Happy Holidays to all my fans of the scrapbook - I have a bit of catching up to do.

In the middle of November, I visited Seoul, Korea to do an animation Master Class.  Did you know that Korea has over 100 animation studios?

The goverment over there believes that Korea should be a world center of animation -therefore they've funded many companies and schools to build up their animation industries.  Just in the last few years there were a number of wonderful animated features from Korea - "Oseama", "Hammer Boy", "My Beautiful Mari", "Blue Sky" or "Wonderful Days", and "Empress Cheung".

So, the Korean Academy of Cinema Arts invited me to teach an advanced class of animation to 8 of their best students. 

My first few days were a bit like "Lost in Translation", but once I connected with friends and places, I really had a ball.  Every night, someone from SICAF or PISAF or some studio or school would take me out on the town.

One night, the famous Nelson Chin took me out to a wonderful barbecue place - very traditional and exclusive.  We had a great time.

Everyone was so generous, they would not accept my money - ever - and they always gave gifts.

On the last night, I crashed a party for the traveling ResFest - I got to meet Jonathan, the organizer, and all the local filmmakers.  A lot of them knew my work, so I felt very comfortable and accepted there.

As soon as I stepped off the plane from a 14-hour flight from Korea, I rushed to the Penn Plaza Hotel, where I had a booth set up at the Big Apple Comic Convention.  Signe Baumane and I shared a table and hawked our "merch" and greeted our fans.  Among them was the famous caricature artist David Levine, one of my biggest heroes.

As I'm now in-between feature films, I find that I have a bit of free time.  Fortunately, after working on "The Drew Carey Green Screen Show", I've been able to pay off most of my "Hair High" bills.  If you're a fan of the "Green Screen" show, like I am, check out my 4 episodes: "The Boy Who Stole Florida", "Puker 4000", "Plie" and "The Inventors".

Last year, I began work on a new short film, called "The Fan and the Flower", written and produced by Dan O'Shannon (writer and producer on the "Frasier" show).  That project was interrupted by "Hair High", and now that HH is completed, I want to finish "The Fan and the Flower".

We've been showing a rough cut of the short film around, and the response has been excellent - so soon, this short will be making the rounds on the festival circuit.

Last week, I got a call from the Festival Animadrid, which is the largest animation festival in Spain (one of my favorite countries).  "Hair High" won the grand prize there, and they wanted to fly me there to accept the prize.  So, the next day I hopped on a jet to Madrid, went straight to the theatre, accepted my wonderful prize, celebrated, got drunk, slept 8 hours and then flew home.

It was a very prestigious prize, because the competition was very tough - 8 animated feature films from all over the world.  Also, I got to hang out with another hero of mine, Juan Padron from Cuba.

My next project is a sequel to my successful short "Guard Dog".  GD has been winning prizes and audiences all over the world.  I believe the dog will be my "Mickey Mouse".  So, I've decided to make another short with him, only here he is a "Guide Dog".  He's hired to escort blind people through the dangers of his neighborhood.  It should be finished sometime in the spring - watch for it.

The response to "Guard Dog" has been so overwhelming, people have even been sending me pictures of their dogs.  So, I've decided to inaugurate a new feature to this web-site:

THE WORLD'S BEST GUARD DOG GALLERY -

If your dog (or cat) has any similarity to "Guard Dog", or even is an especially good guard dog, please send his photo to me, and we will put his (or her) mug on our web-site.  Please include a small description of why they should be voted "World's Best Guard Dog" - after 4 months we will vote on the best and most deserving dog, and the winning animal will receive a DVD of "Guard Dog" plus an original piece of art from "Guard Dog".

So, tell all your friends and pets and send in those photos to us here at plymptoons@aol.com  -

Speaking of photos, we got some pictures of the New York Comedy Festival's Bill Plympton Roast, so here they are.  The Krazy Kock from "Hair High" showed up,

and a lot of people enjoyed getting humped by the chicken and getting their pictures taken with him.

Today's cartoon is an oldie but a goodie - again, from my cartoon collection called "Sloppy Seconds", page 26.  Back in the 70's, I was dating a wonderful girl called Gini Kopecky and she was the editor of a great magazine called VIVA, published by Penthouse and Kathy Keeton for women.  Anyway, Gini commissioned me to do a full-page cartoon on solutions for the current energy crisis.  You must remember at that time there was a serious oil embargo and the U.S. was looking for ways to cut back on its oil dependence.

Enjoy and talk to you soon

Bill