Hornswiggle

The photo above was taken at the Annual Asifa Hollywood ANNIE AWARDS event I believe two or three years ago. The fellow at left is Leonard Maltin, the guy without a tux at right is yours truly. The guy in the middle is Earl Kress.

I enlisted Earl to write HORNSWIGGLE because I needed the script to have a classic cartoon feel - and no one is better suited to this task than he. I had written the original story with my pal Bill Vallely, but Earl wrote and re-wrote (several times) the final draft, strengthening the concept (and adding much to the humor) with each successive rewrite.

In case you haven’t heard of Earl Kress, let me point out a few of his many many credits. Earl started out at Disney Feature Animation, working on THE FOX AND THE HOUND and other material during those choatic days pre-Michael Eisner. He became one of the top writers on TINY TOON ADVENTURES, ANIMANIACS and, in particular, the PINKY & THE BRAIN series. He’s worked at Disney TV, Hanna-Barbera and Warner Bros. on various TV projects - and he wrote one of my favorite (yet rarely seen) theatrical shorts, LITTLE GO BEEP (an great unreleased Looney Tunes cartoon starring the Coyote and Road Runner).

He was the producer of those wonderful Rhino CD collections of Hanna Barbera sound Effects, Flintstones music and H&B TV show theme songs - and he regularly writes stories for DC’s LOONEY TUNES comic books. He also does commentary and consultation on many Hanna Barbera DVD collections (like the latest TOM & JERRY set, and the forthcoming HUCKLEBERRY HOUND and YOGI BEAR collections).

If one wants a classic cartoon, Earl is the “go to” guy. I’m very proud to have him as part of Team Hornswiggle.