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Jake Friedman emailed yesterday to tell me about BabbittBlog.com, a site dedicated to all things Art Babbitt. Jake has been researching a biography of the legendary animator for the last few years, and if the blog is any indication, there’s still a lot left to learn about Babbitt.
There’s no shortage of animation tips posted online nowadays, but this mass of how-to advice isn’t particularly well organized. Thankfully, Jonah Sidhom has created the Animation Article Database, an invaluable list of links to animation tips from industry pros, organized alphabetically.
Canada’s only animator with three first names, Brandon James Scott, has an informative series of blog posts about creating Justin Time, a preschool animated series that is now in production on its second season. He takes the reader through the entire process from pitch to development to bible, and finally, production.
When I speak to indie filmmakers, there’s always a lot of confusion about the potential money that can be earned by posting shorts on the Internet, especially by posting them onto YouTube. An article in last month’s Wall Street Journal shed some much needed light on the situation. The article said that those who join YouTube’s Partner Program receive between $1,500 and $4,500(US) for every million video views. The wide variance in price is attributed to the country and platform where the video is viewed.
According to YouTube, they had 30,000 partners in 2011, up from 20,000 in 2010. “Several hundred” of those partners made more than $100,000, which is an 80% increase from the “couple of hundred” partners who achieved the six-figure earnings mark in 2010. Using that data, I think it would be fair to guess that they have at least 350 people earning six-figures, or slightly over 1% of their YouTube Partners.
Using the numbers above, I decided to figure out what some of the most successful animators on YouTube are making. I’ve shared the numbers below. Considering how difficult it is to make money with animated shorts, the numbers are fairly impressive, especially if viewed as a single revenue stream as part of a larger plan that includes broadcast sales to foreign TV channels, merchandising, dvd sales, digital downloads, and so forth.
It’s also impressive that many of the most successful animators on YouTube are young filmmakers whose reputations were established exclusively online. Another important point to consider is that all of these animators have dozens of films posted on their channel. There are no examples yet of people earning this kind of money from just a handful of films. Simon’s Cat has the least videos of any of the channels below, with only twenty.
Animation Filmmaker Earnings on YouTube
PES
29.3 million video views (as of Mar. 19, 2012)
Estimated earnings: $43,950 – $131,850
Lev Yilmaz
36.3 million video views
Estimated earnings: $54,450 – $163,350
Cyriak
66.7 million video views
Estimated earnings: $100,050 – $300,150
Harry Partridge
74.4 million video views
Estimated earnings: $111,600 – $334,800
Egoraptor
102.4 million video views
Estimated earnings: $153,600 – $460,800
If you ever wondered what your favorite childhood cartoon characters might look like having sex, or doing something nasty, wonder no more.
Out of Context Animation is a tumblr site that posts unique frames from innocent animated films, which out of context could possibly be interpreted as something incredibly obscene. Here’s a couple of examples from the site below (click thumbnails to enlarge image). Mickey, Porky, Spongebob, Inspector Gadget… no one is spared. Nothing not-safe-for-work, but actually quite funny… or at least I think so.
Be sure and visit Google’s front page today for an animated Valentine’s Day short with music by Tony Bennett. For a Google Doodle, it’s an impressively long piece. I hope they’ll be doing more of these long-form animated pieces in the future. I’m not totally sure on the credits, but I believe the director was Willie Real and the animator was Michael Lipman (aka Lippy). Also, kudos to Google for not being afraid to slip in a nod to gay marriage.
Less than a year after its launch, Kaboing TV has come to a virtual standstill. Billed as “an alternative channel for quality animation that serves both the cartoon fan and the animation community of artists and writers,” the idea was conceived by Joe Murray, the veteran creator of old-media shows like Rocko’s Modern Life and Camp Lazlo. Murray raised over $20,000 from a Kickstarter campaign in June, 2010 to launch the concept.
Kaboing failed to gain traction with viewers. In the past year, Murray unveiled three original animated shorts based on his Frog in a Suit concept, and also presented six indie animated shorts. The combined viewership of those nine films was just 57,000 views.
