Congratulations to Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! creator and executive producer Bob Boyle for winning his first Emmy in the category of Individual Achievement in Animation. Bob, pictured above with sk8rgurl Michelle Kwan, will be honored at the June 13th Emmy Awards ceremony. Congratulations, again, Bob. You deserve this one.

– Eric

Fanboy and Chum Chum creator Eric Robles loves to draw Fanboy in every possible pose over and over again, so much that Fanboy is shaping up to be one of animation’s most expressive characters. Sometime in 2009, not only will you see all of these moods - and more - of Fanboy, but it’s quite possible you’ll see them all within the space of a minute.

– Eric (Homan)

Premieres today at 5:00 p.m. on Nick.

– Eric

I wanted to start off this section of Art and Essays from teammates from Team Frederator, with my art piece for the Awards Booklet. Kicking things off, so to speak. -Jeaux

Ben Ross
most people will tell you their childhood cartoon experience started on a saturday morning. well, mine were in the morning, but most of my cartoons were watched on the weekdays.
my mom and dad both worked so my sister and i were dropped off at susan’s, the babysitter. she was a large woman with a big bleached blonde beehive, long press on nails, and a big heart. she’d take us to the park right outside her apartment complex and we’d tag-a-long on her daily errands around queens.
to be perfectly honest i really couldn’t give a crap about the park or the sale that the local bodega was having on green beans. i wanted to get indoors, sit down with my baby sister on the green shag carpet in front of the big tv while susan’s son robbie slept on the cheeto stained couch and watch some fucking cartoons.
for the average four year old weekday cartoons started at about six in the morning, which was about the time i arrived at susan’s. there was thundercats, dennis the menace, scooby doo, transformers, voltron, my little pony and jem (two shows i sat through ’cause my sister loved ‘em) and my all time favorite he-man and the masters of the universe . (wow, i never knew how ridiculous and long that title is.)
let me take some time and talk about he-man for a bit. he-man, to a four old is probably about the coolest dude in the world. he is super strong, has a magic sword, rides on a giant tiger like thing called battle cat, and his arch enemy is a goddamn skeleton! how fucking cool is that? uh… really fucking cool. what really sold it for me was he-man wasn’t he-man at first, he was some nerdy prince dude named prince adam. he did prince like things like wear purple shirts and pants. however give that dude a sword and have him recite some magic words about castle grayskull and bam! he becomes the master of the universe. awesome.
now i could talk about how it all came crashing down with the live action movie starring mr. ivan drago himself, or the thousands of times i got pinched by the evil spring loaded “damage indicators” on the battle armor he-man action figure, but i’ll save that for another essay.
the cartoons i watched as a little kid may have been corny and not the best, and most of them were probably made just to help toy sales, but that really doesn’t matter. all that matters is that they were cartoons. cartoons that took you away from reality if only for 22 minutes. i <3 cartoons.

Dan Meth
Why Cartoons? What a strange question. I think what we should be asking ourselves is, “Why anything BUT cartoons?” What other human achievement is more pure, powerful, and vital to the well-being of mankind than cartoons? Nothing. Have you ever LAUGHED from science, engineering, architecture, or politics? No.
The cartoonist should be hailed as a SAINT. No other vocation is as selfless and important (ok…maybe doctors, firemen, teachers, etc. but whatever). As the saying goes, “If you’ve made one person laugh you’ve saved the whole world.” I think Ghandi said that… or maybe the guy who created Dennis the Menace.
Cartoonists save the world and ask nothing in return. They are like modern-day MARTYRS; aching backs bent over drafting tables and Wacom tablets, eyes blinded by Mac screens, evenings of selfish fun sacrificed to omnipresent deadlines. And all to save the world. Cartoons have stopped wars (can’t think of which particular war at this moment). Never do they cause violence or unrest (except for Danish cartoonists).
They are mystics, saintly artisans placed by cosmic destiny to eliminate pain and suffering from a cold galaxy of uncaring animalistic savagery. Cartoonists deserve the entire world’s utmost respect and a comprehensive dental plan. This will probably never happen… but at least they have the Freddy awards; a night in which cartoonists can honor each other.

