"The Festival", Mexico City

I get numerous invitations to festivals and I find it a very enjoyable way to see the world and meet new people when I go to these fun events.

I was recently invited to a festival in Cuernavaca, Mexico - which seemed like a fun place to go, but I already had a commitment to the Message to Man Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia (my blog on that trip will follow soon), so I had to say no to the festival organizers in Mexico.  However, they still wanted me to go, so Jose Inesta invited me to come to Mexico City 2 weeks earlier, as a promotion for the Mexican Animation Festival in Cuernavaca. 

I could show "CHEATIN'', hold a masterclass and meet with the press - it sounded like fun, so I soon found myself in their fantastic blend of ultra-modern and brick hotel called "The Downtown", situated exactly where that name implies.  This hotel was so exclusive, it only had about 10 rooms, but it was quite a large hotel with a wonderful pool and a bar on the roof.

I started my stay in Mexico City with a tour and a master class at a film school, where I talked to 50 or so very eager students and showed them my new projects.  Then later that night, I was escorted to a huge bunker-like museum of digital arts, underneath a large roundabout traffic plaza.  There I held another master class for about 150 Mexican fans.

The purpose of my visit to Mexico City and the Cuernavaca Festival was to plant the seeds of animation in one of the world's largest cities (estimated population: 22 million).  So I was there to introduce independent animation to the new generation of artists - and hopefully 10 years from now there will be a budding Pixar studio or perhaps a few Mexican Bill Plymptons making great animations about Mexican culture. 

I hope that happens, and I'm looking forward to returning next year to continue my mission.

--Bill Plympton

New York Comic Con, October 9-12

It's Comic-Con time again, and do we have some cool stuff this year!

Because of Lucas, my son, we've had to make some more room at home.  So all those bins of original animation art that have been taking up room in my apartment had to be disposed of.  But when I started throwing stuff out, my wife said that she wanted to keep some of the art because it was so cool!

Then she said, rather than toss it, I should sell it at the Comic Cons at discount prices!  I thought she was crazy, but I gave it a shot and, much to my surprise, the artwork started selling like the proverbial hotcakes. 

So, I've had my trusted interns go through all of my old art bins to pull stuff that people might like to own, and these are the drawings we will be offering at NYCC at severely discounted prices.

The other cool new attraction will be my availability to do caricatures for anyone who wants to see what they would look like in the drawing style of my animated films.  I offered this in San Diego for $20 each, and we had so much demand that it caused arguments at the booth over who was next in line.  So unfortunately I have to increase the price to a more sane value of $40 per caricature.  But you have to remember that at one point, I was one of the most successful caricature artists in the U.S., so they should be highly valued.

                                       Buy this book from us at NYCC and get a FREE gift! 

I'll also let you in on a little tip - we'll have copies of my Rizzoli book "Independently Animated" for sale at the booth for $40 and I'll usually do a caricature inside the book for anyone who buys one.  And since I charge $40 for a separate drawing, it's a great deal - just buy the $40 book and you get the drawing for free!  So it's like getting $80 worth of stuff for half-price!  

                               We'll have info on how to order your own 3-D printed "Guard Dog"!

So along with the other cool stuff - like art prints from "Cheatin'", the new "Guard Dog" 3-D sculptures, original art, posters and of course my ever-popular DVDs, we're also gonna have something we've never had before...

If you read my previous blog posting about doing a Penthouse pictorial (directing, not posing for one, thank God...) for the December issue, well, Penthouse really loved what I did, so they proposed that the beautiful and sexy Penthouse model, Julia Ann, should make an appearance at our booth!  That's right, you heard me correctly, every day at our booth #2944, we're gonna have one of the sexiest women alive right there, and she and I will be signing very collectible prints of my glorious art for Penthouse magazine. 

                                                               the lovely Julia Ann!

We're not sure of Julia Ann's hours yet, but keep track of our updates, follow me on Twitter (@plymptoons) or just come to our booth at NY Comic Con and get a very sexy piece of art signed by the hot Julia Ann and also yours truly!

See you there - at the Javits Center that is.  For more information and show hours, please visit:
http://www.newyorkcomiccon.com/

--Bill Plympton

Bette Davis Animated Interview.. PBS's Blank on Blank series..

We're starting our third season of Blank on Blank, and this weeks animation features Bette Davis. This was a particularly interesting one to draw mostly because of the black and white old cinema feel.  I loved drawing her heavy eyes and aloof attitude.  Also, her words were filled with visual imagery opportunities. These episodes go a lot smoother when the subject speaks in a way that can be illustrated graphically.  Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

Penthouse magazine

For those of you who have read my books or my biography, you probably know about my illustration history.  But for those of you who haven't, I got my illustration career started by drawing cartoons for men's magazines.

