In a time of heroes, the mighty warrior Beowulf slays the demon Grendel and incurs the wrath of its monstrous yet seductive mother, in a conflict that transforms a king into a legend.

Neil Gaiman (”MirrorMask,” the graphic novel Sandman) and Roger Avary (”Pulp Fiction”) adapted the legend for the screen.
via Comingsoon.net

You can watch the international trailer here.
-Floyd Bishop

I can’t believe I forgot to announce this until today: Tonight Brooklyn’s animation festival Animation Block Party is showing our film “The Secret Life of Robots”.

Monday July 30th.
6:50pm
Bam Cinematek at The Peter Jay Sharp Building, 30 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, NY

The screening will be preceded by a short introductory discussion with participating filmmakers.

There will be an after party at 9:00pm, just blocks away at Mullanes Bar and Grill on 71 Lafayette Ave Brooklyn, NY.

We’re psyched that we can ride our bikes to this festival instead of taking a 6 hour flight to it. For those of you who haven’t heard, “Secret Life of Robots” won the award for Best Internet Cartoon at the Platform Festival in Portland last month.
Having it shown again in our hometown is just as exciting.

-Dan Meth

Here’s a kinda model sheet from around the time that I did my film “Parade”. Did I mention that I’ve been going through all my old stuff lately? It’s amazing how much paper and plastic traditional animation accumulates. I guess that’s one good thing about paperless productions.

This is the Trailer for Max Neptune & The Menacing Squid!!!

Pretty cool eh?
What if I was to tell you that this was a film made by 2 awesome guys (and their crew) from Whittier, Ca. with nothing but a fairly good camera and decent greenscreen?
Yup. Thought so. Close your mouth, you look silly with it hanging down. (Plus you’re drooling saliva on me!)
Oh yea, I forgot to mention that they casted their actors, found their makeup artist, and began promoting MN all on Myspace(dot)com.
This is true indy cred here. David slaying Goliath, in this case, the little guys are about to topple the Giant Beast that is Hollywood. I’ve been excited about this project ever since my friend Colin first started on it.

Max Neptune is the brainchild of my pal Colin Fleming and John Garside. MN is very reminiscent of the olden SCI-FI serials of Hollywood’s early years such as: Commander Cody, Flash Gordon, and comic strip serials like Dan Dare.

If you ask me, I think this is way better (and has more of a sense of humor) than Kerry Conran’s Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.

I met Colin back during our days at Calarts, and even then was impressed by his animation and storytelling.
I am very honored to know him, and know that Max Neptune will explode once it comes out.
Mark my words.
I’m going to be breaking this feature on Max Neptune into parts, because Colin supplied me with a girth of wonderful behind the scenes material that includes: props, concept designs, cgi models, pics on set, etc.
(When are you guys coming out with the behind the scenes or Making of Max Neptune book guys?)
Colin and John made an appearance at the San Diego Comic-con recently, passing out DVD Trailers of MN to some very lucky folks.
Were you one of them?

I sure hope so.

Stay Tuned for another exciting Cliff hanging installment about Max Neptune and The Menacing Squid only on the Frederator Blogs!!!
Remember, YOU heard it here FIRST!
-Jeaux Janovsky, Max Neptune Enthusiast
Channel Frederator. We Aren’t Some Knock Kneed Executives!

Dreamworks Animator Jeremy Berenstein’s 1st book, Say Havarti, has surfaced and premiered at the San Diego ComicCon.

The book is filled with lots of scrumptious artwork, perfect for when sipping wine and snacking on cheese and crackers.

I asked if I could show a few Art samples, and Jeremy graciously supplied me with a lot of great pieces.

I hope those of you who attended were able to meet Jeremy and snatch up Say Havarti.

Congrats on the first book bud, and remember we’re waiting to show Beach Beats on Channel Frederator!
-Jeaux Janovsky
Channel Frederator. Cartoon Central for the Internet.

This Channel Frederator Featured Film makes great use of the program flash, and it’s nice and very refreshing to see someone using it as creatively as Choom Lan.

