ANIMOTION MACHINE

Here’s an interesting interview with former-ish animator Jay Robinson, about the highs and lows of working in television animation.

THE LOWS

  • There’s no job security; people in TV animation get laid off when their work is done and may or may not get rehired for the next go-around. Robinson says he was laid off 3-4 times. He, along with 39 other people, get laid off for good last November.

THE HIGHS

  • Robinson’s work still hangs in poster form at Von D’s Hollywood shop; Metallica lead singer James Hetfield told him his work inspires the band; and [Bam] Margera sent him a letter, thanking him for the sketch of a nude skateboarding Bart Simpson clad in Margera’s tattoos.

  • “We spent the next two hours drawing characters on bar napkins for drinks. It’s a great girl-gettin’ job.”

[Duluth News Tribune via Sx2]

COMING ATTRACTIONS

zuckerburgHey, you! Do you know who Mark Zuckerburg is? If not, you soon will, because 2010 is the Year of Zuck! He’s the cat who made the popular Friendster clone Facebook, which is currently in “hot water” for selling all of its users’ personal information to the Taliban in exchange for drugs. The outrage is so widespread that it even made the cover of Time Magazine, which is apparently considered a big deal!

As the face of Facebook (I hope you enjoyed this phrase!!! I stayed up all night writing it!!!), you can expect to see the Zuckster’s mug – which by the way used to be in the goddamn logo seriously what kind of weird egomaniac does that – all over the place in news story after news story as this privacy brouhaha continues into the summer. If we’re lucky, we might even see him look remorseful and say he’s really sorry, just like the CEOs of Goldman Sachs, Toyota, and BP!

Then, in the fall, an unflattering movie based on an unflattering book about Zuckerburg, his creepy mentor The Napster Guy, and the creation of Facebook will hit theaters, bringing his extreme jerkiness and unethical behavior to the attention of general audiences. And it’s in 3-D! Even if you don’t plan on seeing it, Hollywood’s relentless marketing juggernaut will ensure you’ll see fake-Zuckerburg’s face everywhere (except maybe on Facebook?).

Finally, if that wasn’t enough, Zuckerburg will guest star as himself (!) on The Simpsons (possibly to soften his image after public perception of him takes a beating?). This is surprisingly timely for a show that took seven years to do an episode about 9/11! For once, The Simpsons is actually jumping on a trend while it’s still sort of hot; it’s pretty amazing they didn’t go with Tom from MySpace. Could The Simpsons become culturally relevant again…? (Haha, no. They just did an episode about the Patriot Act, so I suspect it’s only a matter of time before Bart joins a flash mob.)

Anyway, shortly thereafter The Year of Zuck will conclude with Zuckerburg being thrown into a volcano after America grows sick of him, the end.

BONGO BEAT

JASON HONOTE: This manga review is courtesy of our news partner, AnimeJihad.

バートシンプソンシリーズはMatsumoto Groeningにボンゴコミックスから発行され、通常のシンプソンズのコミックスよりも見た目若い読者のために意図。それはやや時代遅れのリトルルルのような過去の無害な少年漫画です。私は間違いなく、カバー、特に影響を見ることができます。この問題は、漫画の他の領域、それぞれ特定の描画スタイルシンプソンズの世界に適応し、それを様々な多くのことから多くのアーティストが含まれます。

SERGIO ARAGONES最初の話は、”サウンドとフラリー、”Carol Layに待ち伏せるサロンの漫画を行うために使用さによって行われた。その中で、バートはコミック擬音語のすべての種類 – ドンマーティン敬意を表し、おそらく書き留めばなりませんか?物語は継続ボンゴコミックス商標です私の趣味のための少し余りにメタ漫画でした。

GILBERT HERNANDEZ2番目の物語は、”マギーのベビーベッドは、”Sergio Aragonesのバートは、ステートフェアで楽しむことができるので、マギーは彼女のおむつをうんちが含まれます。それが面白い漫画だったし、マギーはショーがあるのを忘れ、実際の赤ん坊のように扱わ見ていいですね。

“ホーマーシンプソンは:チックマグネット”Gilbert Hernandezラブ&ロケッツによるホーマーは雛をたくさん集めについて奇妙な話でした。私はGilbert適応をoverbites彼のおなじみのスタイルを楽しんだ。プロットは少し(奇妙な関係漫画はまだありません再び)ですが、Gilbert’sにの対話タスクに上昇、私は特にビキニの女性とのシーンが好きです。

“おびえたTentlessは”かなり忘れChris YamberにとMike Kazalehのバックアップの話です。私はKazalehのインクのスキルが好きです。

[MONTHLY MANGA REVIEW: BART SIMPSON #52]

TOON BEAT

napoleon dynamite

An animated television series based on the 2004 film Napoleon Dynamite is currently in development at Fox, a network spokesperson has confirmed to FishbowlLA.

Since Fox only does cartoons on Sundays, and there’s a limited number of timeslots, could this cartoon replace The Simpsons after it’s cancelled next year?? And what of Bob’s Burgers??? Developing… [FishbowlLA]

ANNOYED GRUNTS

tik tokI have no energy to comment on The Simpsons‘s Poochiesque stab at relevancy, so here’s a roundup of what the rest of the Internet had to say about it:

Warming Glow pronounced The Simpsons dead:

Add me to the long list of hacks who have declared the Simpsons “dead.” We have declared it dead upwards of a dozen times since the September 28, 1997 Seymour Skinner episode, but until the show finally dies, this descriptor has not and will not be any more appropriate than it is in the wake of last night’s opening credits.

