Slappy Squirrel Animation Smear -- "Bumbie's Mom"

Here's a beautiful animation smear of Slappy Squirrel from Jon McClenahan, Barry Caldwell and the Startoons crew in Chicago.  

The series:  Animaniacs.  The episode:  "Bumbie's Mom."  

At the local multiplex, Slappy's nephew Skippy is enjoying the movie -- "Bumbie" -- until there's an onscreen gunshot and it appears that Bumbie's mom has been killed by a hunter.  Skippy burst into tears, waking Slappy from a sound sleep and resulting in the one frame Slappy smear featured below.  

Spoiler Alert:  The episode has a happy ending.  

Startoons's brilliant creative team animated and produced many of the very best Slappy and Skippy Squirrel cartoons during the entire Animaniacs run (1993-1998).   The Startoons Slappy cartoons include:  "Slappy Goes Walnuts," "Guardin' the Garden," "Critical Condition," "...And Justice For Slappy," "Scare Happy Slappy," "Soccer Coach Slappy" and "Bully for Skippy," among others.   All feature the brilliant voice performances of Sherri Stoner as Slappy and Nathan Ruegger as Skippy Squirrel.  And many of the Slappy cartoons are written by Sherri, as well as John P. McCann, Earl Kress, Nick Hollander, Nick Dubois and me...   

Animation Smears, Wild Takes and Strong Poses from "Woodstock Slappy"

Animation Lesson:

 

1.  Here are some in-between smears that intensify the acting and animation in "Woodstock Slappy."

Slappy leans in on Skippy with a smear face stretch.    

 

Slappy makes a fast, single-frame gestures toward the stage... 

 

Slappy uses her arms to beseech Skippy to answer the question that's driving her crazy:   "Who's on stage?"

Skippy stretches up then goes down into a squash and freaks out as Slappy sings along with her accordion.

  

2.  Some wild takes from "Woodstock Slappy." 

Slappy wakes up to the song stylings of a screaming Janis Joplin... 
 

 

 

3.  And here are some excellent strong poses and acting from director Audu Paden and his brilliant crew of artists, story-boarders and animators on "Woodstock Slappy,"  helped by some great vocal performances by Sherri Stoner, Nate Ruegger and the rest of the cast.

 

  

FREAK-A-CON! Thursday March 15, 2018 -- 8pm Eastern Time, 5pm Pacific Time

 
Don's miss "FREAK-A-CON," the live online virtual Comic-Convention dedicated to all things FREAKAZOID.   It's Thursday, March 15th 2018 at 5pm to 6pm Pacific time, 8pm to 9pm Eastern time.  Go to  --


              https://www.facebook.com/FreakACon/


...and Freak-Out!

FREAK OUT! A Major FREAKAZOID EVENT Coming this Fall!

The Freakazoid event of the millennium!  Coming this fall to Southern California!     Start planning your autumn now!

 

FREAK-A-CON 2015! THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF FREAKAZOID IMMERSIVE WEEKEND!!

This is a BIG deal!  So big that it's taken 20 years to get the planning just right!
Along with Paul Rugg and John McCann, I'm proud to announce the following event:
THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF FREAKAZOID IMMERSIVE WEEKEND!
Coming in 2015! 

 
That's right, 2015 will mark the 20th anniversary of the premier of Steven Spielberg presents FREAKAZOID, and what better way to mark the occasion than an entire weekend of Freakazoid  workshops, panel discussions, screenings, performances and one-of-a-kind events.

Yes!  Paul Rugg -- Freakazoid himself -- John McCann and I will be welcoming a slew of special guests, and we'd like you to take part in this weekend of non-stop activities -- the kind only Freakazoid and his friends could possibly bring you. 
 
Details and schedules are coming soon.  We hope you will plan on joining us in 2015 for this entertaining and IMMERSIVE weekend!

A bear WILL ride a motorcycle!

Pull the string!

And stay tuned!!!!!

Happy 4th of July from Skippy and Slappy Squirrel

"In the land of the free, now that's com-e-dy!"

Cel set-up from the final scene of the Animaniacs episode entitled "Woodstock Slappy," directed by Audu Paden, written by John P. McCann and me, and featuring the "Who's on Stage?" sketch performed by Slappy (Sherri Stoner) and Skippy (Nathan Ruegger).  

An Animalia Christmas

Allegra the alligator in an image from the holiday episode of  Animalia, the BBC series based on the classic book by Graham Base.  

The Return of "The Huntsman!"

Huntsman’s back; now will he run for president?

By Thomas Burr

The Salt Lake Tribune

April 29, 2011
Updated Apr 29, 2011 11:59PM

Washington • 

After more than 18 months in Beijing, Jon Huntsman is back in the United States and weighing one of the biggest decisions of his life: Should he run for president?

Huntsman has officially resigned his role as U.S. ambassador to China and will in the coming weeks hold court with family, friends and close advisers on whether to plunge into a White House campaign.

Huntsman already has an experienced team, a pile of cash and a plan of attack awaiting him if he decides to run.  And for now, that’s a big “if.”

“You don’t pull the trigger recklessly,” says John Weaver,  the lead architect of what could be Huntsman’s presidential campaign. “We expect and hope and plan that he’ll want to have counsel from a wide variety of sources. And from what I know of Huntsman that’s his style anyway. Having said that, the car is built, and it’s ready for the driver.”

Huntsman's Horizon Political Action Committee, which is based in Utah and has been accepting donations for two months, could easily turn into an exploratory committee in June, and later, perhaps, a full-fledged campaign.  But only if Huntsman takes the dive.

Thus far, no comment from the creator of The Huntsman, writer/producer John McCann.  Of course, it is Mr. McCann who first wrote about the daring exploits of "The Huntsman" on the TV series "Freakazoid.  McCann also penned the catchy "Theme to the Huntsman":

Hunt, hunt, hunt 

He's the Huntsman
"  Into action"   is his cry
From the forest to the city
He will run there in a jiffy
To sock evil in the eye
 
Marty Feeb was a poor hunter
Hungry without dough
'Til the day he saved a chunky elf
From being eaten by a crow
The elf rewarded Marty Feeb
With a magic sack of corn
He gained strength and speed and shiny teeth
And as the Huntsman was reborn
 
Hunt, hunt, hunt
He's the Huntsman
He'll whip the pants off the bad guys
If there's an emergency
Sound the Horn of Urgency
And summon the Huntsman
"  Into action"   is his cry!
Huuuuuuuuuuuunt.

BTW, John McCann discusses writing, life, comedy, and many other entertaining subjects at his website...  http://writeenough.blogspot.com/ 

Animaniacs and the Nostalgia Critic

Recently, the Nostalgia Critic (AKA That Guy In The Glasses) conducted interviews with some of the mixed nuts behind Animaniacs (including John McCann, Paul Rugg and both Slappy and Skippy -- Sherri Stoner and Nate Ruegger).  In honor of that, I cleaned up this Slappy and Skippy cel set-up from the first season's promotional campaign -- and made sure it had that nostalgic sepia tone coloring.

That Guy in the Glasses told me that the Animaniacs piece will be broadcast  on August 10th.  (Hopefully, I can figure out how to send the video clips from the interview to his FTP site by then.) 


                                                                                                                       Animaniacs (C) 2010 Warner Bros.