I started with Screw and worked my way up through Knave, Adelina, Hustler, Penthouse Letters and Penthouse Forum, and finally Playboy and Penthouse.  Of course, once I moved into making films, I ended my career as a porn cartoonist.

Recently I was asked by Penthouse magazine to direct a nude photo spread called "Pop Shots", where they invite well-known artistic celebrities to create a sexy section in the magazine.  The other contributors are famous tattoo artists, musicians, actors, etc.

Since I've created many sexy stories for my cartoons, I used the scenario of a woman who goes on a date to a drive-in cinema, and gleefully takes on numerous men, including actors from the movie - only instead of real male porn actors, I used some of my own cartoon characters, who would appear to be having sex with a live female model.

They asked me to supervise the shoot in L.A. on their large film studio (they also shoot films in these facilities).  So I made my selection from a group of local L.A. models.  I wanted a "va-va-voom" type actress, like a Jayne Mansfield or Jessica Rabbit type, however, the ones they initially showed me weren't exaggerated enough.

My first pick couldn't do it because she got married and found religion - too bad, because she had enormous breasts.  So I went with my second choice, who was blonde and looked great!

I flew out there in late August, and met the model.  A couple of problems popped up, she looked a lot older than the photos I'd seen, also she had more tattoos than I remembered from the photos.  I became very nervous, plus it was taking hours for her to get ready.  Damn, was this whole project a big mistake?  Had it become a failed wet dream?

After the first few shots, I saw how perfect she was, and my fears happily disappeared.  The shoot was a big success and a great learning experience for me.  In fact, this was one of my boyhood fantasies come true.

I've just received the finished shots, and now I have to fill in the cartoon drawings for this "backseat fuck fest".  It should appear in the December issue of Penthouse - so check your local newstand in a month or two.

The editors wanted to try something different for the magazine to attract younger readers - and I think my photo spread is definitely very different.  If you like it, be sure to let the editors of Penthouse know - then I may do a sequel!

Thanks,

Bill Plympton

The Boxtrolls

Laika Studios and I go way back - as you may know, they started out as Will Vinton Studios, and Will got forced out by Phil Knight in a hostile takeover.  Phil's talented son Travis is now the head of the studio and they've made some fantastic films - like "Coraline" and "Paranorman". 

Their new film, "The Boxtrolls", is adapted from a children's book called "Here Be Monsters" by Alan Snow.  I was invited to a special screening of the film, with the directors, Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi, and also Travis Knight in attendance. 

First of all, I loved the look and the animation - a lot of the character designs were done by the legendary Mike Smith.  And the stop-motion animation, led by Travis, was a knockout.

My only complaint was the story.  I really didn't feel the love for the Boxtrolls, underground midget creatures who scavenged for their creature comforts.  Unlike Disney's "Snow White", which brought a lot of personality and humor to the dwarfs, with "The Boxtrolls" I felt no real empathy or passion for these subterranean characters.

It's too bad, because the villains were really quite marvelous and enjoyable.  I especially liked the henchmen for the evil Boxtroll catcher, who were always justifying their evil deeds with questions like "We're really doing good here, aren't we?" or "We're really beneficial to society, aren't we?"  I've never seen ambiguous bad guys like these before - and it was very refreshing and humorous.

I don't know how much they spent on the film, but I do know they're spending a ton on publicity, because Laika needs this film to be a hit.  Although "Coraline" and "Paranorman" were critical successes, those films never made huge profits. 

The Variety review by Peter DeBruge was very critical, and I hope people find the cool stuff in the film - because I would love for it to be a success.  We need stop-motion animation, and another animation studio to give Pixar, Dreamworks and Blue Sky some competition. 

I give "The Boxtrolls" a B-.

Bill Plympton

Martha's Vineyard International Film Festival

One of the undiscovered gems on the film festival circuit is the Martha's Vineyard International Film Festival.  As I write this blog posting (September 8), I'm returning from the festival with a nice, sunny glow and sand in my shorts.

                                                      Bill + Lucas in Martha's Vineyard

I've been going to this festival for about 8 years and I've always enjoyed it.  But this year was the best!

Each year, the festival's charismatic executive director, Richard Paradise, invites me to put together a program of my favorite animated films of the year.  This year was the first time I appeared in his brand-new Martha's Vineyard Film Center, a glorious venue for foreign and independent films.

