Here Ye, Here ye!

Let the bells ring and the heavens rejoice. Come out onto the streets all ye boys and girls, men and women. Celebrate, dance long into the night, put your hands around the face of the person next to you and squeeze until they're eyes pop out. Yes, that's right folks! According to an article I read on Skwigly tonight, The Clangers are coming back! You can read the article for yourselves here: REJOICE! 

Yes my friends, The Clangers. I watched the clangers as a child (about thirty years after it originally came out mind you) and what strikes me now, watching them again (I often find myself going back to them if I feel blue, need cheering up or simply need reminding of why I actually want to do this) it is fascinating to pick apart the pure joy that this little show can bring. This, to me, is what animation is all about. It isn't big, it isn't flashy, it didn't have a massive budget. It was two guys who had a story to tell, and the heart and imagination to tell it. In the article  Peter Firmin, one of the creators of the show said: 

"The new series will include great storytelling with lots of heart" 

Here's a little something...

A little something I stumbled upon that I found interesting. I'm currently messing about with ideas for my first animation assignment and while searching for a 1960's style wallpaper to work as reference I found this article.
Granted it's about a year old now but still very interesting. Contemporary animation is important but my personal belief is to never forget where you've come from and what makes the contemporary stuff possible.
It's an interesting read and has definitely a.) made me think and b.) made me want to watch Yellow Submarine again.

                          How the Beatles' Yellow Submarine gave rise to modern animation

"Well, shave my legs and call me grandpa" or, Where it all began

My very first influence (with pretty much every aspect of my life... worryingly) was Ren and Stimpy.

I was introduced to Ren and Stimpy at the tender age of about four. Yes, that's right; four. My dad used to let me watch it with him when I couldn't sleep at night. Half of me thinks "Jeez dad what are you doing letting a four year old watch this show!?" and the other half thinks "Good job, pa!" Ren and Stimpy pretty much set the standard for most of my animations. The humour is dark and down right bizzare but every strange and insane thing that happens is perfectly normal and acceptable in the universe in which it takes place.

The expressiveness of the characters is something I draw inspiration from every time I sit down to create something new. The way the show's creator, John Kricfalusi, pays his own twisted homage to the famous Hannah-Barbera cartoons of the 1940's has always inspired me. The biggest influence on my own work, however, has to be the use of sound in the show. Random unrelated sounds, a duck quacking over the character blinking for example, that add so much more of the humour and depth to Ren and Stimpy's universe are something in my own work I can track back to the show directly.





From then on out I was instantly hooked by cartoons that had an extra level of dark absurdity to them. Cow and Chicken, Dexters Labratory and the shorts of 'What a Cartoon' on Cartoon Network all did their part in influencing me and the work I have created.






Ren and Stimpy. Created by John Kricfalusi and Spumco for Nickelodeon
What a Cartoon! created by Fred Seibert for Cartoon Network.