I met Don Hertzfeldt long ago - I think I was doing a Spike & Mike show, and I believe he was showing "Billy's Balloon" (one of my all-time favorite comedy shorts). We became good friends, because our senses of humor were very similar, dark and surreal.
Over the years I've visited him in Austin - he even let me sleep over in his house. He showed me his monster animation camera stand that he'd had shipped to his house from a long distance away, and he assembled the damn thing all by himself.
And whenever Don was doing a show in NYC, usually at the IFC Center in the Village, he'd always have a standing-room-only crowd, lined up all around the block. Then after the show, he'd sign autographs and sell DVDs - man, what a rock star! Then we'd go out for a drink together at a bar next door and talk about animation.
I remember one night while we were a bit high, I was joking about his style. I was convinced he was actually a great artist but only used the stick figures as a gag. So I handed him a napkin and asked him to do a realistic portrait of me - and sure enough, he drew me as a stick figure Bill Plympton.
The reason I'm talking about Don is because he's now involved in a Kickstarter campaign to finance his new BluRay of "World of Tomorrow, the First Three Episodes" and it's crazy how popular this is. He originally asked for $30,000 but with 19 days still to go, he's already raised over $326,000! And it's growing every day! He might break $1 million for a BluRay disc! What the fuck? That's crazy!! I had a Kickstarter campaign late last year and it took me three weeks to pull in just $80,000.
One of Don's advantages is that he has a very engaging and funny web-site that he's used to build up his digital audience. Don has definitely used the internet to create his super-stardom. Go for it, Don! Also, the copy on his Kickstarter page is hilarious, it's like a question and answer session between two people and by the time you scroll down to the bottom, it's gone completely off topic. So if you get a chance, you've got to check out his campaign, you'll love it! And donate if you want to get his BluRay or the other rewards!
The campaign is here:
Now, here's this week's gag cartoon!
--Bill
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