Channel Frederator Blog

What a WEEK we have planned for you, Channel Frederator friends! Chickens! Robots! Dinosaurs! ALL IN ONE WEEK. Can you handle it?! Yes. Yes you can, and you will love every second of it. Cluck Cluck, wizz clank, ROOOAAARRR!

MONDAY Channel Frederator - “Chicken Cowboy” by Stephen Neary : A humble chicken learns to be brave in the face of bullies, bullets, and toast.

WEDNESDAY Fredbits - “Robot Dance Wars” by Toby Dale: Because the best way to settle a score is to just dance it out.

FRIDAY Cartoon Hangover - “Dino Rider” by Mikkel Siercke: A boy uses a dinosaur to exact revenge on his enemies (in lieu of dancing out his anger, it would seem).

* Be a fan of Channel Frederator and Cartoon Hangover on FaceBook!

* Subscribe to our podcasts on i-Tunes! Everyone else is!

* Want to submit? Then go for it! Click here!

WARNING: Channel Frederator is rated EXPLICIT. Man, cartoons are [Read more…]

You have 48 hours to create a short film, top to bottom. What do you do? Why, make a music video about a tokin’ Sasquatch. Doy. This week on Cartoon Hangover we’re featuring “Talkin’ Sasquatch Blues” created at the 2009 CalArts 48 hour film festival by Trevor Jones featuring music by Ten Mile Tide. Below, Trevor tells us more about the ‘toon, but most importantly, decides the winner in a Yeti vs. Sasquatch scenario.

Cartoon Hangover: Where did you study animation?

Trevor Jones: I’m in my second year at Calarts, but I studied a bit at my community college in Albuquerque and at my high school’s Career Enrichment Center before that.

CH: Who are your favorite artists?

TJ: I like a lot of artist.s I like Teddy Newton, Lou Romano, Shane Prigmore, and Shannon Tindle. Lori D’s stuff is pretty cool. But I also take a lot of inspiration from the amazing talent I [Read more…]

“Replacement Dog” comes to Channel Frederator this week from Casey Safron, supreme ruler and creator of Animation Block Party, and Garrett Koeppicus, who you might remember as the voice of the little frog in Chris Conforti’s “Frog” on Cartoon Hangover. Below, Casey and Garrett tell us more about the film, and what they’re up to next.

Channel Frederator: Where did you study animation?

Garrett Koeppicus: School of Visual Arts, 2002 - 2006.

Casey Safron: I was an American Studies major at Brandeis University, but drew the comic for my college paper and then started learning animation at an NYC studio called the Ink Tank at my first post grad job.

CF: Where are you making people study animation now?

GK: As far as I know, KC or myself aren’t making anyone study animation. I would hate to make anyone study anything they didn’t want to.

CS: I have been managing the School of Visual Arts BFA Animation Department since [Read more…]

Dogs replacing people? Pen Ward interview? A talking Sasquatch?! Has the world on BANANAS?! Yyyyyyup! This week we have exciting junk all around the site and blog - check out Pen Ward’s exclusive Channel Frederator interview (if you haven’t yet), we’ve got cool animation from Casey Safron, king of Animation Block Party, and Cartoon Hangover, well… you’ll see.

“Replacement Dog” by Casey Safron and Garret Koeppicus: A short and sweet short about a lady with commitment issues and a penchant for piercings.

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*New episode of Cartoon Hangover this Friday! “Talkin’ Sasquatch Blues”! Follow CH on Twitter! Be our friend on Facebook! WOO!

*Want to submit? Then go for it! Click here!

WARNING: Channel Frederator is rated EXPLICIT. Man, Sasquatches are so *bleepin’* yappy. Oops. Sorry. Some content on CF is pretty grown up. If you’re under 18, get a parent’s permission prior to viewing.

-Bailee DesRocher

Hey there, Channel Frederator Fans!