Even though it wasn't a sell-out audience, there was a very enthusiastic crowd - they yelled, clapped, moaned and whistled at all of the films.

                                                                  "The Monkey Rag"

I showed two of my own shorts - the music video "The Deep End", with music by Joe Cartoon, and my new short, "Footprints".  Also included was the wonderful music video "The Monkey Rag" by Joanna Davidovich, and one of my favorites, "Dam Keeper" by Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi.  Also, "Car Park", a film about a barking dog in a car, which was the funniest film of the night.

                                                                       "Dam Keeper"

                                                                         "Car Park"

The audience favorite was "My Kingdom", by Debra Solomon, a film about living in a big city when you need your space.  Very wacky! 

                                                                  "My Kingdom"

If you want to go to a festival with beautiful surroundings, great parties, terrific films and a fun atmosphere, definitely check out the Martha's Vineyard International Film Festival, in lovely Vineyard Haven.  And tell them Bill Plympton sent you!

I give the MVIFF an "A"

--Bill Plympton

                                                     Having a great time at the MVIFF!

"Rocks in my Pockets" premiere

If you've followed my conversations with Signe Baumane throughout the 3-year production of our feature films (my film "Cheatin'" and her film "Rocks in my Pockets"), then you know the history that's behind our friendly competition.  If not, check out our debates on my Vimeo page - http://vimeo.com/plymptoons - as we chat about our films and find out how we each have our own methods and ideas about making cartoons.

I entered "Cheatin'" in all the festivals I could, while Signe held out for one big festival, Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic.  She returned from Europe with rave reviews and two festival prizes, plus her review in Variety was a lot better than mine. 

Signe made a film about a very dark subject, suicide, while mine is more of a romantic comedy.  Her film is chock-a-block with dialogue, while I told my story with visuals alone.

In any case, her feature "Rocks in my Pockets" opened September 3 at the IFC Center, with a rave review from the New York Times and packed houses.  And even though I have some issues with the movie, it's a real tour de force of animation about deep, dark family secrets and I wish her all the luck in the world.

I hope she makes a million, because she deserves it.  She worked her butt off making this film, with almost no budget, and I'd love nothing better than for her to become an animation superstar.

I give the film a "B" - it's playing in New York until September 18, and for screenings in other cities, please visit:

http://www.rocksinmypocketsmovie.com/Screenings.html

Bill P.

Back in the USA..

It's been a long time for me. I'm thankful plympton is such a prolific blogger.. and I'm going to be better about posting now that I'm back in the USA, married, and living in New York.  I wanted to share an episode from my PBS series "Blank on Blank", that was recently ok'd to be released to film festivals.  "Philip Seymour Hoffman on Happiness" will have it's festival premiere at Woodstock Film Festival this October.  Both me and David Gerlach (executive producer) will be there.  Last week, Vimeo gave it a staff pick, click on the image and let me know what you think!

 

The third season of Blank on Blank begins next week!

Los Angeles Trip

 We still don't have distribution for CHEATIN', although we're talking to a few candidates.  Our plan is to try and get some award recognition to raise the film's desirability - it's already won over 10 international festival awards, but we need to get something big in the U.S.

The big ones (I call them the "trifecta") are the Annies (ASIFA-Hollywood awards), the Golden Globes, and of course, the Oscars.  They all take place in L.A. in February - and to qualify the film for these awards, I need to screen it in L.A. for a week.  So I went to L.A. to promote the appearances of CHEATIN' and "Footprints" (my new short) for their qualifying runs.

We hired a press agent, Theo Dumont (no relation to the great Margaret Dumont) to help spread the word.  So I was very busy throughout the week doing press and interviews.

                                        With Tom Sito and Jerry Beck at Dreamworks Studio

On Tuesday we had a packed house at Dreamworks for the ASIFA-Hollywood members to see the film. It got a great response!

                                                              On stage at Dreamworks

After making appearances at Dreamworks, Nickelodeon and Disney, to help spread the word, on Thursday night I went to receive an Indie Animation Icon award at the wonderful Hollyshorts Film Festival.  It was a fun event, I got to meet Anthony + Joe Russo, directors of the recent film "Captain America: The Winter Soldier".  And also Jon Heder of "Napoleon Dynamite" and "Blades of Glory" fame.   He's a big fan, or at least he claimed to be.                             