Choom presents us with a short and simple, well designed tale about a monster and his little dog friend-monster.
Thanks for submitting Choom!

1. How did you come up with the idea for this film?
Well, I had exactly 4 weeks to make this film from scratch so my first thought was to keep it idiotically simple so that I could actually finish it (so that ruled out epic space battles and ninja fights). I wanted to do a piece that would be pure acting that wasn’t your usual bus stop scenario (not that I have a problem with bus stop films, it’s just that when you pit yourself against something that’s been done by so many people before, it becomes so much harder to make any kind of impression). The original idea was going to be a little girl looking for her dog but again it felt too ordinary. So I changed the idea to two little monsters who were actually two halves of the same monster looking for each other but then that felt too contrived. So I found a happy middle ground and the next thing I knew bobble and sqweek were invading my brain.

2. Who are some of your influences?
Wow, where do I start… I’m a bit of a book nut and I’ve watched tonnes of cartoons (TV is good for you kids!) so it’s hard to narrow it down. Although a lot of these influences don’t actually show in my work they’ve certainly molded my brain into the little deformed shape that it is today. I grew up watching all the awesome Disney shorts made in the 30’s but it was The Lion King that pretty much obliterated any other career interests I might have had before the age of 14 (doctor, astronaut, nuclear physicist etc) so yeah, Disney’s huge on my list of influences.

More recently, I would say Pixar, with Toy Story 2 and Cars and shorts like For the Birds and One Man Band (in case it isn’t already painfully apparent, I love that pantomime stuff!).

(Ok, I know Disney and Pixar as corporations aren’t “who’s” per se.. but I like to think of them as big friendly uncles who make cool cartoons..) Other notable influences would be Gary Larson (I love how he makes you laugh, then makes you feel bad for laughing.. just cos most of his jokes are so.. so.. wrong), Neil Gaiman, Rudyard Kipling, Richard Bach, Roald Dahl, Michel Gagne, Shaun Tan, Dave McKean, Jhonen Vasquez (I own a Johnny shirt!), Pocoyo (I’ve got a Pocoyo wallaper!), Paul Driessen, Cordell Barker, Dr Suess (I DO NOT like green eggs and ham!)… Oh, and Beethoven and Brazilian heavy metal.
Just to name a few.

3. Do you have a pet? If so, what type?
Not a living one, no. The closest I can come to sustaining another living thing besides my own stomach is the colony of algae growing on the bottom of my water bottle. (Does algae grow in colonies?)

4. Have you ever tried popping out your own eyeballs? (I only ask, cause I try all the time.)
Yes, I do it every night before I go to bed. I highly recommend everyone do it. Dreams look a lot clearer when you don’t have eyelids blocking your view. And most of my dreams, disturbing as they may be, are actually worth watching.

5. What are you working on currently?
Two brand new episodes of Bobble and Sqweek! The squeaky madness continues! With More Squeaks! and MORE MADNESS!! I’ve storyboarded them both and I’m only just starting to do rough keys on one episode. I’m in a transitionary period in my life right now where I find myself with quite a lot of free time so my mind tends to go all over the place and there are 101 things I want to do so I end up not really working on any one thing. I’ve got a bunch of thematic drawings too that I’m working on. I don’t want to give too much away till they’re actually done but I promise that it will be sufficiently macabre. I work differently when I don’t have a non-self-imposed deadline to meet so there’s really no telling right now when the new Bobble and Sqweeks will go live. I’ll keep everyone posted on my blog but if anyone wants to send angry letters to tell me to hurry up, please do. I could use the external pressure

Let us know when you finish a few more adventures of Bobble & Sqweek Choom! I’m sure our viewers (along with myself) would love seeing them again!
Keep in touch!
-Jeaux Janovsky
Channel Frederator. Join our Tribe.

Fox released a new trailer for the Blue Sky film “Horton Hears a Who”.

