Tomorrow morning from 11-12am ET, our new production Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! simultaneously debuts on television both on Nick Jr. and Noggin (here’s the press annoucement) and I couldn’t be prouder of any achievement in which I’ve been lucky enough to be included. Every show is the result of seemingly Herculean effort, and Wubbzy is no exception.

Susan Miller and I got together in March 2002 and decided then and there that her company, Mixed Media Group, and my company, Frederator Studios, would form a joint venture called Bolder Media for Boys & Girls. We would specialize in pre-schooler media (for those of you without children, that’s stuff for kids under 6), starting with books, and hopefully moving onto TV and movies. Right now it’s hard to imagine just how many hours, days, months, years we’ve spent just talking to each other willing this thing into existence, but as our first debut (there will be others), as with most everything it seems like it went by in seconds. I have had a lot of partners over the years and a lot of successes (and failures) with them, but Susan has been one of the most best and determined partners I’ve ever been fortunate enough to have on my side. Thanks Sue, it’s been a great ride.

Here, in much more space than usual, is my personal list of the thanks to many Wubbzy colleagues. It’s in alphabetical order only for ease, and I’m sure I’m missing someone; please know it was for no reason other than my own clumsiness. Thank you all.

Bob Boyle is the relentlessly talented creator of Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! When we first put out a call to our long time animation collaborators for picture book pitches, Bob showed up immediately with a pile, including what became Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! (You can find the entire story, including how his then 9 year old niece was his story inspiration, at The Wubblog). It was obvious he didn’t just pull these out of his drawer, and as was typical of Bob, he listened closely to what we thought we might need, and worked incredibly hard to satisfy us. Since we started production Bob has worked constantly to keep the quality and integrity of his vision alive. Since we met in 1997 when Larry Huber hired Bob as a storyboard artist on Oh Yeah! Cartoons, and he went on to art direct and produce our production of The Fairly Oddparents, he has been one of the most driven of the prodigiously most talented. I’m confident that Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! will be his breakout as a creator. Thanks for everything over the years Bob, sincerely.

Karen Driscoll runs marketing at Nickelodeon and got her start at Nick Jr. She has a unique grasp on the smartest and best ways to accomplish. In addition to bringing her team into ours, she offered insight, something lacking in most enterprises.

Everyone at Fisher-Price and all our new licensees are happily determined to put Wubbzy and his friend in the hands of the kids of the world. Thanks for your early belief.

Mike Glenn, Alex Kamnitsis, Carrie Miller are my colleagues at Frederator in New York. Their patience with me, with Susan, with all of our hair-brained schemes deserve medals. And Carrie’s dedication to keeping a production blog up to date from 3000 miles away should speak to her complete commitment to animation.

Ted Green and John Hyde were the people at IDT Entertainment who believed in the long term vision of quality and success that Susan and I were pitching, even before we had our first creative project. They convinced their bosses, their colleagues, and their employees we were not the typical raving lunatic producers, and that we could actually deliver on what we were promising. And with all the promises, pitches, and producers that exist in the world, that was no small task; thank you forever guys. As Ted moved on to other ventures, John continued to support us and our abilities. Here’s to a great future together.

Scott Greenberg runs the Film Roman/IDT operation for John Hyde, and I must say I’ve never had a more supportive and enthusiastic collaborator. He understands whatever one explains clearly, he supports our creative and production staff while always believing in the ways we can integrate with his word-class team. As our episodes have finished, his teammate Alisha Serold has come on to integrate our marketing efforts and her infectiousness has spread to the entire IDT International team.

Albie Hecht & Herb Scannell were the senior executives at Nickelodeon who thought our idea for Bolder Media for Boys & Girls just might have legs for their company. They didn’t have to do too much other than nod to their colleagues and we were in. I have a feeling that the last thirty years we’ve put our heads together is just the first half.

Eric Homan. What can I say about Eric other than ‘thank you’ over and over again? Eric first approached Bob Boyle (and hundreds of others) for our picture book project, and saw him through what turned out to be a too-long process of conception to production. Eric tends to shy away from the spotlight and the credit, but it’s even too little to say that Susan and I would not have Bolder without Eric. Thanks (again) bud.

Brown Johnson is the empress of pre-school television programming in the world. Actually, she oversees Nick Jr. and Noggin, and has built Nick’s pre-school operation into the most powerful platform on the globe. From the first time I approached her about working together she’s been the kind of executive that producers dream about happily. Supportive, clear, and firm when situations demand she’s the ideal. And from the first time she walked out of Bob Boyle’s office in five minutes (I thought the meeting must’ve been a disaster, it was so short) and said “Go!” to W!W!W! it’s been smooth sailing. Brown and I have worked around each other for over 25 years, but this project is actually our first together. It was beyond worth the wait.

Kate Klimo runs Random House Children’s Books, and her intelligence and spark made us want to sign Bolder Books for Boys & Girls for distribution with Random. Adding that deal to Nick Jr.’s made me know we were going to happen.

Kick Design is owned by Kathy Chow and Eddie Jabbour, and their entire organization has been dedicated to Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! from the very beginning, helping Bob imagine how his characters could exist off the television screen. Their were days I thought liked this project more than I did (no, no, no! it’s not true!).