In an essay posted on his blog last week he described Kaboing as being “at a crossroads.” In an earlier blog post last month, he alluded to Kaboing as if it had already died, writing that it was like “watching the fuse to what promises to be a wonderful firework display, fizzle out at the moment of truth.” The Kaboing website, which hosted its videos on YouTube, hasn’t unveilved a new cartoon since September, 2011, and the last original Frog in a Suit short premiered last March.
Murray blames virtually everything as a factor in the site’s lack of success, from a failed mainstream project that he had undertaken to no marketing budget to advertisers who wanted ownership of the shorts to the Internet’s desire for crude material.
The simplest solution though is often the right one, and in this case, it would appear that Murray didn’t offer a compelling product that audiences wanted to see. The Internet is very good at identifying what it likes, and it doesn’t like the kind of traditional material produced by mainstream TV studios. Frog in a Suit felt too much like a standard-issue TV cartoon with all the timeworn elements that Internet audiences are trying to escape.
It’s commendable that Murray is being upfront about the struggles of his start-up Kaboing TV, but his assignment of blame for the site’s failure seems misplaced to me. Reading between the lines of his January 18 post, he appears to believe that his work was of a higher quality than the kind of animation that becomes successful on-line. He expresses frustration that a “unicorn shitting rainbows” is more popular than his own work. But while some material is certainly more crude and raw, there are also breakout Internet hits like Simon Tofield’s Simon’s Cat which feature more elegant animation than anything you’ll find produced by a TV animation studio. The nineteen Simon’s Cat shorts, all animated by Tofield, have garnered over 215 million views on YouTube and spawned book and merchandising deals.
In the past artists created properties to pitch and sell to TV networks or newspaper syndicates in the hope of making their characters famous. Tofield has succeeded where Murray couldn’t by showing its possible to create characters on one’s own terms, turn them into a success online without giving up ownership rights, and then wait for companies to approach you with licensing deals.
YouTube, in fact, has spawned a new generation of animation creators who have become successful individual brands without the help of any middleman. An even more successful example is Dane Boedigheimer, whose Annoying Orange videos have accumulated nearly 600 million views on YouTube. His work has become so popular that Cartoon Network
Today I will sit down with Stu Shostack for another hard hitting interview, covering a wide range of animation subjects, on the internet radio program Stu’s Show. It’s being broadcast live at 7pm Eastern/4pm Pacific at StusShow.com. We will be discussing the latest events in cartoons – past, present and future. Looney Tunes on blu-ray, Tom & Jerry issues, UPA on DVD, I’ll give my opinion of the forthcoming Tintin movie and much much more… We’ll take questions via phone and email from listeners; we might also talk about Terrytoons. Join us and listen in here.
Heads up on another free-wheeling interview with Hanna-Barbera veteran animators Jerry Eisenberg and Willie Ito, today on internet radio’s Stu’s Show. It’s being broadcast live at 7pm Eastern/4pm Pacific on Shokus Internet Radio. Both Willie and Jerry designed some great characters during their years at H&B, and Stu will dig in to get the whole story, along with a look at both gentlemens’ careers pre-and-post Hanna Barbera, in what promises to be a great show for every animation buff.
And next week (Dec. 14th) yours truly, Jerry Beck, will be on the broadcast with a bunch of news about upcoming cartoon DVDs. I’ll remind you again next week.
Warner Home Video has launched a Facebook page that is worth a look – and a “Like”. WB Classic Animation went live late yesterday and the first thing posted is a simple comparison video showing two steps in the restoration process for upcoming Tom & Jerry Golden Collection Blu-Ray DVD set. But coming in the next few days and weeks will be direct input from Senior VP George Feltenstein, including new product information direct from the source, with accurate on-sale dates and content information on new releases.