While the decision to remake an already animated short story into a feature is a questionable one (why not put all that time, effort, talent, and money into something new?), the trailer looks great from a visual standpoint. It looks like a Seuss book in 3D, so they are successful in that regard. We’ll have to wait for the film to see if it captures the essense of the book.

I tried to find an embedable version of the trailer for this post, but I couldn’t find one that will work with our blogging technology (instead, click on the first line of this post to go to a page to download the trailer). I did find the Chuck Jones film though. Enjoy:

-Floyd Bishop

Comic con seems to have a ton of Star Wars content this year. It’s an anniversary year you know, so Boba Fett, Chewbacca, and even Ree-Yees have been spotted in and around the convention.

I spent most of day one attending panels and shows. I was surprised at just how many people ignore the panels and only go to the exhibits. The panels are awesome. You guys and gals don’t know what you are missing! The shows are right upstairs. Best of all, you get to sit down. You really should check them out, as there is something for everyone.

The first panel I attended was the Hanna Barbera retrospective. Tom Sito was the moderator. He did a great job of keeping things on topic and adding his own personal memories of HB. other panelists included Andrea Romano, Gary Owens, Michael Mallory, Spike Brandt, and Tony Cervone. They showed a great film with many behind the scenes interviews with greats like Iwo Takamoto, and Bill Hanna and Joseph Barbera themselves. It was a great look at how cartoons used to be done in Hollywood.

The next panel was “Popeye: Well Blow Me Down!”. Panelists included Jerry Beck, Frank Caruso, and Stephen DeStefano. Added to the panel were “El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera” creators Jorge Gutierrez and Sandra Equihua (if you are reading this, your show is awesome guys). The panel was moderated by children’s television show host Tom Hattan. He hosted a show in Los Angeles at KTLA where they showed Popeye cartoons. He was the highlight of the panel for me. He handled the crowd perfectly. He kept things flowing and brought quite a bit of insight to the panel.

Be sure to buy the new DVD set, available soon! Jerry Beck drilled that into everyone’s head by the end of the panel, so I thought I’d mention it here. At the end of the panel, they had Popeye hats for everyone. It was a nice surprise, and a cool little extra bit of swag.

Next up for me was the Bill Plympton screening. I would have gone anyway, but Bill was nice enough to draw a custom invite for me when I saw him on the show floor on Preview Night, so I couldn’t miss it if I wanted to.

He showed a Weird Al music video, some clips from an upcoming project, and one of his newer shorts “Shut Eye Hotel”. Bill got a great response from the audience, and he shared his secret formula for short films: Make them short, make them cheap, and make them funny. “Shut Eye Hotel” breaks all those rules, but it was a great film just the same.

The last panel was more of a screening. It was a documentary by Leslie Iwerks called “The Pixar Story”. It was a great film that followed the paths of the founders of the studio, and chronicled the studio from “Toy Story” through “Cars”.

The Comic Con was packed into the evening, as the night time events were still going. Be sure to keep watching the blog for more Comic Con updates!
-Floyd Bishop

(Trademark and Copyright Notice: TM and © FOX and its related entities. All rights reserved.)

I built a robotic version of myself, and named him FrederatorJeaux. FrederatorJeaux’s main directive is to take care of all things IM (instant message). He’s perpetually linked to my brain, so when he wants he is able to download certain memories and ideas directly from my brain. He sits across from me, and makes robotic pouty faces when no one is Iming him. So please IM him everyonce in awhile. You can reach him at frederatorjeaux on AIM.
Channel Frederator viewer, Damany (aka Kyooshi), wrote in to FJ and wondered if we had any advice on attending the San Diego Comic-con. (He’s a first timer!)
Have fun Damany, and please write back in letting us know how it went!

