The Frederator Studios Blog

Moving our blog.Bye Bye Blogspot.

2005-07-11T22:20:00.000-04:00

So, it's come to this.

Nothing serious, but we're moving The Frederator Studios Blog onto our home site (and, for a while, we'll be calling it The Frederator Studios Blog 2.0). And after the production blogs our colleagues have set up for My Life as a Teenage Robot and Wubby, Widget, & Walden, we've become so blog smitten, we're starting up a major effort for Oh Yeah! Cartoons.

Today (July 11, 2005) is the first day of production on the first of 39 short cartoons we're producing for Nickelodeon in the 4th season of Oh Yeah! Cartoons. Congratulations to Kyle Carrozza who's starting his first commercial cartoon, MooBeard, the Cow Pirate.

Aside from our excitement for Kyle (and for us; we're lucky enough he's creating his cartoon at Frederator), he's also the first of the Oh Yeah! creators to be beginning a full production blog of the entire experience of making his short. As each the creators comes on board over the next six months or so, each of them will begin his/her own blog. You'll be able to follow along with first timers and veterans alike, getting an insight to their thrills and anxieties, and probably the evolution of each of the films. If the Roblog and the Wubblog are any indication, each of them should be an enjoyable entertainment.

Anyhow, please join us from now on at the new home of The Frederator Studio Blog. Read along, keep leaving us your great comments, and hopefully, enjoy our ride.

Oh Yeah! Penn Ward.

2005-07-09T23:06:00.000-04:00

I think Nickelodeon (our exclusive network partner) is pretty happy with the storyboards we've been seeing for the upcoming season of Oh Yeah! Cartoons. It might be because the next generation of talents have been very present. Like Penn Ward.

Penn is a recent graduate of Cal Arts in Valencia, California, specializing in character animation. He also plays a mean guitar. His very original voice is evident in his cartoon storyboard called Adventure Time.

Thanks to Penn for his kind permission to post some frames from his storyboard.

Greg Eagles & David (dahveed) Kolodny-Agy. Oh Yeah!

2005-07-08T02:08:00.000-04:00

Greg Eagles and David (dahveed) Kolodny-Agy came over to Frederator Studios to show us their unique cartoon Teapot, for possible production in the fourth season of Oh Yeah! Cartoons. Greg's a writer and voice over artist (we've worked together before on Buy One, Get One Free for What A Cartoon! Right now, Greg's famous for the voice of Grim on The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy). David's a storyboard artist who runs a company called Smorgasbord Productions.

Thanks to Greg and David for kind permission to post models from their cartoon.

Eric & Michelle Bryan.

2005-07-07T01:42:00.000-04:00

I am not very smart. Or rather, I'm pretty careless.

In the post from June 28, in my rush to a mea culpa, I neglected to mention Michelle Bryan, who with her husband Eric, created a wonderful Oh Yeah! cartoon for our 3rd season: Skippy Spankerton, Nickelodeon's Hottest New Filmmaker. At the time (1999) Michele was a member of the Oh Yeah! production staff and Eric was an animation professional.

I always loved Skippy, and I'm sorry to have skipped by Michelle's contribution as the very first female creator of one of our Oh Yeah!s. Thanks Michelle (and Eric)!

Ryan Sias. Oh Yeah!

2005-06-30T15:16:00.000-04:00

We met artist Ryan Sias through our friends at Silver Lining Productions. Ryan came over to our New York office to show us his storyboard for Courageous Critters for Oh Yeah! Cartoons.

Thanks to Ryan for his kind permission to post a frame from his storyboard.

Grrrl Power!

2005-06-28T18:33:00.000-04:00

It's been an incredible 13 years to be in animation. After 99 shorts (48 What A Cartoon!s and 51 Oh Yeah!s), countless sequels, and hit series, there's one thing I can tell you for sure. With great humiliation, I confess: We haven't made one short with a woman creator. And, believe me, not for lack of trying. We pushed, we prodded, we begged, but out of the more than 5000 storyboards we looked at throughout the years, I don't think we even had a couple dozen pitches by women; the industry just hadn't been hospitable enough to front-line female animators who wanted to step up.

Well, I'm here to tell you, the world's changed. Day after day, Frederator's Oh Yeah! Cartoons development team is seeing that metamorphosis first hand.

You can see it too, just take a look at our blog. On this page alone there are four woman who've come to us to show their ideas. There are dozens more on the other pages. And, take it from me, there are some fantastic cartoons in those ideas. Some great talent.

It's about time. Cartoons need to reflect the diversity in our modern world. It's the way our children are growing up. Women aren't the only reflection of that breadth, but they're the biggest tidal wave of the moment. Here's to Grrrl Power finding the next great cartoon hit. Or maybe it'll be somebody else we haven't heard from before. I'm sure of it.

Jill Friemark. Oh Yeah!

2005-06-28T17:57:00.000-04:00

Jill Friemark's been a valued Frederator colleague for years, on ChalkZone and, most recently, on My Life as a Teenage Robot. (Check out the iconic MLaaTR poster she created in her first week on the show!) Not only was Jill nice enough to introduce us to many of her talented friends, but she came over and pitched Oh Yeah! her cartoon The Silver Spatula. Thanks for everything Jill.

And thanks to Jill for kind permission to post some of her beautiful frames from The Silver Spatula.

Oh Yeah! Jay Morales.

2005-06-28T17:50:00.000-04:00

From our Hollywood development colleague Melissa Wolfe: "Jay is a very talented (and young!) artist/creator. So young, in fact, that she has one more year to go in art school, and was commuting from San Diego to intern two days a week on Cat Scratch when she decided to pitch to Oh Yeah! Cartoons."

Thanks to Jay for kind permission to post a page from her pitch.

Andrew Dickman. Oh Yeah!

2005-06-28T17:26:00.000-04:00

This post is overdue. Andrew Dickman has been in a number of times showing us always improved variations on his very funny Ivan the Unbearable. Andrew is working over at Warner Bros. Animation as a character designer.

We're very lucky that Oh Yeah! Cartoons keeps getting so many excellent pitches. Keep 'em coming!

Thanks Andrew, for kindly letting us post some of your Ivan models.

Original Cartoons:The Frederator Postcards.

2005-06-28T11:22:00.000-04:00

Our book has just been listed on Amazon, reminding us to remind you that it'll be officially published by the Easton Studio Press in November. In the meanwhile, as many of you know, there's a free (large) PDF preview we posted a few months ago. Keep your eyes glued, because we'll be offering early, signed copies here as early as September.

Oh Yeah! Larry Huber!

2005-06-20T15:09:00.000-04:00

Larry Huber is the unsung hero of the modern animation business. He's my hero. Without Larry Huber, my whole approach to cartoons would have been derided as Fred's Folly.

Now that we're moving into the fourth season of Oh Yeah!, I wanted to give Larry his well deserved props.

Larry and I have been the co-executive producers of Oh Yeah! Cartoons since it first went into production. Before that he oversaw our shorts at What A Cartoon!/World Premiere Toons! at Cartoon Network and Hanna-Barbera. Between the two he was responsible for developing the teams that created 100 original cartoon characters, 11 hit series (including his own ChalkZone), and 3 feature films. Geez Louise!

Think about it. Larry guided the now recognized talents of Genndy Tartakovsky, Craig McCraken, Butch Hartman, Rob Renzetti, Bill Burnett, David Feiss, and dozens of others through their first professional, solo films and series. His tutelage virtually populated the cartoon industry with its new generation of star talent.

Excitement, optimism, hope, animation skills and talents, and an unerring sense of story have been the hallmarks of Larry's bag of tricks in these enterprises. Don't underestimate how challenging it is to balance the needs of all these filmmakers, each with a laser-like focus on doing a picture just their way, and that way happens to be completely different than the person in the next office. It requires a fortitude that few people have. Larry's got it.

Clearly, our production teams, led by Debby Hindman and Sherry Gunther, had the patience of Job themselves. And Buzz Potamkin, who identified Larry as the right guy in the first place, deserves more than a little credit here in believing that our approach could make a difference. But Larry was the man.

Whenever you write and thank me for our cartoons and what we've been able to do for the industry, remember, it's Larry who made the difference.

Thanks bud, I'm looking forward to another wild season.

(By the way, regarding the illustration up above: Butch Hartman, then a 'fist' in the Hanna-Barbera bullpen, proved his unique ability to capture a personality in a flash with this 1990 sketch of Larry hard at work.)

Oh Yeah! Hiroshi Chida & Shuzo John Shiota.

2005-06-19T22:22:00.000-04:00

Shuzo John Shiota is the Executive Producer & President, and Hiroshi Chida is an award winning director, at Polygon Pictures in Japan. Polygon is a 25 year-old CG animation house based in Tokyo; they've done everything from commercials to TV shows to feature films. They've pitched Oh Yeah! Cartoons the very funny Boneheads.

Thanks to Shuzo for his very kind permission to post these frames from Boneheads.

Elanna Allen & Dimitri Ehrlich.

2005-06-19T22:09:00.000-04:00

Elanna Allen is an animator and artist and Dimitri Ehrlich is a writer. Together they came in with a very nice, fun, picture book called Captain Fun and Tiny Special Pants for our Bolder Books for Boys & Girls project with Random House.

Thanks to Elanna & Dimitri for kind permission to post am illustration from their book.

Last Chance! 5 days left!

2005-06-13T00:00:00.000-04:00

That's right, last chance. There are 5 days left to enter and get the $10,000 first prize.

