Let's you and I have a talk.

I have a halacious semester ahead of me. Senior projects, including a 3-minute animated music video combining 2d and 3d animation, and 5 more classes to round out my final semester; let's face it, not much time for this project. Of course I will try, but I can't even make my somewhat Sunday night recap/updates. If news comes up, or I get a spurt of work done with work to show, I'll update.

The benefits from this "break" is that whatever extra I learn from compositing and more, may fall onto these cartoons, but we'll have to see. I will make you all a promise though, I won't be playing World of Warcraft, not that I really have, and I won't be playing my Xbox 360, which is the real pain. I want to get my work done this semester, including all kinds of side projects I've been building up.

Summer is, however, looking great for both my Clone High and Mission Hill projects. Thanks for staying with me, even though it has certainly gone on for so long. I want this just as much as you do.

I do have to admit, I don't think I have anything major to show off today. It has been a halacious January, squeezing in work and two quick classes at my college.

But still, Jolly Snowflake Day Everyone! I hope to have another post later on today with at least something fun for everyone.

Sarah Chalke, 30, became engaged while vacationing with her boyfriend in Hawaii. Stick THAT in your face-hole! She's going to sign that legit-ass contract!

Snowflake Day icons thanks to lemon tart! They're fun! And there are "A Christmas Story" icons, too!

Even though semester break is approaching, I don't for-see any more workflow arriving, as I am taking two winter courses to better ensure I graduate this coming spring semester.

I am trying to work in a new item for the CafePress store for Clone High and I hope to have it out no later than mid-January. You'll be able to look at it every day for a year with some practical space below the header pictures to, perhaps, right noteworthy dates down.

And just when I thought that rain of terror on [adult swim] of crappy live action shows was over, it seems the creators of Tom Goes to the Mayor have a seemingly all live-action show coming, Tim and Erics. And then there is that atrocious Saul of the Molemen or something like that. Seriously, what is going on over there at [adult swim]? And is anyone even watching Assy McGee? <sigh>

I regret to say that I have no real updates on the MHCH cartoons for the past couple weeks. It has been nothing but college work and working other jobs, all which take cartooning-time away.

The Simpson's season 8 DVD is coming to stores, and a nice write-up about the show is over at ToonZone. Why this is any bit of news here? Because the author takes notice to why season 8 was such a smashing success. Mission Hill creators Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein were the show runners at the time. (They are also "loved" in the Season 7 write-up.)

"Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein were in a difficult position. As writers on The Simpson's since Season 4, they were promoted to executive producers at the beginning of Season 7, replacing David Mirkin. Many fans felt that Mirkin's work in Seasons 5 and 6 was some of the best quality material on The Simpson's. How do you top that? It was no easy feat, but Oakley and Weinstein proved their stuff, as did many talented writers, and as such, Season 7 ended up as one of the best years in the show's history."

Both Bill and Josh are present for most of the commentaries for both season sets.

By the way, a trailer for the Simpson's movie can be seen this coming Sunday at 8pm on Fox.

Bill Lawrence is in the news again. Well, the TV Guide magazine, to be precise, as a guest columnist.

The Creator of Scrubs Diagnoses the State of TV Comedy

by Bill Lawrence, TV Guide guest columnist - Nov 6, 2006

My name is Bill Lawrence, and I like television comedy. (Way to go, Bill, the first step is admitting it.) The landscape of television is changing overnight. When I created Spin City and Scrubs, there were comedies all over TV. Now there are hardly any (as opposed to 23 different CSI's, including "CSI: Nantucket," arriving this mid-season).

Scrubs isn't on the fall schedule again. "Impossible," you say, "NBC has always treated the show so well in each of its 160 time slots." But alas, it's true. [It has since been announced by NBC that Scrubs will return Nov. 30, in the Thursday, 9 pm/ET time slot.] It's also true that young folks get more of their comedy fixes off of Internet sites like YouTube or Break.com.

Now, I'm not technically young, but I'm only 37. And it's not an old 37 — for instance, I make an effort to say "dude" a lot. And even though I'm basically computer illiterate, I'm trying to embrace the Inter-highway with something called Nobody's Watching.

A few years ago, I did a pilot with Garrett Donovan and Neil Goldman for the WB called Nobody's Watching. The network picked up other, hysterical comedies instead, changing television history forever. Really? No. They offered lame shows, and their network went away. Our obsession for Nobody's Watching did not. Last summer, the show appeared on the Internet and was sort of revived by NBC. I say "sort of" because, unless I'm missing something, it's still not on TV. (NBC doesn't seem to be picking it up as much as they seem to be kicking it until it stops breathing.)

