Thread by @FountainCartoon

#animation #cartoons
Television animation is an industry that openly hates itself.

What do I mean?

It's an industry that - very often - is run by people with absolutely no interest in what it makes.

cont.

Most of these pencil pushers are just former "executive assistants" who kissed the asses of their bosses who did the same before them.

They didn't go to film school or study storytelling in any capacity.

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They justify this madness by saying, "But I'm the average viewer - so if I don't get it, neither will they!"

Except that they're NOT the average viewer.

They stopped watching cartoons when they were 6 and stopped thinking about them ever since.

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Cartoon viewers like cartoons. Period.

But when these pencil-pushers are put in a position to produce cartoons, the first thing they seem to do is go outside of animation looking for creators.

And I'm not talking about comic books or novels...

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Early in my career in I was "commissioned" (i.e. work for free in exchange for a gig if the show got picked up) to do character turnarounds for a show created by Vonda Shepard.

Now, I'm sure that Ms. Shepard is a lovely person... but her designs looked like this:

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I'm not kidding. They wanted turnarounds. For... THAT.

Now... "Who's Vonda Shepard?" you're asking...

She was a piano player on a show called 'Ally McBeal' that was hot stuff for about a minute back in the mid-90s. She wasn't the star...

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...she was a musician who sort of played "bumpers" at the beginning and end of each episode.

This woman had a development deal with Fox while most actual animators couldn't get a meeting to pitch if their lives depended on it.

Again... let's be clear...

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...I don't resent her for anything... I resent the executives who looked at this hot mess of a show (believe me, the show's "plot" was just as weak as the art) and said, "LET'S GOOOOOO!!!!"

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I'm also NOT implying that every show must be the life's work of a seasoned animator...

I'm just saying that the animation industry has always had an eagerness to look anywhere but under its own roof for content - whether it's stand-up comics or piano bar singers.

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I mean... if you need heart surgery, do you go running to the nearest shoe salesman or plumber and say, "What ideas do you have on how my heart should be operated on?"

Obviously, there are exceptions to this rule and good ideas can come from unlikely places...

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...but in my experience, most executives don't even give it that much thought. They're just looking for a door out of animation, so they try to hitch their wagon to anyone who's NOT in the industry.

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This is why I'm very, VERY happy to be working on indy projects with other animators.

True, we're doing it in our spare time for no money, but at least we don't have people with an open disdain for the artform calling the shots.

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Which is why I would implore you to click the link below and hit SUBSCRIBE to support our efforts.

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