I’m always asked how one can communicate directly with Warner Home Video. At last, I have an answer. You can now voice your opinions, ask your questions and send your comments to the powers that be – and they will actually read it. George Feltenstein himself will be doing a once-a-month live Q&A; their will be clips, previews and contests. Note that this Facebook page is solely for information on their classic theatrical cartoon library – Looney Tunes and Tom & Jerry titles for now; hopefully Popeye, Tex Avery, Censored 11 in the future. Other classic properties owned by the studio (Hanna Barbera TV cartooons, animated features and TV specials, etc.) are not being covered on this page.
So go on over there and “like” ‘em. And keep checking in to see what’s up… doc.
Once again I will be the guesting on Shokus Internet Radio’s Stu’s Show today at 7pm Eastern / 4pm Pacific. This is your rare opportunity to ask me live and in-person about Cartoons, Cartunes or even Kartunes.
Scheduled topics we hope to tackle include Looney Tunes and Tom & Jerry on Blu-Ray, the Animated Features Oscar race, Harveytoons on DVD, Seth MacFarlane’s Flintstones and as always, whatever the listeners want to talk about. You are encouraged to call in your questions and comments on the station’s toll-free telephone number – or better yet, email your questions to: comments-at-shokusradio.com.
Stu’s Show airs live each Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. PST, with rebroadcasts at the same time each day through next Tuesday August 16th. Access to the station’s feed is free, with no registration required, and is available either by clicking on the Enter Site button on the home page (www.shokusradio.com), by choosing one of the audio player links on the site’s main page.
It’s Gene Deitch’s 87th birthday today – Happy Birthday, Gene! – and to celebrate, Deitch has started a new blog based around his latest book, a work-in-progress, called Roll The Credits.
For the few reading this unaware of Gene’s career, Mr. Deitch is an Academy Award winning (Munro, 1960) animation director who began his career at UPA where he ultimately ran the New York studio directing Bert and Harry Piels commercials, ran the Terrytoons studio where he created Tom Terrific and Sick Sick Sidney, moved to Prague in 1959 where he directed Tom & Jerry shorts for MGM, Popeye and Krazy Kat TV cartoons for King Features and Nudnik theatricals for Paramount. He spent many years directing animated films for Weston Woods, includsing an adaptation of Where The Wild Things Are. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Oh, and he’s the father of acclaimed underground cartoonist Kim Deitch.
Gene’s new blog will (on a somewhat regular basis) post chapters from the new book, each one devoted to a person who inspired him, “the 65 freaky people – many who have been so far hidden from you – who’ve pushed and prodded me into whatever it is that I’ve accomplished.” The first posts are devoted to his mentor John Hubley, author-illustrator Tomi Ungerer, filmmaker Jan Svankmajer and his mother, Ruth. Gene says this about the book and website:
I’ve tried to keep it light, bright, and short-winded where possible, but a couple of chapters are necessarily semi-sagas. Please cue me if I induce boredom! It’s a “Living Book” because YOU are invited to correct, add, deny, refute, or argue with anything I’ve written. Sadly, many of the people I’ve written about have gone beyond the point of no return, so it’s up to you to challenge my memory. A true history is the goal.
It sounds like a present to all of us who love Gene and the history of animation. Here’s to Gene Deitch, his new blog and our best wishes for his continued success and good health. Happy Birthday, Gene Deitch!
After years of researching and collecting materials, silent cartoon expert Tom Stathes has launched an incredible new website devoted to the films of animation pioneer J.R. Bray. This is a must-bookmark location for any student of animation history, fans of classic cartoons and all those who study early cinema.
The Bray Animation Project is a major research tool devoted to the 1913-1927 output of animated films from the Bray Studios. Stathes describes it this way:
“Combining imagery, videos, essays, and the most complete filmography published to date, the Project pays overdue homage to an early New York City film studio whose product has been painfully understudied. Noted film and comics historians David Gerstein, Charlie Judkins, Mark Newgarden, Ray Pointer, Tom Stathes (yours truly) and Jack Theakston have provided informative texts for the site.
