Illustrators Enter Animated World

Comicbook series that are crossing into the world of animation include The Bakers, which has led to an animated series for BET. All The Bakers and Kyle Baker images © 2005 Kyle Baker. All rights reserved.

As a seemingly continuous stream of comicbooks and childrens books are translated into animated TV series, more illustrators are crossing the line into the world of animation. And some animators are trying their hand at print, as well. The two formats are similar in many ways the goal of both is to tell a good story in the best way possible but there are some key differences in terms of the creative process.

A nice graphic element on the page doesnt necessarily translate into movement, says Bob Boyle, creator/exec producer of Wow! Wow! Wubbzy, a Bolder Media/IDT production debuting on Nick Jr. in August, and producer and art director on Nickelodeons The Fairly OddParents and Danny Phantom. There are illustrative cheats you cant do in animation.

Wubbzy originated as a preschool book concept for Bolder Books for Boys and Girls, an imprint being launched by Random House in a joint venture with Bolder Media. The books, all created by animators, are intended to stand alone as books but also to translate well to television.

Childrens book characters, with their simplicity, often look quite different on the TV screen than on the printed page. You have to decide how they move, turn and look from behind, says Todd Parr, creator of a line of childrens books for publisher Little, Brown that was the inspiration for the TLC animated TV series ToddWorld.

In addition to the drawing, the style of storytelling also can vary from one medium to another, especially when a series is based on a book for young children. Im not a traditional storyteller, says Parr, whose books feature simple, 2D drawings and not much text. Expanding his concepts into 11-minute TV episodes was a learning experience, Parr reports. Theres a lot of stuff in there, he says of an episode. Sometimes it seems like theres too much to comprehend.

In the books, Parr continues, if an idea is too difficult or complicated for my age group, I just abandon it. In television, he defers to the writers, whose expertise includes knowing how much information fits into 11 minutes. One of the biggest challenges at first was understanding that process, says Parr.

In many cases, childrens books have very little dialog, perhaps a line or two, which presents another hurdle when translating them for television. I didnt think of the voices at all when writing the book, said Boyle of Wubbzy, which was created with his niece and originally was titled Flopsy, Mopsy and Ted. With the book, I was thinking, Mopsy did this. Mopsy did that. Mopsy loved to do blah, blah, blah, he says. When it came time to translate the property for television, therefore, significant effort was spent on dialog. A lot of it was finding their voices and how they would speak.

Cartoonist Kyle Baker (above) finds more freedom in comics, as when he drew Superman at DC. He could depict the superhero anyway he wanted as long as the colors were right.

When it comes to comicbooks, which are written largely for an older audience of teens and up, artists note the greater freedom afforded them on the printed page versus on television. There are parameters. You cant add a third ear to Batman. But [publishers] take a liberal stance on how it can look, says David Williams, a freelance character designer, storyboard artist, comicbook artist and currently senior character designer on Cartoon Networks Ben 10. In animation, on the other hand, Youre all trying to achieve one persons design. I had to set all my comicbook experience and pride aside. It was like going back to school. Williams has produced comics for Marvel, DC, Image and Malibu, as well as working in animation, including on Superman and Batman.

Youre often free to do what you want [in comics], agrees cartoonist Kyle Baker, who has done projects for DC, Marvel and others, as well as being involved with Looney Tunes Back in Action and other animation productions. He is the creator of the comicbook series The Bakers, published by his own imprint, Kyle Baker Publishing, which led to an animated series for BET. At DC, you could draw Superman any way you want, as long as the colors were right. Superman could be skinny or muscular. Bruce Timms Batman and the Batman I drew are very different. Conversely, in animation, you really have to follow the model sheets. I have a lot of trouble with that sometimes, he laughs.

Baker points out that comics creators are restricted by the number of drawings per page, since if a drawing is too small the reader cant see it. There might be four panels to a page and 20 pages in a book. So you put as much information into each drawing as possible, he says. He cites the example of a panel depicting a mother, two children and a comicbook on the floor. In the animated version of that same scene, youd have to break it into (or zoom around) four elements: a shot of the mother, a shot of each child and then a shot of the comic.