And maybe more importantly, it's the last chance to get your animated film in front of a large, national, discerning audience. (And remember, this festival is for your completed films.)

June 17, 2005, will be the last day we're is accepting submissions for the second annual Nextoons: Nicktoons Film Festival.

Last year, Frederator Studios proudly started The Nicktoons Film Festival. We had literally hundreds of submissions from all around the world, selected almost 100 for the actual festival, and screened six hours of cartoons for an audiences of millions across America on the Nicktoons digital animation channel. We had two incredible winning films: Timmy's Lessons in Nature, by Mark Simon and Travis Blaise; and Welcome to My Life, by Elizabeth Ito.

It's amazing to me, after 25 years of looking at literally tens of thousands of films, to see the great quality of expression that continues to come in to our offices every day. Nextoons is really becoming one of the most interesting venues for recent animated pictures. My fellow festival directors, Eric Homan and Rita Street, and our colleagues at the wonderful Nicktoons channel, are waiting with baited breath for your new cartoons.

Enter and win! The Nextoons Film Festival. (Did I mention there are only 5 days left?)

Bill Burnett & Jaime Diaz. Oh Yeah!

2005-06-12T22:29:00.000-04:00

Bill Burnett and Jaime Diaz are great friends of Oh Yeah! Cartoons, both of them being contributors to the original three seasons; in fact, Jaime's son Bill was part of our original production team. Bill, of course, created ChalkZone with Larry Huber, and Jaime joined their directing team.

Together, they created and pitched Oh Yeah! the very funny Dr. Froyd's Funny Farm. Thanks guys.

Thanks to Jaime & Bill for permission to post Jaime's original cartoon that inspired their idea.

Oh Yeah! Mikhail Shindel, Slava Ushakov, Glenn Buswell.

2005-06-12T22:24:00.000-04:00

Mikhail, Slava, and Glenn were nice enough to come and show us Shapito for consideration in the fourth season of Oh Yeah! Cartoons.

Mikhail Shindel founded Kinofilm in Los Angeles in 1996. The new company quickly landed a deal to produce Mike, Lu, and Og on the Cartoon Network.

Since 1998, Slava Ushakov has been based at Kinofilm in Los Angeles, where he works as a director and storyboard artist.

Glenn Buswell started working at Kinofilm in 1997. He moved to development where he, Slava, and Misha continue to create projects from animated series to features. Currently he is the Production Coordinator on Nickelodeon's Catscratch which bows July 9th at 8:00 pm.

Thanks to Mikhail, Slava, and Glenn for kind permission to show a storyboard frame from Shapito.

Last chance! 10 days left.

2005-06-06T23:45:00.000-04:00

That's right, last chance. There are 10 days left to enter and get the $10,000 first prize.

And maybe more importantly, it's the last chance to get your animated film in front of a large, national, discerning audience. (And remember, this festival is for your completed films.)

June 17, 2005, will be the last day we're is accepting submissions for the second annual Nextoons: Nicktoons Film Festival.

Last year, Frederator Studios proudly started The Nicktoons Film Festival. We had literally hundreds of submissions from all around the world, selected almost 100 for the actual festival, and screened six hours of cartoons for an audiences of millions across America on the Nicktoons digital animation channel. We had two incredible winning films: Timmy's Lessons in Nature, by Mark Simon and Travis Blaise; and Welcome to My Life, by Elizabeth Ito.

It's amazing to me, after 25 years of looking at literally tens of thousands of films, to see the great quality of expression that continues to come in to our offices every day. Nextoons is really becoming one of the most interesting venues for recent animated pictures. My fellow festival directors, Eric Homan and Rita Street, and our colleagues at the wonderful Nicktoons channel, are waiting with baited breath for your new cartoons.

Enter and win! The Nextoons Film Festival. (Did I mention there are only 10 days left?)

My heroes. Postcards, Series 5.

2005-06-01T16:18:00.000-04:00

It's postcard time again! The bottom one's pretty obvious; as you probably know, we're taking pitches for 39 new shorts for the fourth season of Oh Yeah! Cartoons.

The other two? Well, frankly, they're indulgences of a nostalgic, sentimental producer.

The top one is my grandfather, Pancho Nakashev, pharmacist, linguist, nationalist, inventor. It's been said from him I got my eyebrows and entrepreneurial spirit. The other, American Gothic in the 50s, is my parents posing in their Long Island pharmacy for a magazine article (hence, the photographer posing my dad in a goofy smock he really disliked). From them comes a love of hard work, fair play, and creativity. Thanks everyone, I love you.

Click here to see all our Frederator card series from the past seven years.

Jim Flora.

2005-05-30T21:21:00.000-04:00

I'd to point out the fantastic classic art of one James Flora.

As is often the case with things visual, I knew Flora's work because it was in my molecules, in the air, rather than in my head. Then, my colleague Tim Biskup* came to work on my show Oh Yeah! Cartoons as a creator, background designer and (fantastic) painter, and started bringing in truckloads of his LP collection for reference and inspiration. He politely exported his passion and excitement for Jim's work, and, me being me, I became a huge fan. Being a huge jazz fan too didn't hurt. And somehow, it's fitting to me that on my Amazon.com page, Tim's books come up when I search Flora.)

*Check out the fantastic postcard Tim painted for us at Oh Yeah! And, his own cartoon, too.

The Teenage Roblog.

2005-05-25T21:17:00.000-04:00

There is some unbelievably cool stuff going on out there on the internet, and luckily, some of it's happening to Frederator productions. Over at the blog for My Life as a Teenage Robot (aka The Teenage Roblog), webmaster XJWriter has been posting some of the neatest fan art in creation. Today's crossover for The Powerpuff Girls (developed by yours truly back in the day) and MLaaTR particularly caught my eye. MLaaTR creator Rob Renzetti was a prime mover on Craig McCraken's show, so it's particularly satisfying to see the fans loving them both.

Oh Yeah! Aliki Theofilopoulos.

2005-05-24T20:59:00.000-04:00

Aliki Theofilopoulos has been a friend of Frederator's since before there's been a Frederator (she was an artist/intern with us at Hanna-Barbera, and she's worked on a number of our productions). Yaki & Yumi is the charming and funny cartoon she asked to have included in Oh Yeah!'s latest season. Aliki also does voice acting on the side, and her vocal characterizations gave a unique character to her pitches.

Thanks Aliki for permission to post your artwork.

ChalkZone's done it again!

2005-05-23T21:59:00.000-04:00

Those wacky guys in ChalkZone...

Right on the heels of their prestigious Annecy nomination, for the best TV series of 2005, comes the news that CZ's been honored by the distinquished Imagen Foundation, for their postive portrayal of hispanics. Created by The Imagen Foundation, the Imagen Awards competition has brought out the best and most talented portrayal of Latinos in television and film since 1985.

ChalkZone was nominated along with two other of our sister Nickelodeon series -- Dora the Explorer and Nick News with Linda Ellerbee -- along with PBS' Maya & Miguel, and the WB's ¡Mucha Lucha!

Everyone at Frederator has always been proud to be associated with the great work that goes into ChalkZone. And we want to congratulate the whole team on this episode: EP/creators: Bill Burnett & Larry Huber, Producer: Debby Hindman, Director: John Kimball, and Writer: Ford Riley.

Oh Yeah! Jeff DeGrandis.

2005-05-22T20:58:00.000-04:00

Jeff DeGrandis is a director-producer-writer highly respected in today's cartoon industry. That's why we're so proud he chose to pitch his really funny cartoon, Finster & Finster, to Oh Yeah! Cartoons. Given that he's so busy running the show at Nick Jr.'s Diego, after running Dora the Explorer, one of the world's biggest success stories, we're doubly proud that he found a way to fit us in.

Thanks to Jeff for permission to show one of his storyboard panels.

Oh Yeah! George Escobar & Bob Lizaraga.

2005-05-21T23:12:00.000-04:00

George Escobar is an editor of television series, and Bob Lizaraga is an animation artist. Spaghetti & Meatball is their very clever, very well drawn cartoon storyboard pitch.

As you can see, the Frederator development team's been seeing dozens of cartoons that would like to be a part of the 4th season of Oh Yeah! Cartoons. Sometime in the next month or two you'll be seeing our choices for the first shorts in this round of the series. I can tell you right now, the quality of the work has been high enough that we're going to have a hard time of it.

Thank you George and Bob, for kind permission to show some of your storyboard pages.

The hits just keep on coming. Postcards, Series 5.

2005-05-20T10:55:00.000-04:00

Frederator launched the shorts from Oh Yeah! Cartoons in 1998. In the first season alone we had Larry Huber's and Bill Burnett's ChalkZone, and Butch Hartman's The Fairly Oddparents. (And, not incidentially, the first film from Bob Boyle, who went on to be the FOP art director, and creator of Wubby, Widget, & Walden). Second season, Rob Renzetti's My Neighbor was a Teenage Robot, which, of course led to the series My Life as as Teenage Robot.

So our latest round of limited edition postcards remind me of how much everyone has accomplished. I see in last week's New York Times that FOP is in the top 15 of cable programming four times (more than any other show of any kind); Teenage Robot is producing its third season (a total of 40 episodes); and, ChalkZone is stripping daily on Nickelodeon. (Not to mention the beginning of production of Wubby, Widget & Walden). I'm incredibly proud we're associated with such amazing talent.

