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... 

My First Cartoon

Coming this week:  images from my first cartoon, "The Premiere of Platypus Duck."   Original cels and drawings were preserved for the past 35 years by my mom in a trunk in the basement of her Metuchen, New Jersey home.  (The animation cels look brand new!)

The "Flashback" image above is from the eleven-minute cartoon, which tells the story of the evolution of the duck-billed platypus from 250 million years ago to the present...and to the future.    

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!

"Animaniacs": The Goodfeathers

The Goodfeathers:  Pesto, Bobby and Squit.

The actors who provide the voices for Pesto, Bobby and Squit.  

Chick Vennera (Pesto), John Mariano (Bobby) and Maurice LaMarche (Squit). 

A Poem: "Look At Me"

Look at me 

I'm fat again

Unlike

 Amy Madigan.

R.I.P. Columbo

        Peter Falk (1927-2011)

"Tiny Toon Adventures" at the Pasadena Rose Parade

Back in the early 90's, Baskin-Robbins sponsored a "Tiny Toon Adventures" float for a couple of years at the annual Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year's Day.  The photo below is from the first year of Tiny Toon's participation -- I think it was January 1, 1993.   (Baskin-Robbins also sold a line of Tiny Toon ice cream products for a number of years.)
    

Yakko on the Warner Bros. Studio Water Tower -- 1993

To announce the premier of "Animaniacs" in September 1993, it was decided to place an inflated-balloon replica of Yakko Warner atop the water tower at the Warner Bros. studio lot in Burbank.  This seemed like a great idea at the time.  Unfortunately, no one clued in Bob Daly, who ran the studio.  When Bob pulled up in his car that day and saw the balloon-creature sitting on top of the tower, he thought his studio was under attack by some sort of mutant Mickey Mouse.  

The balloon figure of Yakko sat on the tower for less than 12 hours.  Paul Rugg snapped this photo, which may be the only documentation of this strange day in studio history. 

Happy Father's Day -- from Father Time and "Histeria"

The Warner Bros. Store -- 5th Avenue, New York City, 1995 -- Part 2

A couple of additional photos of the flagship Warner Bros. Studio Store in NYC back in mid-1995, when they featured "Animaniacs," specifically Yakko, Wakko, and Dot, in their window displays.  

 

Adventures in Advertising

Before I landed a job in animation, I lived in the New York area and pursued a career in advertising...for about six months.   After that didn't pan out, I moved to Los Angeles where Bill Hanna gave me a job as an assistant animator at Hanna-Barbera.  Thank you, Bill! 

During my brief time in pursuit of advertising, I took a test at McCann-Ericson -- a large ad agency at the time -- to get into their apprentice program.  Below is one of the pieces that I submitted for that test.  The client was Puerto Rican White Rum.   In retrospect, I guess the magazine ad I came up with would please neither the rum company executives nor their customers.   But I went with what I liked:  talking animals.  

I didn't get the job, which turned out to be a good thing.  After the advertising world passed, I was able to pursue my true goal...animation.  

Memorial Day 2011

Thanks to all who served, and to all who sacrificed so much for our nation and for our freedoms.   We salute you all.  

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... 

The Cartoon Shows That Never Were #2 -- "Mixed Nutz" -- Part 10 -- Movie Parodies

I didn't always include characters from both the Looney Tunes and the Hanna-Barbera franchises in every piece of artwork for the "Mixed Nutz" presentation.  While the plan was to have characters from both cartoon worlds appear in each animated segment, when I was pulling together art for the pitch, I'd just use the images and characters that best represented the idea.  

Below, a couple of those pieces.

Bugs runs for higher office in this full-cast extravaganza.

Magilla Gorilla uses the Chrysler building to examine his prostate in this parody of "King Kong," with Lola Bunny hopelessly miscast (as usual) in the Fay Wray/Jessica Lange/Naomi Watts role.  

More to come...