Cartoon Review - Interview with Jay Stephens

Hello and welcome to Cartoon Review! Instead of doing that late Cartoon Review of Phineas and Ferb, I decided to do an interview with Jay Stephens. Jay, if you didn't know, is a cryptozoology freak who is the creator of the upcoming Cartoon Network show "The Secret Saturdays" (which I think will be one of the best action shows ever, maybe even better than Avatar). It's a rather short interview, which just answers a few short questions. So without adu, here's the interview!

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Me : Where did you grow up, and did your childhood have any affect on your work?
Jay: I grew up in a traditional North American 'broken home' where I was abandoned for hours-- even days-- at a time in front of a TV or with a stack of comic books. I found the love and nurturing I needed in junk culture, and it definitely sent me on this screwy 'career' path. I had to hone my imagination while dreaming up a happy childhood.


Me: How did the idea for your other animated series, Tutenstein, come about?
Jay: When I was 7 I saw a touring exhibit of 'The Treasures Of Tutankhamen' at the Art Gallery Of Ontario, and it blew my mind. Much later, I thought the idea of cross breeding a living mummy with Frankenstein's Monster would be wicked cool.

Me: Before Tutenstein and The Secret Saturdays, I hear you worked in comics. What was some of your work in that and how did you end up in animation?
Jay: I worked in comics (and continue to) for 15 years before coming to animation. You could do some homework on that stuff at my website: http://www.jaystephens.com
Basically, an executive saw my comics and thought they might make good TV. First Jetcat for Nick, then Tut, and the rest is history.

Me: How was it, working on The Secret Saturdays? And if the channel lets you, would you work on a third season?
Jay: We don't have a second season yet, so I'm not sure of what you mean (the first season order was for 26 episodes). CN has been my best experience in animation to date, by a wide margin. I would be delighted to continue the relationship.

Me: How did the Saturdays end up with Cartoon Network?
Jay: They were the only network we shopped it to with the vision to see it through. As luck would have it, the success of Ben 10 had executives hungry for more action stuff. I've been trying to get in that door for years, so it came as a kind of anti-climactic shock to suddenly be doing business with the best animated network out there.

Me: How did you end up being so interested in monsters and cryptids?
Jay: I've been told I have a sick mind. Monsters creep into my thoughts pretty naturally, I guess! When I was in grade school, I was voracious in my private reading habits, sneaking off to the Library across the street from my house as often as possible. It was there that I first discovered the secret science of cryptozoology, and I used evidence for the existence of Bigfoot as my grade 4 Public Speaking project. I won first prize. Cryptids have been good to me ever since.

Me: What do you do in your spare time?
Jay: Get well in a Mental Hospital. For real.

Me: Are there any significant people that influence your work?
Jay: Far too many to list here, and it's an ever expanding list. I can tell you that I was looking to Alex Toth, Doug Wildey, Warren Tufts, Milt Caniff, Roy Crane, Harvey Kurtzman, Daniel Torres, Jack Kirby, and Hergé as inspiration for the Secret Saturdays.

Me: Are there any secrets you can reveal about upcoming episodes?
Jay: If I told you, I'd have to sick my chupacabras on you.

Jay Stephens' "The Secret Saturdays" is set to premiere in October on Cartoon Network's new fantasy/adventure/action block along with Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Cartoon Review!- Interview with Mr. Warburton

Hello! It's me again with another interview with an animator. This week's animator is Mr. Warburton, the creator of the cartoon Codename: Kids Next Door. We are now heading into the wacky mind of this pretty cool guy. So here's the interview!
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Me: How are you doing?

Warburton: Rockin'. And you?

Me: Was you day okay?

Warburton: So far so good!

Me: Anyway, I want to ask you something.

Warburton: No, you can't borrow a dollar.

Me: Could I please interview you for my blog?

Warburton: Um... you sure you don't want a dollar instead?

Me: It would mean a lot to me?

Warburton: Well... okay. But I'm keeping the dollar then.

Me: It you do, please answer these questions?

Warburton: Right...let's rock.

Me: How did you get into the animation biz?

Warburton: It's what I always wanted to do. Initially I didn't think I was good enough, but tried anyway. To be honest, I still don't think I'm good enough. I keep expecting someone to suddenly yell, "HEY! HOW'D HE GET IN HERE! SECURITY!"

Me: How hard is it working on a cartoon?

Warburton: Imagine carrying a grand piano filled with lead bricks up Mount Everest while wearing roller skates as rabid ice weasels give you noogies, pink bellies, and arm burns the whole way. And that's just what your MORNING is like. But I happen to like grand pianos filled with lead bricks, mountain climbing, roller skating, and weasels. I don't like the other stuff but you can't have everything in life, right?