The animated cartoon filmography can be viewed either chronologically or by series. It establishes whether each film is lost or survives (to our present knowledge), as well as noting whether an element has yet been collected for the Bray Animation Project proper.”
This site is a significant resource of animation history and knowledge. You will spend hours pouring through what’s here: essays, rare video, formerly lost material encompassing filmmakers such as Max and Dave Fleischer, Ted Eshbaugh, Walter Lantz, Milt Gross, Pat Sullivan – about characters like Bobby Bumps, Farmer Al Falfa, Krazy Kat and Dinky Doodle and many others. There is also a discussion board on the site, where film scholars, historians, and fans are encouraged to post messages and contribute further information.
One of the best animation history websites I’ve ever seen – perfectly organized, expertly written, wonderfully illustrated. If it were a book, I’d be urging you to buy it. A valuable contribution to our field. Go there now – and enjoy the stay.
The intriguing new Mexican hand drawn 3D Top Cat movie (Don Gato y su Pandilla) has just started a Facebook page. It’s in Spanish, but the producers are adding some nice looking production images and poster art. It’s worth a “Like”.
Taking DIY to a whole new level, animator Joe Murray (Rocko’s Modern Life and Camp Lazlo) has launched his own personal cartoon channel on the internet, Kaboing TV, and with it the debut of his new animation series Frog In A Suit.
Joe raised funds to produce Frog In A Suit on Kickstarter and received over 346 “backers” to meet his funding goal in 45 days. Three original episodes were produced for the launch of Kaboing – The third episode makes its debut on Friday, the second is already posted there, below is the first one:
Once again, I will be the featured guest today on Shokus Internet Radio’s Stu’s Show. It’ll air live today beginning at 4:00 p.m. Pacific (7:00 p.m. Eastern). You are encouraged to call in with your questions and comments on the station’s toll-free telephone number.
Stu’s Show airs live each Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. PST, with rebroadcasts at the same time each day through next Tuesday March 29th. Access to the station’s feed is free, with no registration required, and is available either by clicking on the Enter Site button on the home page (www.shokusradio.com), by choosing one of the audio player links on the site’s main page. What do we talk about? Topics usually revolve around DVD releases of classic cartoons, and as always, whatever Stu or the listeners want to talk about. This video below sort-of sums up the mindset of the hosts and the listeners:
The article raises some questions worth pondering. For example:
1.) Xtranormal now charges users an average of $1 to make a cartoon and expects to begin turning a profit by the middle of this year. Could charging people to create short animated films be the future of making money from on-line animation instead of charging people to watch cartoons.
2.) How far are we from the day when artists and studios license their artwork to companies like Xtranormal giving fans an easy-to-use system for creating cartoons based on popular characters. Let’s say you could create your own cartoon using characters from Gnomeo and Juliet. It could happen, and I can’t think of a better way of allowing someone to interact with an animated character that they like.
3.) Multiple examples are provided in the article of development execs and producers who have contacted writers after seeing their work on Xtranormal. How long will it be before an animated series is sold in Hollywood based on the work of a writer discovered on Xtranormal?
4.) Richard Appel, one of the exec producers on The Cleveland Show, said of Xtranormal’s cartoons: “It’s a writer’s medium that’s cleverly found a way to get people to look at their screen and listen to what’s being said.” Is that really any different from shows like South Park or any of Seth MacFarlane’s series? In TV animation, the visual elements of animation have been de-emphasized to the point where they no longer matter (Chuck Jones’s infamous “illustrated radio”), and Xtranormal appears to be only the next step in that evolution. But will there ever be an easy-to-use animation tool that allows the masses to take advantage of animation’s visual possibilities?
Whenever I’m feeling down about the state of the industry, I only have to remember that there are artists the caliber of Scott Wills working in animation to feel better again. Scott has started a long-overdue blog, Candy Cane Land, at AnimationBGS.blogspot.com to showcase his work, and in addition to some great behind-the-scenes photos, he’s posting artwork from all the projects he’s worked on including Ren & Stimpy, Samurai Jack, Sym-Bionic Titan, and numerous DreamWorks features.