We want you to help us throw down for our 4 year anniversary with a slew of fantastic films for one big, bad episode! We’re looking for 4 second animations of what you think the Fredbot would do to celebrate his Happy 4th!

Upload your film to the submissions page. Please type “4 SECOND FREDBOT BY (your name)” in the title box. Best file size and type is 640×360 .mov Done and done!

Deadline is October 12th!

If you have other films you’d like featured on Channel Frederator, check out this article! We can’t wait to show your work, and in addition to interviews and hype for you - with our new format there’s cash available to anyone that gets their work shown!

Woo!

Recently I had a sit down with one of my favorite people, multi-talented animator and director Sherie Pollack, whose body of work ranges from edgy primetime programming animating and timing on “The Simpsons” to directing “God, The Devil, & Bob” to the pre-K “Dora the Explorer” and “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.” I took the opportunity to discuss her journey into animation success and her upcoming lecture “My Career in Cartoons”. Here, in the second half of her interview, Sherie goes in depth about her lecture.

BD: In your lecture, what kind of things do you cover for aspiring pro animators?

SP: I basically want to share everything I wish I knew when I started. You know, how to get a union job. What is a union all about. What do I do if I’m not doing well on a job - how do I get my groove back? Carpal tunnel. Everyone gets it. Eye strain. How to [Read more…]

Recently I had a sit down with one of my favorite people, multi-talented animator and director Sherie Pollack, whose body of work ranges from edgy primetime programming (like animating and timing on “The Simpsons” and directing “God, The Devil, & Bob”) to pre-K entertainment like“Dora the Explorer” and “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.” I took the opportunity to discuss her journey into animation success and her upcoming lecture “My Career in Cartoons”.

Bailee DesRocher: What got you started in animation?:

Sherie Pollack: I was 17 when I first started thinking about colleges, I flipped a coin - it was either going to be theatre, or fine arts. That’s when my mother pulled me into the pantry and said,”Do ya have to do this? Isn’t there anything else?”

Going forward, I combined the two. I didn’t know I wanted to be an animator. As a kid I was always drawing and I was very lucky - my parents would [Read more…]

Oh, fantastic.

Just, fan-freakin’-tastic.

Really. This week’s episode dives into the realm of fantasy and make believe. Monsters? Check. What-would-you-do-with-a-million-dollars scenario? Got it. Chasing down and finally meeting the woman of your dreams? Done and done.

Here at Channel Frederator, you don’t have to go to sleep to have your dreams come true. Mainly because if you close your eyes you’ll miss all the sweet ‘toons.

“Attraction”, submitted by Rachinta Platts – A newspaper vendor falls head over hills for a beautiful woman in a mysterious scarf.

“La Manana Maldita”, submitted by Bouman – Don’tcha just hate it when a monster threatens to eat you before you’ve had your morning cup o’ joe?

“Justin’s Lotto Fantasy”, submitted by Richard Chapple – New puppy? A party boat? No, no, no. Justin proves that setting specific goals for your lotto winnings is very important.

AND congratulations to our March Cartoon of the Month Winner, “Sweet Dreams” by Kirsten Lepore!

WARNING: Channel [Read more…]

The popular South African comic strip, Supa Strikas, is headed for the animation route!
Supa Strikas follows the adventures of Shakes and his fellow team-mates as they take on some of the world’s best teams in the Super League, coincidentally the toughest league on planet Earth.
You can find out more about the Supa Strikas, by checking out the Supa Strikas website!
-Jeaux Janovsky

Via UTNE
UTNE’s Kari Volkmann-Carlsen has been noticing a rash of Facelift epidemics… on Eighties Cartoon Characters.

She also ponders:

“So why are companies reinventing old cartoon characters instead of designing new ones? According to Kolodenko, playing off of parents’ nostalgia has proven to be a safer investment than creating unknowns in our poorly functioning economy”

Sigh.
Go check out the rest of her article at UTNE.
-Jeaux Janovsky