Me: How is it like working at one of the few animation studios in New York?

Warburton: Well, I've worked at a lot of great studios in NYC in the past but Curious Pictures is really the last big studio left- which allows me to have a sooper, triple, giant office with 5 floors, an indoor pool, game room, and 14 car garage (Totally Best Office Ever award, Workplace Quarterly Magazine, June 2007). Regardless, I love being in a studio with lots of different projects going on... it's inspiring to hang out with so many talented people.

Me: How was life growing up?

Warburton: Who says I ever grew up?

Me: What are you going to do now that Codename:KND is over?

Warburton: Watch TV. Not worry about what next week's gihoogic KND story is gonna be. Read Carl Greenblatt's blog and laugh at how much work he has to do (Chowder RULES, btw). But aside from those things, I've doing a children's book for HarperCollins called 'A 1000 Times No'. I'm helping out Cartoon Network with developing some shows with other people aaaaaaaaand I've got a sooper fun new show that's starting to make the rounds.

Me: How do you come up with episode name? Those acronyms must be hard to make.

Warburton: Hint- Stay away from the letter X. But believe it or not... it gets easier after you've done 10,465.2 acronyms. But sometimes you're paging through the dictionary, desperate for a word that starts with R. Sometimes I'd even change the title of the show if the acronym wasn't working out. One of my favorites was R.A.I.N.B.O.W.S. (Running Amok In Nature's Bounty Observing Wild Simians). Sheer poetry, right?

Me: Any final words?

Warburton: Final words? Why would I have any final-- HEY! Is that a kitchen knife? What are you-- NO NO! AAAAAAAAAH!

Future Interviews

Okay, I had to do something here at school. Yes, I am posting this one from school. Anyway, I have decided to test my luck if I could snag an interview with a few more animators. I have selected only the greatest ones...okay, these were only only guys I had the attention span to try and find today. But these guys are great, and it's a bonus that I could find their email addresses!I hope they don't refuse my plead for an interview. These are the amazing people I was able to seek out:

*Joe Murray - Creator of "Rocko's Modern Life" and "Camp Lazlo"
*Butch Hartman - Creator of "The Fairly OddParents!" and "Danny Phantom"
*Mr. "Tom" Warburton - Creator of "Codename: Kids Next Door"

Cartoon Review! - Interview with C.H. Greenblatt

Hello, and welcome to the first Cartoon Review! Interview since November! And have I got a nice treat for you...and awesome interview with veteran storyboarder for Spongebob Squarepants and The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. Oh, and the creator of the popular, Annie-nominated cartoon Chowder! Yes, I am talking about none other than C.H. Greenblatt! So without further adu, here the interview!
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Me: So what does the H in your name stand for?

Greenblatt: The "H" is a closely guarded secret.

Me: What made you want to go into the animation biz?

Greenblatt: Growing up, I always loved animation. I'd watch every cartoon on TV. I read a ton of comic books as well. For the longest time, I thought I wanted to be a newspaper cartoonist and do a daily comic strip. Or make comic books. But what I like about animation versus those other mediums is the addition of sound and movement. Drawing my own comics is fun because it's a very one-on-one way of communicating, whereas animation (TV and movies) has to be filtered through dozens of hands before it's complete. But I can do a lot more with animation than I can with a comic strip. It's more like making a little film.

Me: Where did you get the idea of Chowder?

Greenblatt: The idea for Chowder slowly came together and evolved while I was working on other shows. I thought about what I liked and what I'd want to see in a cartoon show. I really liked The Sorcerer's Apprentice and the relationship in that. So I knew I wanted it to be about a young kid and an old master he learned from. The rest just slowly built over time.

Me: What's it like making a cartoon?

Greenblatt: Making a cartoon is really fun. Every day I come in to work and try to think up whatever silliness I can. It's also the hardest job I've ever done (not physically, but mentally). The schedule of making a TV show is very demanding and there's no time to stop. If you're not feeling funny, you still have to write. You can't really wait for inspiration. And some days it's really hard to get what you want expressed through your drawings. And then it's even more stressful when you're running a show. There's always a million things that have to get done and you have to communicate to everyone what you want done and make sure all the pieces are working together correctly. But I still love it.

Me: What's it like living in Burbank?

Greenblatt: Burbank is kind of dull. It's like any other city. Living out in the San Fernando Valley reminds me a lot of living in Texas, but with more mountains.

Me: What was life like growing up?