Anyway, we're making viral videos of the show, putting them online and hoping someone cares. If this works, it raises questions about the future of television. Will the Internet start to drive content, with networks posting pilots online and picking them up based on public response? Are there other uses for the Internet besides e-mail and porn? As I surf the Web, I'm sure of one thing: If the Internet had been this popular when I was a kid, I would not have seen daylight. Even now, as I play online poker until 2 am, I can barely picture my son's face. I wonder if he misses me.

I was going to quit the Internet cold turkey. Then recently, the unthinkable happened. A Nobody's Watching video we made — a parody of the popular Diet Coke-and-Mentos video — popped. More than two million people have watched it so far. Does this mean anything? Will this show finally be on TV? Should I tell my wife that I lost most of our savings online? I don't have the answers. But even if it's not us, someone's going to create a TV show on the Web that grabs hold of the zeitgeist and becomes a bona fide hit. No matter what dude pulls it off, I just hope that he or she doesn't think I look old.

To check out Nobody's Watching, go to nobodyswatching.tv.

How about [adult swim]?

Frisky Dingo - Keeps me entertained quite well. They're off to a great start and I hope it continues. I almost want the show to be a half-hour show, and not a 15 minute show. It seems just when its getting momentum it cuts off, but it's still not hurting the show.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force - I actually got into liking that BananaHand Dog episode. It was quite funny. A little off in parts, but overall rather funny. However, the "party all the time" episode where Frylock gets sick, was not funny. Maybe I just didn't get it, but there really was no point to the episode. For me, this season is turning into another "Hit or Miss" season. Which is sad.

Robot Chicken - Hooray for spoofing Calvin and Hobbes. Wonderfully done!

The adult swim fix underwent some changes recently. I don't like that they have clips added. Save that for youtube... ;) Just keep the shows on there. I hated having to watch a stupid commercial before every clip. Sometimes the clip was shorter than the commercial. Maybe I wouldn't mind it so much if the commercial differed, but still, get rid of the show clips. And now, all of the sudden, between chapters of episodes, it kicks you out of full screen mode, which is lame. Hopefully that is just a bug and is being worked on.

Stroker and Hoop - Ugg, again, I have taping troubles. I go to hit record on my computer recorder, and it just freezes. And although it was the 1:30 am showing and not the 5:30, I didn't feel like staying up and just set my TiVo to record it. Hopefully it won't be too much trouble to transmit it over.

And if you haven't been paying attention, another couple episodes of Gary and Mike are available to watch. Go get into it. I would hope that [adult swim] would pick up at least season one to put on the air.

If you've been to the forums recently, you will see the news post that I will be quitting one of my two jobs. I am happy about the prospect of more free time. More free time means that there may be more time I take away from playing Saint's Row and put that wasted time into cartooning.

Currently though, I have way too much art work I have to do that I can not even play Saint's Row. I know, I know... it's tough, but hopefully after this week, I will have a tremendous load off of my shoulders.

What's this site about? Oh yeah, cartoons... not me whining about my life.

Gary and Mike Episode 1 is up. It's going to become a Monday thing as best as I can. Nobody snitch...

ATHF - The "Dick" episode. You know... I didn't laugh. I didn't laugh at all, except a small chuckle when I realized that everyone listed in the credits had their first name replaced with "Dick". And to top it off, they played an equally unfunny episode afterwards, the one that has the two frat boys from outer space, where the only funny bit, is when the Plutonians get sucked out of the window at the very end.

About the "Dick" episode though, I am glad they did it, to some extent. It's the same reasoning behind South Parks' "Shit" episode... where they just bombard you with the word until it has lost meaning and you are desensitized that it does not matter anymore and we can get on with our lives and realize that it is just a word and the world won't Ker-Plode. Now, if only we could get the people who are offended with such language to actually watch these, then we would be set.

Frisky Dingo was interesting, especially because no characters from the previous episode were on the second episode, but it worked, because it was introducing more characters you just know are going to be the protagonists to our antagonist. The new characters were fun to listen to and the jokes were great. It's probably not season set purchase-worthy for me, but it is something that I'll be watching everytime there is a new one.

Stroker and Hoop - I totally missed recording the opening of Sundays show, before the title sequence with Stroker in the stand of the courtroom.. I got the schedule mixed up and expected another ATHF episode before I had to get ready to record. And looking ahead, I don't see them playing through the season again. I believe they will, someday, replay the season one more time. And when Ep 8 gets here, I'll be getting that one minute of footage I missed.