Click here to see all our Frederator card series from the past seven years.

Oh Yeah! Joe Bevilacqua & Lorie Kellog.

2005-05-13T22:50:00.000-04:00

Joe Bevilacqua is a multi-talented threat; a writer (of radio comedy and the first biography of the legendary voice actor Daws Butler), producer/reporter (for NPR), and voice actor. His wife Lorie Kellogg is no slouch either; she's a graphic designer, writer, and actor. We've all know each other for almost a decade; in fact, Joe did the internet marketing for the original shorts from Oh Yeah! Cartoons.

Which is why we were thrilled when they came in to show us their ideas for the 4th season of Oh Yeah!. Joe's not a professional artist, but he worked hard to show us his cartoons in the storyboard form we prefer. Big Baby Bunion is the first of three we took a look at.

Thanks to Joe for his kind permission to show you one of his storyboard pages.

Oh Yeah! Raul Aguirre & Bill Ho.

2005-05-11T09:54:00.000-04:00

Raul Aguirre and Bill Ho are two talented animation artists with a short called Little Letty. It features an homage to the big nose comedy of the 50s that many of us are so fond of, with a story that might be a little adult for our Nickelodeon audience. But one never knows; we'll see what Raul and Bill have in store for Little Letty.

Thanks to Raul and Bill for permission to show their artwork.

How to draw Wubby.

2005-05-10T13:41:00.000-04:00

If you haven't had a chance to check out the Wubblog lately, you're missing a bet. Bob Boyle's got the only world class animated show with it's own week-by-week production blog, before the show's on the air (the only one that I know of, that is). A great insight into the 'voice' of a show's creator. We're proud to part of Bob's production (along with our executive producer/partner Susan Miller).

Diane Kredensor & Dana Galin. Oh Yeah!

2005-05-09T23:15:00.000-04:00

We're working with Diane Kredensor and Dana Galin on a book for our pre-school book imprint with Bolder Books for Boys & Girls and Random House. And today they showed us at Oh Yeah! Cartoons their charming and fun cartoon, Call Me Bessie!

Thanks to Diane and Dana for kind permission to show a storyboard frame from their cartoon.

Oh Yeah! David Feiss & Michael Fry.

2005-05-09T23:11:00.000-04:00

David Feiss created, directed, and produced Cow & Chicken with us over at Hanna-Barbera Cartoons (for our original shorts project, What A Cartoon!) and the Cartoon Network. Michael Fry creates the popular strip Over the Hedge (with T. Lewis). Together they've come to Oh Yeah! Cartoons with the very funny Teddy the Turkey.

Thank you to David & Michael for kind permission to post artwork from their cartoon.

Girls, Girls, Girls. Postcards, Series 5.

2005-05-05T00:42:00.000-04:00

What do these women have to do with original cartoons? Not much, probably.

Click here to see all our Frederator card series from the past seven years.

Adam Henry. Oh Yeah!

2005-05-04T19:43:00.000-04:00

As you can see, the last weeks, the pitches (and re-pitches) for Oh Yeah! Cartoons' 4th season have been fast and furious. Adam Henry is working on PBS series over at Fred Wolf's, and we've been talking to him for quite a while about his fun Krunch & the Kid.

Thanks to Adam for kind permission to post his artwork.

Oh Yeah! Kyle Carrozza.

2005-05-04T13:19:00.000-04:00

And the Oh Yeah! Cartoons pitches keep on coming... Kyle Carrozza, creator of MooBeard, the Cow Pirate, is someone we met through our Teenage Robot colleage Jill Friemark. He's been kind enough to come to our offices in Burbank a number of times with a storyboard to pitch, revise, pitch again, etc. etc. He's got a great original vision.

Thanks to Kyle for kind permission to post his artwork.

Oh Yeah! Cartoons. Dave Levy & Rich Gory.

2005-05-02T12:09:00.000-04:00

Our friend Dave Levy (a director for Blues Clues) came by the other day with his writing partner Rich Gory with a pitch for the 4th season of Oh Yeah! Cartoons, called Tad & Dad about a magician and his son. We haven't chosen anything yet, and this is one of the hundreds of great storyboards we've seen so far; we'll be announcing the actual films we're making as part of the series starting sometime this summer. We'll keep you posted.

Thanks to Dave and Rich for kind permission to post the artwork.

ChalkZone. Postcards, Series 5.

2005-04-20T20:55:00.000-04:00

There's a lot of good news for ChalkZone fans, so we thought to celebrate by mailing out these three cards from the Frederator Postcards, Series 5.

First off, Rudy & Snap, you're going to Annecy! The world's most respected animation film festival has honored one of our episodes. Congratulations to writer Jenny Nissenson, director John Kimball, special guest artist Bill Plympton (that's Bill's drawing from the episode below), and, of course, creators Bill Burnett & Larry Huber.

And if that's not enough, the ChalkZone rumor has come true. This past Monday, CZ started it's weekday strip run on Nickelodeon. Five days a week, 6pm every night.

The CZ postcards going out this week include a couple of my favorite pencils from the show. In fact, I liked them so much, when we set up the online store for our crew, I chose them as our primary images for swag.

Click here to see all our Frederator card series from the past seven years.

Jazzbos, Bluesmen & Mexico. Postcards, Series 5.

2005-04-10T23:38:00.000-04:00

We've had so much news lately, I've lost track of our latest postcard mailings.

So who's the better artist, Miles Thompson (left and right) or Jorge Gutierrez (middle)? What a ridiculous question! They're both amazing. (Miles' portraits of Elmore James and Louis Armstrong are from my collection. Miles did one cartoon with us at Cartoon Network's What A Cartoon! and two at Nick's Oh Yeah! Cartoons. Jorge's is from the Frederator 2003 New Year's poster. I'm trying hard to get him to do something with Frederator. But he's too successful for us.)

As you know, each one of our limited edition postcards goes to 200 folks on our mailing list.

Click here to see all our Frederator card series from the past seven years.

It's official.

2005-04-05T19:01:00.000-04:00

Click the logo...

A Free Frederator Silkscreen.

2005-03-26T22:13:00.000-05:00

Want a free skilkscreen overstock print? Just write to alex@frederator.kz.

In January 1997, my assistant Stephanie and I launched Frederator in a giant conference room in LA's car parts capitol, North Hollywood. Our friend, the great artist Arlen Schumer (of the Dynamic Duo Studios) volunteered to interpret our namesake (I told him it was Gigantor, though it was really a pet name from my wife). My long term obsession with Frank Kozik's brilliant reinvention of the modern rock poster led our other friend, artist Patrick Raske, to come up with a silkscreen color scheme, which we then had hand printed in Michigan. We sent out a numbered edition of a few hundred, and the overprinting went into storage.

So, here's your chance for the only officially sanction, bona fide, hand screened, Frederator collectible. Just drop an email to alex@frederator.kz, and as long as supplies last, we'll send one out right away.

Preview, The Frederator Postcards book.

2005-03-21T21:53:00.000-05:00

Well, we've gone and done it. Frederator's first major book will be released early this summer, titled Original Cartoons. The Frederator Studios Postcards 1998-2005. You can click here for a low-resolution, not-quite-proofed PDF preview.

We started releasing postcards with each of the original Oh Yeah! Cartoons shorts in mid-1998. It seemed like a great way of giving each creator and his idea a personal nod, rather than the lumping together of an anthology series. Each of the three seasons (1998, 1999, and 2002) had a unique feel, and taken together, the 80 or so cards got a great reaction from the public that received them.

Frederator set up a New York office with partners Emil Rensing and Travis Pomposello, and we thought it would be fun to do a non-cartoon postcard series. Our friends, the great designers Sean Adams and Noreen Morioka, and their studio Adams-Morioka, were given complete carte blanche on the 2003 series of 24 cards. The results speak for themselves, with a wide range of fun styles, adding photography as a major graphic element.

The last three years have been those behind-the-scenes kind of times: putting My Life as a Teenage Robot into production, setting up a fourth season of Oh Yeah! Cartoons, the establishment of Bolder Media for Boys & Girls (with partner Susan Miller), and starting Bob Boyle's Wubby Widget, and Walden for Nick Jr. We were getting bored with nothing to send out, so Series 5 came just in time at the end of 2004, and they'll be out in the mail for the rest of the year. Just keep watching your mailboxes.

The book will also include assorted posters we've released over the last eight years, interviews, and essays.

I'd like to give some kudos to my co-editor and colleague Eric Homan. Eric started as a cell cleaner at Hanna-Barbera (really), his first job at Frederator was as producer of these postcard series, and he's become the best development executive a producer could hope to work with. Thanks Eric.

Let us know what you think. There's still time to make a few changes around the edges. Hope you enjoy it.

Oh Yeah! Cartoons. Postcards, Series 5.

2005-03-21T21:31:00.000-05:00

Shhh. Don't tell.

In the next few days, we'll be announcing a call for submissions for the 4th season of Oh Yeah! Cartoons, the original series that launched Frederator Studios in 1998. That's right, what some have called "the American Idol of cartoons" is coming back with the production of 39 7-minute shorts.

Starting in the early 90s our artist/creator based shorts have been the starting point for the greatest stars of the new generation of animation (Genndy Tartakovsky, Craig McCraken, Butch Hartman, Rob Renzetti, Carlos Ramos, Bob Boyle, among dozens of others). We have no doubt that when you submit your new ideas, you'll be one of those new stars.

