Joe Murray's Journal

I’ve had a lot of requests lately ( pleading, actually) to put up some more title cards for sale. So here are 4 keepers I found that you might be interested in. Each one is on 9 X 12 illustration board with the peg holes still there from when it was shot to run before the respective episode. It’s also signed in the very bottom ( not on the art) by the Rocko artist who produced them. These are real keepsakes since there is only one of each in existence.   You will also have the option of me signing them ( maybe I’ll even draw a small Rocko on there for you.) or include it on a separate paper. The sad thing is that one day, these cards will all be gone. The cool thing is on that day, you could still be holding one!

A side note on the Magic Meatball episode: My daughters were recently watching a Nickelodeon show ( I think it may have been I-Carly) and they were using a “Magic Meatball” in their episode. My girls thought it was so funny, but I had to show them this title card to convince them that our crew on Rocko actually had the idea for a magic meatball 15 years earlier. Wonder if there was a Nickelodeon writer still around from the 90′s. Who knows.

Check ‘em out here in the Archive store. Auction ends August 25th!

Mark your calendars for my first live event EVER! Tuesday, August 24th at 6 pm PSD, 9pm eastern on USTREAM.TV. (Yikes). I’m still working out the details on how the questions come in, via the chat screen on Ustream, or another method. But I will keep you posted. If you go to USTREAM.TV and sign up with a login name, you can join the chat while it’s going on. I will be monitoring the blog as well. You can pre-submit questions here. Obviously I can’t get to all of them, but I’m sure we will have a good time!

Of course this is all in connection with the release date of my new book “Creating Animated Cartoons with Character”, which I’m very  excited about.

I’m knee deep in getting these Frog episodes done, and preparing KaboingTV for a soft launch. In a way, I feel like the small business owner whipping up the first batches of his product on his kitchen table. Pot’s overflowing, things exploding. Trying out different recipes of just the right product that will sell in the market.  It’s pretty crazy, but fun crazy.

“Genuine beginnings begin within us, even when they are brought to our attention by external opportunities”- William Bridges

I’ve been thinking a lot about the course our lives take, and how we are more in charge than sometimes we think.

Back in 1986, at the tender age of 25, while still attempting to get a comic strip in the newspapers, I was sketching in my notebook, and suddenly wrote out ” If minds are going to watch the screen anyway, why not put something useful there? Create characters that entertain, provoke thought, and use the platform to help in other ways”. I’m not sure why I wrote this at that time. I had not yet discovered animation, never considered television as a useful place for anything, and the computer at the time was an infant that needed twenty codes to type a document. Yet after that, the world started spinning for me. I was on a path that I wasn’t quite aware of, yet felt so  right. I abandoned comic strips, and found animation. Even when I thought my future was in independent films for festivals, I got swept up in the wave of 90′s animation in television. I learned, studied. Rocko and Lazlo feel more like stepping stones for me, as well as the education of producing, managing crews, managing budgets, etc.

Over twenty years later, I feel I’m still playing out that goal. And I still have a ways to go.

I’ve cursed at times the need I have to remain so independent. I feels a lot easier to care for a family and have job security when one makes peace with working for someone else. It’s noble for sure. But for me, it’s a sweater that keeps you warm, but itches like hell. ( I think I stole that from Hunter Thompson.) There are many who have achieved high potential working for someone else. We are all different breeds.

The life of an independent artist/business owner was probably one of the hardest I could have aspired for. My Dad tried to talk me out of it. Loved ones got tired of watching me fall flat on my face. ( and trust me, I still do.) But for some reason, I keep getting up.

Some day I may not.

But until then,  I’ll keep carrying out my marching orders. It’s all a mystery, isn’t it?

Frog In A Suit Progress

Wanted to share some progress with you on the next two Frog in a Suit episodes. Pencil tests are coming in on the animation. ( This one is from Kelly McNutt of the Jantze Studio in Georgia, showing Dad spilling his guts. Not all of the mouth movements are there, as you can see. A lot of blocking for the acting needs to be set in place.

As the animation on Episode 35 is getting completed, the storyboard and script were finished for episode 36, and on Monday we recorded it with Carlos Alazraqui and Tom Kenny. Will have video soon. It was a very entertaining record. More later!

I found this cel set up in my archives. It’s from the episode “Leap Frogs” that was censored and even taken off the air for awhile. Maybe still is. Someone was writing in looking for a Bev Bighead cel, and I thought I had one. If that was you, here it is. I’m offering it up for sale through the Archive Collection Store. Auction ends August 17th.

Some Very Disturbing News To Me- And It Involves You As Well.

I’ve just heard some reports about a deal that Google and Verizon are attempting to put together that will make it very difficult for you or I, ( and KaboingTV) to compete on a the Internet with huge companies and distribution platforms.

The reported Google-Verizon deal would allow giant corporations to control which websites load quickly and easily on the Internet and dump everyone else onto an Internet slow lane. This is exactly the kind of unequal playing field that Google itself has opposed in the past.

To Artists, Musicians, Filmmakers and all small businesses, the Internet has allowed us to have a fair shake at bringing our wares to an audience and buying public. That we can sidestep the big conglomo gatekeepers . This is driving them nuts. They want to be in control of what we produce. This move is similar to the Copyright bill that we have been fighting where only big business ( or those with the funds to pay the high fees) can legally copyright their own work. Now this is another attempt to give privilege and justice to those who have money to pay the  high fees, and those who don’t.

The Internet was founded on the principle that all data is equal—and that no corporation should be able to decide whose data goes faster or slower. It’s this principle, called Net Neutrality, that has made the Internet such an amazing platform for individual speech, democratic action, and entrepreneurial creativity.

I signed this petition to be sent to Google ( Whose motto is “Do No Evil” ) and tell them that this deal does just that.  If you feel strongly about this maybe you can too.

http://pol.moveon.org/google/?id=22383-7104424-7sjPD3x&t=4

Pre- Order My New Book!

Hey All. I finally got a link up to pre-order my book ( Release date August 24th). If you buy it through my Amazon store, I get a little more of a slice!  The link is Here! There is also a link box on the left top of the blog as well. There are a few other items on there including my childrens book “Who Asked the Moon to Dinner”.

So it looks like I will be using something like Ustream for the book release event. Need to find some help setting this thing up.

I’ll keep ya all posted.

Thank you all for your input. I’ll have to look into all options and figure out whats best. The only definite is that there will be a live Q & A event on August 24th, the release date of the book. I”ll keep you all posted where it will be. ( And yes, I know there will be a lot of Rocko questions. I’ll try and give equal time.) I was just on the phone with Tom Kenny ( Heffer, Spongebob, Lumpus) and he just got back from Comic Con. He’s said he’s surprised how many Rocko questions get thrown at him. We both had a laugh about it. It feels so  far in the past, but still an important part of both of our lives. ( And fun for the most part. At least the records were.)

Sorry for so long between posts. We just sent off the first chunk of animation, and I’m finishing up the next FIAS storyboard. Also trying to set up recording time with the Sound studio and the voice actors.

I’m thinking for the upcoming release date of my book to host a live Q & A. Someone had posted something a while a go about someone else who had done that on a particular site. Maybe you all can feed me your ideas on this event. Or I could do it here.

What are your thoughts?

Behind the Scenes “Frog in a Suit” Progress!

This is turning out to be a blast trying to get all the pieces together on a shoe string budget. I have an intern assistant named Tom whose been a great help, not to mention all of the people who have been pulling together to lend a hand. Tom did circle takes yesterday while we recorded Carlos A. and we had a great time.

Check out the progress. More later!