Harvey Birdman - or HB is my personal nickname for him... I'm glad it was two-parter along with last week's episode. I felt that there was more to be explained, and it did, but then it ended with a bit more 'xplaining to do. We'll see about next week.

And apparently there are going to be Brak show audio dramas coming up on adultswim.com sometime soon. I wasn't a big fan of the show, but it'll be fun to listen to while working on the cartoons, and just know a friend of mine will be stoked to get more Brak. They might as well continue some Space Ghost tracks, like those CD's they used to sell.

Congratulations to Bill Lawrence and his gorgeous wife Christa Miller. They welcomed their third child, a boy, on Sunday October 8.

The couple are also parents to daughter Charlotte, 6, and son William, 3.

I hear that this third one is actually a clone in some elaborate scheme to keep "Bill" around for another generation of television. My source may be sketchy as I and my source are one in the same.

I went through exhaustive measures to get a picture, and although its just a picture from the ultrasound, I believe you can get a good look at this baby's features.

Quite the cutie.

Let's talk toons...

New Aqua Teen Hunger Force hits this weekend. And as for their movie, apparently it will only by showing at select art theaters and college campuses. I've been trying to find out if my campus will be showing it, but not many people know about it.

I've got most of the Stroker and Hoop episodes and I luckily haven't missed one of this re-running of the season. I don't even know if they'll rerun it again, so I'm trying my best to keep them so I can make myself a DVD. I doubt one will be released, but I'd buy it the day it comes out.

Gary and Mike is a claymation show that was on a couple years back. I may be the only person with a copy of each show. You can watch episode 5 up on youtube for now. It may not make full sense without seeing the first episode of the series, but it will definitely give you a sense of the humor.

Frisky Dingo - filled with lots of funny little jokes. I was a bit apprehensive about it earlier with some pretty lame adverts, but I'm glad I finally came around to watching it. I actually caught it on adultswim's Fix and will be looking forward to the next episode.

Harvey Birdman - "Babysitter" was a pretty good episode. Lots of good jokes and some great animation for the type of show it is. And the return of Bird-Girl. Rawr!

Venture Brothers - So apparently season two is already over. I may have missed some episodes, because that was quite the fast season. But the great news is:

We just started talking to the network about the dvd project and are tossing around special features and packaging ideas with an eye toward a March release, I think (don't quote me on this... these things always change). The deleted scenes should generally be a bit more compelling on the next set than they were on the Season 1 set, since Doc's being really good about saving all the original animation in separate files this time for just that purpose. Also, Dave Paterson has been doing full 5.1 Surround Sound mixes for each episode in addition to the standard TV stereo mix, so the DVDs should sound great, as God intended them to.

Awesome. And I don't know why it took me so long to realize that the gay monk character on Dr. ORPHEUS's team was voiced by the same actor as Master Shake from ATHF. Very funny. Oh, and there had better be a season 3.

No, I'm not giving out quotes to the fan-episode, but I was browsing through the oodles of info I have stored about the Clone High series on my computer and found some fun quotes and images, and I thought I would share.

By the way, I received the James Stewart CD and have enjoyed much of the music so far and have picked two songs to add to the fan-ep, along with some Abandoned Pools. Just need to go through that "is it okay" phase.

And the last season of Harvey Birdman is starting up, and I am afraid I won't be seeing my Captain Planet and the Planeteers spoof. <sigh>

Oh well, on with the fun quotes and images...

Lawrence got his first taste of supervising younger writers two years ago when he worked with Phil Lord and Chris Miller in developing the MTV animated series "Clone High," and he loved the experience.

"I hope to start a long career of taking advantage of people more talented than me," Lawrence quipped.

-hollywoodreporter.com

"What if clones of famous people went to college together?"

Chris Miller, just 24 at the time, made this wacky pitch at a deal meeting at Touchstone Television a few years ago. Great idea, said his buddy Phil Lord, but make it high school -- "more angsty."

"We ended up picking the people we thought would have the toughest time living up to being like their original clone parent," says Miller.

Gandhi certainly fits that bill. In Clone High, he's a kinetic little goofball. Instead of crusading for a free and harmonious India, he's a horny party dude. "Chris and I just happen to know East Indian kids in our high school who happen to come from high-achieving households," says Lord. "They get their first taste of beer and they go nuts. We thought that would be an interesting idea for our clone of Gandhi."