Kevin Kolde oversees all Frederator Studios productions in Hollywood. He’s a unique combination of business acumen and creative instinct, and proved with his partnership with John Kricfalusi that he understands the creative impulse. Once I moved to New York I prayed for a colleague like Kevin. He may try and look like a Terminator but for me he acts like an almighty.

Brad Mossman co-writes, performs, produces, and sings (whew!) all the Wubbzy songs. They are fantastic and infectious, and I’m hoping our collaboration will bring him the fame and recognition his art demands.

Kyra Reppen and I worked together at the turn of the century at Nick Online, and she went on to build Nick Jr. into a great and fun (don’t forget profitable) destination. We sat together for over a year before W!W!W! had a debut air date, and she got her creative and production teams engaged and excited in our show, an unusual case for an independent production. Her group went on to build record-breaking games to introduce the characters, and you would think they created the show themselves they’ve been so inventive.

Andrea Romero, our line producer in Hollywood, has lived and breathed W!W!W! and I’m hoping one day her family will forgive us. I think this is her first long term series (maybe her last) and she came up to speed faster and smarter than anyone could have imagined. Every time I’m at the production I go to Andrea first for a burst of the energy her being brings to me, and I know it’s more true for the crew that has to work with her every day. It’s hard to explain how important Andrea has been to our success, and this paragraph isn’t doing such a great job, but trust me, Andrea’s it!

Kay Wilson Stallings has just had her first child, which makes the debut of this show insignificant. But, nonetheless, Kay, who is in charge of Nick Jr. development and is our production executive, has had a smile on her face every time we’ve come in to show anything. And they’re sincere! From our first pitch with over 30 books and ideas, through every single subsequent meeting, Kay has shown us that she’s happy we’re working together. When we first went into W!W!W! I was getting worried with how few notes she was giving us (unusual for a network executive) until I realized she was reading and enjoying every line. Thanks Kay, and great life luck with that baby.

Fred Stroppel is the head writer on Wubbzy, and he is one unique individual. Dan Yaccarino, artist, author, and creator of Nick Jr.’s Oswald first sang Fred’s praises to me and he was right on the money. Fred’s a playwright by trade who somehow got sidelined into kid’s television. He brings a rigorous discipline of character and story to what otherwise is a trifle (not in any negative sense) comedy. He lives and writes with his family outside New York while the production happens in California, but the consistent quality of his work belies it. Often you can’t tell the difference between what Bob writes and what Fred writes or edits, a rare feat in any collaborative creative enterprise. I can’t wait to work with Fred again.

There is no way to thank each and every member of the Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! crew, but let me tell you there is no better group one could wish for on a production. Every artist, every writer, every intern, everyone is talented and talented, skillful, and dedicated. Believe me, the show would not have the quality is does without them. The group from Six Point Harness in LA, and at Bardel in Canada led us into what was for us (except Kevin) the wild, almost unknown world of Flash production. Thanks to all, sincerely, for a great, quality production.

Trina Storfer is Susan Miller’s partner, and she’s the happiest and most encouraging confederate you’d want to have. From script notes to convincing licensees that Wubbzy is the next Sesame Street, Trina is the person you’d love to be around you too. Lauren MacTaggert joined the Mixed Media team last year, but she too has been completely Wubbzy-ized. (I challenge anyone to turn down a Wubbzy pitch from Lauren.)

Cyma Zarghami is the new president of the MTV Kids & Family group (which includes Nickelodeon) and has been my caring associate for more years than we could imagine. Pete Danielsen runs Nickelodeon programming, Cyma’s old job, but we started working together at MTV and Comedy Central eons ago. Between them Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! is a television reality, when they’ve encouraged their team to support the project as if it was produced by Nickelodeon. Thanks guys, it means a lot to me.

Thanks everyone. Thanks again.

Sorry for the diminishing number of posts recently, darn life keeps getting in the way of what really matters,like Blogging, Naked River dancing and polishing my collection of Clara Peller 8×10’s.

Anyway our animatic was finally cut this week and as Alan and I looked this over he made several comments like “Wow the characters sure are stiff.” and “Don’t you find the color a little dull and non existent?” and “This sucks!”. To which I just looked at him curiously and brought my index finger up to my head and twirled it in a circular motion as if to say that he’s crazy. I soon realized that only Alan was in the room and he didn’t appreciate this gesture as much as I did. He just kind of frowned, indignantly.

I guess most people don’t know what an animatic is so after looking it up myself I discovered that a animatic in short is just the storyboard cut and timed to the raw audio. No sound effects or music is dropped in at this point. It’s really just to see how the scenes and gags are timing out. Timing as you all know, is the essence of comedy. Oh yeah, and funny jokes help too I guess.

Anyhoo, CLICK HERE to see a snippet of our far from finished cartoon one step closer!

Bloggingly yours, Captain and Tennille

Raise your hands if you don’t like Lupo the Butcher.

Sorry, you can’t have a job here.

–Fred

It’s that time of summer again, when all interns return to school. Boo-hoo. (For them, that is. Never getting me into school again.)

