Wow, I feel like retard for posting, but ah well. I guess Jhonen's kinda like my idol....it's sad, really, yet true. I'm pretty new to his stuff although I read his comics before I saw the show. Zim is one of the couple of new wave cartoons that are starting to appeal to older kids as well as younger kids, which is good. The only TV I watch is cartoons ^^; My friend and I want to do an episode of a cartoon show on flash if we can and I'd probably animate it, although I have no idea how I'd do it since I don't have a tablet, don't have flash, and I'm completely ignorant as far as animation goes. I should probably poke around this site to find out about that....Oh, well....this interview was really cool, I was actually wondering what kind of school he went to since I'm pondering about colleges myself...(doncha love how you're forced to choose your career during the most fucked up mental/hormonal period in your life? Yum Yum) Anyways, I love his dark humor and his art style, they go together so well....I've always wanted to write him or e-mail him and ask his stuff, but...after the hell-fans meanwhile...I'm kinda scared to ^^; ah well, who cares cuz he's not gonna read this anyhow. Go to my websites because I say so. - http://visual_anarchy.tripod.com/ http://www.furnation.com/Arcane/ http://www.angelfire.com/me3/Gold/

Go Jhonen, go forth and conquer this world for it is yours for the taking.

Chris, most of your writing seems to be emanating from an alcoholic funk these days. Is that your modus operandi (sic) or are you actually a responsible daddy? You go; guy, continue to insult and digress (but make sure and change the baby's nappies). Regards the writer of these alphanumeric characters

Hey, Pimp, one of your best! Always seemed to me that Xmas specials concerned either someone finding out the "True Meaning of Christmas" (It's a former pagan holiday that takes place on Dec. 25; Jesus real birthday would be celebrated around the swimming pool), or somebody has to "save Christmas", typically because Santa has been somehow incapacitated (I would not want the jolly old codger's insurance premiums, nope!).or the animated docudrama of how some cockeyed Xmas legend came to be. Thanks for a fresh look at a hackneyed genre. Hey...I just heard something fall off my roof! What the hell....!

What Studio is JLA set up at?

It seems a dead giveaway that almost all the responses posted so far have been from people associated with the production of BUTT UGLY MARTIANS. This gives an impression of frantic damage-control propaganda. Publicly questioning Jerry Beck's objectivity is injudicious and petty. I have watched the show, and it is indefensible. I showed a tape of the show to two nephews, aged 8 and 10. Both immediately noticed the very poor quality of the animation and design, and the numerous technical deficits, although neither has any knowledge of animation production technique. The kids were bored and thought the script was "stupid". Other comments were "their elbows bend funny" and "why do they go through the ground and furniture?". The extensive merchandising effort seems to be ill-advised. The corporations involved may have hitched their wagon to a dog.

Splendid article. Regardless of the tools and techniques used, the final output is ultimately an expression of the story in graphic form - and whether the artist's hand is holding a pen, brush, or a mouse and keyboard, it is still performing essentially the same operation: re-creating mental imagery in a physical medium.

A Wish for Wings that Work has about as much to do with Berkeley Breathed as Disney's Jungle Book has to do with Rudyard Kipling. 'Nuff said. Uncle Neilly's best best...check out the Hey, Arnold! Christmas special, where the kid tries to reunite his Vietnamese neighbour with his daughter, who got seperated from him during the fall of Saigon. Beats the hell out of that Grinch bee-otch. And if that fails, hell, there's always Corky Quakenbush's "Ragin Rudolph"! Cheers, baby.

sentimental claptrap ;from we the bachalors bah fooey. christmas? the shortest day and it's all family. meanwhile egor, fresh brains please. (coffee and spice.) peace on earth but only after I've gotten mine. pat

jv makes comics and cartoons cool again

i believe that as long as there are children or children at heart, there will always be the need and the desire to see simple and colorful shapes animated on screen, with all the crazy distortions and zany expressions that can only be accomplished by the technique of traditional animation.

behold the spooginess! jhonen vasquez is quite spiffy, yes indeedy. i have loved all of his work for its dark funniness and nougat-filled glee. yes, scooby-doo does indeed suck quite a lot, and is very much like watching diarreah going swirly down the white portal to hell. don't watch it children. it will make you kill your parents. that reminds me, i am suprised that soccer moms aren't up in arms about ZIM yet. that's good. they're keeping themselves occupied with crushing their childrens' creative urges. i'm glad nobody supressed your urges, jhonen. because then where would we all be? WHERE?? um, i don't know, but it would be very... icky. yes. and not in a good way. keep up the nightmares. organic.

