ANIMATED SHORTS: TONY MILLIONAIRE ON THE DRINKY CROW SHOW

[MattBrady]

MILLIONAIRE SPILLS THE DRINKY CROW BEANS

by Steve Fritz

“Do you mind if I crack open a beer?,” Tony Millionaire asks. “You like Bud?”

I tell him I’m more a Miller kind of a guy.

“S’OK,” Millionaire responds. “Everybody’s got their beer. Besides it was the last one in the fridge.”

It seems you can never escape alcohol when you talk about Drinky Crow, especially to its creator.

After all, the origin of his drink dependent daw was due to a free beer.

“It was 1992, and I was at the 612 Bar in Williamsburg (in Brooklyn--ED),” Millionaire recalls. “One day I drew Drinky on a napkin and the owner liked it. He would give me a free beer for every one I drew. He used them for a newsletter.”

Soon Millionaire would draw more than Drinky. He’d surround the suicide-oriented raven with an Irish monkey named Uncle Gabby and a number of similar dysfunctionals under the title Maakies (collected through Fantagraphics). He also created a second critter, Sock Monkey, published by Dark Horse.

From there, it wasn’t long before Sock Monkey and Drinky Crow started getting sniffs from various animation groups.

“We had a lot of almost sales with Sock Monkey scripts,” says Millionaire. “We had taken it to so many studios that we had given up on it. I remember going to pitch sessions and them constantly saying ‘this stuff is weird!’ and I would say ‘what’s so weird about this?’ Sock Monkey is basically a Victorian version of Toy Story. You mention George Herriman and they would go ‘you mean the guy who created Kookie Kat?’”

Then he got a real deal, with Lorne Michaels for the TV Funhouse segment of SNL. It didn’t go exactly as planned, either.

“They made six cartoons, but only aired two,” says Millionaire. “They were really funny, but weren’t in the style they wanted, I guess. (They’ve been collected in a DVD called God Hates Cartoons on Bright Red Rocket--ED). At first they weren’t giving up on it because they were talking about including them in some other kind of show or making it into a movie. It ended up with me going to so many pitch meetings one day I ended up screaming ‘What am I doing?’”

Then came one more pitch. This time it was from someone who would give Millionaire more than a free drink.

“All of a sudden, Adult Swim came to me and told me they really wanted to do it,” says Millionaire. “So we now have a pilot.”

The Drinky Crow Show is fifteen minutes of animated anarchy. It will be an extreme pleasure to both Maakie fans and those who love seriously old school cartoons.

“My three favorite cartoonists are Winsor McKay, George Herriman and Johnny Gruelle, who created Raggedy Ann,” says Millionaire. “I steal a lot from them. I also was influenced by Segar and the Popeye characters. I also love the Fleischers and their Betty Boop cartoons. Actually, in this cartoon we do a lot of that Popeye grumbling while the characters are fighting. If you want to talk about the influence for the animated Drinky Crow, it’s Popeye.”

What’s interesting though is Millionaire and his cronies utilize the most modern of animation techniques to bring Drinky to the small screen.

“Initially I thought this was TV so I better tone it down a bit,” says Millionaire. “Then when Adult Swim saw the animatic, they said ‘You got to tune this up, man. We want Maakies. Do it the way you do it in the comic strip!’ I never heard anybody ever talk like that. I loved it! Nick Wiedenfeld is the producer on the series and he was really adamant about this. He really wanted the crazy, wild side of Maakies , the insane insects, the gonorrhea germs and all that.

“We were going to use three or four different studios in L.A. Dino Stamatoplous was originally going to do the scripts, but then got too wrapped up in Moral Orel. Then Eric Kaplan popped up. He had worked on Futurama and now had his own studio, Mirari Films. He really wanted to do it in CGI, but I said ‘Whoa…that’s good for Jimmy Neutron, but not for what I do.’ Also, the guys at Adult Swim said ‘No way! No CGI!’ So we then Eric invented this new hybrid. He would use CGI models and I would then draw on top of them. So my drawings are kind of wrapped around these CGI models and it looked great! I was really surprised at how good it looked. It worked perfectly.”

More important, the short is out-and-out outrageous. Basically an almost stream-of-conscious film that starts off with Drinky arguing about love, and ending with a fly eating the head of her cockroach lover while doing things inside Uncle Gabby you’ll have to see to believe.

What’s even better is you not only see the references, but enjoy them. The sea captain and the monsters that live in the ocean the strip is set on are straight from the world of McKay. The sea captain’s daughter is an anatomically correct rendering of a famous (not Famous) Fleischer femme fatale. As Millionaire points out, when Drinky himself decides to go on a mad spree of violence, he does it while muttering just like one spinach-savoring sailor.