Greenblatt: I grew up in a very suburban area of North Dallas, Texas. I spent a lot of time drawing cartoons and watching TV. I worked hard at school and did really well. Basically I was a total nerd. But I think I was lucky to have a really nice, happy childhood. I wish I had a more exciting tale to tell.

Me: Any final words to the people on the net that are hoping to become true animators?

Greenblatt: The best advice I can give is to draw every day. Draw all sorts of things. Not just people, but cars, buildings, whatever. If you can draw well and understand the fundamentals of composition and design, you should be able to find work doing what you love. Never stop drawing.

Cartoon Review! - Interview with Scotty "SMH"

New interview today. With some guy named Scott, also known as SMH. Those are probably his initials. Anyway, he makes comics, so here's the interview:
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Me: So what's your name?

Scotty: SMH

Me: So can you tell us about your comics?

Scotty: It doesn't have many fans. And there isn't many jokes, it's mostly about life.

Me: So what are your comics about?

Scotty: EL oop doesn't really have a plot, it's just random things. And the Paperboy is about a boy who has to go into cartoons, anime, and games to deliver the paper.

Me: Where did you get the idea for EL oop?

Scotty: Well my sister was doing a play of High School Musical in Indiana, so I drew while we go there and drew EL oop. I had been looking for a web comic for some time, so I used him.

Me: And Paperboy?

Scotty: Well the Paperboy was something that I misread. A long time ago Fizzlo was telling me about Fizzlo, Cheeko , and The Pepperboy. And lately I thought that the paperboy should live.

Me: How old are you? And when did you get into web comics?

Scotty: I'm now 12. And I go to the Cubetoons.com forum and like every one there and there mom has a web comic so I tried it and loved it

Me: So your mom has a web comic? Cool, so what are your dreams for the future of EL oop?

Scotty: No that was an expression. My dreams for EL oop are... Well I want to be a writer and either get EL oop a movie or a kids TV show.

Me: And Paperboy?

Scotty: I don't have much of a dream besides getting a live movie (as in real people)

Me: Okay, so any final words to the people on the web?

Scotty: Not many but thanks for having me here..... kinda. Well I'm going to go figure out what they're saying on this http://www.funnyjunk.com/pages/389/Caramel+Dansen/ Bye every peoples

Me: Okay, that's it.

Scotty: Okay thanks

Cartoon Review! - Interview With Mr. Fizzlo

Hello, and welcome to a weekday edition of Cartoon Review! In this one, I have finally gotten my first interview. The person...Robert Fagan! Director and Creator of Fizzlo, an animated web toon that is to air on Fizzlo.com on December 1st. You can talk to Robert on the website forums. For those who don't know, Fizzlo is a show about a duckish-alien thing from some far off planet and his friends, enemies, and other such things. But Rob can explain it better. Anyway, on to the interview!
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Me: Okay, so what is your name?

Robert: My name is Robert F.

Me: OK, so where did the idea for Fizzlo come from?

Robert: I always doodled in Math class when my teacher wasn't looking, then I drew Fizzlo, I liked the drawing a lot so I showed my friends. They liked it too. One of my friends said it should be a Pokemon named "Gorbird". I just started animating, so I decided to make a cartoon on the Internet.

Me: So exactly how old are you? And so Fizzlo was always his name?

Robert: I'm 11. and Fizzlo was first called Lord Dinky Pasan Pan and looked like this:

Me: So Fizzlo has come a long way I see. So where did the other characters come in?

Robert: All my other characters were characters from my old comic books I made when I was 6.

Me: How did you figure out the voices for the characters?

Robert: My friend made up what most of what my characters sound like.

Me: And who voices who?

Robert: I voice Fizzlo, Fudge, Clennis, Dennis, Plop, Gylo, Chubi, and Gurgle (Mostly everyone). My little brother voices Quack. My little sister voices Cooky, Mushie, Mooshie, and Mishie. My friend, Anthony voices Darklo, and some background characters.

Me: So what is your dream for the future of Fizzlo?

Robert: When I grow up, I want to become a cartoonist and make Fizzlo a children's show on T.V.

Me: And what will be your backup plan? If cartoons will be too hard for you to get a job in. Living in New York, it would be hard, so would you move to Burbank?

Robert: Ha ha, I live in New York now, just not in the city. My back-up plan would be to continue making cartoons on the Internet.

Me: I know, you live on Long Island. I live in The Bronx, and Manhattan is where a real animation studio (Curious Pictures) is. Okay, any final words to the people on the web?

Robert: No, not really.

Me: Okay, that is all. So thanks for letting me interview you. :)

Robert: OK, see ya'!