Francis Lee, creator of Tales of Midnight, finds that in animation there is a frustrating delay between the time a storyline is created and when it reaches a final form. All Tales of Midnight images © Francis Lee 2006.

The animation process can lead to a different form of storytelling. I didnt have any idea what it would look like to see my characters animating across the screen, says Steve Purcell, creator of Sam & Max, which began life in a series of comicbooks, followed by a game from LucasArts and an animated series on Fox Kids. Currently, Telltale Games is distributing a new downloadable Sam & Max game as well as a web strip starring the characters. I was especially dubious about seeing them modeled in 3D. Imagine my surprise at how cool I thought it was. Theres actually a shorthand to screen entertainment. The ideas are conveyed to the brain quicker, so its a different way of storytelling. I like it very much.

The relatively long process of animation (depending on how many people are assigned to the project) also affects the work. The number of people and how fast they work has an amazing amount of influence in how you finally see the animation turn out, because as a creator you are constantly seeing new ways of looking at your story and wanting to push the envelope of what is possible to illustrate that story, says Francis Lee, creator of Tales of Midnight. Consequently, this puts a frustrating delay between the time you create the storyline and the time you can go and edit that creation into the final form that you feel works for the characters in that story.

Tales of Midnight was born as an online comic and has been translated into a CG animated series, now distributed through the broadband entertainment channel beyondstarlight.tv. It is being developed for CG television animation and live action, and has attracted licensees including Corgi for collectible statues and metal figures.

The main surprise was the length of time it took for the story to unfold in animation as opposed to print, Lee continues. On screen the story moves along at such a faster rate, because you are feeding it to the viewers rather than having them read the story. So it affects the way you tell the story. And because production moves along at such a slow pace, this also has a way of forcing you into a style of storytelling that is very different from the one used for print. This can have a profound effect on the way you choose to tell the story in animation as opposed to a comicbook.

Tales of Midnight was born as an online comic. It has been translated into a CG animated series and is now distributed through broadband. A live-action project, collectible statues and metal figures are in the offing.

Collaboration Versus Isolation

The process of book or comicbook creation occurs solo, with both the control and the responsibility resting largely with the author/illustrator. Many creators of print properties say the collaborative process of animation is difficult to get used to at first, while animators, similarly, arent accustomed to the lonely process of writing and illustrating for print. With a book, you have to do it all. It was just me in a room, Boyle says. Its much more isolated. And the pressure is on. You cant just say, go draw a building for me, as you can if youre an animation art director. The pressure is on. But it was kind of liberating.

In comics or books, the artists have control over their work, but in animation everyone has a say, from the producer down to the janitor, comments Williams, who notes every detail such as whether a characters feet should be bigger becomes a group decision. He adds that the collaborative nature of animation, and the speed required of certain jobs in the field (e.g., storyboard artist), means, you never get to marvel at the work you do. In print, on the other hand, Theres that sense of gratification that comes from savoring your work.

In comicbooks, every decision is my own as well as the all the responsibility, says Purcell. With both games and animation there is a lot more at stake. Someone is spending lots of money to bring it to the screen. Its a huge undertaking, and a constant collaboration. Its a constant push and pull and effort to get everyone thinking the same way about the project.

Purcell continues, In print, your imagination fills in the blanks. You do a drawing of the character walking and the readers decide in their mind how that walk really plays out. In animation everything becomes a decision that must be made. Every step the character takes is someones decision. You do make those choices in print but you can do as much by suggesting the ideas with color or shapes in the background. In 3D every piece dirt or scrap of debris blowing by has to be made by someone, and all those choices require a meeting of some kind.