Lee Rubenstein
Why Cartoons?
Cartoons make us human.
They are responsible for kids getting up at 7 a.m. on a Saturday morning.
They poke fun at political figures.
They make us laugh so hard that milk squirts out of our noses.
They describe how to use your seat cushion as a flotation device.
They grace our favorite album covers.
They sell our breakfast cereal.
They dawn our metal lunch-boxes.
They teach children to speak other languages.
They tell stories.
Why Cartoons?
Well, why the hell not?
by: Lee Rubenstein

I wanted to start off this section of Art and Essays from teammates from Team Frederator, with my art piece for the Awards Booklet. Kicking things off, so to speak. -Jeaux

Ben Ross
most people will tell you their childhood cartoon experience started on a saturday morning. well, mine were in the morning, but most of my cartoons were watched on the weekdays.
my mom and dad both worked so my sister and i were dropped off at susan’s, the babysitter. she was a large woman with a big bleached blonde beehive, long press on nails, and a big heart. she’d take us to the park right outside her apartment complex and we’d tag-a-long on her daily errands around queens.
to be perfectly honest i really couldn’t give a crap about the park or the sale that the local bodega was having on green beans. i wanted to get indoors, sit down with my baby sister on the green shag carpet in front of the big tv while susan’s son robbie slept on the cheeto stained couch and watch some fucking cartoons.
for the average four year old weekday cartoons started at about six in the morning, which was about the time i arrived at susan’s. there was thundercats, dennis the menace, scooby doo, transformers, voltron, my little pony and jem (two shows i sat through ’cause my sister loved ‘em) and my all time favorite he-man and the masters of the universe . (wow, i never knew how ridiculous and long that title is.)
let me take some time and talk about he-man for a bit. he-man, to a four old is probably about the coolest dude in the world. he is super strong, has a magic sword, rides on a giant tiger like thing called battle cat, and his arch enemy is a goddamn skeleton! how fucking cool is that? uh… really fucking cool. what really sold it for me was he-man wasn’t he-man at first, he was some nerdy prince dude named prince adam. he did prince like things like wear purple shirts and pants. however give that dude a sword and have him recite some magic words about castle grayskull and bam! he becomes the master of the universe. awesome.
now i could talk about how it all came crashing down with the live action movie starring mr. ivan drago himself, or the thousands of times i got pinched by the evil spring loaded “damage indicators” on the battle armor he-man action figure, but i’ll save that for another essay.
the cartoons i watched as a little kid may have been corny and not the best, and most of them were probably made just to help toy sales, but that really doesn’t matter. all that matters is that they were cartoons. cartoons that took you away from reality if only for 22 minutes. i <3 cartoons.

Dan Meth
Why Cartoons? What a strange question. I think what we should be asking ourselves is, “Why anything BUT cartoons?” What other human achievement is more pure, powerful, and vital to the well-being of mankind than cartoons? Nothing. Have you ever LAUGHED from science, engineering, architecture, or politics? No.
The cartoonist should be hailed as a SAINT. No other vocation is as selfless and important (ok…maybe doctors, firemen, teachers, etc. but whatever). As the saying goes, “If you’ve made one person laugh you’ve saved the whole world.” I think Ghandi said that… or maybe the guy who created Dennis the Menace.
Cartoonists save the world and ask nothing in return. They are like modern-day MARTYRS; aching backs bent over drafting tables and Wacom tablets, eyes blinded by Mac screens, evenings of selfish fun sacrificed to omnipresent deadlines. And all to save the world. Cartoons have stopped wars (can’t think of which particular war at this moment). Never do they cause violence or unrest (except for Danish cartoonists).
They are mystics, saintly artisans placed by cosmic destiny to eliminate pain and suffering from a cold galaxy of uncaring animalistic savagery. Cartoonists deserve the entire world’s utmost respect and a comprehensive dental plan. This will probably never happen… but at least they have the Freddy awards; a night in which cartoonists can honor each other.