As to the postcards above: Carlos Ramos designed the OY! logo. Sam Steinberg (center) was one of the unsung 'outsider' artists of the 1970s.

Click here to see all our Frederator card series from the past seven years.

ChalkZone rumor.

2005-03-18T18:36:00.000-05:00

ChalkZone was the first Oh Yeah! Cartoon short to be picked up by Nickelodeon for series production. Production prexie Albie Hecht was a big fan from the first board, and he's the kind of guy that loves a wild concept (young artist discovers he hold the magic chalk that can open a portal behind his blackboard, where every erased chalk image lives forever).

Well, now that episode 40 is nearing completion (and creators Larry Huber & Bill Burnett think this season is the strongest yet), it seems that on April 11, ChalkZone will be playing every single weekday evening at 6pm ET, right after U-Pick Live. I'll let you know more when I know more.

By the way, those pictures at the top of this post? That's our heroine, Penny, in the various mouth postions the artists create for the animators.

OK, they're up.

2005-03-16T16:05:00.000-05:00

So, all three title card galleries are up (the only good by-product of having the flu.) In all, 105 title graphics from three series. When we get some time we'll add more.

(Adding in our postcards and posters to these title cards, that's 297 images in all at our website...if you're keeping track.)

The Fairly Oddparents title cards.

My Life as a Teenage Robot title cards.

ChalkZone title cards.

A new gallery.

2005-03-16T00:04:00.000-05:00

No. I'm 6'2".

But these graphics seem like a nice way to tell you we're adding galleries to the Frederator website. First up are the neat title cards from My Life as a Teenage Robot. You probably already know the series was created by Rob Renzetti and art directed by Alex Kirwan. But the interesting news is these smart, beautiful, and stunning cards were all designed by Joesph Holt.

(Titles from The Fairly Oddparents, ChalkZone, and more MLaaTR will be up within the week, he said with crossed fingers.)

Click here to take a look at the title card gallery for My Life as a Teenage Robot.

Heaven for MLaaTR Fans!

2005-03-14T22:29:00.000-05:00

Directly from the Teenage Roblog:

HEAVEN FOR MLAATR FANS! In one month, [MLaaTR creator] Rob [Renzetti], [art director] Alex [Kirwan], and [background desginer] Joseph [Holt] will host a panel here at Nick [in Burbank, California] all about Teenage Robot. See unaired episodes! Ask bizarre questions! Eat free food! For more info, go to the ASIFA-Hollywood website. See you there!

ChalkZone. Postcards, Series 5.

2005-03-09T23:36:00.000-05:00

ChalkZone was the first short greenlit for Oh Yeah! Cartoons, in early 1997. Albie Hecht, the President of Nickelodeon Filmed Entertainment, loved it, and so it was the first Oh Yeah! spin-off series that went into production, in 1999. I feel particularly great about this show because it was created by two of my favorite people. On top of that, CZ was their first cartoon creation ever, pretty amazing, since they'd been at their respective careers for for almost 25 years before the show.

Bill Burnett and I have worked together since 1985, when Bill was writing for my ad agency in NY; he came with me to Hanna-Barbera in '93. In addition to CZ, Bill created 6 more shorts for us. Larry Huber started working in cartoons in the late 60s, and he and I hooked up in 1992 at HB. Larry has been executive producer on both of my shorts programs (World Premiere Toons/What A Cartoon! and Oh Yeah! Cartoons), overseeing the production of 100 shorts, including the original films that spawned Dexter's Laboratory, Cow & Chicken, Johnny Bravo, I.M.Weasel, Courage the Cowardly Dog, The Fairly Oddparents, My Life as a Teenage Robot, Super Santa, The Powerpuff Girls, and, of course, ChalkZone.

And I love the Hieronymus Bosch inspired ChalkZone painting by Frank Rocco, BoschZone (on the right at the top of this post).

Click here to see all our Frederator card series from the past seven years.

The Mother of 'Blue' and 'Dora' Takes a Step Up at Nickelodeon

2005-03-02T00:26:00.000-05:00

Photo by Ruby Washington/The New York Times

In her new job, Brown Johnson of Nickelodeon will oversee more than half the programs for preschoolers on television. [caption]

Brown Johnson is one of the great stars in the modern world of children's television. She believed that pre-schoolers needed great attention paid to them by television, and there just had to be a new, big, idea for them since Sesame Street. Brown's team came roaring out with Blues Clues, and Nick Jr. was on it's way to becoming the most powerful force in television for kids under 6.

Well, finally the world's catching on; here's an article from yesterday's New York Times about her recent promotion. I've known her for many years (Brown was the first person I met in the TV business), and it's been thrilling to watch her develop and nurture her vision.

February 28, 2005

The Mother of 'Blue' and 'Dora' Takes a Step Up at Nickelodeon

By TANIA RALLI

fter 18 years at Nickelodeon, Brown Johnson has developed a reputation for developing hit programs for preschoolers, like "Blue's Clues" and "Dora the Explorer." But what has really set Ms. Johnson apart is what has become known in the business as "the pause."

Many of the shows she has helped nurture make use of a choreographed pause during the program, one long enough to let children actively respond to the television, solving puzzles and problems along with the characters. It's the pause that allows young viewers to feel like part of the story, not just passive watchers.

"It makes them feel smart, and it makes them feel strong, and it makes them feel powerful," Ms. Johnson said in an interview. "No one had ever asked for that degree of audience participation before."

Ms. Johnson, 52, may be feeling a little smarter and stronger herself. Today, she will be named executive creative director of preschool television for Nickelodeon, a growing part of cable network division of Viacom, according to Cyna Zarghami, president of Nickelodeon Television. The promotion makes her one of the most powerful people in children's television in the country, overseeing more than half of all preschool programming on broadcast television, including public television.

"I really felt like I wanted to do preschool. It was one of the reasons I came to Nickelodeon," she said.

She will now be in charge of Nickelodeon's three outlets for young children's programming seen in more than 88 million households: Nick Jr., a five-hour block for preschoolers each weekday on Nickelodeon; Noggin, the network's commercial-free digital service; and CBS's weekend line-up of Nick Jr. reruns. All together, that amounts to 112 hours of programming for young children weekly. In comparison, Playhouse Disney offers 49 hours and PBS offers approximately 38 hours each week.

Ms. Johnson's promotion also underlines the rapid rise of the Nickelodeon properties like Nick Jr. and Noggin. Over all, revenue for Viacom's cable networks division, which also includes MTV Networks, Comedy Central and BET, increased 17 percent last year, to $6.6 billion. Although the company does not break out revenue for individual networks, Ms. Zarghami said that Nickelodeon's preschool properties generate "easily over $100 million" in annual revenue from cable operators, advertisers and consumer products business.

But Nickelodeon's financial success has grown alongside its reputation for producing engaging and educational children's programs, a role that was once reserved for public television alone. PBS has long used the need for shows like "Sesame Street" as a shield to defend itself against political attacks, including a recent one over a show featuring lesbian parents, because children's programming on private television was seen as violent, mindless or crassly commercial. The popularity of shows like "Blue's Clues" has made it harder for PBS to make that argument.

Alice Cahn, vice president of development and programming at the Cartoon Network, said that "Brown and her colleagues at Nickelodeon created the first commercial challenge to public broadcasting" in the preschool market. "They looked very smartly at the market," said Ms. Cahn, who, like most people in children's television, cannot find enough good things to say about her rival.

Ms. Johnson, who was allowed to watch only one hour of television a week growing up on Long Island, also takes on her new position at a time when attitudes about children and television have shifted. Specialists say that parents today worry less about whether it is good for their children to watch television. Instead they are interested in quality.

"Like it or not, parents are not guilty at all about calling the TV set a baby sitter for them. It allows them to make dinner or get dressed or take a shower," Ms. Johnson said. "So whatever is on, you better make it good. You'd better make it the very best it can be."

Ms. Johnson's first job in television was secretary to Robert W. Pittman, then head of MTV. She joined Nickelodeon in 1987, managing shows like "Clarissa Explains It All" and "Wild and Crazy Kids" before shifting exclusively to preschool programming. She said that she was fascinated by how her daughter - who is now a first-year college student - viewed the world when she was young, and Johnson wanted to translate that wonderment to television.

Ms. Johnson has led Nick Jr. since 1993, when she developed "Blue's Clues" and "Dora the Explorer." The characters - a boy with his dog, Blue, and a bilingual Latina heroine - inquisitively turn to the audience to pull them into the plot.

The shows were also an implicit challenge to "Sesame Street" which had set the standard for children's programming since it was first aired in 1969. Sesame Street also changed the way that people thought about educational programming because it leveraged the power and forms of television, including commercials and game shows, to capture a viewer's attention.

"PBS, for better or for worse, or Sesame Workshop, started with education, whereas I think on Nick Jr. our goal is to start with the child," Ms. Johnson said. When she started thinking about creating preschool programs, she found the existing shows patronizing. She said the programs were "telling kids what to do all the time."

Johnson brought together child development specialists, storytellers, educators, poets and puppeteers to figure out what children wanted to watch on television.

"Research makes a successful show. I think showing it to kids makes all the difference in the world," Johnson said.

Based on that research, she began moving preschool programs toward longer narratives and away from the short episodic form that was pioneered by Sesame Street.

"People were making TV for kids that was lots of short pieces strung together like beads on a string. I thought 'We can tell a story that's longer, because otherwise they're all going to have A.D.D.,'" Ms. Johnson explained, using the abbreviation for attention deficit disorder. So she developed the narratives of "Blue's Clues" and "Dora the Explorer" to span the duration of the program.

