The Crocodile from Peter Pan -- October Sunset, Monte Nido CA

One Friday evening last October, I was driving home along Las Virgenes Road in Monte Nido, CA, and I glanced toward the sunset.  What I saw prompted me to pull my car over and take a few pictures with my iPhone.  I'm not much of a photographer, and I'm not really a cloud aficionado, but this particular sunset sky seemed unique.  To me, the clouds looked a lot like the tick-tocking crocodile from Disney's "Peter Pan."  Or a fire-breathing dragon version of that character.   Anyway, here's the photographic proof that, every now and then, we get some spectacular sunsets here in Southern California. 

 

The Premiere of Platypus Duck -- Part 7

A thirty-five-year-old pencil sketch of the title character, Platypus Duck, reflecting on the beach at sunset.  

More to come...

The Premiere of Platypus Duck -- Part 6

More artwork from "The Premiere of Platypus Duck."  Preliminary design for the platypus home and pond.  Pen and ink and watercolor.

More to come...

The Premiere of Platypus Duck -- Part 5

"The Premiere of Platypus Duck" had a lot of cel animation in it, but I hand drew, inked and colored some  sequences completely on paper.  This image is from one of those paper sequences.  After the platypi reunite, they do a song and dance routine on the stage of the Sydney Opera House.   And, once again, the little platypus kid upstages his brother.  

Parker MacDonell provided the music, lyrics and performance of the song.  

More to come...

The Premiere of Platypus Duck -- Part 4

Some cel set-ups from "The Premiere of Platypus Duck":  The three platypi approach the Sydney Opera House and enter, in hopes of tracking down the missing platypus duchess.

The third platypi is the little guy on top...He's always the last in, and the one who always acts a little bit nutty.

More to come...

The Premiere of Platypus Duck -- Part 3

In "The Premiere of Platypus Duck," the search for the platypus duchess takes the platypus trio to the big city, where they find the duchess performing at the Sydney Opera House.  (The platypi's home burrow is modeled after Jorn Utzon's design of the Sydney Opera House.)  College pal Brian Fuld provided the voice for the stage manager and announcer at the opera house.  

Below, a painted background of the Sydney Opera House used in the cartoon, plus the preliminary rough sketch.  These were based on photos provided by Kenny Altorfer, one of my parents' very best friends from Metuchen. 

More to come...

The Premiere of Platypus Duck -- Part 2

In "The Premier of Platypus Duck" cartoon, after the duck-billed platypus family is established, a flood comes along and carries off the platypus mom.  Thus begins the search for the missing "platypus duchess" by the dad and two sons.  

 

The image above is taken from the POV of a drain pipe which proves to be the method by which the three platypi find a path to the big city.  This particular scene was one of the most complicated to execute and shoot.  The circle matte moved across the screen from right to left, while the platypi walked through the wooded scenery from left to right.  

I particularly like the woodcut look of this background.  

The Premiere of Platypus Duck -- Part 1

Back in 1974, I received a grant from my college's film department to make an animated film.   The result was an eleven minute cartoon called...

The story follows the evolution of the duck-billed platypus from pre-history to modern day.  

The cartoon took almost two years to complete...and I sure learned a lot about the labor-intensive process of animation.  While I drew all the animation and hand-inked the cels, I managed to persuade many friends and relatives to pitch in on coloring some of the animation-on-paper, and talked others into painting some of the hundreds of cels.  

My best pal Parker MacDonell, an extraordinary singer/songwriter and musician, composed, performed and recorded the score -- which was wall-to-wall!  Eleven minutes of music!  Much of the animation moves to the score, and the edits are hooked into the rhythm of the evocative music.   

The two cell set-ups re-produced here are from the opening scene.  

As we hear the strains of an orchestra tuning up, we find the duck-billed platypus floating in the pond next to his burrow.  (The burrow has a shape similar to the Sydney Opera House, which is a motif throughout the film.)  The platypus looks up at the stars as the music begins, and a fanfare accompanies the sudden appearance of a marquee up in the sky.  The platypus seems slightly impressed with himself, since his name is on the marquee.

MORE TO COME... 

Cartoonatics' One Year Anniversary!

Happy 1st Birthday to Cartoonatics!  And thanks to all of you for stopping by over the past year.  Keep those comments coming and...

 ...CELEBRATE!

The Cartoon Shows That Never Were #2 -- "Mixed Nutz" Part 21 -- "Toonotology"

Another segment from "Mixed Nuts":  

"TOONOTOLOGY"
Bugs Bunny offers a rambling, incoherent and very-close-to-crazy discourse on what it means to him to be a "Toonotologist" in this parody of the Tom Cruise Scientology recruitment video. 

The Cartoon Shows That Never Were #2 -- "Mixed Nutz" -- Part 20 -- Bugs Bunny

My alternate title for "Mixed Nuts" was "Toonotopia."  I played around with the original movie poster from Fritz Lang's silent classic "Metropolis" to come up with this series poster, featuring the star of the show, the world's greatest rabbit, Bugs Bunny.  

The Cartoon Shows That Never Were #2 -- "Mixed Nutz" Part 19 -- Jabberjaws Meets Elmer

Below is another piece of concept art from "Mixed Nutz," the animated show I pitched to Warner Bros. back in 2008 that combines the stars of Looney Tunes with the stars of Hanna-Barbera cartoons.  

Some of the fun moments in "Mixed Nutz" come from the unlikely pairings...like this one.