Lee Rubenstein
Why Cartoons?
Cartoons make us human.
They are responsible for kids getting up at 7 a.m. on a Saturday morning.
They poke fun at political figures.
They make us laugh so hard that milk squirts out of our noses.
They describe how to use your seat cushion as a flotation device.
They grace our favorite album covers.
They sell our breakfast cereal.
They dawn our metal lunch-boxes.
They teach children to speak other languages.
They tell stories.
Why Cartoons?
Well, why the hell not?
by: Lee Rubenstein

Enjoy.

sakari singh

wired

joey ahlbum

brad gake

diego poveda

george pfromm II

Today I was lucky enough to attend an advanced screening of the upcoming Dreamworks film “Kung Fu Panda”. I went into the film trying to keep an open mind. Everything I had seen from the film made it look like a fun film, but I’ve been burned before. This film delivered and then some. It kept me involved and entertained from the opening sequence right through to the end credits (and there is a small bit of animation after the credits… stick around for it).

It’s hard to believe this is the same studio that released “Shark Tale” just a few short years ago. If you remember the promotions for that film, they really promoted the heck out of the all star voice cast. Angelina Jolie and Jack Black, two “Shark Tale” alum appear in this film, but this time the voices seem to fit the characters very well.

Don’t judge the film by its marketing.

The action sequences in the movie were exciting and fast paced. If you enjoyed “Samurai Jack”, then you will really enjoy this film. Many of the action sequences have you feeling out of breath and just blown away by the amount of raw energy exerted by the characters on screen. The poses, timing, and acting choices are all stellar. There are several times in the film where a single pose or facial expression will get a laugh. In my opinion, the animation crew on this movie has managed to out perform any of the other Dreamworks films to date. Animation fans will be wanting to frame by frame this movie.

The character design is marvelous. They really come alive, from their shape and surfaces to the voices and actions. I was impressed by the level of malleability of the characters, with a range of facial expressions and flexible poses not often seen in CG.

Everything from the sets to the props are great to look at, full of tiny details, but all in support of the aesthetic look of the film. The lighting made you feel like you were in peaceful Chinese valley, or a dark isolated prison cave, depending upon the sequence. After leaving the screening, I went directly to the book store and purchased the Art of Kung Fu Panda book.

I was really looking forward to this film, and I wasn’t disappointed. Each department in the Dreamworks pipeline plussed the work of the department before it, just as it should be with any great animated film. In my opinion, “Kung Fu Panda” is right up there with “The Incredibles”. For me, the worst part about today’s screening was the fact that I’ll now have to wait until June 6th to see it again.

Do not miss this film.

Four and a half Fredbots out of five.

-Floyd Bishop

A forum post from Lenny Boudreau’s Channel Frederator RAW:

Is there money to be made making web animations? We all know that the people at the very top of the game are making enough money to pay high price call girls $2000 an hour JUST to drive them around in their limousines, but what about the rest of us?

How many of you do this for a full time living, part time to supplement a “day job”, for occasional chump change, or simply as a hobby? I fall in the “occasional chump change” category. Nothing I do is commissioned. I make animations and videos, post them on certain sites that pay a royalty, and then three to six months later I get a check or a PayPal payment for two or three hundred bucks (minus those PayPal fees).

I think of it as supporting my habit. I guess it’s not bad. I could be spending a crap load more on golf clubs and golf course fees every year. Plus, creating web content means I get to be around my kids more often than if I golfed. My kids love helping out with voice acting or suggesting silly jokes for use in my videos.

What avenues are there? Mobile content. Online greeting cards. AtomFilms. Anything else out there I should look at.

What are you guys doing?

Lenny