Katie is studying animation at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, like her pal Lee, and has been incredibly helpful on all of our projects, especially her pinching in on the ToonFuse Podcast.

Thanks Katie. Hope we’ll be seeing you again soon.

What happens when a pig wakes up to find his nose is missing? His suspicion falls on his room-mate, a rat - but there’s more to this mystery of a lost snout than meets the eye (or the ear, as it turns out.)

Tilmann Vogt was born in Stuttgart, Germany on November 17, 1976. In 1997, he started studiying Media-Design at Fachhochschule Mainz. After one year at Savannah College of Art and Design as Fulbright scholar, he went back to Mainz to do his diploma/thesis project Snout in 2003.

From 2004 to the present, Tilmann works as a character animator on commercials and features in Germany.

“Snout” premiers on Episode 6 of the Nicktoons Newtork Animation Festival, Wednesday August 30, 2006 at 10PM EST/7PM PST.

Melissa

Yes, that’s right. Horrifying as it may be to all of you readers, today is the last work day to submit to us your Awards Category Suggestions for the awards show we’re putting together for Channel Frederator.

To those of you non-procrastinators, thanks. To those of you procrastinators…we relate. Just email your ideas by sundown, to vj@channelfrederator.com.

Melissa

One of these is going to be the final Wendy design for our cartoon “Cavalcade of Laffs”. Isn’t it amazing how by only changing just the hair color, we get a completely different impression of her personality. It’s still up in the air at the moment. That’s the great thing about working in Flash; I can complete the entire cartoon and still change her hair at the last minute. (Although we’re leaning towards brown)

-Dan Meth

Elf Help Week comes to a colorful close pretty much the way we started — with a tale all about a creepy looking sprite messing around with seasonal transitions.

“Jack Frost” is a first rate Ub Iwerks ComiColor Cartoon from 1934 set to a jaunty Carl Stallings score. Granted, choices about camera angles, editing and Filmmaking 101 type stuff are pretty prosaic — and, boy, those woodland animals sure are a bland bunch. But once we get around to the jack o’ lantern chorus and that scat singing, rotoscoped scarecrow, things really start to pop!

Then there’s Jack Frost himself! I love that 1930’s character design — from the cusp of his baloney nose to the zig zaggy tips of his little elf shoes. His whole artist-at-large thing provides some really inventive business, like those frost-landscapes painted on window panes. And what do you think of the ‘in character’ way he saves the bear cub in the end?

Well, enough with pointy ears and such. Next week we’re callin’ the cops!

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Dave Kirwan

Yes tis I! Your pal Eric again with a special little thanks to the artists who are making me look good with all the great work they have done on Fanboy. From left to right we have Chad Woods (BG and Prop Colorist). Chad, thanks for working all those late nights, the stuff looks great! Caesar Martinez (BG designer) Caesar’s work is so sharp you might just cut yourself looking at it. That’s me (Eric) in the center. Eric thanks for being born I could not do it with out me. Shaun Cashman (Director) One of the nicest and most talented directors I know. The best is yet to come Shaun. And dare I say the bad ass (Board Artist) himself Andy Kelly. If you don’t know Andy’s work, Please do yourself a favor and get schooled! I’d also like to mention Amber Lee Hardin (Prop Designer) Amber your work has been putting artist to shame for years. And Eric Shveima (CG character modeler) You took it to the next level. Thanks to all the artists who helped with all the pre production art. So here are some goods from the show. Till next time POW! I’m out!

It was a full house at the screening!

A few brief words from the Creators of Hero Heights just before the show.

Greetings True believers!

On Wednesday night August 16th Hero Heights was screened for the very first time at Nickelodeon studios in Burbank. Everyone was invited to a studio screening of 4 brand new Random Cartoon shorts, Moobeard the Cow Pirate by Kyle Carrozza, Yaki and Yumi by Aliki Theofilopoulos, Boneheads by Polygon Pictures and Hero Heights by us Raul and Bill.

Before each short its creator got to say a few words. I stepped up and dazzled the crowd with my rapier like wit and charm. Actually, I told a corny joke and thanked Frederator and Nickelodeon for giving us the opportunity to make Hero Heights.

I must admit I was a little nervous. We would be screening Hero Heights to our colleagues, fellow artists and industry professionals. Maybe I had overlooked something. Maybe there was some glitch or a continuity error left by mistake. Will the story flow correctly? Will they like the characters? A cold sense of doom chilled my spine.

As the lights dimmed I could feel my heart pounding faster and faster. Then, right on cue, the butterflies in my stomach kicked in. But just as the Hero Heights title card appeared accompanied by Geoff Levin’s powerful opening theme, I was calm and cool as can be. For the next seven minutes the audience was mine and Bill’s. There were plenty of laughs and cheers. Everyone really seemed to enjoy it.

At the end of the screening we got a great response from everyone and we were delighted. It feels really good to know that something you created made someone feel good and laugh, even if it was only for 7 minutes. We did what we set out to accomplish, we made a cool cartoon.

We’d like to thank everyone for showing up to the screening! We were afraid it would be only us two, when in fact, there was standing room only.

Raul and Bill