And the animation is just so pretty…and incredibly witty on top of that. This is due to another major influence on Millionaire’s life.

“I also told the animators when you think about this cartoon, not only think Popeye, but also Bullwinkle,” he said. “One thing I liked about Bullwinkle is they would always snap to a pose. The character would be looking in one direction, and then BOOM!, the character would be looking at another. There is a great story about Jay Ward. One day his announcer, William Conrad, wasn’t speaking fast enough, so he snuck up and set the script on fire while it was still in his hands. So Conrad spoke really fast before the script would burn his fingers. When it came to straight comedy, The Bullwinkle Show was some of the funniest stuff I’d ever seen. It had great dialogue and great timing.”

All this good stuff does come with one major proviso though. What you will see on Sunday, May 13, is only a pilot. According to Millionaire, the pilot will only go into series if Adult Swim gets a big enough positive reaction. The Drinky Crow Show will also be up against four other shorts (although it was announced that Superjail and Fat Guy are already green lit). .

Here’s they are (text provided by those wonderful guys at [AS]):

-11:30 pm Superjail: Superjail is the most violent prison complex in the universe. The staff and inmates cower under the watchful eye of the mysterious Warden, who presides over them like a sadistic Willy Wonka. The psychedelic landscape of Superjail features dangerous criminals, fantastic creatures, bizarre contraptions and frequent riots. Created by Christy Karacas, Stephen Warbrick and Ben Gruber, Superjail is set to debut in 2008.

-11:45 pm: The Drinky Crow Show - See above.

- Midnight: Fat Guy Stuck In the Internet - When hotshot programmer Ken Gemberling is accidentally sucked into the Internet, he finds himself on a quest of epic proportions. With the evil bounty hunter, Chains, hot on his heels, Gemberling must struggle to unravel the mysteries of this strange, new land and, indeed, his own destiny. Is he the new messiah or just another fat guy stuck in Internet? Created by John Gemberling and Curtis Gwinn, this live action comedy, originally a cult hit on the Internet, premieres this fall.

-12:15 am: That Crook’d Sip - The Beauregard family, much like their Mississippi mansion, is falling apart. Relics of the Old South, this dysfunctional clan sits in stark contrast to the modern crunk-fueled Dirty South that has grown up around their crumbling estate, Frenchman’s Bend. The pilot was created by Jacob Escobedo and Nick Weidenfeld, is now in production at Williams Street and will air in the fall.

-12:30 am: Let’s Fish - A mix of live action and animation by Jeff Olsen, who’s best known for his Scooby Doo parody Night of the Living Doo.

For more on Tony Millionaire check out the URL: http://www.fantagraphics.com/drinky.html. While you’re at it, buy him a drink. Who knows what he’ll think up.

SCI-FI STRIKES DEAL WITH MANGA ENTERTAINMENT

Toonzone.net has reported that the Sci-Fi Channel is adding an anime block to its programming, thanks in part to Manga Entertainment. The block will begin on Monday June 11 with the U.S. cable debut of Ghost In the Shell: Stand Alone Complex – Solid State Society..

The movie continues the “alternate” Ghost universe where Major Kusanagi hasn’t become one with the Puppeteer and become a new life form. Instead, she’s quit her command in Section 9 after the incidents of the 2nd Gig season and gone freelance. Her second-in-command is still with the black ops organization, but only in a limited capacity since the Major left. As for Section 9’s chief? It’s now the former rookie Togusa, with Section 9 leader Aramaki being forced to step down due to age. Otherwise, Section 9 is bigger than ever, its ranks having expanded to “over 20” compared to its original seven field troopers.

The film gets moving when Section 9 starts investigating why the deposed leaders of another country all start committing suicide. When they also find out that thousands upon thousands of children have been kidnapped without even leaving the slightest paper trail, and Kusanagi might have something to do with it, things get heated. It then boils to overflowing when they learn the name of another player in this game, the Puppeteer.

After the movie, the Sci-Fi Network will start airing other properties currently under the Manga/Starz distribution deal. Beginning June 18, the schedule will be:

11:00 pm - Noein
11:30 pm - Tokko
Midnight - Macross Plus

All we can add is it beats more reruns of Enterprise. For more info, go to www.news.toonzone.net.

BANDAI BRINGS HARUHI TO US

Bandai Entertainment Inc. and Kadokawa Pictures USA announced a special event to celebrate the release of the first volume of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya will take place on the release date of May 29th in Los Angeles at the shop Anime Jungle starting at 7pm.