                                        Being interviewed at the Hollyshorts Film Festival

                        With Jon Heder, Nicolas Peterson and Jonathan Martin at Hollyshorts

                     With Theo Dumont and Anthony Russo, director of "Captain America 2"

Opening night at the Downtown Independent Theater was a bit anti-climactic, a very small but enthusiastic crowd turned out.  I did a Q&A and signed cards for all the attendees, and during the projection I wandered around downtown L.A., which is a wonderful mix of old Latino culture, abandoned storefronts and old vacant movie palaces, but also some wonderfully restored hotels and restaurants.  It's assuredly a neighborhood in transition.

                        With Rick Farmiloe + Signe Larsen at the Saturday night screening

                               With Ken Mora at the Sunday night screening of CHEATIN'

                             Signing sketch cards for moviegoers at the CHEATIN' screening

As the weekend progressed, the audiences started to build at the cinema.  I don't know if it was due to word of mouth or what.  But maybe the good reviews from L.A. Times, L.A. Weekly and the Huffington Post brought some more people in.

The film was going to run at the Downtown Independent until August 21, but now the cinema says it will extend the run.  That's good news - but I encourage all you fine folks living in the Los Angeles area to see it this week, and please tell your friends - everyone who sees the film loves it!

                      With Adrian Urquidez from Disney and my old buddy David Levy.

                                   With comedian Emo Phillips at the Downtown Independent

                                                   With comedian Tom Green and friend

                              Drinking with Dave Foley from "Kids in the Hall" and "Newsradio"

--Bill Plympton

Los Angeles premiere of CHEATIN', August 15

Hallelujah!  My feature CHEATIN' is finally getting its U.S. theatrical premiere!

Tell all your friends in the L.A. area that on August 15, CHEATIN' will be opening at the Downtown Independent Cinema in L.A., along with my brand new short "Footprints" - and on top of that, I'll be making appearances at the evening shows on opening weekend, August 15-17.

I'll be there to greet the attendees, do a Q&A, and give a sketch and autograph to every fan.  I'll have DVD's and original art for sale.  I may even park cars at the theater and sell popcorn.

This is my big premiere, what I've been working toward for years, so it has to be a success.  If we get great reviews and attendance, then other cinemas will be encouraged to book the film.

Some people don't believe there's an audience for non-kiddie, non-CGI films - well, I'm here to prove them wrong.  CHEATIN' is a huge success in France, it's already won over 10 international festival prizes, and to top it all off, I'm getting huge ovations after every screening.

So, if you want to help me prove that there's a market for hand-drawn animated films for people like us (adults), please help spread the word, and bring your friends to see CHEATIN' at the Downtown Independent Cinema, it will be there only 1 week, August 15-21.  And if you come up to me and tell me you helped spread the word, I'll give you a special sketch.

Here's the address of the theater:

Downtown Independent
251 S. Main St.
Los Angeles CA 90012
213-617-1033
downtownindependent.com

and you can buy tickets here:
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/804578

Thanks for your support - go, indie animation!

--Bill P.

San Diego Comic Con report

Sorry for the delayed report on San Diego Comic-Con.  On my return to New York, work was extremely backed up - my studio had no art or animation to color and composite, so I've been in overtime mode this whole week.  This is the first moment I've had to gather my thoughts on SDCC.

 

My son Lucas, dressed as Spider-Man for his first SDCC.  

 

                                             Lucas, a few hours later - he'd had enough!

                                  With David Slade, director of the upcoming "Powers" show.

                                    With Drew Friedman, illustrator of "Heroes of the Comics"

Financially, it was a good convention - the economy seems to have bounced back.  Although our DVD sales were down, we made up for it in art sales.  Also, for the first time, I offered caricatures for $10 a pop.  Boy, was that a mistake!  We had long lines, even fights over who was next in line.

Now, I love doing caricatures - it's a fun exercise for me.  But when I get asked to draw children, and they won't hold still, or someone asks me to do a group caricature, it's hard to produce a nice drawing.  The next day, we upped the price to $20 a drawing, and we still had a mob scene.  Lesson learned.  At the New York Comic-Con, maybe I'll charge $40 - that way I can really concentrate on the art.

                                           These great fans bought a lot of my animation art!

                                                  and then Power Girl even posed for me!

                                Sam Viviano from "MAD" Magazine dropped by my booth...

                                          and so did "Simpsons" director David Silverman!

                                 Things got a little slow on Friday, so I learned to play the ukulele...

Our panel was a huge success, mostly because Jim Lujan joined me on stage - he's a natural comedian.  We showed "Deep End" (big hit), "Footprints" (big hit) and then clips from "Revengeance" (very big hit).  Although the film is a long way from completion, Jim was able to put together a nice opening sequence from "Revengeance".