—FrederatorJeaux Transmission Download Begin—

kyooshi: Will you guys be at comiccon?
frederatorjeaux: we’ll have someone floating around!
kyooshi: have you ever been to one? Any suggestions?
kyooshi: advice?
kyooshi: this is my first
frederatorjeaux: comiccon is fun
frederatorjeaux: lots of people
frederatorjeaux: bring some airborne (the medicine), take it before you go inside
frederatorjeaux: (unless you are allergic, that is)
frederatorjeaux: but it will help you to not catch germs and help you not get sick
frederatorjeaux: bring some deodorant, cause there’s some comic dudes that forget to bring it.
frederatorjeaux: and they smell.
frederatorjeaux: but carry some with you in a backpack
frederatorjeaux: if you are an artist, it’s good to have business cards to hand out, and a small portfolio to show to industry people
frederatorjeaux: if you make your own mini comics, bring those too
frederatorjeaux: a back pack would be cool, to carry all your stuff in
frederatorjeaux: comics you buy, snacks, camera,etc
frederatorjeaux: bring an extra t-shirt or shirt, in case you need to change it.
frederatorjeaux: comfortable shoes are a plus
frederatorjeaux: i don’t know if that helps, but that’s what i have learned
kyooshi: “bring some deodarant, cause there’s some comic dudes that forget to bring it.” - so i can spray them down?
kyooshi: =)
frederatorjeaux: maybe with some mace
frederatorjeaux: hahaha
kyooshi: ha ha
frederatorjeaux: nice to meet you!
kyooshi: yes, nice to meet you. And thanks for Frederator!
kyooshi: Great stuff

You heard it here first people. Channel Frederator. We do Great Stuff.
Stay Tuned for my next blog posting on the SDCC, where I point you towards Must Buy Items and Must Meet Artists.
Take Care True Believers!
-Jeaux Janovsky

Last night I attended Preview Night at the San Diego Comic Con. If you’re not familiar with Comic Con, it’s the mecca for all things geek. The world of comics, animation, movies, television, and toys collide. The results are awesome.

After waiting in line for a little bit, I was into the show. The sheer number of people was mind boggling. The festival did an awesome job of getting people where they needed to go, signed in, and into the show in no time at all. Great job there. I’ve been to festivals and conventions that were chaotic during sign in. This is not the case at the Comic Con.

Comic con is still about the comics. You’ll have no problem at all finding that rare issue, back issue, or new issue you’ve been looking for.

Animation plays a HUGE part of Comic Con.

Bill Plympton will be showing his latest work on Thursday (today) at 5:00PM in 5AB. He’s got a lot of great stuff for sale at his booth, including original art, so be sure to stop by and check it out (and more importantly buy something to help support independent animation!).

Ted Mathot and Derek Thompson were showing off a bunch of stuff from E-Ville Press. E-Ville is a group of artists (mainly from Pixar) who publish together. It’s a bit of a rebuilding year for E-Ville, with no new books for Comic Con, but in addition to the books, they did have a lot of great original art for sale.

Mega talented concept artist and animator Jeff Merghart checks out some books.

I saw a promo for the show Stephen Levinson is working on, called “Slacker Cats”. The show looks great, and it is a big part of the ABC Family booth. I’ll be sure to watch for it when it airs.

Dreamworks had some maquettes for their upcoming film “Kung Fu Panda”. They look great, and I’m looking forward to the film.

I really like the base on this one.

He looks like a great character

I wouldn’t want to cross this guy.

I’m anxious to see what they do with this snake character. I haven’t seen really solid character animation from a snake character since the Jungle Book.

He looks like a fun character.

There is a lot of Anime at the show as well. If you’re a fan of animation from the far east, you’ll have lots to see and do at the Con.

Although it’s crowded at Comic Con, there are many things to see that are worth braving the crowds.

This ray gun from Weta is amazing.

It was nice to see the Governor supporting Comic Con.

These aren’t the droids you’re looking for, but you can own these lifesize (and very impressive) replicas soon.

How awesome would this be to have on your shelf? This is lifesize and ultra creepy. The character design still holds up after all these years.

These guys were cool, and didn’t fight at all while I took their picture.

Well, I guess that’s a wrap for the Preview Night post. Be sure to check up with the comics end of things over at Pulp Secret, and check back here for more Comic Con coverage.

Until next time, true believers!
-Floyd Bishop