June 1 Watchcat Wednesday

This blog has reached 6750 all time viewers and we want to shoot another live WatchCat Blog (with sound this time) to say thank you for supporting this blog. And all this reminds me of something very important that happened back on June 1, 1939...

Two aspiring cartoonists in High School, Joe Seigel and Jerry Schuster, created a character called "Superman". These two Jewish kids had read about the Nazis racial concept of the Aryan Superman and wanted to show a Superman who could be on the American side. 

On this day, they sell all the rights to Detective Comics (D.C.) for $130. When the first megabudget Superman movie was being made in the 1976 - the National Cartoonist's Society pointed out that Seigel and Schuster never received a nickel of the multi-millions their creation had made. Jeannie Schuster, wife of Joe and the model for Lois Lane told the National Cartoonists Society in 1998 "Artists have to stick together, because only then will you have power!" 

Ironically, their 1938 paycheck sold at auction for $160,000

Read more about "Super Boys" by Brad Ricca
 
================

And speaking of changing cartoon characters to live action ones...

Recently, I helped Calabash Animation in Chicago animate the Honeynut Bee on this commercial for Trix. Calabash animated Sonny the Cuckoo Bird and the Trix's Rabbit traditionally while I animated the bee in Maya. It was a fun and fast spot to work on!

 

And here's the :15 second version...

What Actress will play Mrs Brisby in the live action version of "The Secret of NIHM"?

Next Post: NOIR Indiegogo campaign!
Enjoyed this post? Please LIKE our official Watchcat Facebook Page!

Let's draw WatchCat!

People often ask me, "Trevor, how do you draw Watchcat?" I smile and say, "My name is Jim and drawing takes a lot of practice." And so, I thought I would share with you this brief drawing tutuorial for this Watchcat Wednesday. As always, let us know you are still alive and enjoying these weeklies by sending us any helpful feedback or comments below.

As always, let us know you are still alive and enjoying these weeklies by sending us any helpful feedback or comments below.

More NOIR

Work has been going well on Watchcat 02 and final scenes are getting done. I am spending a lot of time finalizing the end scenes which is taking extra time to do. My time will also be less over the next few weeks due to family obligations, including a High School graduation. I'm not complaining, because I can still see that light at the end of the animation tunnel.

Greg has been busy working on NOIR and getting ready for an upcoming IndieGoGo campaign. The guys recently did an interview with Miss Silke Hollywood at Mel's Diner in Hollywood, talking about their films. Enjoy...

Like our Watchcat Facebook Page to help support this blog! Thanks!

Animating Watchcat

In the the past week, I finished up an animation commercial and 16 final animation shots for Watchcat episode 2. I only have 28 shots to go and I'm starting to see a light at the end of a very long tunnel. This project has taken longer to finish then previously expected, because it has been done on a collection of spare time throughout the past several months.

Below is a video I made back when the tunnel was just a hole in the ground. Hopefully, it will help explain a little bit about my animation process.

 

Hope to have finished shots very soon...

Inside of NOIR

I am currently working on turning rough animation scenes into final shots. I'm taking the next 3 weeks to finish up as many shots as I can before school is out for the Summer. I;ve got about 45 scenes to go and estimate that I will be done by the end of June or July. In any case, here are several final scenes for your review and comments.

Final22_25 from Toondini on Vimeo.

In the meantime, Gregory Bradley and Lee Anthony Smith are finishing up principal photography on their feature film "Noir". An indiegogo campaign will be happening sometime in May for post production. The date of this will be published in this blog in the next few weeks. 

Until then, Greg and Tony want to thank everyone who's been supporting their indie film and ask everyone to continue to Like their NoirTheFilm Facebook page & follow them on Instagram and Twitter. 

Here's are some production stills from their film, NOIR.

If you liked this posting, click on the ads to the right or below this article or let us know you like what you see by leaving a comment below, Thank You!