We also introduced Ken Mora's remake project, "Your Face Global Jam" - where anyone can recreate a part of my Oscar-nominated short, set to a new soundtrack.  It's going to be very cool!  You can find out more at yourfaceglobaljam.com 

                                                    Tom Sito also dropped by the booth....

Ron Diamond had a panel based on his "Animation Show of Shows", a selection of animated shorts that played in the mammoth Hall H.  He asked me to introduce "Drunker Than a Skunk" to a crowd of about 6,500 people.  That has to be the largest crowd ever to see that film!  The crowd there was mostly waiting for the "Game of Thrones" panel later on that day, but I'm still happy so many people got to see my film!

And then, right after that screening, I rushed over to the Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival screening of the same film, before a massive audience of 30 people - what a difference!

                                              with the Maestro himself, Sergio Aragones.
                                                

                                  and here's Rich Moore, writer/director of "Wreck-It Ralph"!

                                                 Holy Hellboy, it's Guillermo del Toro!

The only really negative part of the show was when Sandrine and I raced out of the convention center on Sunday to catch our plane, and three San Diego cops grabbed Sandrine as she was crossing the street, and they wouldn't let her follow behind me - they forcibly took away her bags of presents.  She screamed and I returned to help her - fortunately she was able to free herself from their clutches.

This brings up a very important issue with the San Diego Comic-Con.  The huge convention center is right next to numerous train tracks and highways that separate it from the rest of downtown.  So, it's like there's a giant moat around the building, and it's tough to get across.  They have to realize that 100,000 people go into this building every day during the Con, and the only access is two tiny crosswalks.  The whole design is a disaster.  Sometimes you have to wait 20 minutes or more for a giant freight train to pass just to cross over to get to the Convention Center.

Why someone in San Diego city planning doesn't build a convenient pedestrian bridge, or a tunnel to help traffic flow, I can't understand.  But the cops treat the convention attendees like cattle, and it's extremely frustrating and difficult.  There was talk of moving the Comic-Con to L.A. or Las Vegas a couple of years ago - I personally prefer San Diego as a nice city, but if these traffic problems continue, I'd vote to move it someplace else.  Anybody else have thoughts on that?

                                                         I got to meet Marky Ramone...

                                 and Judah Friedlander, star of "30 Rock" and "Sharknado 2"!

                                They even let me go to the WIRED Cafe and check out all the
                          cool techno stuff there.  They took my photo for Entertainment Weekly!

I had a great time, met a lot of fans and drew a lot of caricatures!  And I'll be back to do it all again next year!

--Bill Plympton

Is talent learned, or in DNA?

This past Christmas at our family dinner, we were discussing my 13-year-old niece's beautiful Christmas card design, which was sold to a local bank for use as their holiday card.  The discussion turned to whether talent was genetic or learned.

My younger sister, who is a professional artist, believes that the Plympton family has an artistic gene that gives us a natural talent for making art.  I hear things like that a lot, that some people were born to be great artists.

However, I believe that's a bunch of bull propagated by jealous people who wish they could be artists, or want to believe that they could have been, if only they'd had the right parents.

As for myself, sure, I was good at creating art in school - but that was because it made me happy.  There was something very magical for me at a young age in putting the pencil to paper.  It entertained me.  Also, I really enjoyed the newspaper comics and TV cartoons, so naturally that's what I drew.  Plus, since I lived in the rainy climate of Oregon, I spent a lot of time indoors, drawing.

So, if there was any reason for my "natural ability to draw", it was all connected to those things - not any kind of artistic "gene".  But beyond that, I had ambition - I wanted to be a success and to live in New York City.

I had a number of artist friends in school who were, in fact, as good as or better at being artists than I - yet they never became successful artists.  One of them is a check-out clerk at a drugstore.  I believe they lacked the ambition or will to keep up the rigorous routine needed to become a great artist.   Not just to draw all day, but to study and push oneself and totally be immersed in art.

It takes a whole lot of dedication to be a great artist.  Picasso, when he was drinking and womanizing, painted all day - and not because he needed the money, but because it's what he loved to do, it was his passion. 

I sometimes create 200 drawings a day, and after a full day like that, I feel so satisfied and exultant.  It's like I was having sex all day long.  And that's what drives me to create art - not some creative gene hidden somewhere in my DNA.

So, all you fledgling artists, don't blame your parents - get out there and draw!!!

--Bill Plympton