Joe Murray's Journal

Frog in a Suit Clip

Okay, let me set up this clip ( as they say on chat shows.)

Peete Moss has just moved to Croakville ( a town full of toads) with his family. Croakville is a town on the fast track, with Industrialist Harvey Croak running everyone crazy. Peete Moss tries to fit in, sports a suit, and tries to “run with the bulls”.

In this clip, he has a run in with a local coffee shop, and offends the love of his life, Lilly Patt, who is the local school teacher.

This is the first time any one has seen any part of this film. An exclusive for my blog readers. Here goes.

(See Frog Clip above in post for March 8, 2010!)

Also for the Lazlo Fans.

5.  Lumpus, Lazlo,  Raj and Clam with a line from the episode “Lights Out”. Check it out on Ebay.

6.  Lazlo and Raj.  Check it out on Ebay.

Again, all same as the below drawings. Auction ends March 3, 2010

So, Sgt. Enrique Mireles of the US Army stationed in Hawaii suddenly sends me an email after writing back and forth, that there is a package on the way, and to be careful. It’s a Hawaiian War Club.

I was a little puzzled by this email. But yesterday I picked up this package and almost cut myself on the sharks teeth ( yes real) that surround it. I was very touched by it. I’m assuming its for my USO work, or maybe just the great correspondence I get and return with members of our armed forces. It has a two very cool Army medallions  inlaid in it.

Sgt. Mireles is about to ship out on his third tour of duty in Iraq. He described what his new job will be, and all I have to say is , he must be an amazingly strong soldier to receive such orders.

My prayers are with him and his family. He promises to keep me posted. And thanks for the awesome war club. I will cherish it!

Changes, Changes

The site will be undergoing some more changes this week. Some experiments with advertising ( please don’t freak out, we will see how it goes. It’s a test for further development of the web model.)

I will also be posting a clip this week from my recently completed film “Frog in a Suit” as well a new film to Tin Box Theatre shortly.

Spending the day finishing editing still more galley proofs of the book.

These highs and lows of an artists life always remind me what it’s like to feel. The money, no money, working hard, playing hard, marriages, divorce, kids, all the while being able to tell stories.

At the risk of overusing a tee shirt phrase,,…….”Life is Good.”

What is Artistic Independence?

I want to fill you in a bit on the journey I’ve been on, and how artistic and financial success can sometimes de-rail your artistic freedom.

Through my “pre-Rocko” art days, I had a small but gratifying art and animation  studio. Expenses were watched carefully in order to stay as lean as possible and to not have to take every job that came through the door. When I was negotiating Rocko, I didn’t need it to survive financially. I was quite happy with my business, and if I couldn’t get the freedom to do what I wanted on Rocko, or the right deal, I could walk away. And I did several times. Through most of Rocko, I squirreled money away, and later invested it in the stock market. Because of the boom in the late nineties, I was doing quite  well. But the spending started increasing, I and my then wife started a family, everyone wanted more money from me because they felt I had it to give. ( And I did donate quite a bit of it.) But  what I started finding was my monthly expenses were trending upward, and slowly taking away my freedoms.

Anyway, long story short, a recession, divorce, taxes, etc, I realized I desparately needed a “money makeover”  to pursue projects and businesses that may not make money at first, or maybe at all. I started downsizing, eliminating. I shared stuff that I had sitting in closets and such with those who maybe didn’t have a closet. In this process, I also realized I had an enormous amount of archive material sitting in storage that others might enjoy. I liked all of it, but I wasn’t enjoying it if it was sitting in boxes. Not to mention paying for storage fees. ( That is my answer to “Why are you selling such cool stuff?”)  I love it. I’ve had most of it for fifteen years, and maybe someone else, a fan of art or the shows, should have a chance to enjoy it. I’m donating part of the sales to charity , ( and one percent to the planet). But I want to simplify.

So, I’ve gotten my expenses and my lifestyle down to a managable level so I can pursue the two major projects I have going on right now. My independent film “Fishhead”, and my business start-up KaboingTV.com, the cartoon web channel. Both are being produced on a bootstrap budget to begin with, and without early investors or money people, I have the freedom to make then the way I want to.

Low overhead to me, means Artistic independence. It feels good.

I feel a little weird posting stuff here that I offer for sale all the time, but I found this in my file and I thought it was pretty cool. I used it for my studio letterhead when I was doing Rocko and other projects during the 90′s. It’s the only drawing I’ve seen where I have included not only the Rocko main characters, but also Really Really Big Man, Ralph Bighead, Bloaty & Squirmy, Peaches, Flecko the fly, the little elf from the Christmas show, and a few more. I did it in india ink but you can still see some blue line underneath.

I’m offering it up on Ebay with a portion of the proceeds going to Children International.

In doing all of these meetings with entertainment and money people concerning the Cartoon Web Channel I’m attempting to put together, there has been a lot of talk about “value”. What value does a cartoon on the web have? Does  a cartoon or animated film have more value if it’s only released on DVD, or on TV? Does all of the free entertainment available on the web dilute the value of any other entertainment content?

The thing about animation, is that it’s costly to produce. Usually the more money you put into it ( not only the animation, but more so the writing) the better it is, and the longer staying power it has. Simpsons and Family guy have budgets in the 6 figures per half hour.

Rocko had about half a million per half hour, and due to the decrease in TV advertising, the budgets for the smaller networks are getting smaller and smaller.( And I’m proud that Camp Lazlo  beat out much larger budget shows to win two Prime Time Emmys.)

There is a chicken or the egg thing going on here, where it takes money to make money. Sweat equity can only go so far before burnout factor kicks in. To me, we need good quality original animation content to really make a splash. But to attract investment, ( beyond angel investors ) you need to show the quality and numbers first.

I’m curious what your thoughts are about value of cartoons on the web? Do you value cartoons on TV more? How about in festivals or direct to DVD?

Let me know.

I give the treatment to Ed and Bev Bighead.

When we finished delivering the first season of Rocko, I was able to go into the  shows and pick out cel set ups that I wanted for my own collection. This was one of them, from the episode “Sand in your Navel”.

I’m putting this up for sale on EBAY with a portion of the sale , again, going to Haiti relief efforts.

I’m offering to sign the cel, ( and even draw a little something on it) or you can have it without a signature. I photoshopped one in to show where it would go. It’s nicely matted and comes with letters of authenticity from both myself and Nickelodeon.

And of course, I have the right to come and visit it on your wall anytime I want. ( kidding.)

I’m a little bleary eyed cuz I just finished some intense post production on my very short “Frog in a Suit” pilot. It’s really more of a “snippet” into the show. More of a short film. I’m nervous about it. I’ve never liked any of the pilots I’ve done for my shows. It’s so hard the first time you try and find your bearings with new characters and a new look . I’m very hard on myself. I’ve been living with this thing on and off for a few months while I worked on the book and such. Maybe I’m too close to it. But I can also see beyond what this short shows. There are many characters in the show that are not introduced in this short.

While I’m getting the details nailed down for the new site, I may post this short on You Tube ( and here of course), and get a feel for how it will be received as a show. It’s hard to capture everything the show will be able to do and the places it will go in three and a half minutes. Maybe I’m just tired. I don’t know.

What day is it?  Thursday? Yikes.         Okay.

Got together with Fred Seibert today. Had an enjoyable visit. Good talk.

I think something new from the archive collection going up tomorrow. If I can get to it. Trying to get to a character video blog on the Big Heads. Maybe this weekend.