Hmmmmm...this article began with what seemed like a valid and interesting topic. However, he is CG director for, IMO, the worst animated series in terms of visuals, story (everything) i have ever seen. AWN, don't put people like this in the firing line! BUM is absolutely terrible! It is guilty of all the crimes this Prikle is going on about and more! He needs to take a step back and stop congratulating himself on signing off 4 millions scenes...because most of them are awful! Sorry for all the exclamation marks. I am surprised that he cannot see what utter drivel he is involved in producing himself. On the positive side, i did wonder when i accidently was tortured by watching Butt Ugly, whether those art criminals who were involved in it realised it was poo and now I have my answer. It is a shock to me that a reasonable human being could think that it was of an acceptable standard. The strange things money does to your artistic sensibilities...please beat that guy round the head with some art and tell him to shut up.

Great summary, Josh! And great job on the BUM Series. Gary Selvaggio

I agree with about picking the right medium when producing an animated project but it should be in ways on how to best convey the story. Choosing what kind of show to produce based on extensive market research is the very reason why modern day cartoons are lackluster and visually unstimulating. Who wants to watch a bunch of kids sitting around talking and making fun of parents? Because of this, more and more people are turning to better shows like the original looney tunes instead of watching all this nonsense. Take advantage of the animation medium and do things that you can't do with live action. It's obvious that executives are in more control creativly than the artists....look at "Recess" and "The Proud Family"...shows that are full of attitude and an extesive amount of vocal chatter. It would seem to me, the best way to pick a subject and medium for an animated program is to follow what looks and feels good. Certainly don't follow what the demographics say. If everyone did what you recommended, we wouldn't have Wallace and Gromit or even Bugs Bunny. It's characters and shows like these that will stand the test of time.

I much rather watch Anime like Dragonball Z and Cardcaptor Sakura then those digitally animated shows, cause anime always has an interesting plot, the art is not 3D but it's still great. On those other shows they seem to concentrate much more on the art then on the actual plot of the show, and to be blunt it makes the shows quite boring.

Jhonen Rocks!

I have been a huge fan of Mr. Vasquez for several years now...he has had a tremendous impact on both my writing and art styles. I'm happy to say that I was able to infiltrate my high school with his bag of horrors, and it has become a bit of an underground phenomenon. I even got one of my ex-girlfriends into comics, thanks to Johnny. I can honestly say no other creator has had as much influence over me. The new series looks spectacular, and is the best cartoon on tv right now. I hope there will be a DVD release of the seasons. www.geocities.com/voodoobenjamin/ - my writing/art stuff, if you're curious. -d

When the camera was introduced did we stop painting? No, the advent of photography set artists free from painting portraits and historical accounts to explore new techniques and schools of thought. To say that CGI will ever replace "old school" animation is a short sighted statement. Have you ever sat in a diner or park to draw, people are drawn to you, they want to see what you are drawing. When I draw in public people approach me with big smiles on their faces and they almost always say "I use to be able to draw, when I was little." 2D animation takes people back to their childhood when they could draw. Every time someone tells me that, I am happy to know that I was able to keep that part of my childhood. I work in a studio where we use both 2D and 3D animation and both artists are very talented, but most 3D artists tend to over look the benefits that 100 years of production can teach them. One of the most important benefits is timing. 2D animators have timing and lip sinc down to a science, and yet in my experience this is one of the first things overlooked and then struggled with. Untrained or pooly trained 3D artists seem to be looking for the easy way out, looking for some hardware or software to solve the problems of animation, but in my opinion that is what animation is all about, the process. The bottem line is always time and money, but take the time to enjoy the problems involved in animation and plow throw a stack of drawings or whatever problem is in front of you, that is why I love animation, the process. One advantige 2D has over 3D, I never worry about the power going out, or file corruption, as long as I can see I can still draw!

Reading about this film has thrilled me beyond description (of course I haven't seen it; I doubt anyone in South Africa has). In my country the animation industry is barely fledgeling. There is immense potential for new forms of animation to emerge from our embattled culture...but I am constantly frustrated by the industry's (such as it is) slavish adherence to "standard" animation forms and trends. Companies as well as the few independent projects constantly cite the need for "international marketing", and then proceed to produce crass imitations of well-established, mostly American work. Waking Life sounds like a project that has broken free of these kind of constrictive "correctness" worries. If it is difficult to classify, it has my fullest admiration. Despite my pessimism about the SA animation industry as it stands, the signs are there that very interesting things are about to emerge from this quarter of the world...it would do prospective animators here a world of good to be exposed to films like Waking Life. What are the chances of a South African release? And is there any way to get hold of the film on tape?