Horror, Fantasy & Science Fiction Films
Norse gods are such buttinskies,.. Syfy wants to take 12 MONKEYS to series… Bill Plympton salutes those CHEATIN’ hearts…
From the luxurious Cinefantastique Online studios in NYC, Dan Persons brings you up-to-date on what’s happening in the world of fantastic film & TV.
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Just because last year saw the publication of a mammoth retrospective of his work, that doesn’t mean cartoonist Bill Plympton is putting away his pencils just yet. He was back at New York Comic Con this year, to promote a new, career-spanning documentary about him and a new book meant to inspire prospective artists with the maverick spirit that has fueled his projects.
I got a few minutes to speak with Bill about these new releases, and also got an inside look at a new project that will make him a regular guest on your home screen.
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Cinefantastique hit the floor of New York Comic Con 2011 and discovered… people. Lots ‘n’ lots of people. NYCC sold out for the entire weekend, and the upshot was that even the isolated reaches of the show floor became navigational nightmares at certain points during the day. Woe betide the mortal wandering Artists Alley who had a sudden hankering for a bagful of Japanese fruit chews. The trip from one end of the show to the other took slightly longer than traversing the Silk Road.
Nevertheless, in the course of producing his scheduled interviews, Dan Persons had time to wander the floor and snap up a few random encounters and events with his handy pocket camcorder. Come join him to discover 3D printers, pickled punks, Romanian comics, redemption for the Black Eyed Peas, and much, much more, including special guest appearances by cartoonist Bill Plympton and Troma’s own Lloyd Kaufman.
Check out a larger version of the video below, or watch it on YouTube.
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Think of it as one spiritual brother reaching out to another over the span of almost an entire century: Bill Plympton — the innovative animator known for his edgy surrealism and distinctive, hand-drawn style — has decided to rejuvenate the work of one of animation’s first fathers, Winsor McCay, the man who painstakingly and single-handedly created such elegant, landmark films as GERTIE THE DINOSAUR and LITTLE NEMO IN SLUMBERLAND. Plympton has reached into McCay’s catalogue to pull out THE FLYING HOUSE — an UP-like adventure in which a married couple take wing in their homestead — and with the help of a small corps of volunteers, is busy cleaning up the footage, adding a soundtrack voiced by Patricia Clarkson and Matthew Modine, and, in a move that’s controversial only until you see how pretty it looks, added a delicate color palette to the original black and white footage.
Plympton and I talk about the McCay project, as well his work on the new Weird Al video, TMZ, and his new book, the comprehensive survey, Independently Animated: Bill Plympton: The Life and Art of the King of Indie Animation (which you can purchase here, if you’re of a mind). Click on the player to hear the show.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download