Vagina Song

I believe I've already mentioned this new comedy video I've been working on, called "The Vagina Song", but this week I want to talk a little more about it.

The comedian is Wendy Maybury, a very funny lady, and what I like about her humor, besides being very funny, of course, is that it's also very adult.   And since I survived in my early years as a cartoonist working for the men's magazines like Penthouse, Viva, Playboy, Hustler, Screw and many others, I have a fond affection for sexual humor.  In fact, I took a lot of my comedy gags that I drew for those men's magazines and later turned them into cartoon shorts or features.  Films like "I Married a Strange Person", "How to Make Love to a Woman", "Sex and Violence" and its sequel, "More Sex and Violence" display my often sexual humor. 

I haven't seen a lot of animated comedy music videos, so I hope this one can open the way for more of this style of videos, it's a great way to use animation.  One of the interesting aspects of making this video is the idea that after working on it for weeks, it's easy for me to lose my objectivity and perspective.  When it comes to humor, one never knows if the overall piece is going to work, if the drawings actually boost the humor of the comedian's words. 

Fortunately, after making these drawings for a few weeks (my studio was still shut down, so there were fewer distractions) and then finally matching the two parts together - the animation and the soundtrack - I can announce that it was successful, the animation enhances and magnifies the humor.   I was laughing through the whole completed short - what a relief!

I think you'll really love "Vagina Song".  It should be released some time this June from Stand Up Records.  We all really need some humor now - so please tell all your friends to check it out.  Also, enjoy this week's gag cartoon, which is below. 

Thanks,

Bill

Pandemic update + Simpsons update

A lot of people, friends and fans, have been sending me queries about my health and the status of the studio - and I really appreciate everyone's concern for my health.

Happily, I've been very safe and healthy for the duration of this crisis.  However, as you may know we were forced to shut down our Manhattan studio just to keep my employees safe.  But we just heard from the NY government that because of the decline in deaths and new cases of the Covid-19 virus, businesses in New York City can now begin to open up.  Whew!  Am I glad!  I can start bringing my employees back to the studio and we can get organized again. 

I do want to remind everyone that if you're a fan of my artwork, especially the work I've done for "The Simpsons", you can now bid on some of it in an upcoming Heritage Auction, taking place on June 19-21.  Select drawings from "How to Kiss" and "25 Ways to Quit Smoking" will also be available.  More information about this auction is available here:

https://www.ha.com/

If you go there and search on "Bill Plympton" you should be able to see my artwork being featured in their upcoming auction. 

By the way, I've just been commissioned to animate a new couch gag for the next season of "The Simpsons".  Yeah!  I'm so excited.  And this one is really going to be weird.

Stay happy & healthy - this week's gag cartoon was inspired by the recent Space X launch.  Enjoy!

--Bill P.

New projects update

As I said in previous installments of "Scribble Junkies", I'm working on a lot of new projects, even though my studio is closed, I've continued to animate.  This week, I'll give you some more information on two of these projects - of course, while I'm doing these I'm also creating "Slide", my western musical feature, the film about Whoopi Goldberg's life and career, and there's a new couch gag for "The Simpsons" on the horizon.

But first up is what they call a "sizzle reel" for this wonderful 1950's mash-up band called "Big Daddy".  The sizzle reel will be used to promote the production of their proposed feature film idea, which is called "Band Out of Time".  It's a wacky musical adventure featuring aliens, Elvis, and as you might imagine, a bit of time travel.  It's a very funny script and I can't wait to get these characters on my drawing board.  If you saw my wonderful 1950's-set animated feature "Hair High" then you know how much I love drawing that classic era of Americana - the cars, the hair, the fashion... It's so much fun! 

Below is a rough layout of the proposed poster art for the film. 

The next project I'm working on is a comedy tape by the hilarious Wendy Maybury called "The Vagina Song".  So you can probably guess right away that the material is right up my alley.  I've created many music videos, but I've never animated a video for a stand-up comedy routine.  So, this is a real adventure for me, and it seems to be a perfect place for animation.  I do hope it's a success, because I'd love to do more things like this.  That's another reason why I love working on the animated feature about Whoopi, because with animation you can take these fun, crazy stories and add another level of fun craziness to them, since I can make anything happen, as long as I can draw it.

The drawing below is for "The Vagina Song", it's where Wendy makes fun of the male comics, who are always getting stoned. 

Last up is my new gag cartoon for the week - we're getting closer to re-opening NYC and my studio, but until then, I'm just going to keep on drawing!  

Thanks for watching, 

Bill