Bill Plympton, who is prepping for the October 6th theatrical release of his feature Idiots and Angels in New York, has been writing a blog diary describing the tough slog of self-promoting an indie animated feature. In the course of doing so, he revealed a worthwhile news tidbit in one of his entries from last week:
Then I’m talking on the phone to Tom Akel of MTV who’s setting up a new animation web channel (he even wants to bring back Liquid Television) and wants to do some interviews and maybe show some of my shorts.
Akel’s on-line bio lists him as a supervising producer who heads digital production of shows and games across MTV.com. It’s nice that MTV is considering animation again, but in today’s bottom line-driven TV industry, don’t hold your breath for any network to aggressively embrace indie and short-form animation—even on-line.
Can anyone envision a Liquid Television-type program ever happening again, where a network would support animated programming without concern about profit or return on investment? I certainly can’t. And more importantly, in the bountiful world of on-line animation, who needs a corporate monolith as a curator of animated content?
MTV spent years cultivating an enviably hip identity through animated station IDs and short film commissions only to squander it all. If their on-line initiative recaptures some of that animation glory, nobody’s going to complain, but if they want to begin competing at this late stage in the game, they’re going to have to offer the Internet something truly special that hasn’t been seen before.
Animation video sharing website Aniboom has announced they’re launching a “virtual animation studio.” They’re unclear about how their business model works, but as I understand it, Aniboom intends to create productions for corporate clients by cherry-picking crew members from the large pool of animators who have uploaded videos to their site. On one of their pages, they advertise to potential clients that the 9,500 artists who have uploaded videos are ready to create animation of high-quality in a fast and cost efficient manner.
How can they do high-quality, fast AND cheap? A clue can be found in this section where they describe how animators who participate in their virtual productions will be compensated with “a variety of potential monetary benefits that include revenue share, employment offers and payment for series development with Aniboom.” Note that their ideas of compensation do not include any of those pesky line items that other studios have to contend with like salaries, health insurance, vacation time, retirement benefits, maternity leave, and learning and development opportunities.
Aniboom has been indoctrinating young artists for years through a savvy and systematic use of contests that encourages users to create work for corporations on spec and without any expectation of pay. We’ve warned readers about these contests on mutipleoccasions. Now they appear to be pushing the exploitation of young artists to an entirely new (and more profitable) level, and for a company with millions of dollars in venture capital backing, that’s exactly what we’ve always expected them to do.
UPDATE: Aniboom rep Shira Abel says that their website posted unclear info and that artists will paid in cash via PayPal or Payoneer. They are in the process of updating their site. Developing…
As best as I can make out, the animation combines a popular Japanese meme surrounding gay porn star Billy Herrington with a newer animation-loop meme called Fukkireta in which “anime characters dance with their hands on their hips and shaking side to side with cute background music,” like this:
A lot of the Fukkireta appear to be cycles edited from existing anime productions, but it’s all inspired by this piece of animation that first appeared online last May:
Broadcasting live today (7pm-9pm EST / 4pm-6pm PST) on Shokus Internet Radio - and repeating each day, same time through May 18th - is a fun conversation/interview with four veteran cartoon voice actors: Alan Young, June Foray, Gregg Berger and Bob Bergen. Tune in to the Toon-In: Click Here.
Number #2 on their list is Warner Bros. Censored 11 - and Time embeds (via You Tube) the P.D. Tex Avery Bugs Bunny short All This And Rabbit Stew. Eight of the eleven were shown publicly this past weekend at the TCM Classic Film Festival without incident (the restored prints, particularly of Coal Black and De Sebben Dwarfs were stunning).
1. South Park and Muhammad
2. The Censored Eleven
3. The Simpsons and Brazil
4. Song of the South
5. The Boondocks
6. Family Guy and Sarah Palin
7. Pokemon Panic
8. Aladdin
9. South Park and Scientology
10. Speedy Gonzales