Attendees to the event will get a free theatrical sized Haruhi poster, which they can get signed by the members of the series ASOS Brigade: Haruhi, Haruka and Kana (see www.asosbrigade.com), who will make their first ever U.S. appearance.

“We have been building toward this moment and it’s finally here,” said Bandai Entertainment Inc President Ken Iyadomi. “This will be a great event for Los Angeles fans, please come to Anime Jungle as Haruhi invades the U.S.”

[AbacusComics]

That looks cool. I'll be interested to see that. Remember Mothers day... Remember mothers day...

[Charlie Hustle]

sounds good, i hope it's better than the horse ____ debuts adult swim has been running out there the last couple years.

[stvnhthr]

Sounds like adult swim may finally be figuring out that "shock" and "gross out" are poor foundations for cartoons and it is about time for something really funny. I'm glad they are finally getting some writers and creators who want to entertain and not just be edgy and see how much the censors will let them get away with; that junk is the lowest common denominator of entertainment.

[Gordon McAlpin]

Originally Posted by stvnhthr

Sounds like adult swim may finally be figuring out that "shock" and "gross out" are poor foundations for cartoons and it is about time for something really funny.

Ummm... a good chunk of Tony Millionaire's humor is shock/gross-out humor. It's just ALSO really funny.

For God's sake, there was a Maakie's strip that was nothing more than Uncle Gabby getting eaten, digested, and ____ out by a tiger, or something like that.

I really like the animation, from what I've seen online so far. It's cel-shaded 3D that manages to look aaalmost like it was actually drawn by Millionaire a good chunk of the time. Well done stuff.

[TheRay]

Can't wait for this! I just saw the commercial/preview on Adult Swim for it the other night and it looks hilarious!

Speaking of Adult Swim... any word on when we can expect a third Venture Bros season?

[sfritz]

Originally Posted by Charlie Hustle

sounds good, i hope it's better than the horse ____ debuts adult swim has been running out there the last couple years.

Look at it this way. Tony & Erik Kaplan sent me a checkdisk of the pilot. I'm planning to keep it in my permanent library. It's that good. -s

[Blackbeard]

I'll be watching.

[DeadXMan]

I'll watch the pilots but my hopes of anything good are diminished

[beta-ray]

Drinky looks interesting... Hope I can catch it.

Kind of weird that Ghost in the Shell SSS will be on Sci-Fi instead of CN. Hope I can catch that one too.

The hype around Haruhi is kind of irritating but I've read that the animation is quite good. Anyone seen it and can comment?

[Toneloak]

Thanks Steve I've been reading about the SciFi Channel Anime Block at a lot of places. However, your update on the GitS:SAC 2ndGIG/GitS Movie 2 series/movie status & relation really helped in deciding if I want to see it or not. I really enjoyed that. Thanks

[sfritz]

Originally Posted by Toneloak

Thanks Steve I've been reading about the SciFi Channel Anime Block at a lot of places. However, your update on the GitS:SAC 2ndGIG/GitS Movie 2 series/movie status & relation really helped in deciding if I want to see it or not. I really enjoyed that. Thanks

Glad to be of service. Then again, as you might have surmised, I'm sort of a Oshii fanatic anyway and wanted to promote this for what it's worth.

-s

[sfritz]

Tony Millionaire just sent me a quick note.

Adult Swim has just posted a URL for voting on the previews. I haven't checked it up myself but thought we can all check on it anyway...and use this place to blackmail [AS] into insuring Mr. Millionaire has more gainful employment.

The URL is http://www.adultswim.com/shows/pilotweek/

Hey! Help me use this to get blackmail him into a bottle of some better Kentucky or Tennessee sipping bourbon or something similar.

-s

[Kolimar]

I watched the Drinky Crow trailer a while ago and it was weird, violent stuff. I loved it.

[Kolimar]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

Soon Millionaire would draw more than Drinky. He’d surround the suicide-oriented raven with an Irish monkey named Uncle Gabby and a number of similar dysfunctionals under the title Maakies (collected through Fantagraphics). He also created a second critter, Sock Monkey, published by Dark Horse.

From there, it wasn’t long before Sock Monkey and Drinky Crow started getting sniffs from various animation groups.

“We had a lot of almost sales with Sock Monkey scripts,” says Millionaire. “We had taken it to so many studios that we had given up on it. I remember going to pitch sessions and them constantly saying ‘this stuff is weird!’ and I would say ‘what’s so weird about this?’ Sock Monkey is basically a Victorian version of Toy Story. You mention George Herriman and they would go ‘you mean the guy who created Kookie Kat?’”

Then he got a real deal, with Lorne Michaels for the TV Funhouse segment of SNL. It didn’t go exactly as planned, either.

