Life= happens while busy making other plans

Lately I've been busy as a beaver, as my sister-in-law with my niece and nephew are visiting us from Eastern Europe. They've been here for a month, and will stay until the start of December, and we've had a packed schedule. So far we've gone to Palm Springs and relaxed out there and done loads of things in and around Los Angeles. I took my four-year-old niece to see `The Sponge Bob Squarepants Movie' she's been singing the Sponge Bob theme song ever since! Today, we will go and see `The Incredibles' together. Meanwhile, my little nephew had his eight-month birthday not long ago- he's a feisty little guy!

Thanksgiving was great, and the first time my wife's sister got to experience a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner. We gathered at the home of Mike's sister-in-law (who has hosted the annual Thanksgiving event for several years) and had a big spread.

Add to that a packed work schedule- I'm finally able to enjoy a few weekdays off for the Thanksgiving holiday, but the schedule for this first production season of the show "American Dad", is going to get crazier as it gets closer to the holidays.

But all-in-all, I'm enjoying life and managing between time for family, friends and work a smidgen of time for creative projects. I haven't really had time to stop and think much about the Jackalope Boyz not winning the Cartoon Monsoon contest- quite frankly, it doesn't bother me. I'm happy that we got the chance to make it. Making our own cartoons professionally is the best that I've ever hoped for, and every time we manage to sell one to a big studio, I'm thankful. (Hey, there's something else to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season!)

Ribeye in 3D
I played around with traditional 3D recently. One of my friends at work who is an expert at creating 3D images sparked the interest for me. So I fired up Photoshop and and created a 3D image of the cover for Ribeye and the Sands of Fate. You'll need a pair of those blue and red 3D glasses to see the effect though.

If you have a pair of 3D glasses around your house, check it out. If you need a pair, you can order a free pair of 3D glasses here.

(Follow the instructions, send a SASE, and they will send you a free pair -be sure to select Anaglyph 3D Glasses and Red/Blue.)

Development R Us

Harry and I have been developing shows for almost 15 years now and while we've sold 7 projects, we've developed over 50 to date!

When I say developed, I mean, stories, characters, situations ... everything.

Yeah we're nuts and we know it but with all this stuff that will never see the light of day we might as well show you a bit of it.

The Cool Patrol- 1996

The Cool Patrol was a show originally pitched and developed at Hanna Barbera as part of it's What a Cartoon shorts program helmed by Fred Siebert. It focused on two Super-cops Luke and Lester who cared more about keeping the world cool than keeping it safe. Once HB was bought as part of the Turner Empire, We took The Cool Patrol to Universal where they bought it after another company expressed interest in making it into Online comic books. This was way before Flash had even really permeated the web like it has now.

Well, that didn't work out so well and the company that was making the comics went belly-up and so did Cool Patrol along with it. There was some talk about BET wanted to make bumpers from it but nothing ever materialized. Since that time Harry and I have tried to get it back from Universal but they will not let it go. Why? I have no idea.

Planetary Pig-1990

Another show we had high hopes for was Planetary Pig. This was the first real show idea Harry and I ever had. It predates Bloo's Gang and even Ignoramooses. It centered on an idiot pig named Planetary or (P.P. for short) and a stowaway Cosmo stuck out in space collecting samples for the government. We went so far as to even make some short animation for it. We pitched it to Hanna Barbera and while they did not buy it, they encouraged us to keep trying and the next week we came back with Bloo's Gang which they DID buy.

As for Ribeye the Bullbarian, it has surfaced for us in many forms... The picture above was one instance where we played around with the style. I dunno about you but I for one, am glad we stuck with what we had. Yecchh!

The Knights of Sherwood

The Knights of Sherwood

Could this be the next thing Zaptoons will do?

So now that The Jackalope Boyz is over and we have stopped bombarding you with requests to vote... you might ask yourself, what are they going to do next?
Good question!

Harry and I are still actively pitching shows around town and we have even gotten a bite at Nickelodeon. Not sure if it will pan out but we should know by Christmas whether it will or not.
The other thing we're waiting on is The Knights of Sherwood, a show that might actually have some legs if we're lucky enough. Granted this is just my sole project but rest assured, if it goes, I will need my partner-in-crime Harold J. to help me with it for sure!

Anyway, click the link above to see some screen captures from the pilot Knights of Sherwood and see what might be next for us!

The last thing we've been finalizing is the 2nd Ribeye the Bullbarian book and a drawing book I created called "Down on the Farm".

Look for details here soon!

We lost!

Cartoon Monsoon Season 2 Site
Well thank you all for those who voted but I am sad to say we lost the contest. I could say some things about how the contest was run but my mother always told me to be nice so I won't say anything. ( Actually she didn't but Harry gets mad at me when I say bad things on our site)
Anyway... thanks to those who voted and congratulations to the winner Edgar and the Voyagers created by Joe Orrantia.
Not that it matters much as you essentially get nothing for winning except a ribbon. At least the Cartoon Network cartoons we did were entered to win a series! This, you get nothing. Nada, sqaut. zip.
Anyway check out Joe's cartoon... it did really come out nice!

Cartoon Monsoon Season 2 Site

Cartoon Monsoon Season 2 Site

Well folks! This is it! The final "Be-all-end all" battle for animation domination at Cartoon Network!
The Jackalope Boyz is currently in the lead and there are three more days to vote so get out there and win this contest for us! We can't vote or believe us we would!

In order to vote do this:
Go to this webpage
Then click the green boxes to watch the cartoon as below...

Hit the green square to watch each cartoon!

When you're done with the cartoon you will be presented with a series of stars to "rate" the cartoon.

click the "Super Cool" Star to help us win the contest!

Our hope is that you give it "5 stars"
Watch both Episode 1 and 2 so you can vote twice! You can also vote more than once so keep at it until Monday morning when they'll announce the winner! Help us out please?