Carlos Nine

I first discovered Carlos Nine's brilliant work when my buddy and character designer par excellence, Peter DeSeve brought it to my attention.

Immediately I was bowled over by the originality and the superb draftsmanship. So, I was shocked when I heard yesterday that he had died at the age of 72.

Our friendship was sporadic but warm. I met him only once - I was invited to the Buenos Aires film festival and, while I was there, I cabbed out to the suburbs, where I was warmly welcomed by the master himself - he spoke very little English and my Espanol was muy mal. Yet, we got on very well - he showed me his newest work and then he opened up his flat files to show some very large sketches and paintings - my mind was blown - what magnificent artwork - the guy is a genius.

The next time I had contact with Carlos was when I organized an exhibition of my favorite designers/illustrators for the Society of Illustrators' show "Icons of Animation."

I got to choose my 3 all time favorite artists: Peter DeSeve, Bill Joyce, and Carlos Nine - and of course I included some of my own work, so it was a real extravaganza of artwork for animation - and in my humble opinion one of the greatest art shows of the year in NYC.

He was very courteous and generous with his original artwork which was and is extremely valuable - he was hoping to attend the show, however he was bogged down in book deadlines and was unable to attend. He's not well known in the US like he is in Spain and France, so I was hoping that my show would ignite a huge interest in his work.

I was scheduled to write an introduction to his newest work, but now I don't think it's going to happen - how sad.

There's a DVD called "Anima Buenos Aires" where they have selected cartoonists and illustrators to submit a short film using their artwork. And I must say that when I saw Carlos' short animated piece "Bu-Bu" it blew my mind.

This is the future of animation - this is what animation should be about - if you ever get a chance, be sure to check out his work in Buenos Aires.

Another bit of weird trivia: another of my greatest heros, Oscar Grillo is also from Buenos Aires! Those 2 guys are really the greatest.

So please check out his art, books, and animation. It will change your life.

Vaya con dios, Carlos.

- Bill Plympton

Talkhouse Podcast with Lloyd Kaufman

A while ago, I wrote a film review of "Man From Reno" for Nick Dawson from Talkhouse Film.  Recently he called me up again, this time to interview the famous Lloyd Kaufman at the plush Samsung Studios in the chic meatpacking district of Manhattan.  It was for a Talkhouse Podcast - I don't do much podcasting myself, but I know that my executive producer James Hancock has a popular one called Wrong Reel, and I've been interviewed for them on occasion myself.

I've known Lloyd ever since 1986, when I saw his film "Surf Nazis Must Die" at Cannes, and of course, he was the center of attention because of his street publicity guerrilla tactics.  We've been friends since then, in fact "Surf Nazis" was a  bit of an influence on the making of my new feature, "Hitler's Folly".

In any case, the interview went very smoothly and was quite entertaining, even though he popped in a few expletives to spice up the conversation - and we covered everything from Robert Rodriguez to Donald Trump.  Lloyd, of course, promoted the hell out of his new Troma films, and that's one of the things he does so well.

                                               Podcasting is so much fun, it's scary....

We also talked about San Diego Comic-Con, where he's been an attendee since the very early years.  I've only been going there since the late 1990's, so I'm a neophyte compared to Lloyd.  So check out the podcast we did together, I think that's how these things work, right?  You don't have to tune in at any special time, you can download the podcast and listen any time you want!  Isn't technology great?

Talkhouse is still editing the podcast, so if you didn't catch it live, it should be up on their site in about a week.  Please check it out!

https://soundcloud.com/thetalkhouse/bill-plympton-with-lloyd-kaufman
http://thetalkhouse.com/

In the meantime you can check out Uncle Lloydie's video diary here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T8db4i10qo&feature=youtu.be

--Bill Plympton

San Diego Comic-Con, July 20-24

Finally, we can talk about our upcoming trip to San Diego!  The convention starts in just two weeks, and as you probably know, for 5 days it will be the center of the entertainment universe, and feature all the things that nerds and geeks love.      

