What do an AMC Gremlin and Wubby have in common?
Nothing really. Except that when I was a kid I always wanted a yellow Gremlin.
Thirty something years later my automotive desires have surfaced in a character design.
Okay, maybe I'm reaching a bit, but I see the connection!
As far as the show goes, there are some VERY VERY exciting things happening that hopefully I'll be able to share with you very shortly!
For those of you that are interested in working on the show, you can drop off your portfolio with Shelley Gillespie at Film Roman 12020Chandler Blvd. Suite 200 North Hollywood Ca. 91607 phone:818-761-2544
We are looking to fill all positions but, like everyone else in town, storyboard artists are at the top of the list.
Believe it or not the chicken scratch thumbnails above were part of the original book that was the start of this whole project.
I'm only showing them because we are in the process of creating background designs of were the characters live and I wanted to show what we are starting with.
These drawings are of Walden's house which I described in the book as "filled with interesting things". That's nice and vague!
My thought is that Walden is interested in everything and therefore his home would be very eclectic. He would have African masks next to a piece of classic sculpture. Dinosaur skeletons next to a strange musical instrument. He would live in a house that is a "cabinet of wonders" where there are an endless amount of rooms that all contain different things.
I am giving these roughs from the book and the thumbnails below to a real bg artist who will do some further development and really flush out the world.
We are still trying to decide on a title for the show. So on the flight back to L.A. I started to doodle some really rough logo ideas to see if that might push things one way or another.
I totally felt like a high school kid trying to come up with a name for his band!
I'm in beautiful Falls Church, Virginia taking care of some family business.
I'm staying in my old childhood bedroom and working on the same card table that I used to draw on when I was in high school.(see above)
Fancy stuff!
While I'm here I'm trying to finish the first pass of the text for the Wubby, Widget, and Walden book.
Before I started this project I was the Art Director of Nickelodeon's Danny Phantom (created by Butch Hartman). During that time I had the privilege of working with two really amazing artists named Ben Balistreri and Stephen Silver.
These guys are great draftsmen and designers. AND they are super nice guys. In fact they are so nice that when I was leaving Nickelodeon they did an awesome "farewell" drawing for me (see above).
In addition to animation Stephen has published several books and Ben is working on a comic book that will blow peoples minds when it comes out.
If you aren't familiar with their work drop everything and go check out their websites.
www.saltysugar.com and www.silvertoons.com
The discussion and debate about the title rages on!
It seems like "Wubby!" has a slight lead over "Wow! Wow! Wubby!". And there is some talk about staying with the original "Wubby, Widget, and Walden!".
But while we sort all that out here is a "Top Ten List" of titles for the Wubby Show (submitted by a friend). It's actually a top 45 list but whatever.
Something Wubby This Way Comes
Honey I Shrunk the Wubby
Citizen Wubby
Meet The Wubbies
Wonder Wubbies
Wubby Squad
WubbyMania
American Wubby
Samurai Wubby
Finding the Incredible Wubbies
101 Wubbies
Aaahh! Real Wubbies
Leave It To Wubby
Wubbie Dearest
Wubbies Gone Wild
Just Wubbies
Wubby Island
The Secret Life of Wubbies
Glengarry Glen Wubby
Here Come the Wubbies
That's My Wubby
Wet Hot Wubbies
What's Up, Wubby?
We"re Wubbies, We're Wacky, We're Wacky and We're Wubbies
You've Got Wubbies
What, Me Wubby?
My Three Wubbies
Please Watch the Wubbies
Pardon My Wubby
Codename: Hi Hi Puffy Mucha Wubby
Mars Needs Wubbies
Wubby Nuts
Wubby Toons
Wad O' Wubbies
Happy Happy Wubby Wubby
Wubby Academy
The Angry Wubbies
All My Wubbies
The Brand New Wubby Show
W.U.B.B.Y.
Where's Wubby?
Network Approved Wubby Stories
The Fairly Sponge Wubbies
Wubbies in Flash
Got Wubbies?
Now that we have nailed down the 3/4 views of the characters it's time to turn them.
Here are a few more examples of the back and forth between Sandra and myself.
Well from the very beginning we all agreed that the title Wubby, Widget, and Walden was a mouthful. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing. Jakers-The Adventures of Piggley Winks is certainly a bit more complicated than the more straight forward titles like: Little Bill, Madeline, or Dora The Explorer.
But when people you work with refer to the show as "Wabbie, Walder, and Wedgie" and my niece refers to it as "Wibby, Wudget, and W...whatchamacallit" it might be smart to at least consider a few options.
At this point the show seems like an ensemble show with Wubby as the central character. Does that mean that we should have all the characters names in the title?
Not necessarily.
"Seinfeld" and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" were ensemble shows centered around one character.
While there are lots of things to think about, here were a few of the ideas we batted around:
Wubby's World!
Wubby! Wubby! Wubby!
The Wonderful Adventures of Wubby!
Wow! Wow! Wubby!
Wubby A Go-Go!
Go Wubby! Go!
Wuzzleburg! (the place they live)
Wubby and Friends!
Wubby!
At this point the current favorites are:
"Wow! Wow! Wubby!", which has a lot of energy.
or "Wubby!", which is simple and direct.
So what do you think?
As exciting as it has been to see the characters come to life in the stories that we are developing, as an artist it is great to finally be developing the characters visually!
We are trying to take the quick drawings that were done for the pitch bible and make them into more polished designs for animation. A rough drawing was scanned in and cleaned up nice and pretty in Flash.
Luckily I have two AMAZING artists that are helping me. Their names are Jorge Gutierrez and Sandra Equihua. They are both incredible designers who have worked on way too many things to mention.
They are currently on the Disney show "The Buzz on Maggie" and have a pilot in the works at Nickelodeon.
Do your selves a favor and check out the amazing work on their websites: super-macho.com and fulanita.com . You can also check out a feature on Jorge at coldhardflash.com .
They have been great to work with! I do an initial drawing, they clean it up, I make really picky notes, and they adjust the drawing. We go back and forth until we like where we're at. And it's all done via e-mail!
They are now working on turn arounds based on these drawings. I'll post them when they are done!