Fox plays Gandhi's kidney. "It coincided with his desire to do only one line on our show," says Miller. "He got one million dollars per word," says Lord.

...the series budgeted at a reported $750,000 US per episode..."

---------

"Chris, what would you say is Clone High's worst quality?" asks Lord, the curly haired one, in a three-way cellphone conference call with The Sun.

"Being too good," deadpans Miller.

"I think that's definitely it," says Lord. "And not being available at all hours of the day."

"And only being a half-hour long."

"Yeah, that's another bad quality. If you think about it, it's got all kinds of terrible things about it."

-jam.canoe.ca

Clone High SellSheet:

From Touchstone Television and the critically acclaimed writing team behind “Spin City” comes Clone High U.S.A., where the teenaged clones of famous dead people are brought to life in this brilliantly inventive half-hour animated series.

Mentally deranged scientist Dr. Cinnamon J. Scudworth created test tube clones of the most important people in history back in 1984. Now, 16 years later, the babies have all grown up and attend “Clone High School,” where they are secretly monitored by a government agency planning to control their minds!

Featuring the most famous cast of historic characters ever, Clone High U.S.A. gives a hilarious new spin on the lives of history’s most famous personalities. Icons from every time period will interact for the first time in history and the result is nothing less than hilarious!

Who will win Cleopatra’s heart: Gandhi or JFK? Who will win a fist fight between Sammy Davis Jr. and Tupac Shakur? The answer to these and other absurdly funny questions will be answered in the most original show to hit television in years!

Executive Producer: Bill Lawrence.
©Touchstone Television.
ABC half-hour comedy

Phil Lord and Chris Miller are still in action, besides their work on the fabulous show "How I Met Your Mother", have started to work on the CG-adaptation of Judi and Ron Barrett’s children’s book, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.

I personally have no idea how the book is, but the movie may be worth a rental for people of our age.

Below is an image I found this while poking around Dartmouth's humor magazine (Jack-O-Lantern) back when Phil Lord and Chris Miller were there.

And the idea of the "Very Special" Episode was born:

He totally mentions the "Very Special Episode" idea.... Hilarious! We got the celebrity encounter episodes a-plenty, but I don't remember any "Break-In" episodes.

Oh, and here's a fun little comic.

And let's finish this fun post off with a look back in time, with Phil Lord and Chris Miller's art projects back from their college days. (Which, by the way, they came back to Dartmouth during the CH haitus and had an animation night with the current school class, showing their old work, and two episodes of CH, one never aired on USA TV)

Lucky.

Here's the link to two of the four available award winning animated shorts done by Phil Lord and Chris Miller. I wish I could get my hands on the other two.

Hmm, still haven't gotten my James Stewart CD through the mail, but then again, it is coming from Southern Africa to Washington, D.C. Lawrence got his first taste of supervising younger writers two years ago when he worked with Phil Lord and Chris Miller in developing the MTV animated series "Clone High," and he loved the experience.

"I hope to start a long career of taking advantage of people more talented than me," Lawrence quipped.

Looks like all my clamoring finally paid off. No more Tom Goes To The Mayor. I did, in fact, watch the last episode, as [adult swim] claimed all over that it was the best episode. It wasn't too bad. But it wasn't all that great. I know enough of the show to understand what was going on, and followed it easily. It was less odd than the other episodes I stumbled upon and all I can say is that they must have gone out with their top episode.

I just hope the money that would have been a season three goes to something more deserving, say, Undergrads?!

Here is a newer version of the opening credits. There is more already done, but this was nice enough to show off. There may be some color differences to be adjusted, such as Cleo's skin color and the ground, but for the most part, their animations are done. There will be additions, though, that will blend this to look even more like the original opening (such as translucent animations in the curtain background).

A less fancy [read: no animation] news update this time around.

We've all heard about how few in India protested with a hunger-strike in an effort to get Clone High pulled off the airwaves. [Editor's note: Is it still called "airwaves" with cable and satellite? Well, they do still say "limelight".] Their strike may or may not have had anything really to do with the show's cancellation, seeing as how the show was getting poor ratings and didn't have the best time slot in the world. Yes, MTV did respond, apparently, to the strike, but if the show was a major success, they may have dismissed it, seeing as how Clone High wasn't even airing in India, but these people were protesting on the assumption of Gandhi's portrayal.