And that includes animation - Jim Lujan and I are going to be appearing on a panel to preview our upcoming animated feature, "Revengeance".  We'll have a bunch of the voice-over actors from the film there, so it should be a lot of fun.  Also, we'll be showing new clips from the film (much longer than the ones we showed last time). I think it's one of the best films I've ever made, so please visit our panel on Friday, July 22, at 4 pm in Room 23ABC.

If you attend the panel, you'll get a postcard - then just bring it on down to my booth (#1537) afterwards and I will give you a free sketch on the postcard!

Also, my short film "The Loneliest Stoplight" will be playing in the Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival on Saturday, July 23 at 12:40 pm in the Pacific Ballroom 23 on the first floor of the San Diego Marriott Marquis.  This is the hotel next door to the convention center, on the north end (close to Hall A).  Yes, you'll have to leave the convention center, but I promise it's worth it!  Your Comic-Con badge will get you in to the film screening, just like it will get you in to the Exhibit Hall and other events.

The rest of the time, (OK, most of the rest of the time...) I'll be in Booth #1537, and if you missed my last post about Comic-Con, here's how to find us.  In the big exhibit hall, with its hundreds of booths and thousands of people, just go to Row #1500 - look for the big banners hanging from the ceilings with the row numbers on them.  Then just walk toward the back, about 3 aisles in, we'll be on the corner, across from the Spike & Mike's booth.  If you hit the back wall, you've gone too far, so turn around.

You'll recognize me because I'll be wearing this very cool t-shirt I designed.  It's in reaction to all these idiots who come up to me and ask me why I'm not making computer animation - and then when I talk to them they always complain about glitches, crashes, slow rendering times, expenses, software problems, etc. etc. and I tell them "Just Draw It".  

We'll have all of my DVDs for sale at the booth, plus BluRays of "Cheatin'", and a bunch of animation art from my films.  Get there early for the best selection!  I'll also do caricatures of everyone (time permitting) for a reasonable price!  And because this is an election year, we'll be selling a bunch of my rare, out-of-print books to coincide with the occasion: 

If you support Hillary Clinton:

Why not pick up this book about the FIRST Clinton administration, a parody of the coverage of the Monica Lewinsky scandal.  Relive the "Glory Days" of the mid 1990's when Bill Clinton was President and it sucked to be a White House intern!  Monica's story is told in hilarious verse, with illustrations by Bill Plympton!

If you support Bernie Sanders:

Anyone in the lower 99% can afford this - at just $5, it's the cheapest thing on the table that you can get autographed by Bill!  A collection of print cartoons from a previous decade (some of these cartoons are nearly as old as Bernie!) there's even a drawing of some Socialist worms on the cover, getting ready to share the wealth!

If you're undecided about who to support:

It's time to get educated before you vote!  Are you a Democrat, a Republican, or just not sure?   Learn all the subtle differences with this book from another election year, 1984 - because nothing's really changed since then, right?  This book is mighty collectable, it's been out of print for years, but we recently bought some copies on eBay and Amazon, just so you can figure out which side of the political fence you're on!

If you support Donald Trump:

This collection of Bill Plympton print cartoons from men's magazine is right up Trump's alley.  (And what a sleazy alley that is!)  We've still got a few copies left from the book's first printing, and when those are gone, this book's going to be extremely rare and valuable!  I mean, it's gonna be HUGE!  For adults only, don't let the kids read it.  But we've sold hundreds of these over the years, and people seem to really, really like it, they say it's amazing.  Top quality dirty cartoons, printed in Canada, not Mexico!

If you support Kanye in 2020:

We'll have copies of the book "Through the Wire", featuring lyrics by the great Kanye West, with illustrations by Bill Plympton that go along with them!   Get a jump on the next election season before this one's even over!  This "graphic memoir" uses 12 of Kanye's songs to tell his back-story - find out what put him on the road to stardom with annotated explanations of the references in his songs.  From "Jesus Walks" and "Heard 'em Say" to "School Spirit" and "Gold Digger", pick up this one-of-a-kind book that's a unique, rare partnership between two creative minds.  Imma let you finish, Taylor Swift, but this is one of the best illustrated books of all time!  Yeezy for Preezy!

So I hope to see you all at our booth in San Diego!

--Bill Plympton