Richard Pursel

 

My Stimpy’s First Fart (Son of Stimpy) premise A sculpture of Stimpy John asked me to sculpt for Vanessa Coffee to get her to like us. The Spumco crew was laid off before I finished it, so I kept it. 

What is your name and your current occupation?
Richard Pursel and I am a writer for animation primarily. I’m currently writing a feature script for a 3-D animated project in addition to developing and writing a pilot and bible for an unrelated 3-D animated series. I’m also finishing up two live-action scripts, one a feature and the other an hour-long TV pilot; both with a cartoon sensibility.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I had to deal with many strong personalities as a production assistant for music videos. Hunting down items Prince demanded be in his trailer, such as “rain scented” candles, ain’t easy! I worked as a staff supervisor at a school for multi-handicapped blind adults—that experience sure keeps me humble. I even farmed the Sodom Plain in Israel for six months when I was 21.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
My first writing credits are on “The Ren & Stimpy Show,” so of course I’m proud of that. “Powdered Toast Man” was the first story of mine that aired, though “Visit to Anthony” was the first one I wrote. I still send out my Emmy nominated premise “Son of Stimpy” as a writing sample. “Cow and Chicken” and “I Am Weasel” came next and creator David Feiss animated the title sequence for “I Am Weasel” based on my song and board. Writing and story editing “Tom and Jerry Tales” was incredible, returning to basics with those iconic, pantomime, cartoon stars. The “SpongeBob SquarePants” crew is a well-oiled machine and four seasons working with them was awesome.

How did you become interested in animation?
The first nightmare I can remember was being a cartoon pig chased by Continue reading

Great Animation: Second Wind by Ian Worrel

This spiritual journey of two friends becomes a story about life and death whose
refreshing aesthetic consists of paper/pencil cell animation.

Second Wind (2011) 06:37 | 2D Animation – Drama / Surreal
Produced at CalArts | California Institute of the Arts (www.calarts.edu)

CREDITS: Created, Directed and Animated by Ian Worrel (enworrel.blogspot.com). Music by James Mark, Sound Design by Jeff Shiffman. Additional Animation by David Nam, Destiny Wood, Ethan Metzger.

This is the 4th year final film by Ian Worrel at CalArts. Animated with pencil and paper, coloured in Photoshop, and composited in After Effects

Great Animation: Mac and Cheese

Check out this trippy Roadrunner-esque short done by Colorbleed in the Netherlands! It’s amazing! I also love how the look seems a bit painterly.

From Vimeo:

Mac ‘n’ Cheese is an animated short directed and created by four students at the Utrecht School of Arts in the Netherlands. This roughly two minute animation took about five months to make, and about a bajillion peanut butter sandwiches.

Synopsis: When you find yourself running scared and running out of energy, there’s only a few options left to outrun your opponent through the southern desert. Stopping at nothing, watch these two guys wear each other out and rip through boundaries hitherto unbroken. Enjoy the ride!

Tools used:
– Autodesk Maya
– Eyeon Fusion
– Pixologic Zbrush
– Adobe Photoshop
– TVPaint

Inspired by Team Fortress 2 and Meet Buck.

Credits:
– Animation: Tom Hankins, Gijs van Kooten, Guido Puijk, Roy Nieterau
– Music & Audio Design: Giulio Sterbini, Wouter Messelink, Peter-Paul Timmermans
Title song: The Grateful Dead – Casey jones

Awards:
– UPC Animation Prize at the Netherlands Online Film Festival 2011 (NOFF)
– Best National Student Award at Playgrounds Festival 2011
– Best Chase Scene Award at Couchfest 2011

News: Guacamole is the shortest film ever nominated for an Oscar

Fresh GuacamoleThe BBC is reporting that a Commercial Director who goes by the name of “Pez” has made Oscar history for having the shortest film ever nominated for an Oscar. At 1 minute and 40 seconds the film “Fresh Guacamole” is about aptly enough, making a bowl of guacamole. Done with stop motion and object replacement, Pez films himself opening up grenades and scooping out guacamole from them as well as slicing baseballs and having them turn into dice. A strange little film and I’m not sure why it’s been nominated above being clever. I thought all Oscar worthy films had to be about crack babys, homeless people or the plight of the common man. This is just… cooking. You learn something every day.

You can read more on the site here.

 

Jobs: Reel FX Character Animator – “Turkeys” Animated Feature

reelFx

Reel FX is looking to hire additional character animators for their animated feature Turkeys.

From the site:

Job Summary

We are currently recruiting for a few more Character Animators on “Turkeys” our first animated feature film. Turkeys is about two turkeys who discover a time machine in a secret government lab and decide to go back to the first Thanksgiving in order to get turkeys off the menu.

This is for our awesome Santa Monica location!

 

The Animator is responsible for Continue reading

Jobs: Reel FX Lead Animator – “Book of Life”

reelFx

Reel FX is looking for a lead animator for Jorge Gutierrez’s Book of Life produced by Guillermo de Toro!

From the site:

 

Job Summary

We are currently hiring for our action-packed CG animated feature that tells the story of a Romeo and Juliet style love story set against a Mexican “Day of the Dead” back drop directed by Jorge Gutierrez (”El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera”) and produced by Guillermo de Toro!

This is for our Dallas location.

The Animator is responsible for Continue reading