Karen Gruenberg, vice president of content for Sesame Workshop, said, "What Brown has been able to do is create an environment that really draws kids in." Ms. Johnson developed a distinctive style of animation for "Blue's Clues" and created a different look and approach to many of her shows.

Identifying shows early is critical in children's television. It generally takes about two years to create new programming and costs millions of dollars. Once a program is in production, the cost of each episode ranges from $20,000 to $600,000.

One of Ms. Johnson's more unusual choices was "LazyTown," introduced last year. The show is loosely based on a live show performed by an Icelandic acrobatic champion named Magnus Scheving. In "LazyTown," Mr. Scheving plays a health-conscious superhero who drinks water and snacks on apples and carrots, and tries to steer the town's children away from junk-food-loving Robbie Rotten. Johnson said her colleagues told her she was crazy to develop the concept. The program, which is shot in Iceland, combines actors, puppets and animation, and is set to catchy pop music.

Part of Ms. Johnson's success at developing shows is that she has been able to appeal to both children and their parents, much the way Sesame Street did when it started. Dr. Michael Cohen, a psychologist and researcher who has studied family media consumption, said successful programs understood what parents thought was safe and engaging. "The kid does not have control of the TV yet," said Dr. Cohen. "So the decision maker is still the mother."

From the Business Section of the New York Times, February 28, 2005

Frederator Studios Locations. Postcards, Series 5.

2005-02-11T22:44:00.000-05:00

Frederator's been in a lot of locations since we set up shop in the late 90s.

Originally we were based in Hollywood, home of all good cartoons. So, what better image for a Southern Californian animation studio than an old McDonald's storefront? People could drive up, order a few drawings or walk cycles, and be on their way in no time.

When headquarters relocated to New York, we found ourselves missing the venerable Hanna-Barbera building where we started in 1992. After all, it's the most famous studio in the history of television cartoons, and the place we were able to develop our approach, the place where we launched Dexter's Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls, Cow & Chicken, and a bunch of other hits. The fastest route to comfort? Re-creating that googie HB complex at 253 Fifth Avenue, where we stayed until we outgrew it at the end of 2004.

Incidentially, by my count, we've now sent out 33 postcards in Series 5. That leaves a few over 40 to go.

Click here to see all our Frederator card series from the past seven years.

Wubby, Widget, and Walden

2005-02-10T22:50:00.000-05:00

It's tough to get going on a new cartoon, and after a few years of hard work, we're starting a new production this week in Hollywood.

Frederator has an exciting joint venture with Mixed Media Group in New York, called Bolder Media. Together we're launching a book imprint for young children called Bolder Books for Boys & Girls, and producing TV series and movies.

Our first TV series is for Nick Jr., and it's based on one of our first books, called Wubby, Widget, and Walden, created by Bob Boyle. We first met Bob on the first Frederator Studios' production, Nickelodeon's Oh Yeah! Cartoons. Bob created Olly & Frank and The Kid From S.C.H.O.O.L. (with Bill Riling), and worked on dozens of our other films. He went on to be the art director extraordinaire on Butch Hartman's The Fairly Oddparents and Danny Phantom.

Please congratulate Bob and follow his look at the production on The Wubblog.

Portraits. Postcards, Series 5.

2005-02-02T22:57:00.000-05:00

Craig Kellman (left) and Carlos Ramos (right) are two of the greatest artists I've known.

Craig was reviving the art of the Flintstones at Hanna-Barbera when he dashed off this card to me in the mid-90s. He had forgotten about it when I asked his permission to use it in our postcard series and asked we drop his credit, assuming the sketch was sub-standard. As if! (Luckily, he reconsidered when I sent it over.) Craig is the creative producer/supervising director of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends at Cartoon Network.

On Oh Yeah! Cartoons alone, Carlos created Twins Crimson and A Boy & His Dog, designed ChalkZone, and even designed the Oh Yeah! logo. And he's got the best color sense of anyone I've seen. This informal portrait is from a good-bye card my colleagues put together when my family moved from California in 1999. Young Carlos has created a beautiful series for Nickelodeon, called The X's.

The wanted poster is adapted from a picture booth shot from 1977.

Click here to see all our Frederator card series from the past seven years.

My Life as a Teenage Robot. Postcards, Series 5.

2005-01-27T10:30:00.000-05:00

Frederator's been sending out promotional postcards for seven years now. In this latest series, we've limited each edition to 200, which means that no one usually receives more than 1 out of three (the mailing frequency is about every 10 days). So we're using the blog and our website to post the entire series.

The latest set comes from our production of My Life as a Teenage Robot. The third spin off from Oh Yeah! Cartoons, Robot was created by Rob Renzetti, one of the most talented of the new breed that came into the business in the early 90s and saved the cartoon industry from itself. (Rob was a key creative player on Dexter's Laboratory and The Powerpuff Girls before moving on to his own originals.) Check out the Teenage Robot series blog.

With these postcards, we wanted to showcase the stunning art direction of Robot, led by Rob and his art director, Alex Kirwan. Here's a model sheet, the logo style guide, and a couple of storyboard panels (ultimately, it's about loving the characters and the stories).

Click here to see all our Frederator card series from the past seven years.

The winners! The Nicktoons Film Festival.

2005-01-27T10:13:00.000-05:00

The results are in! Hundreds of films from all over the world were screened for the first Nicktoons Film Festival and there were 13 screenings beginning in October.

Mark Simon & Travis Blaise are the winners of the Grand Prize, for their film Timmy's Lessons in Nature. Elizabeth Ito is the winner of the Producers' Choice, for her film Welcome to My Life.

Our thanks go out to all of the contributing filmmakers, our esteemed judges, the Nicktoons network staff, and, of course, our audience.

Click here for all the details on the winning films, the filmmakers, and all of the finalists.

The Frederator Robot. Postcards, Series 5.

2005-01-14T13:19:00.000-05:00

We started forming Frederator Studios in 1997. Our friend Arlen Schumer, an amazing guy and better artist (partnered in the Dynamic Duo Studio with his wife Sherri Wolfgang), asked to design our announcement; he had a vision of a robot that crossed Gigantor and my bushy eyebrows and geeky glasses. Like everything he does, it was phenomenonly conceived and executed. Later, artist Eugene Mattos did some line drawings of different views, and, lo and behold, an icon was born.

Click here to see all our Frederator card series from the past seven years.

NASA. Postcards, Series 5.

2004-12-22T23:02:00.000-05:00

In 1977 my mentor Dale Pon let me in a fantastic secret: Some of history's most spectacular images, the NASA photos from space, were available to any American at the Library of Congress. For FREE.

Starting with the now famous astronaut planting the MTV flag on the moon (and the model for the 'moonman' statue for the Video Music Awards) I've been able to take wonderful advantage of this taxpayer opportunity.

And you too can find this high resolution photography at the NASA website for any reasonable use you might have.

Click here to see all our Frederator card series from the past seven years.

The winners are coming...soon.

2004-12-21T23:40:00.000-05:00

The judges are deciding the winner of The Nicktoons Film Festival as we speak; and Eric Homan, Rita Street and I are screening for our Producer's Prize.

My friends. Postcards, Series 5.

2004-12-21T22:57:00.000-05:00

Most people are going to confused getting these cards from a cartoon studio.

When I first figured out Photoshop I started rummaging around looking for source material to play with. These childhood pictures of my sister and our neighbors stood out as some of my favorites, because we're still lucky enough to be great friends.

The one on the left is Susie & Frank Olinsky, me, and my sister Leni having a picnic lunch. Aside from our lifelong affection, Frank and I have had the luck do some special work together (Frank and his partners designed the world-famous MTV logo). And on the right are our other next door neighbors: Lisa Fenton, me, Hazel Dunnigan, Leni, William Dunnigan, and Lori Fenton (the photo is courtesy of Will). Will and Hazel run the printing company that actually produced this postcard series; Lisa's a pharmacist and Lori's in retail outside San Diego. We all see each other occaisionally (Leni, Lisa, and Hazel travelled to Paris together recently), but not often enough.

Click here to see all our Frederator card series from the past seven years.

Original cartoons since 1998. Postcards, Series 5.

2004-12-17T02:08:00.000-05:00

Click here to see all our Frederator card series from the past seven years.

Postcards, Series 5.

2004-12-17T02:03:00.000-05:00

Click here to see all our Frederator card series from the past seven years.

HA! Postcards, Series 5.

2004-12-17T01:57:00.000-05:00

Click here to see all our Frederator card series from the past seven years.

How to draw "The Fairly Oddparents." Postcards, Series 5.

2004-12-17T01:18:00.000-05:00

Everyone seems to love these cards adapted from the art departments' style guides.

Click here to see all our Frederator card series from the past seven years.

Record labels. Postcards, Series 5.

2004-12-16T21:18:00.000-05:00

I've gotten more comments on these postcards than anything else we've ever sent out.

Bang and Red Bird were leading independent pop labels in the 60s, both owned by among the most legendary figures in the mid-20th century record biz. Bang Records was started by Bert Berns and Atlantic Records' Ahmet and Neshui Ertegun, and Gerald (Jerry) Wexler; the name came from the first letters of their first name. Today the label's best known for being the first solo home of Van Morrison (Brown Eyed Girl & TB Sheets), Neil Diamond (Cherry, Cherry & Kentucky Woman), and great hits by the McCoys (Hang on Sloopy). Red Bird Records was the short-lived indie formed by Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, and George Goldner and the spiritual home of the girl groups (like The Dixie Cups & The Shangri-Las).