Anyway's, the reverse is happening, or will be if Michael gets his way. On January 1st, 2007 he is planning to head up a proposed group of at least 150 to go on a hunger-strike. Currently, there are many less than that, but on the site is the way for you to sign up, as well as promote the site to others. I guess someone should try to digg the hunger-strike site. That would get the news out to many, many people.

I still haven't received my James Stewart CD in the mail yet, but seeing as how it's shipping from South Africa, I'm sure I can give them some time, but I'm just so anxious to hear the whole CD.

It is a pity though, that we still don't know who sang the Sentimental Theme from "Litter Kills", nor have an ending to this whole "Mad City - Remember the Memories" mess.

And to the few who have bought something at the CafePress store, I hope you are as happy with your items as I have been with the ones I purchased. I definitely wear and wash my "I Miss Him" t-shirt quite often, and haven't had a problem with the imaging or anything.

I recently added a Ford's Theatre Greeting Card set to the store. I haven't purchased them yet for myself, so I can't give a good description of the final product.

After taking another vacation, down to Key Largo, Florida, mixed with getting way too involved with anything Firefly/Serenity, I accomplished little this past month.

Well, that's not entirely true. I jumped into creating the opening credits in Flash and am sync-ing it to the original 30 second score.

which is why I bought it.The book isn't new enough to know of the Mission Hill DVD, although it was published three months before the DVD came out, so obviously the author didn't come to the Mission Hill fan-sites and find out that it was on the way. ¬¬

I'll post more info later, but it does mention that the episodes did cost around one million dollars each, and he does mention that there were 18 episodes written, and only 13 produced.

Well, I lied earlier when I said I only bought this book for the info on Mission Hill. It also has a Angus Oblong drawn cover, made specifically for this book, which is quite humorous.

Since I've been back I have done some more work behind the scenes of the cartoon. Nothing too important to announce.

I had to move the storyboards back out of the Flash program, for they were of a file size that caused production within to slow down to a turtles-pace. I'll have to re-work the filetype and size for them.

Look for this image among the walls of The Grassy Knoll in the cartoon. Anyone want it as a CafePress postcard? ¬¬

The good news of the moment is that I have made it back from Germany in one piece and ready to get back to work on the Clone High episode.

While I was away, I received an email from a CH fan asking for help identifying a song. It is the song that occurs during when Abe is about to have S-E-X with Cleo. It turns out to be another James Stewart song called "A Man Like Me".

Just an update to let you all know that I've been hard at work creating backgrounds for the Clone High episode. Since the last update I have created eleven new backgrounds. They may not all warrant wallpaper status, but I wanted to wait to update the page until I had some that were worthy of desktop wallpapers.

Here's a wide shot of the Grassy Knoll interior that will be used around the final scenes of the episode. Generally, backgrounds can take up to 1 to 2 hours for completing. That includes finding reference material, choosing colors, drawing out the scene and allowing for separate parts of the scene, such as the table and back of a seat in the foreground. Those are actually on different layers, as to place characters behind them.

And just a little tidbit, I've been spending the past two days living in my wonderful "I miss him." shirt. I just got it in from CafePress and it's been fueling my creative efforts to making background after background while listening to either podcasts or Abandoned Pools on CD. I hope to be back with another update soon.

Oh, and I can't believe I forgot to mention earlier about the Korgoth of Barbaria pilot episode that was on [adult swim]. It really had everything in it. Senseless violence constantly around a decent plot. I will definitely be looking forward to that full season whenever it comes on. I wish I could say the same about almost every other new show coming out for [adult swim].

(Second news post of the day)

I was taking a break from working on the episode and created some new stuff in the Clone High Cafepress store.

First up is the STAMOS! monologue of Scudworth, in a large poster form:

And now that I'm thinking about it, I should spend more time off of World of Warcraft, because apparently I can become a more productive member of society when I do...

And read the news post below if you didn't see it already. I somehow had enough to show off within one day to have two updates. Shocking... I know.

Would you like to visit the infamous Cleopatra's house, whenever you want? Well now you can! Just click on the two pictures below and you'll be transported off to a background image you can keep for your very self! Gawk at the beautiful outside and scream in terror at the pizza box that has been left on the stairs for Jesus Christo knows how long.

Exterior shot of Cleopatra's house. And for all you nerdy Clone High fans here is a question: "Who lives next door, to the right of Cleo?" The answer is below.