If comicbook or book writer/creators become writers on a television show based on their own properties, they often assume the role of showrunner, which means they call the shots, similar to what they do when creating the book or comicbook, notes Scott Rosenberg, chairman of Platinum Studios, which publishes comicbooks and develops comicbook properties for entertainment. But he agrees that the collaboration aspect can be a challenge for some artists. It isnt the norm in comics to collaborate, he says. Theyre on the web, in their home, somewhere on the planet alone.

Seven Seas Ent. is developing a manga based on Backbone Ent.s Death Jr. videogame franchise. All Death Jr. images © 2005 Backbone Ent.

The same holds true for book author/illustrators. With the books, its me and my editor, and thats all, Parr says. The animation is really different for me, because there are so many people involved in the animation process. At the beginning it was a little frustrating, because I didnt fully understand the process. Now I dont feel I have to understand every step of the way.

He notes that it took a while to figure out his role on the Toddworld production. He draws the key elements, reviews the writing and adds what the writers have dubbed Toddisms, and ensures that the script and the art reflect his unique style. His trust in the people working with him has been an important success factor, Parr stresses. Everyone involved has the same vision, he says. I trusted that they fully understood my work and goals.

Boyle notes that book or comicbook creators who translate their work into animation have to figure how to convey their sensibility to the others who are collaborating on a show. Everyone has to get into your head, he says. They have to know, How would Bob draw that tree? You have to put a team together where everyone can draw like Bob.

What Translates?

Not all comicbooks lend themselves to animation, or vice versa. Rosenberg notes that there are really two issues: first, is the comicbook itself translatable, and second, can the comicbook talent adapt to the new medium. He points out that there have been many examples over the decades of artists that successfully worked in both, including Jack Kirby, Bruce Timm, Alex Toth, Judd Winick and Dave McKean, to name a few.

Rosenberg explains that, in general, comics tend to be easily translatable because of their innate flexibility. He notes that characters may be rested, but they keep coming back in different forms. Each time a new writer/illustrator team comes into a project, they can go back to a characters origins and develop completely new worlds from the same roots. You dont have to go one way, there are a zillion ways to go. Or you can do something entirely new, he says.

That adaptability can work the other way around as well. Seven Seas Ent. is developing a manga comic based on Backbone Ent.s Death Jr. videogame franchise, published by Konami. One of the initial challenges was that we didnt step on any of the continuity issues. That was a little challenging at first in terms of how to adapt it, says Jason DeAngelis, president/founder of Seven Seas Ent. The solution Seven Seas came up with was to create a portal that launches the character of Pandora, who is the focus of the manga, into the future, where she finds the body of her teenage self. That gave us a pretty open playing field.

Nicole Tanner, of Foundation 9 Ent., Backbones parent company, thinks each version of Death Jr. will be unique. The comic is not like the game and the manga is not like the comic.

DeAngelis notes that manga was well-suited to the Death Jr. universe. Its very character-driven, very fantastical and bizarre, highly cinematic and has the female aspect, he says. Theres that goth girl aesthetic thats in a lot of manga and has been very successful. The female-skewing audience of manga (50%-60% of readers are typically teen girls and young women) is one of the reasons Pandora made sense as the lead character.

Nicole Tanner, managing editor at Foundation 9 Ent., Backbones parent company, says Foundation 9 and Backbone believe in allowing Death Jr. to be adapted in a way that makes sense for the unique qualities of each medium. No matter what the medium, we let it take on wings of its own. The comic is not like the game and the manga is not like the comic. We like our partners to take a little bit of ownership. Image Comics is publishing its second three-issue series of Death Jr. comics, and Madhouse is developing an animated TV series.

In some cases, crossing over from one medium to another can influence an artists style in the original medium. Williams says learning to draw in TV animation style helped his comic art. Absolutely, it totally changed my style, he says, noting that he learned to economize his lines, look at his drawing with a new perspective, understand shapes and volumes better, and put more power into the characters movement. Its the whole less-is-more philosophy. I think every comicbook artist should work on something in animation.

Karen Raugust is a Minneapolis-based freelance business writer specializing in animation, publishing, licensing and art. She is the author of The Licensing Business Handbook (EPM Communications).