Vocalion Records first showed up in 1920 and is well known for 78s by Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, and most of Robert Johnson's legacy.

Click here to see all our Frederator card series from the past seven years.

Tuesday in USA Today.

2004-12-16T13:09:00.000-05:00

There was a big article on Nickelodeon's cartoons in Tuesday's USA Today. Modestly, here's the section where I was quoted.

'The [Nickelodeon Animation Studio] reinforces a "creator-driven" program strategy of cultivating animators, as those in supporting positions on one show might later create and produce another.

Butch Hartman (OddParents and Danny Phantom) and Rob Renzetti (Teenage Robot) plied their craft on Fred Seibert's Oh Yeah! Cartoons.

"All that wonderful and successful work begets more of it," says Seibert, who also oversees the Nicktoons festival.

The cartoon veteran credits other networks and studios, too, for contributing to an animation renaissance but says Nickelodeon is in the vanguard: "Without Nick, there wouldn't be this new golden age."'

New postcards, Series 5.

2004-12-15T02:37:00.000-05:00

October 2004

We've become so addicted to our postcards series that we start feeling withdrawal pains if we aren't mailing out new ones.

So with these reminders to vote in the upcoming election, Frederator Studios officially inaugurates our Series 5 cards, 75 in all, to be sent out over the next year or so. As has become our custom, each card will have editions limited to 200.

Click here to see all our Frederator card series from the past seven years.

Five nominations for Frederator & Nickelodeon.

2004-12-07T11:09:00.000-05:00

Frederator Studios is having another great year with the Annie Awards, the Oscars of the animation industry, presented every year by the International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood.

All five of our nominations are below (marked with ***), including Best Animated Television Production for My Life As A Teenage Robot.

Congratulations everyone, you're the best in the business!

Best Animated Television Production

*** My Life As A Teenage - Frederator/Nickelodeon
Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends - Cartoon Network Studios
SpongeBob SquarePants - Nickelodeon
Star Wars: Clone Wars - Cartoon Network Studios
The Batman - Warner Bros. Animation

Character Design in an Animated Television Production

*** Ben Balistreri - The Fairly OddParents "Crash Nebula"
Shakeh Haghnazarian - "Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi"
Patrick Mat'e - "Father of the Pride"
Lynn Naylor-Reccardi/Pilot "House of Bloo's" Foster's Home for Imaginary
Friends
Chris Reccardi - Powerpuff Girls - "West in Pieces"

Production Design in an Animated Television Production

*** Alex Kirwan, - "My Life As A Teenage Robot"
Richard Daskas, - Samurai Jack "Season of Death"
Michael Giaimo - Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi "Episode 1"
John Over - "Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks"
Mark Whiting - "Duck Dodgers"

Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production

*** Candi Milo - Voice of Mrs. Wakeman "My Life As A Teenage Robot"
Maile Flanagan - Voice of Piggley "Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks"
Carolyn Lawrence - Voice of Cindy Vortex "The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron,
Boy Genius"
Brittany Murphy - Voice of Luane Platter - King of the Hill - "Girl, You'll
Be A Giant Soon"
Russi Taylor - Voice of Ferny "Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks"

Writing in an Animated Television Production

*** Butch Hartman & Steve Marmel - The FairlyOddParents "Channel Chasers"
Etan Cohen, - King of the Hill "Ceci N'est Pas Line"
Lauren Faust, - Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends "World Wide Wabbit"
Evan Gore & Heather Gore - Disney's Dave the Barbarian - "Ned Frischman: Man
of Tomorrow"
Brandon Sawyer - Disney's Brandy and Mr. Whiskers "Cyranosaurus Rex"

Click here for the all the nominees and the official press release from the Annie Awards and ASIFA-Hollywood.

The Nicktoons Film Festival

2004-11-20T08:41:00.000-05:00

October 22, 2004

The Nicktoons Film Festival

My first job on an animated film (composing and producing the soundtrack) came right out of college, when my friend Alan Goodman introduced me to David Bruce, a student filmmaker.

I was hooked.

Looking back over the 1000 films since (commercials and network identifications for MTV, Nickelodeon, Lifetime, and Comedy Central, cartoons for Hanna-Barbera, Nickelodeon, and Frederator) it occurred to me that most of the filmmakers were virtually first-timers, and the thrill of discovery was a great part of the excitement.

That's why it was a dream come true for Frederator Studios to create a brand new film festival for the wildly successful new Nicktoons digital channel.

The Nicktoons Film Festival has its first week's screening Sunday night at 10pm EST.

The festival has received an overwhelming response from filmmakers all around the world. We received over 400 films, and festival programmers Eric Homan and Rita Street guided our co-producers from Animation Magazine to narrow the field to almost 100 animations. Over the next 4 months our esteemed judges Gabor Csupo, John Kricfalusi, and Eric Goldberg will pick the $10,000 Grand Prize Winner.

I hope you enjoy discovering these new animated filmmakers as much as we do (and if you're convinced one of them's going to be a big hit, let me know so we can sign them up).

Fred Seibert

...................................................
The Nicktoons Film Festival

Sundays 10pm EST on the Nicktoons network

Festival programmers/Producers: Eric Homan & Rita Street

Associate producer/Production management: Alan Kaufman

Associate producer/Business affairs: Roy Langbord

Logo design: Poster designed by INTERspectacular

Music: TimbreLab/Bruce Kapler & Art Labriola

Packaging & bumpers: Nickelodeon Animation Studios, Burbank

Executive in charge of production for Nicktoons: Christina Vann

Festival director/Executive Producer: Fred Seibert

A FREDERATOR PRODUCTION
PRODUCED IN ASSOCIATION WITH ANIMATION MAGAZINE ........................................................

Daws.

2004-11-20T01:25:00.001-05:00

October 12, 2004

Daws.

a supplement to
THE FREDERATOR NEWSLETTER:

Our friend Joe Bevilacqua is a voice actor, NPR reporter, and all around comedy enthusiast and historian. One of his great life passions has been fueled by the time he was mentored by the amazing voice actor Daws Butler, the voice of Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound (my personal favorite), Cap'n Crunch, and hundreds of others.

Now Joe has published an authorized biography, co-authored with historian Ben Ohmart, about Daws' surprising and charmed life.

Buy it. It'll be a great way to feel happy.

The Frederator Studios crew.
.......................................

A Robot Emmy

2004-11-20T01:02:00.000-05:00

September 17, 2004
A Robot Emmy

Another three months, and another newsletter from your friends at Frederator Studios. But wait! There’s a theme here. Can you guess what it is?

Robot hats off to My Life as a Teenage Robot’s Seonna Hong, brand-new Emmy-winner in the category of Individual Achievement in Animation – Background Styling. We couldn’t be happier or more fortunate to have this talented artist on the Robot team. The award ceremony is being aired on E! this Saturday night (9/18). While you can see Seonna’s beautiful work at www.SeonnaHong.com, we’ve included a Seonna background from the episode for which she won – The Wonderful World of Wizzly – here.

..............................................................
Well, we’re finally on the schedule. After months of no new episodes, the second-season Teenage Robot premiere is slated for its Nickelodeon debut Friday, October 1. Entitled “Victim of Fashion”, it’s a very special half-hour episode full of fashion, victims, and robots. Check your local listing for showtimes. It’s going to be Robot-riffic.

Jenny Wakeman, you’re going to Canada! That’s right, the very prestigious Ottawa International Film Festival has nominated My Life as a Teenage Robot in the Television Series for Children category. The specific episode up for the prize is “Speak No Evil” (the one where Jenny can speak nothing but Japanese – oh, and that’s Janice Kawaye who supplies Jenny’s regular voice doing all the Japanese dialog, too), directed by creator Rob Renzetti and Tim Walker. Thankfully, the festival’s not until next weekend, so there’s still time to brush up on our Canadian, eh.

Finally, Robot buzz on the Web is increasing and increasing like, um, those things which proverbially increase and increase. If you’re looking for the inside scoop, you must visit the Teenage Roblog created and maintained by the phantom “XJ-Writer”. Sorry, but we’re sworn to secrecy as to the identity of this mystery person. (It’s really Robot’s story editor, Scott Peterson.)

Thanks for reading. Look for our next harassing sometime in the winter.
……
Frederator Studios: Original Cartoons Since 1998
Questions, comments, complaints? Or you just don’t want our Frederator updates? Let us know at Hey@frederator.kz.

"...one of those delightful Frederator Studios Newsletters"

2004-11-19T23:34:00.000-05:00

MAY 27 04

Hi, Frederator Fans.

If there's one question we get asked most at our many lucrative personal appearances, it's gotta be “Hey, we're dying to read another one of those delightful Frederator Studios Newsletters updating us on the goings-on at Frederator!” To which we reply, “That's not a question.” But here you go...

ChalkZone Breaks Top Ten We're very proud and jazzed that ChalkZone in its regular Sunday morning Nick slot has made the jump into the top ten most-watched shows for kids between the ages of 6 and 11. Hats off to the crew for a job well-done.

