II woke up the other morning to find out that U.S. and coalition troops have invaded Iraq – it’s an action I’m very ambivalent about. As you probably know, for 15 years I was a political cartoonist and followed politics very closely – in fact, too close, as I got very burnt out and bored with politics.

That’s one reason I stay away from politics in my films – also, because political animation has a very limited audience and a very short shelf life. Whereas films like “Your Face” or “The Tune” are as fresh now as they were 15 years ago, when they were made.

Animation should be the celebration of joy and humor – so let’s move on to St. Patty’s Day. My illustrator friend, Randy Jones, and his lovely wife Suzanne have a St. Pat’s party every year, and it’s chock full of illustrators and animators. Here are some photos of me with famed New Yorker cartoonists Bill Woodman and Sam Gross.

I met Sam Gross 20 years ago, when we both were creating sick cartoons for National Lampoon (he’s famous for the “frog legs” cartoons). I believe that the entire industry of violent humor we have today, with films like “Scary Movie”, “There’s Something About Mary”, Saturday Night Live and Spike & Mike’s “Sick and Twisted” festival was influenced by guys like Sam Gross, Rodrigues and Michael O’Donoghue in the National Lampoon.

And, of course, the godfather of all of us is Charles Addams – of the “Addams Family” fame. He made death funny.

I must leave you now, I have to get back to “Hair High”. I’ve just finished scene 18, one of the longest in the film, and I only have 3 more scenes to go – yeah! I haven’t decided yet what I will do with my Ani-Cam when the drawing is finished in 2 months. So, tell your friends to watch it now, before it disappears, or e-mail me suggestions of how to use the Ani-Cam after “Hair High”.

See you all next week,
Bill Plympton