Got a little silly in the sketchbook today. Merry Christmas everyone!
New Animation: “Are You A Good Person?”
I’m proud to announce the completion of a new animated short film that I produced and co-animated for the ministry of Living Waters. They are perhaps best known as the producers of The Way of the Master, a Christian reality series hosted by Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron:
The cartoon is loosely based on a Gospel tract I illustrated for Living Waters back in 2006, and both are adapted from Ray Comfort’s best-selling book Hell’s Best Kept Secret. I was also inspired by many of the UPA and Disney educational cartoons from the 1950’s. The goal was to communicate a very serious and important message in a fun and entertaining way yet without watering down the content. It was a tough line to walk but I think we pulled it off.
I wrote, designed, produced, and edited the cartoon. The character of Mr. Nice Guy was animated by two very talented and hard-working animators: Michael Foster from Salty Graphics and Chance Dodd via Little Wolf Pictures. They also animated a couple of misc. shots. The rest of the artwork and animation was done by me. Mr. Nice Guy was voiced by Kirk Cameron and the Narrator was voiced by radio pastor David Jeremiah.
This was a giant project that took many months to complete. We ran into a few hurdles and setbacks along the way but the team at Living Waters couldn’t have been more gracious and helpful. They were absolutely a dream client to work with!
Of all the hundreds of projects I’ve worked on to date, this one was the most personal for me and also one of which I am most proud. But then, I’m so closely attached to it that its very hard for me to look at it objectively anymore. Besides, it doesn’t really matter what i think, it’s what the viewer thinks that’s important. So I value your input. I’d be very grateful if you could watch the cartoon (it takes 5 minutes plus a one minute promo at the end). Then, if you are so inclined please leave a comment and let me know what you think.
Good Friday Cartoon
Today is Good Friday, the day Christians celebrate the crucifixion of Jesus. A crucifixion seems like an odd thing to celebrate, but it is in fact good news. How’s that, you ask? A couple of years ago I partnered with the ministry of Living Waters to illustrate a short cartoon gospel tract that explains what I mean. For those of you who haven’t had a chance to read it, I invite you to do so. It’s only 8 small pages and to read it online is completely free.
If you are so inclined you can also order printed copies to share with others. I don’t make any royalties, in fact any ministry that wants to download and publish the tract can do so for free. To date over 2.8 million copies of the tract have been printed in English and it has been translated into nine different languages with more on the way. It’s far above and beyond anything I could have imagined. My hope is that it helps many people to get a clear understanding of what Easter and Christianity are really all about.
Have a very happy Easter!
Watch Your Step
I found this using Stumble. It’s a fun (though bizarre) animated short by Pascal Campion about a man trying to open a very unique cartoon door. It appears to have been done in Flash. The timing is sharp, the animation is fluid, and the concept is delightfully simple. There is no sound or dialogue, just pantomime done very effectively. It runs a bit long, but you can tell the animator had a ton of fun doing it.
This little cartoon highlights one one of the often overlooked strengths of animation: the ability to really mess with physics, time, and space. This piece reminds me a bit of the work of Bill Plympton or “Duck Amuck” by Chuck Jones.
Click here to watch the cartoon.
Animation Lovers Rejoice!
Today several new animated DVDs are hitting the store shelves. Time to add to your collections:
Pixar Short Films Collection – Volume 1. This looks super cool! 13 short films with audio commentary plus at least one behind-the-scenes featurette.
Ratatouille. Not nearly a good as The Incedibles, but a reasonably entertaining movie with stunning visuals. Unfortunately the DVD is light on special features. There apparently is no audio commentary, only deleted scenes with introductions by Brad Bird. There is also a documentary and two short films.
At one time there were reports that a 2-disc special edition of Disney/Pixar’s Cars would also be released today, but instead there is just a one-disc version for Blu-Ray.
Other DVD animated curiosities released today include Opus N’ Bill in a Wish for Wings That Work; Chuck Jones Collection (an ambiguous title–no Warner Brothers work here, just six little-known short films by Jones); and Beetle Bailey: The Complete Collection.
Also, don’t forget to check out Looney Tunes – Golden Collection, Volume Five, which was released last week.
Schoolism.com: “Fat Joe” (Final)
This is it. I’ve finished my nine-week character design course with Stephen Silver over at Schoolism.com. It’s been an amazing experience. Stephen is not only a brilliant character designer but also an inspiring teacher.
Our very first assignment was to design a character based on Fat Joe from the play The Long Voyage Home. We were given this description:Read More