Category: Fun

30 Seconds, No Drawing

Date: March 5, 2018 Category: Commercial, Design, Fun Comments: 0

While my new TV Spot for Urban Legends features loads of photo & video production, there is animation on almost every frame. Nonetheless, the entire piece was produced without putting pencil to paper (or stylus to tablet). This is not a rant against drawing, I LOVE DRAWING - so much in fact that 30 years of furious sketching have left my fingers creaky and aching. I give jars to my wife to open. But I can still wield a mouse and my design chops are intact, so I decided to fly without a pen on this one and see what was possible with motion collage…

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Interview: Sunny Levine and Mike Burakoff

Date: January 2, 2016 Category: Creative, Fun, Music, Our Content Comments: 0

You might think "animated hip-hop comedy music videos for kids" isn’t a thing. It is. In the age of YouTube, anything you can think of is already a thing. But this week saw the premiere of the first video to mix slick animation, psychedelic imagery and an original cast of characters with thumping beats and funny lyrics, sharply tuned to adult sensibilities but made for kids. And now THAT is a thing. King Douglas, playing now on SpindoTV (a joint-venture between Spinmaster Toys and Mondo Media), tells the story of a charming but over-indulged boy whose birthday party spirals out of control when his father forgets how to say…

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Newcomer to play Star Lord’s Dad

Date: April 1, 2015 Category: Feature Film, Fun, Studios, Uncategorized Comments: 0

In an effort to increase local casting efforts for its 8-year slate of Atlanta-based production, Marvel Films has cast newcomer Tony Grillo as "The Purple Man" in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy sequel. In a surprising announcement this week, director James Gunn confirmed that the classic villain will in fact be revealed as Star Lord's long lost father. The sequel, tentatively titled Guardians 2: Rise of The Purple Man, reportedly opens with the wedding of Peter Quill (the identity of the bride remains a mystery). When Star Lord's evil deadbeat dad crashes the wedding with a warning to all mankind, it sets into motion the plot that sends the Guardians across the galaxy…

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MightyPants 2015 Animation Reel

Date: March 25, 2015 Category: Commercial, Creative, Fun, Studios, TV Series, Uncategorized Comments: 0

I figured it was time. Our last Studio Animation Reel is from 5 years ago, before we transmogrified into MightyPants. It does not include many of the great new projects we developed for our friends/clients. I wanted something that focused solely on our new work. But this is not it. I'm sorry... I had to bring back some of our greatest hits, because I couldn't help myself. We just had so much fun working on shows like The Mystery Mavs, Stainboy, and GeeGuides, I just had to invite them to the party. Nonetheless, newcomers like Goodwin vs Badwin, Kneebouncers, and the Mondo Pilots join the lineup, along with some of…

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Creepy Casey comes to life

Date: August 5, 2014 Category: Creative, Fun, Our Content, Uncategorized Comments: 0

Creepy Casey, the creation of Kid-Lit Author Tanya Valentine, will finally have her say! Casey has long been the star of her eponymous book series, but until recently we could only read about her exploits in the Creepy Casey books penned by Valentine (who, by pure coincidence, has also served as a producer for MightyPants Media). For her animated debut, the earnest and upbeat Casey Crabtree appears alongside the author in a recent promo announcing Valentine's stage appearance with the Village Theatre improv company. Valentine will be appearing on Friday, August 8 as a guest speaker at the Atlanta-based theater, where her stories will become inspiration for…

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Kneebouncers Hitz a chord

Date: July 28, 2014 Category: Creative, Fun, TV Series, Uncategorized Comments: 0

In anticipation of the upcoming Kneebouncers TV series, we'd like to take a moment to appreciate the contributions of composer Robert Hitz. Mr Hitz provides all of the songs for the series, some of which are scored to action with delightfully creative synchronization. His music has a joyous, haunting quality that adds a unique personality to the show... and he does it all analog, on a piano, using fingers (and, one would assume, thumbs). Anyone who creates music for video will appreciate the challenge of scoring live to video. In an industry that is almost entirely digital, it's refreshing to hear music produced this way... but what…

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Kneebouncers takes off!

Date: July 24, 2014 Category: Creative, Fun, Our Content, TV Series, Uncategorized Comments: 0

Preschool series Kneebouncers is coming to a TV near you! The series, based on the internet destination of the same name, will be airing August 11 on Baby First TV (available in most cable & satellite markets). Created by Punch Robinson and Kurt Dommermuth and developed & produced by MightyPants, Kneebouncers consists of 20 x 3 minute episodes that are broken into several "skits" each. Airing interstitially between morning and afternoon programming blocks, the zany educational segments feature cute, energetic characters in colorful settings. The Kneebouncers cast includes Freddie the photo-happy Bear, Foo-Foo the busy Bunny, Horatio the hungry Hippo, SlyCat the curious Kitty, Sammy the mischievous Monkey…

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VEVO MoonMan Revealed

Date: February 13, 2014 Category: Commercial, Design, Fun Comments: 0

Perhaps you've already seen our MoonMan Spot for music video giant VEVO. It's a quick little piece that draws upon a familiar icon to bridge Vevo's viewer base across all generations of music video fans. http://vimeo.com/54798583 Although the MooMan remains anonymous in our spot, the spot was originally boarded to include a reveal of his face. Early concept art shows him as a friendly fellow in his mid 30s - perhaps an elvis fan? Who knows. I had such a fun time developing this character, I thought I'd share him with you.

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OUYA tests our mighty stomach

Date: February 10, 2014 Category: Commercial, Fun Tags: , , , , , , , , , Comments: 0

Screaming. Vomit. Spinal self abuse. As an animation outfit steeped in web content, we're comfortable with unusual requests... still, this spot for gaming pioneer OUYA prompted more than its share of "come again?" Nonetheless, when someone is willing to pay you to depict a furious shut-in beating himself to death with his own spine, you just don't say no. That's why we got into this business in the first place. Working with SF-based Graffects, we crafted this spot to evoke a world reminiscent of Adult-Swim-style programming - as if concocted in Ren & Stimpy's meth lab. Anatomy of spinal extraction via oral…

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Disney’s Paperman

Date: February 7, 2013 Category: Fun, Studios Comments: 0

Disney's Paperman, cited as a breakthrough in Hand-Drawn/CGI hybrid animation, is now playing in its entirety on Disney Animation's YouTube page. Or, you can just watch it here:   Originally premiering in theaters alongside Wreck It Ralph, Paperman a pretty amazing looking feat of artistry and storytelling, a sweet love story about a work-addled drone trying woo a mystery woman despite challenges from his oppressive boss. Through determination and ingenuity, he finally gets a little help from a magic pile of paperwork that he inadvertently transforms into a frighteningly aggressive squadron of paper planes. Classic Disney with a somewhat corny music bed... happy to see it's finally available online, and definitely worth…

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