Fun Animated Shorts

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Kelly McNutt, a talented Minneapolis animator whom I mentioned in yesterday’s post, has been working with Michael Jantze (creator of the comic strip The Norm) on some fun new animated shorts. The shorts are now viewable on the new Jantze Studios YouTube site:

At Your Service is a cartoon created for a client in the hotel/hospitality industry. If only every hotel experience was like this one!

The Norm Short is a quick little cartoon based on Jantze’s strip, The Norm.

Jeremy and Mom is a promo ‘toon featuring the characters from the comic strip Zits by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman.

Also, a reminder that today is the last day to take a shot at the advertising product mascot contest. The winner will be announced on Monday.

This and That

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I’m super busy finishing up a client project, so today I’ll just post a few miscellaneous links:

• Calling Minnesota Animators. My friend Kelly McNutt is a very talented artist and animator in his own right. Check out his blog and website. He’s currently looking for some Minnesota animation artists to help him out with a client project.

• Disney’s Announces Upcoming Animated Films. The Disney/Pixar studio has announced their upcoming slate of animated films. They will be releasing ten new animated films over the next few years. Most are original stories but there will also be two sequels: Toy Story 3 and Cars 2. Normally I’m not a fan of sequels, especially of the Disney variety. In recent years Disney has made quick profits with “cheapquels”—low quality sequels to classic animated films. But now that John Lasseter is running things, this time things could be much different. After all, Lasseter’s Toy Story 2 was (in my opinion) better than the original. No small feat!

• New Mac Ads. Apple has released two new ads featuring the Mac guy and the PC guy. These ads are always a treat to watch.

• Stuff I’m Selling. I’ve been cleaning out my closets and unloading a few animation-related items on ebay. If anyone is interested, here’s what I’m selling: Disney yearbooks from Mulan and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (the yearbooks were only given to artists and crew members who worked on the films. I bought my copies on ebay). I’m also selling a copy of the Ken Southworth Animation Program. There’s still a day or two to put in bids before the auctions end.

• Mascot Contest Ends Tomorrow! Don’t forget to take your shot at my advertising mascot contest. If you can correctly name the products associated with all twelve mascots, you’ll be entered into a drawing for a free copy of the new book Hi-Fi Color For Comics: Digital Techniques for Professional Results. The deadline is midnight tomorrow.

Deadline Crunch

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The freelance business can change rapidly. Most of last week work was winding down and I was getting ready to do some serious thumb twiddling. Now I’ve suddenly got five projects on my plate. Three are due this week.

Without divulging too much, my current projects include:

  • Designing a mascot for a retail company
  • A series of marker comps for an ad agency
  • Some toy designs for a novelty company
  • Concept art for a Flash-animated web game
  • Vector art for a series of logos.

I’m also negotiating a project to design a mascot for a recycling campaign. And, if I have time there are some local drawing co-ops I’d like to attend this week.

So, unfortunately I won’t have time to write a post today. But don’t forget to check out the great Art Blogs listed over in the left-hand column. Cool stuff!

Also, there’s still time to enter my mascot contest for a chance to win a copy of the new book Hi-Fi Color For Comics: Digital Techniques for Professional Results.

See ya tomorrow!

Interview With Disney Legend Bill Peet

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Here’s an interview with Disney animation artist and legend Bill Peet. The interview is rather long and I haven’t had time to read it yet myself. But my friend Dan sent it to me and he’s usually pretty good at passing on interesting sites related to art and animation.

Eaten Alive In The Studio Jungle

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Here’s an interesting article from the LA Times about Deborah Gregory, an author who created “The Cheetah Girls” and sold the property to Disney. Her characters have appeared in two TV movies, sold millions of CDs and DVDs, and have toured in over 80 cities. Her contract with Disney gave her 4% of the gross revenues.

She hasn’t seen a penny.

It’s called Hollywood accounting, and it’s unfortunately very common. Apparently when writers and creators sell the rights to their characters. Hollywood studios have all sorts of tricky ways to balance the books and make sure that somehow the creator’s share of the profits never makes its way onto the bottom line.

I’m not sure if this has much to do with illustration or character design. My guess is most of you will never sell a character or story to a big Hollywood studio. But it is a reminder that at the very least you should be using good, solid contracts when working with clients to help ensure your artwork isn’t misused or your rights infringed upon. To learn more I highly recommend two books: The Graphic Artists Guild Handbook of Pricing & Ethical Guidelines and Tad Crawford’s Business and Legal Forms for Illustrators. Both are chock full of helpful information for the serious freelancer.

You can find even more resources at my Amazon.com Recommended Resources page.

Sick Day

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Sorry folks, but I’ve been flattened by a bad cold and fever. So no post today. But before you leave check some of the great art blogs listed over in the left-hand column. Inspiring stuff!