“They made six cartoons, but only aired two,” says Millionaire. “They were really funny, but weren’t in the style they wanted, I guess. (They’ve been collected in a DVD called God Hates Cartoons on Bright Red Rocket--ED). At first they weren’t giving up on it because they were talking about including them in some other kind of show or making it into a movie. It ended up with me going to so many pitch meetings one day I ended up screaming ‘What am I doing?’”

The Complete List of Comic-Based TV Series

[LunarDaydreamer]

Following up on something you mentioned in your previous article Steve, I hadn’t heard of Jin-Roh, but will be ordering that and the Oshii boxed set when I get paid next week – thank you so much for the recommendations!

[sfritz]

Originally Posted by LunarDaydreamer

Following up on something you mentioned in your previous article Steve, I hadn?t heard of Jin-Roh, but will be ordering that and the Oshii boxed set when I get paid next week ? thank you so much for the recommendations!

Just so you know, Red Spectacles, Stray Dogs, Jin-Roh and Fast Food Grifters are all part of the Kerebos series. They all have recurring characters and overlapping plot points. Love to hear what you think of them after you see'em. -s

[LunarDaydreamer]

Originally Posted by sfritz

Just so you know, Red Spectacles, Stray Dogs, Jin-Roh and Fast Food Grifters are all part of the Kerebos series. They all have recurring characters and overlapping plot points. Love to hear what you think of them after you see'em. -s

Will do!

I’m rather ashamed to say that I hadn’t heard of them – which is one of the pleasures of reading the column!

Jin-Roh isn’t out at all over here, but I watched the Trailer on YouTube at lunchtime and was *very* taken with it.

Big order for DVDPacific when I get paid next week, definitely.

With Jin-Roh being animated and the others live action, how does that affect the story? Would you say you prefer one or the other, or doesn’t it factor in?

Is Fast Food Grifters out in the US?

I can feel an addiction coming on!

[stvnhthr]

Originally Posted by Gordon McAlpin

Ummm... a good chunk of Tony Millionaire's humor is shock/gross-out humor. It's just ALSO really funny.

For God's sake, there was a Maakie's strip that was nothing more than Uncle Gabby getting eaten, digested, and ____ out by a tiger, or something like that.

I really like the animation, from what I've seen online so far. It's cel-shaded 3D that manages to look aaalmost like it was actually drawn by Millionaire a good chunk of the time. Well done stuff.

Oops, I guess it is business as usual.

[sfritz]

Originally Posted by LunarDaydreamer

Will do!

I'm rather ashamed to say that I hadn't heard of them, which is one of the pleasures of reading the column!

Jin-Roh isn't out at all over here, but I watched the Trailer on YouTube at lunchtime and was *very* taken with it.

Big order for DVDPacific when I get paid next week, definitely.

Thanks. If I had an icon for blushing I'd use it. Now to your q's, one at a time.

With Jin-Roh being animated and the others live action, how does that affect the story? Would you say you prefer one or the other, or doesn?t it factor in?

That's kind of like comparing the original Patlabor OVAs to the later movies.

Jin-Roh is later than the others. Oshii gets more sophisticated as he goes on (Avalon is later than all of them).

Is Fast Food Grifters out in the US?

Not yet...dammit.

I can feel an addiction coming on!

Indeed. -s

[LunarDaydreamer]

Is there an order you'd recommend viewing the films in, with Jin-Roh included into the mix?

By the way, to anyone deliberating - I found this VERY cool trailer for the Oshii box set...



And this is one for Jin-Roh



Most excited for these - pushing the same buttons as Casshern did (my fave ever movie)

[sfritz]

Originally Posted by LunarDaydreamer

Is there an order you'd recommend viewing the films in, with Jin-Roh included into the mix?

Most excited for these - pushing the same buttons as Casshern did (my fave ever movie)

Tough one there. At the moment I'd go Stray Dogs - Red Spectacles - Jin Roh - Fast Food...
although I'm thinking of putting Jin Roh first.

Then again, I got to do my reviews of Afro Samurai & Ah! My Goddess Series 2. -s

[SellingPower]

can't wait. maakies/sock monkey/millionaire = comedy platinum!

[LunarDaydreamer]

Originally Posted by sfritz

Tough one there. At the moment I'd go Stray Dogs - Red Spectacles - Jin Roh - Fast Food...
although I'm thinking of putting Jin Roh first.

Then again, I got to do my reviews of Afro Samurai & Ah! My Goddess Series 2. -s

Alright for some!

[FatFreeMilk]

Promote, promote, PROMOTE -

I'm putting http://www.adultswim.com/shows/pilotweek/

on my work site below -

Represent the Drinky!

Everybody!