Thursday, January 4, 2007

Good Old Days




For the past couple of years, I've been working as the Art Director for The Fairly Oddparents, while continuing to occasionally do character design for the show as well. These are from one of my favorite episodes of that show, called "The Good Old Days". conceived, written & storyboarded by Dave Thomas, this show was a joy to work on, and everyone on the crew really gave it everything they had. While the character designs here are mine, Gordon Hammond shared character design duties for this episode. Jim Worthy did the amazing background designs, and Dan Chesher painted them with remarkable authenticity. Props were done by Frank Rocco. What we were going for, was a 1930's, Max Fleischer look to the show, which essentially (and reverently) spoofed the cartoons of that era. Of course, the main characters still had to look like the main characters from a very graphic, modern show, which presented it's own set of challenges.











Get a load of this background~ lavishly drawn by Jim Worthy, & beautifully painted by Dan Chesher. Trolley, hydrant, & car by Frank Rocco (who else?)



One of the most exciting things for me, was getting to provide the singing voice (and play ukulele) for this character- Chippington Skylark III


Here are some screen-grabs, from the final episode


Here's a frame from the song sequence


Hear the 1920's Icky Vicky song (with me on vocals and ukulele) here!:

ICKY VICKY SONG


Thanks for lookin'!

20 comments:

Ben Reynolds said...

Really enjoyed looking at and reading your blog. Some very nice work on here!

Todd Wilderman said...

Hey Ernie

How are you doing? I really like the look of this episode. You all did a great job. Congratulations to you and Cathy for your terrific voices in "The Very First Noel" I hope you all had a great Christmas and all the best in the New Year. Keep up the good work.

Steve said...

Awesome work, Ernie. Congratulations. I'll check in regularly.

Gordon Hammond said...

Hey Ernie,

These rock dude! I really dig all the animals (and one human) in the sarsparilla bar!

Cool link pics...but who's the third one??
:)

g.

SteveLambe said...

Wow! Wish I had seen this episode. Looks fantastic, Ernie.

stephen Silver said...

hey, wait a minute, this is the show you won an emmy award or was it an annie award for, you shy modest guy you.

stephen Silver said...

Always great to see little buddy.

Anonymous said...

Dan Sawyer said…

Seeing these pictures reminds me of how great that cartoon is.

Ernie Gilbert said...

Thanks guys! It sure was fun to work on! Really Wet my whistle to do more 1930's style stuff. Turns out there's not a whole lot of that being done any more. Go figure...

Anonymous said...

This artwork is awesome! No mention of your Annie Award?

Ernie Gilbert said...

Thanks again. Oh yeah- As Trigger mentioned, in a perverse twist of fate, I won the Animation Industry's "Annie" Award, for character design last year, for this episode . I wasn't going to mention it, but since you forced my hand, Trigger...

Say- I knew a "Trigger" when I was growing up...could it be...?

Howlin' Hobbit said...

Might the lack of 1930's, Max Fleischer style work nowadays be because a lot of Max's best was in the "pre-code" days?

Ernie Gilbert said...

Thanks for the comments, guys.
HH- I'd say the post-code changes affected CONTENT for sure, but not so much the STYLE. The Fleischer studio (and it was Max's brother Dave, who was the real creative force behind the studio- Max got all the credit, because he was the producer) had a style like no one else, even of the day: A bizarre combination of bouncy, rubber-hose animation, rotoscoping of live action actors (one of Dave's inventions), Rube Goldberg-type technology, and spooky images of death & the macabre. Great stuff!

Anonymous said...

Ernie,

Your ideas are as incredible as your style. Where do you get your ideas? Did you dream them up hanging out at the Kersley pool?

Piotr said...

you nailed the era, and terrific song! :P

Ernie Gilbert said...

Trigger, I guess I got my imagination from the same place you got your nickname! :^) Papaw would be proud.

Piotr- Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Hilarious, Ern. Of course, I wouldn't expect anything less from you. So great to hear you in such fine voice, too.

Congrats on the Annie Award -- what a great affirmation of the life you're living.

Give my best to the family!!

Steve Carpenter

Anonymous said...

The most wonderful version of this song from a Fairly Odds episode that is a treat for classic animation fans.

Hello Jodi said...

I found you through YouTube and oh my, are you fantastic. I love your style. Think I found a new ukulele person to be obsessed with.

Ernie Gilbert said...

Thank you, Jodi! That's very kind of you. I need to find time to post more videos, but the cartoon-business sure keeps me busy!