There’s a terrific article by Dennis Cass on Slate.com entitled ‘Adult Entertainment.’ Like Mr. Cass says, “It's refreshing to see a show that acknowledges the truth that even those who have it all can't have it all.” It's our feeling this piece gets to the heart of the show in a way that hasn't been mentioned before in the press, and we hope you'll agree.

Sont des mots qui vont tre’s bien ensemble: Cosmo and Wanda, you’re going to France! Speaking of The Fairly OddParents, the episode ‘Pipe Down!’ is up for the Best TV Series award at this year’s Annecy Film Festival. The Sarah Frost-directed short -- the same one which has earned an Annie Award for Dave Thomas and his storyboard work -- is one of only two films from the U.S. in this year’s roster of 29 nominees. The festival’s next month, so best of luck to the FOP gang.

Fan sites for My Life as a Teenage Robot continue to launch around the Web. You can see one here and here. We’re glad to see the show’s more tech-oriented fans are putting their free time to good use.

Finally, we wrap up our spring update with a really cool piece of original Teenage Robot production art. It’s part of an instructional pack created by art director Alex Kirwan for new crew members learning the do’s and don’ts when it comes to drawing XJ-9. Thanks, Alex.

Thanks for reading. Look for our next harassing sometime in the summer.
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Frederator Studios: Original Cartoons Since 1998
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Questions, comments, complaints? Or you just don’t want our Frederator updates? Let us know at Hype@frederator.kz.

Most Nominations

2004-11-03T23:33:00.000-05:00

January 14, 2004

Most Nominations

Happy Relatively New Year! Hopefully, 2004 will bring you many breathtaking and awe-inspiring moments, not the least of which could be the occasional receipt of our Frederator Studios eLetter, bringing you the latest and greatest in Frederator news on a schedule that can best be termed sporadic and patchy. Or spotty.

So, here’s what’s new with us.

Frederator Show Nabs Most Annie Noms We’re celebrating in Burbank as word is in that My Life as a Teenage Robot is up for five (5!) Annie Awards, more than for any other TV show. Better still, our studio has grabbed a total of nine nominations for this year’s awards (the animation industry’s Oscars). You can find Frederator nods at the end of this email, and the complete list of nominees is at ASIFA Hollywood’s site. The big ceremony is on Saturday, February 7.

Frederator Plows Ahead With Tons Of New Programming. The Annies are the perfect way to kick off 2004. And the perfect way to cap 2003 was Nickelodeon’s December order of more than twenty-six hours of Frederator programming. So, sincere congratulations to all the talented men and women who make these cartoons so wonderful. Now get to work.

The Fairly OddParents – 30 new episodes

ChalkZone – 10 new episodes

My Life as a Teenage Robot – 13 new episodes

Nick’s press release on the new show order is here.

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Item! Fan fiction continues to fill up a large chunk of the Teenage Robot message board (itself at more than 550 topics) on Nick.com. While fan fiction – or ‘fan-fic’ for those linguistically savvy (or those just in a rush) – remains a favorite of fans who enjoy the opportunity to show off their story-telling chops, the board’s most popular topic remains the question whether Jenny looks better as a red or green robot.

Thanks for making it this far. As a reward, here’s a page from Enrique’s Annie-nominated ChalkZone storyboard:

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Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Television Production – The Fairly OddParents

Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Television Production Produced For
Children – ChalkZone

Directing in an Animated Television Production
Rob Renzetti – My Life as a Teenage Robot – “Raggedy Android”

Production Design in an Animated Television Production
Seonna Hong – My Life as a Teenage Robot
Joseph Holt – My Life as a Teenage Robot

Storyboarding in an Animated Television Production
Enrique Braxton May – ChalkZone – “Pumpkin Love”
Dave Thomas – The Fairly OddParents – “Pipe Down”

Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production
Janice Kawaye as the voice of Jenny – My Life as a Teenage Robot
Candi Milo as the voice of Mrs. Wakeman – My Life as a Teenage Robot

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Frederator Studios
Original Cartoons Since 1998
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Questions, comments, complaints? Or you just don’t want our Frederator updates? Let us know at hype@frederator.kz.

Original Premiere >My Life as a Teenage Robot

2004-11-03T23:26:00.000-05:00

June 23, 2003

METALLIC TEEN STUCK WITH “SAVING THE PLANET” HANKERS TO BE HUMAN IN ORIGINAL NEW NICKTOON SERIES MY LIFE AS A TEENAGE ROBOT PREMIERING FRIDAY, AUGUST 1

Metal on the Outside, Teenager on the Inside, Super-Powered Jenny/XJ-9 Just Wants to Hang with High School Pals in Action-Adventure Comedy

Eartha Kitt Recurs as Villainous Vexus

Los Angeles, Calif. – June 24, 2003 – Girls just want to have fun, but protecting planet earth must come first to six-foot, super-powered robot XJ-9. Jenny (voiced by Janice Kawaye) – who’s metal on the outside and a sensitive teenager on the inside, in the original new Nicktoon action-adventure comedy series My Life as a Teenage Robot, premiering Friday, August 1 at 8:30 p.m. (ET/PT). Spun off from Nickelodeon’s hit Oh Yeah! Cartoons, the series was created by Rob Renzetti (Dexter’s Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls) who serves as executive producer with Oh Yeah!’s creator Fred Seibert (The Fairly OddParents, ChalkZone). Repeat airings Saturday, August 2 at 10:30 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. and Sunday, August 3 at 5:00 p.m. (ET/PT).

Displeased by her hard body, which features a limitless set of futuristic tools, Jenny prefers to mingle with non-metallic kids like her pals next door, easy-going, popular Brad (Chad Doreck) and his frenetic tag-along brother Tuck (Audrey Wasilewski). Fitting in at high school is sometimes a circuit-blowing experience to the wannabe cheerleader. Born to be a hero, though, as she saves the earth for the billionth time, she daydreams of boy bands, best friends and trips to the mall – all to the dismay of the human mom who invented her to rid the world of evil: mad scientist Mrs. Wakeman (Candi Milo), a woman of action who’s flummoxed by Jenny’s social life.

“My Life as a Teenage Robot gives kids lots of cool action and gadgets along with a surprisingly relatable hero who not only deals with teen angst, but who also saves the world every day,” says Cyma Zarghami, Executive Vice-President and General Manager, Nickelodeon.

Says Seibert, “Oh Yeah! Cartoons has proven to be a phenomenal talent pipeline. We’ve discovered many gifted creators whose animated shorts for that show have been spun off into hit series for Nickelodeon, and now, we’re excited again that Rob Renzetti’s My Life as a Teenage Robot can join the ranks of The Fairly OddParents and ChalkZone."

Above all else Jenny strives to defeat her enemies with a minimum of harm, and villains in her life, like Vexus, (Eartha Kitt) consider it beneath their dignity to resort to violence, preferring to terrorize with the ingenuity of their evil. While laser battle may be appropriate for the Cluster, a secret society of robots bent on usurping mankind’s position on earth, Jenny eschews it against human criminals.

All the super-villain plots for world domination pale in comparison to the power wielded by the cruel Crust cousins Brittany (Moira Quirk) and Tiffany (Cree Summer), Jenny’s classmates who hold the ultimate clout in their hands: high school popularity. Jenny’s arrival on campus throws them for a loop. It staggers comic book geek/inventor Sheldon (Quinton Flynn), too, who’s
instantly weak-kneed and sets out to woo his dream girl with super-hero gadgets. In fact, donning a cybernetic suit, Sheldon wins Jenny’s heart by masquerading as a metallic man of mystery and crime-fighting hunk, The Silver Shell.

The series premiere featuring “It Came from Next Door” and “Pest Control” devotes equal time to Jenny’s personal life and to her professional calling as a superhero. In the former Brad and Tuck discover there’s something very special about the girl next door. She is the super-powered Global Robotic Response Unit model#XJ9 but she likes her friends to call her “Jenny”. In the beginning of the episode Jenny wants to make friends with the neighbor boys, but when Jenny ignores her superhero duties the whole world may suffer the consequences.

In the latter, while Jenny is in sleep mode, a ruthless band of mutant rats from Wakeman’s lab break into her body and take over all its functions. The robot awakens and tries to regain control but soon finds that her head is not screwed on tight enough. The leader of the rats pops his head into the now devoid space and the rebellious rodents have a powerful tool with which they can take their revenge on Wakeman. Jenny can only watch in horror as her body heads for the door.

My Life as a Teenage Robot is Frederator Studios’ first in-house production.

Nickelodeon, now in its 24th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon’s U.S. television network is seen in more than 86 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for more than seven consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.

First-ever TV movie from The Fairly OddParents

2004-11-03T23:14:00.000-05:00

June 10, 2003

WITH THE WAVE OF A WAND FIRST-EVER TV MOVIE FROM NICKELODEON'S HIT ANIMATED SERIES THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS DEBUTS FULFILLING KIDS' SUMMER WISHES OF MAGIC AND MAYHEM.

World Premiere of The Fairly OddParents TV Movie "Abra-Catastrophe" Marks Timmy Turner's One-Year Anniversary with Fairy Godparents Cosmo and Wanda on Saturday, July 12 at 8 PM

Los Angeles, CA – June 10, 2003 – Nickelodeon’s hit animated comedy series The Fairly OddParents, delivers kids' wishes of summertime fun with the world premiere of a TV movie based on the series. Timmy Turner celebrates his one-year anniversary with fairy godparents Cosmo and Wanda in "Abra-Catastrophe," airing Saturday, July 12, 2003, at 8: p.m. (ET/PT). The movie repeats on Nickelodeon, Sunday, July 13 at 4:00 p.m. (ET/PT).

