Hornswiggle

Two strange panels from our storyboard - yes, that’s a guy in an iron lung giving a take!

Our storyboard got a great reaction today. I can breathe easier. Wednesday Team Hornswiggle will auditions voices.

Above, “CHEATER” after his first encounter with HORNSWIGGLE.

Big week coming up for HORNSWIGGLE. The final storyboard will be presented Tuesday, and we hold our voice auditons on Wednesday.

Have a good weekend. Go see WALLACE & GROMIT. It’s great.

CHEATER is Zan-Tar’s monkey sidekick. He has a very small part in this picture. He has no speaking lines.

But he looks cool.

Take a tip from Hornswiggle and always bush your teeth - and keep your horn shiny.

The problem with Frederator Studios in Burbank is that someone keeps bringing in a fresh assortment of donuts and bagels every morning - and my office is right next to the kitchen.

Not that I’m complaining, mind you. It’s just that I anticipate major weight gain by the time my project is done…

Meanwhile, storyboarding continues…

Hornswiggle’s loyal companion is BIRDSDORF, an Oxpecker (Go on… Google that!).

Oxpeckers are known to “climb around on the bodies of large mammals, feeding on ticks and other parasites - and on cattle earwax”.

Oxpeckers are also known as “Tick birds”. However, Birdsdorf’s ticked-off attitude is evident because being attached to Hornswiggle can be very dangerous.

King of the Jungle! Lord of the Wilderness! Commando of the Congo!

With an appetite and ego the size of Africa!

Zan-Tar is Hornswiggle’s personal hero - and the villian of our piece. Zan-Tar is well known as a friend to all jungle animals. But it seems he likes the jungle animals a little too much - he likes to eat them.

However, his appetite for Rhino-stew is about to get the better of him…

This week HORNSWIGGLE is being storyboarded by my old friend Tom Sito.

I met Tom almost exactly 30 years ago - sheesh! - at the School of Visual Arts in New York. He was working on his student film and I watched over his shoulder in awe of his talents. Tom went on to work for Dick Williams, Filmation, Disney Feature Animation (Beauty & The Beast, Aladdin, etc.), Dreamworks and Warner Bros. Not to mention he was head of the Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists Union (now known as The Animation Guild) and has just written a book on the history of the screen cartoonists labor movement.

The photo above shows (left to right) Tom Sito, Rich Arons and me (Jerry Beck) going over some artwork for HORNSWIGGLE.

I’m just back from Ottawa and rarin’ to get my head back into HORNSWIGGLE’S universe.
Lots more to show you and talk about later.
The beautiful image above is by Frederick Gardner, the super talented designer who won a Emmy award two weeks ago for his role as Background Key Designer on The Powerpuff Girls. I’m delighted he’s helping us define Hornswiggle’s world.

To be continued!

I will be be in Ottawa the rest of the week at the International Animation Festival. I will be screening vintage PINK PANTHER cartoons (at the BYTOWNE CINEMA on Friday morning and Saturday afternoon) and a program of the WORST CARTOONS EVER (Saturday night 7 & 9pm at BARRYMORES) - as well as my book signing party at CHAPTERS BOOKSTORE (Saturday at 5pm). If you are in the area, please come by and join the fun.

Ladies and Gentleman… here he is.

My project is in it’s earliest phases of production. Character designs are still being worked out. Eventually through this blog you will know and see everything. All will be explained.

But for now - here’s the first look at our lead. Isn’t he cute?

Have a great weekend!