Elmer Fudd goes hunting, and so does Jabberjaws, in this segment from "Mixed Nutz." 

The Cartoon Shows That Never Were #2 -- "Mixed Nutz" -- Part 18 --Daffy, Yogi, Scooby and Gossamer

Two more images from the "Mixed Nutz" pitch.

Daffy and Yogi argue over their own respective studliness and the kind of music they want to listen to during a cross-country trek in this segment from "Mixed Nutz."

Scooby encounters Looney Tunes monster star Gossamer, who's the pet of the local mad scientist veterinarian, in this "Mixed Nutz" sequence.

More to come...

The Cartoon Shows That Never Were: "Mixed Nutz" Part 17 -- Scoop Doggie Daddy and Petunia Pig

In "Mixed Nutz" (2008),  Doggie Daddy and son have become world-famous hip-hop artists:  namely, Augie Doggy and Scoop Doggie Daddy.  

Likewise, Petunia Pig has become a teen idol in the Britney Spears mold.  She's a top pop singer, a smoking dancer, and the hottest pig on the planet!  

More to come...

The Cartoon Shows That Never Were #2 -- "Mixed Nutz" -- Part 16 -- Dogs Playing Poker

A recurring segment on "Mixed Nutz," based on the famous kitschy paintings by C.M. Coolidge:  the dogs of Hanna-Barbera play poker with the Looney Tunes canines.

Marc Antony, Charlie the Dog, K-9 and other Looney Tunes mutts must deal with the underhanded and less-than-above-board card sharks from Hanna-Barbera, including (among others) Huckleberry Hound, Doggie Daddy, Scooby, Scrappy and the biggest cheater of all, Bandit.

"The Cartoon Shows That Never Were #2" -- "Mixed Nutz" -- Part 15 -- TV Parodies

More segment concepts from "Mixed Nutz" (2008) -- in this case, TV show parodies.  

In this parody of the "House" TV series, grouchy Dr. Huckleberry  Hound and his incompetent intern, Daffy Duck, must remove a rocket that could explode any second from the rectum of Wile E. Coyote.  

Don't ask.  

In this spoof, Yosemite Sam is a footloose and fancy-free cowboy on the town.  He writes a popular blog about dating as he searches for love and the perfect pair of stylish boots in the big city.  

More to come...

The Cartoon Shows That Never Were #2 -- "Mixed Nutz" -- Part 14 -- Daffy Vs. Everyone

A few more images from "Mixed Nutz," the animated TV series I pitched to Warner Bros back in 2008.  In "Mixed Nuts," the cartoon worlds of Looney Tunes and Hanna-Barbera characters come together, resulting in some unique pairings and some new variations on the classic themes.

Of course, Daffy Duck would demand plenty of air time on "Mixed Nuts."   As he put it, "A star of my stature should expect nothing less."   But in this show, Daffy would find himself constantly outflanked by scene-stealers like Yogi Bear...

  ...and upstaged by spotlight-hogging hams like Snagglepuss.  

More to come...

The Cartoon Shows That Never Were #2 -- "Mixed Nutz" -- Part 13 -- Marvin the Martian vs. Hanna-Barbera's Universe

In "Mixed Nutz," Marvin the Martian declares intergalactic war against the Hanna-Barbera cartoon universe, and tangles with the casts of "The Jetsons" and "Jonny Quest" in the process.  

 

Marvin's plans to overthrow Orbit City disintegrate when the Martian becomes the focus of attention for lovesick teenager Judy Jetson.  

Marvin is the world's most obnoxious backseat driver as he hijacks the role of Hadji in the "Jonny Quest" segment of "Mixed Nutz."

More to come...

The Cartoon Shows That Never Were #2 -- "Mixed Nutz" -- Part 12 -- Yakky Doodle as Villain

I've always been a big fan of Yakky Doodle, the manipulative little duck (with the funny voice provided by Jimmy Wheldon) who starred in his own weekly segments on "The Yogi Bear Show."

In "Mixed Nutz," Yakky remains cute and adorable...but we also see Yakky's dark side.  And we come to realize that Yakky is not just manipulative -- he's actually a sinister supervillain!

Look closely and you'll find Yakky's angry visage as one of the heavies pictured in this poster (below) for a "Mixed Nutz" parody of James Bond, starring Bugs Bunny.  

In "Mixed Nutz," we see how different cartoon characters interact with each other.  

For instance, Yakky is a huge fan of Tweety Bird.  He idolizes the Oscar-winning canary, and is constantly peppering the Warner Bros. cartoon star with fanboy questions and requests.   

Tweety tries to be accommodating, but the non-stop-chattering duck is relentless and ultimately very annoying.  Bottom line:  Tweety doesn't like being upstaged and out-"cuted" by the pint-sized duck.  As far as Tweety is concerned, there's room on "Mixed Nutz" for only one adorable yellow bird...which means, as Tweety puts it, "the poor widdle ducky" has to "faw down and go BOOM!!"

Immediately.

More to come...

The Cartoon Shows That Never Were #2 -- "Mixed Nutz" -- Part 11 -- Sam and Wilma

By jumbling together the Looney Tunes characters and the stars of Hanna-Barbera cartoons, "Mixed Nutz" was bound to come up with some odd pairings -- and none more odd that this one. 

Yosemite Sam develops a crush on Wilma Flintstone and goes a'courtin' in "Wham, Bam, Thank You, Sam."   

For Sam, the outcome is pretty much the same as it was in "Sam I Bam," pictured earlier.  

More to come...