So far, it's been an excellent summer -

The first highlight was my week in San Diego for the Comic-Con - I was an invited guest, so they put me up in the fancy Omni Hotel.  John Holderried and I set up our Plympton booth, which we shared with Robert May and The Animation Show.  This seemed appropriate, since my short "Parking" is included  in their show - also, my new short "Guard Dog" will be in their next release this fall -w atch for it.

Don Hertzfeldt, who along with Mike Judge is one of the creators of The Animation Show, was unable to appear since he's completing his new short.  It was unfortunate, because he has a lot of fans, and they all wanted to meet him.

The Comic-Con just gets bigger and bigger each year - and this year they estimated about 100,000 fans in attendance.  The event is one of my annual favorites because I get to sit in my booth selling my work - and meet all my fans.  Also, it's great to visit with all my artist heroes - David Silverman, Matt Groening, Peter Kuper, Chris Gore, Sergio Aragones (see photo), and the legendary Will Eisner.

One of the high points was visiting with Geoff Darrow, who was in the Burlyman booth,

along with Andy Wachowski (or was it Larry, I can't remember).  Anyway, check out the photo and you tell me.  Also, I got to have dinner with Spike (of Spike + Mike fame) and his lovely assistant, Lola. 

On Saturday night there was an entire night devoted to animation - first, Jerry Beck's "Worst Cartoons Ever Made" screening, then I presented the West Coast premiere of my new animated feature "Hair High", preceded by "Guard Dog" - both films were very well received.  And then, at midnight, it was the Spike + Mike Sick and Twisted Show - they packed the theater (see photo).

I sold out almost all my merchandise - and made plans to return next year.  You should go, it's a great event.

I then flew up to Portland for a family reunion and the Oregon premiere of "Hair High" - the event was organized by the indomitable Steve Tenhonen.  It took place at a wonderful rock palace called the Crystal Ballroom.  We brought up 3 of the stars - Keith Carradine (JoJo), Eric Gilliland (Spud), and Martha Plimpton (Miss Crumbles).  It was truly a gala event - we packed the place, even a bunch of my Oregon City High classmates came, which is appropriate since a lot of the ideas from "Hair High" are taken from my high-school experiences.  We also had a terrific turnout from the Portland animation scene - Will Vinton, Marilyn Zornado, Joan Gratz and Chel White. 

After the screening, we all posed outside in front of the 50's-era cars (see photo) and even got to ride around in them.

The response to "Hair High" was very encouraging since I still have yet to sell the film.  In fact, on my return to NYC, I was able to finally check out the first 35mm print of the film, and also the final print of "Guard Dog" - and I'm extremely happy with the final results. 

Now, I can finally move on to my new shorts, features and commercials.  One of the more interesting projects is the "Drew Carey Green Screen" show - it's a new improv TV show that premieres this September on the WB network.  It's like "Roger Rabbit" in reverse - live improv actors with animated backgrounds.  It's totally hilarious and a lot of fun to work on - watch for it.

This edition's cartoon is "Fletcher's Big Meeting".  I never liked the hot-air hand dryers - it takes forever to get dry, and they make it hard to completely wipe off the grunge from your face and and hands like with towels.  So, I concocted this fantasy of Fletcher having a run-in with a jet-propelled air dryer.  This cartoon was never printed in a magazine - this is the first public exposure except for my "Sloppy Seconds" book.

I have to end here, since I've got to get back to finishing animation for the Drew Carey show - I have deadlines, you know.

Bill