In “Abra-Catastrophe,” it’s Timmy Turner’s one-year anniversary of enjoying Cosmo and Wanda as his fairy godparents, which is a huge cause for celebration in fairydom! As a special anniversary gift, Timmy receives a Magic Muffin, which allows him a rule-free wish. In the spirit of the credo, "Be Careful What You Wish For," his wish goes awry, he loses the magic muffin, and the world changes completely! Timmy forfeits his right to his Fairy Godparents and the right goes to the next species down the evolutionary chain– Monkeys! Then when his teacher, Mr. Crocker, gets his hands on the surprisingly foul-tasting baked good, he uses it to obtain his goal and finally capture a fairy! Now, all-powerful and crazier than ever, Crocker's taken over the planet and is using magic to rule the world! Only a certain ten year-old kid with a pink hat can save the Earth from the total, magical chaos unleashed by the muffin...TIMMY TURNER!

“This story of a magic muffin that turns the world upside down and inside out is easily one of the most action packed adventures in Nicktoons history. I can’t wait for kids to see this. It will make them love The Fairly OddParents more than they already do,” said Cyma Zarghami, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Nickelodeon.

“Abra-Catastrophe is just the latest in a string of successes for Butch Hartman. I'm honored to have worked with Butch for 11 years now, and to have nurtured his great talent on the original Fairly OddParents shorts on the Nickelodeon series, Oh Yeah! Cartoons,” said Fred Seibert, executive producer of The Fairly OddParents and president, Frederator Studios.

The Fairly OddParents’ popularity has soared among kids and adults since making its debut in March 2001. Second only to SpongeBob SquarePants in popularity on all kids’ broadcast and basic cable television, the show also is a solid hit among teens and adults, who make up a third of its 3.7 million-viewer audience each week

From Oh Yeah! Cartoons creator Butch Hartman, The Fairly OddParents follows husband-and-wife sprites Cosmo and Wanda wreak mayhem as they help Timmy conquer typical kid obstacles by granting him wishes and magically fixing his problems ranging from a tough homework assignment to a bothersome babysitter. Despite the wizardry, though, these overly eager oddballs manage to mess things up every time.

Once a powerless kid at the mercy of every adult in his life, Timmy (Tara Strong) figures he finally has the upper hand when Cosmo (Daran Norris) and Wanda (Susan Blakeslee) appear unexpectedly on the scene. Fairy godparents help kids in need, and the Fairy Council saw Timmy as a client who fits their criteria and so they assigned him to Cosmo and Wanda. They constantly practice their craft on him and delight in playfully punishing his babysitting nemesis, 16-year-old Vicky (Grey Delisle), who turns mean as a snake the second Timmy’s parents leave.

Series creator Butch Hartman began his animation career as an assistant animator on An American Tail. He directed cartoons and created his own shorts for What a Cartoon!, and also wrote and directed episodes of Dexter’s Laboratory, Cow & Chicken and Johnny Bravo. Hartman joined Nickelodeon in 1998 where he created and produced several cartoon shorts for the Oh Yeah! Cartoons series, including The Fairly OddParents.

Nickelodeon, now in its 24th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon’s U.S. television network is seen in more than 86 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for more than seven consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.

We're proud of our first movie.

2004-11-03T23:01:00.000-05:00

December 13, 2002

We're proud of our first movie.

We’re happy to announce the showing of the first Frederator animated film: Globehunters: An Around the World in 80 Days Adventure. This picture was superbly directed by John Eng. (In a totally unbiased moment, I think it's the best looking animated film for television I've seen.) And we’re very proud and pleased that Nickelodeon is featuring it in their ‘Sunday Movie Toons’ slot. We hope you and your family enjoy the movie.

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Globehunters: An Around the World in 80 Days Adventure

Directed by John Eng

Written by Danny Hartigan and Tim Wade

Songs by John Kavanaugh and Barbara Epstein

Score by Don Grady

Executive Producers: Sherry Gunther, Barbara Epstein, Fred Seibert

'Odd' over 'SpongeBob'

2004-11-03T23:00:00.000-05:00

November 13, 2002

'Odd' over 'SpongeBob'

The Frederator Studios update:

Our production of Butch Hartman's "The Fairly Oddparents" has been getting a lot of attention with it's steady ratings growth towards the top of Nickelodeon.

Oh Yeah! Cartoons continues its run in the top 10 on Saturday mornings; series production is moving on ChalkZone and My Life as a Teenage Robot.

And the studio's starting two series pilots at the new TNN.

Frederator is also starting three huge projects. Two animated feature slates: five PG13 pictures for adults, and five G-rated family films. And we'll be announcing our first international pre-school project shortly.

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KIDS CHOOSE "ODD" OVER "SPONGEBOB"

Sibling skein hands 'Squarepants' his first Sat ayem upset

By LILY OEI, Variety

NEW YORK -- Has "SpongeBob" got his pants in a twist?

Last week, sibling skein "The Fairly OddParents," handed the porous hero his first Saturday ayem upset in 23 weeks, registering a 6.2 rating and nearly 2.5 million kid viewers. "SpongeBob" had to settle for a 6.0 rating and 2.4 million kids 2-11.

With no hoopla from Nick, numbers for "Fairly Odd" has been steadily climbing. Launched in March 2001, series follows the adventures of little Timmy Turner and his well meaning, but ineffective fairy godparents.

For the month, it will finish second overall in kids 2-11, behind "SpongeBob," but in front of Nick's other hits, "Jimmy Neutron" and the well established "Rugrats."

"Fairly Odd" has also settled into the basic cable top 15. To date, nearly 2.9 million households have tuned in this month. Compared with last year, its Saturday ayem ratings are up 30% in both kids 2-11 and total viewers; delivery is up 29% in kids (to 2.2 million) and 38% in total viewers (to 3.6 million).

"It's been working its way to this performance," said Nickelodeon's exec VP and GM Cyma Zarghami.

Created by Butch Hartman, show is produced inhouse. Series began as part of channel's "Oh Yeah Cartoons" lineup and was spun off with a six-episode order for Friday night broadcasts. A steady performer, series was moved into the prime Saturday 10 a.m. slot.

There are 21 completed episodes of "Fairly Odd," 19 more are in production, and Nick has greenlighted another 13. With increased episodes comes increased frequency. Next fall, Nick plans to be more aggressive with its skedding -- and licensing deals ("SpongeBob" has a $600,000 licensing purse).

"We put the machine to work after we know we've got a hit," said Zarghami. "We've been tracking it really carefully, so it's not a surprise -- that it's happened so quickly is very exciting to us."

'Oh Yeah!' Brand new cartoons coming to Nickelodeon

2004-11-03T22:56:00.000-05:00

July 17, 1998

'Oh Yeah!' Brand new cartoons coming to Nickelodeon
By Jefferson Graham, USA Today

Abstract:
While president of the Hanna-Barbera studio, Fred Seibert hatched the idea to produce 48 original shorts for the Cartoon Network.
His goals were to revive classic, Looney Tunes-type animation and to find new characters that could be spun off into their own series. That's how Dexter's Laboratory and Johnny Bravo came to life.

Nickelodeon executives aren't bothered by comparisons between The Cartoon Network's What a Cartoon Show! and Oh Yeah! "Fred's a Nick person first. The Cartoon Network enlisted him to bring some of that same sensibility to them,"says Nickelodeon entertainment chief Albie Hecht.

Full Text:

Once is not enough for cartoon king Fred Seibert.

While president of the Hanna-Barbera studio, he hatched the idea to produce 48 original shorts for the Cartoon Network.

His goals were to revive classic, Looney Tunes-type animation and to find new characters that could be spun off into their own series. That's how Dexter's Laboratory and Johnny Bravo came to life.

In October 1996, Seibert returned to Nickelodeon, where he had worked earlier, and the network asked him to perform his animation magic again.

The result is Oh Yeah! Cartoons!, premiering Sunday at noon ET/PT. The half-hour show will introduce three new cartoon characters a week.

"The Cartoon Network started doing original cartoons because of the competition from Nickelodeon with series like Rugrats and Doug," he says. "We were reacting to them, so this is just coming back full circle."

Nickelodeon executives aren't bothered by comparisons between The Cartoon Network's What a Cartoon Show! and Oh Yeah! "Fred's a Nick person first. The Cartoon Network enlisted him to bring some of that same sensibility to them,"says Nickelodeon entertainment chief Albie Hecht.

And there are no hard feelings at the Cartoon Network. "Cartoons began as shorts," says Linda Simensky, a former Nick exec who now serves as vice president of original animation for the Cartoon Network. "No one can say they stole it from anyone -- except (pioneering animator) Windsor McKay."

At Nickelodeon, 17 young animators have come up with 36 original characters for Oh Yeah! -- characters they hope will be as wild, wacky and popular as Bugs, Porky and Daffy were in their heyday.

"The difference between Looney Tunes and everything else is that they tried things out before they went to series," says Seibert. "Bugs Bunny evolved for years until he became the character we love."

Oh Yeah!'s premiere episode features these shorts:

Chalkzone, about a boy who discovers a magic stick of chalk that allows him to enter a world where all erased chalk drawings come to life.

What Is Funny?, with Slap T. Pooch, who investigates the mystery of humor.

Jelly's Day, with a girl who hangs out with her monster cousin from Entransylvania.