mall. By night they hunt for babes, but only with mega tans and super smooth waxes in place.

Premiering in the spring of 2012, Tight Bros is created and written and executive produced by Sam Johnson and Chris Marcil.



BLACK DYNAMITE
Based on 2009’s critically-acclaimed feature film, Black Dynamite, the new 30-minute animated series will premiere in the spring of 2012. The Black Dynamite animated series further chronicles the exploits of the central character, Black Dynamite, and his crew. Under the direction of Carl Jones (The Boondocks), the series features the voice talent of Michael Jai White, Tommy Davidson, Kym Whitley and Byron Minns, all of whom starred in the feature film.

The feature film is an outrageous action comedy-spoof that follows ex-CIA agent and full-time ladies man, Black Dynamite, who’s out to avenge the death of his brother against kung-fu masters, drug-dealing pimps and The Man.

Black Dynamite, the animated series, is being produced by Ars Nova Entertainment. Carl Jones is executive producer. Jon Steingart and Jillian Apfelbaum also serve as executive producers. Brian Ash is co-executive producer. Scott Sanders, Michael Jai White and Byron Minns are producers. Black Dynamite is being animated by Titmouse, Inc.