We’re excited! 13 Dead Ringo episodes, and the wild cards of Ska-Ville and Dance Crasher.
And whatever else may come our way.
After the sad end to 2011 (see my last post) it’s a going to be a fun, happy ride; no industry BS, no suck-the-life-outta-us jobs, no compromise. And music, music, music.
Are you with us? ‘Course you are! :)
We had some brilliant artists and people working on Mucha Lucha! They’ve gone on to direct and create after the show finished its run. When Mucha Lucha! became a storyboard driven show during season 2 (i.e. the board artists worked from story outlines rather than scripts, which gave them the freedom to have more creative input), four artists in particular were able to shine; Gabe Swarr, Greg Colton, Darin McGowan and Ricky Garduno.
Ricky Garduno passed away this week. Despite deadlines and network interference, Ricky started to have fun and push the boundaries of what the show could be. His wild, insane storyboards got crazier and more inspired as the show went on. I saved all of the work of his I could – especially his first draft boards that were his own expression before the network made revisions.
When I can I will scan some of these – especially his masterpiece; ‘Dawn of The Donuts’, where rampaging donuts take over the town. In the meantime I will be posting his work here: http://muchalucha-art.tumblr.com/
Ricky went on to create great things on other shows, and his own innovative strip for Dumm Comics, 1930 Nightmare Theatre, until sadly he left us this week.
Thanks for being part of our show and our lives – even if it was for just a short, fantastic time.
Ricky Garduno para siempre.
*UPDATE: I’ve started posting Ricky’s full pitch board for ‘Dawn Of The Donuts’ here…http://mlboards.tumblr.com/
Two new Fwak! blogs that feature mainly images. http://deadringoseries.tumblr.com/ is the production blog of our new 13 episode TV series! regularly updated as scenes are finished.
http://muchalucha-art.tumblr.com/ features lost art, unused art and things from our Warner Bros TV series that we just think are cool enough to show again!
I am very behind in my animated film watching. I’ll come clean…the last feature I saw was Wallace and Grommit and the Were-Rabbit-thingy.
Yes – I know, I know.
But I recently got to watch Miyazaki’s ‘Ponyo’. What a great, magical film. Aside from the fantastic animation, narrative and color pallette, one thing struck me; Miyazaki’s camera doesn’t move. Hardly any truck ins/outs, maybe a couple of scenes with a slight multiplane effect.
He really does let the animation provide the film’s movement.
Here’s the cleaned up version of the rough animation (before backgrounds and camera moves). I’ve been experimenting with the Glow Effect in Animate in order to do something a little different with the sword impacts
Our new pilot ‘Dead Ringo’ is alive
Well after working around the clock on our first full length feature, Los Campeones de La Lucha Libre we needed a break. But 2009 was ridiculous! Three stalled projects (more on these later) doesn’t make for a robust IMDB listing! But when you answer to no-one and can make your own destiny, good things happen. Despite the lack of production, here are 2009’s best bits:
We try not to dwell on negative things on this blog, but sometimes it is unavoidable – and I think necessary – just to show that animation has its major pitfalls. Case in point, our ‘Rocquita’ project with Cartoon Network Asia/Pacific, which has just passed its 2 year anniversary in development hell. 2 years! Life is short, and 2 years of bad communication and lack of vision has really killed this one. There was also a brief dalliance with Disney with ‘Dance Crasher’ which started promisingly, but after 3 months of ‘tweaking and refining’ went nowhere. And then there was a series of Lucha Libre-themed shorts for Mun 2 which collapsed after close to 6 months of waiting when the sponsor pulled out.
But the great thing about 2009 is that Fwak! gets to do what it started out doing, and was meant to do; create and produce its own content. With the ‘Dead Ringo’ pilot, 2010 has got off to a great start. Merry Xmas/Chanukah/Festivus/whatever. Check back for ‘Ringo’ updates in 2010!
Production stills from ‘Dead Ringo
Mimoco is re-releasing Lili’s GINCHY mimobots (amongst others) in new 16 GB versions! Come along tomorrow night in LA and meet Lili at the release party…
Mimoco and Munky King Designer Toy Store Team Up For Month Long Los Angeles MIMOBOT Pop-Up Shop.
Grab Bag – feed Toonboombastic – feed
Fwak! Blog 