PopCrunch enjoyed it:

Even if you hate Tik Tok, you’ve got to admit The Simpsons intro is pretty clever.

Twitter user stevend, not so much:

wow that was the most disgraceful couch gag ever on the simpsons. seeing springfield sing a ke$ha song has got me to reconsider suicide.

Gawker said, “What the more recent seasons of The Simpsons have lacked in terms of comedic creativity, they’ve made up for with wacky intros.” What???

New York was delighted but perplexed:

Despite the music, it’s pretty delightful. As far as we can tell, though, this is the first time Danny Elfman’s theme has been replaced with a contemporary pop song, so it’s slightly baffling that would have chosen this one to make history with.

TwentyFourBit declared it an epic winz0r FTW:

The Simpsons brought the lulz tonight with a lip dub of Ke$ha’s “Tik Tok” as their intro theme song, and though I’ll admit to not LOLing IRL until Nelson Muntz belts out the ridiculous chorus, this is the one time you won’t regret revisiting a song from the reigning poet laureate (sarcasm!) of pop.

Videogum officially declared itself done with The Simpsons:

I’m pretty sure this means we are done with The Simpsons. Bye, The Simpsons! I will continue to not have watched you in years!

The creator of iCarly loved it!!!

Twitter user ACHkris laid down an ultimatum:

Dear simpsons- NEVER USE A KESHA SONG IN PLACE OF THE INTRO EVER AGAIN OR WE ARE THROUGH.

Finally, andPOP won Headline of the Year with Tik Tok: The countdown Until ‘The Simpsons’ are Cancelled:

Either Matt Groening has finally run out of ideas for America’s longest running show or Ke$ha broke into his house and offered to blow him. Either way, the choice to use ‘Tik Tok’ as a substitute for the Simpsons theme song was a scary indication that no one is safe. Even an American institution, with over two decades of immense popularity, is vulnerable to Ke$ha’s infectious auto-tuned pop hooks.

THE INSIDE SCOOP

dana gouldWhile researching “SIMPSONS ALUMNI UPDATE 2010,” I learned that former Simpsons writer Dana Gould used the pseudonym “Lawrence Talbot” on the “Simpsons Go To China” episode where Aunt Selma buys a Chinese baby who has never been mentioned since. Gould’s use of a pseudonym struck me as peculiar: was it because of some legal thing? Could it be that a writer who started in the post-funny era could actually be so ashamed of his work that he would want to distance himself from it? What’s the point of using a pseudonym when the genuinym is so easily findable on the Internet?

Now, IN THE NEWS is a Very Serious News Organization that takes great pride in its journalistic integrity – here is my real, actual, not-making-this-up press badge – and so, for answers, I went straight to the source: the only e-mail address I could find on his website.

From: simpsons@rubbercat.net
To: info@danagould.com
Date: Sat, Mar 20, 2010
Subj: lawrence talbot

dear mr. gould

i have a press inquiry: why did u use a pseudonym for the simpsons episode “goo goo gai pan”? or is wikipedia got it’s facts wrong.

thanx

urs in christ,

adam

http://rubbercat.net/simpsons/news

I got no response. OK, whatever, this probably happens to Morley Safer all the time. Undeterred, I sent a second inquiry, this time with all the respectability I could summon.

From: simpsons@rubbercat.net
To: info@danagould.com
Date: Thu, Apr 8, 2010
Subj: press inquiry

Dear Sir Or Madam Whom It May Concern:

On the 20th of March I sent a press inquiry to this address, which as of this writing has not garnered a reply. I shall rephrase and repeat the question in hopes of an answer: why did Mr. Gould choose to use the pseudonym “Lawrence Talbot” for the The Simpsons episode entitled “Goo Goo Gai Pan” (production code #GABF06, original airdate 13 March 2005)?

I am an important member of The Press and I will not rest until I get an answer. A simple “no comment” will suffice. You may answer “off the record” if that is more palatable to you.

Yours in Christ,

Adam

Head Journalist, IN THE NEWS

http://rubbercat.net/simpsons/news

Then I sort of forgot about this whole thing for a while, but then I remembered about it and I got mad. I was through playing games. It was time for answers!

From: simpsons@rubbercat.net
To: info@danagould.com
Date: Fri, Apr 23, 2010
Subj: ultimatum

I’ve had it!!! Twice I have e-mailed this address for a simple answer as to why Dana Gould used the pseudonym Lawrence Talbot, and I STILL have gotten no response! WHAT ARE YOU HIDING, DANA GOULD? If I don’t get a response by April 30th, I will have no choice but to go public with unfounded rumours and speculation about Mr. Gould. YOU CANNOT HIDE FROM THE PRESS.

Adam

http://rubbercat.net/simpsons/news

Needless to say, I still have yet to receive a response from Mr. Gould or his associates.

So why is this guy, Dana Gould, hiding behind a fake name and stonewalling the fourth estate? Here are my theories:

  • Dana Gould murdered a teenage girl during a trip to China
  • Dana Gould shot up an entire orphanage
  • Dana Gould was fired from Fox because of his rampant drug abuse
  • Dana Gould is the reason The Simpsons is so bad now
  • Dana Gould was ashamed of his name after discovering it is an anagram for “analog dud”
  • Dana Gould was incarcerated at the time (prisoners are not allowed to write for TV)
  • Dana Gould is a deadbeat dad attempting to hide his TV revenue from his ex-wife
  • Dana Gould was in possession of evidence that could have brought down the Bush Administration
  • Dana Gould was put into witness protection after seeing a mafia guy kill a dude
  • Dana Gould’s body is the current soul vessel for the entity once known as “Andy Kaufman”

No denials as of yet… hmmm….