Although I don't have any scans to prove it, go ahead and believe me when I say that the Clone High Storyboards for Episode 14 are done. Tomorrow, I plan on scanning in all the shots (which came in totaling over 400 images), and creating a pre-animatic, for my own benefit for early timing issues, and hopefully over the weekend, I can get most of the voices recorded and input them onto the animatic. If not recorded, then perhaps schedule them in. Also, I won't be showing or hosting the completed animatic here, as to not ruin the final premiere, but I am feeling really great about the whole episode.

I'll be posting back here soon when I have some nice images to show off and maybe some voices to throw at you.

I am finally at the end of my semester. So many art projects later, I am relieved to have quite a break ahead of me. A break filled with art projects that I give myself, and not ones I'm told to do. Projects that I care about, such as, oh I don't know, Clone High episode 14. It's my first project to tackle and accomplish. Next up are the Mission Hill episodes. I probably won't do as an extensive job with storyboarding the Mission Hill episodes, to speed up production, with stick figures acting in the small squares.

I didn't get any responses to the caption contest. Shame on you all. Well, alright, perhaps I didn't give a good layout with enough action for a proper caption contest. We can try it once more with more scenes in the next update.

I was able to add Clone High avatars to the forums here, because of the hard work by Almost_October, from the CH LiveJournal. Get yours today!

I recently added a new song in the Clone High music downloads, known to some as the Benny Hill theme, it is actually Boots Randolph performing his song, Yakety Sax. Classic music for any ridiculous chase scene you may encounter.

For all you U.S. Clone High fans wanting to help push for a U.S. release, you could go here at Amazon and sign up to notified if and when the release is done. By doing so, it also adds to a tally of how many people are awaiting the DVD, and Amazon forwards the information to the production company. Do your part. Sign up everyone you know.

In cartoon news, Home Movies - Season 4 has been released on DVD, and currently comes with an extra cd including music from the series.

Only a couple more days of class and exams left, and then I can spend so much more time on getting these cartoons done for the fans. As much fun as they are to do, it is becoming a bit of a joke towards how long they've been prolonged. I hope to have an image-filled update come next update. Thanks for sticking with MHCH Refuge for all your soon-to-be resurrected cartoon needs.

A post to report that there is no news to post. I'm between animation projects at school and am working on these cartoons with what little time I can. I did get that job which has me working 4 shifts in 3 days. Oh boy. But at least I'll start making money to pay off all the ridiculous buys I make on eBay.

I'm excited for summer break so I can get on to some serious work.

As previously hinted at, MissionHillOnline was able to acquire an extended-length episode of a newly discovered animatic episode 16: "CRAP GETS IN YOUR EYES" (Or, "Pretty in Pink"). The first two parts of three are available on the videos page of MissionHillOnline.

The side image is a Mission Hill ad that ran in a comic book back when there was advertising for it.

The below storyboard has the voice lines cut off as to not give anything away. It takes place during the third act and is quite close to the end of the episode. I'd like to hear some captions from people as to what they think is being said by Gandhi. Email them here. If this goes over well, I'll post a longer scene next time for this kind of fun.

I suppose I can also do a MHCH Refuge update...

Well, I found a teensy-bit of time recently to only be able to work out one more storyboard page. I am so sad I can't devote more time to this show, but I am really getting swamped with animation projects and film projects at my college, and I have some things in life to start saving for, so I've had to go and get my old job back at a restaurant. Good thing I left on good terms. But that means even less time for animation, let alone do Clone High work. <sigh>

The big news around here is what the tireless efforts of MissionHillOnline as to continue talks with the Mission Hill creators, and has gotten him as far as to get a lost animatic for FREAKY WEEKEND. Think of it as an apology for the poor sound conversion and missing music tracks from the DVD release. Check out the MH animatic here, and respond about it here. Once you've done all that, read the rest of the episode script here. It's even possible that there could be more, but don't get your hopes up.

While I'm on the topic of Mission Hill, it's back on [adult swim]. The series just finished one run all the way though, and it beginning again April 2nd. The Oblongs has also been a nice addition to the line-up.

When will [adult swim] pool their money together to syndicate truly good shows, such as Clone High or The Undergrads? Why do they continue to green-light pure crap, when there are good cartoons out there. If anything pool the money together and fund Futurama. It's what everyone wants.

Hot off the cafepress-es is the newest addition to the MHCH Refuge cafe press store. Remember, no money is made off these shirts by this site; cafepress base prices only. They are made to just enjoy the shows as long as we can. And as Dr. Zoidberg would say "I'll take seven!"

On to Futurama. Slightly disappointing news to state. The best voice actor of our time, Billy West, came out and said that the current plan was to now have a new season of episodes, but shortly after recanted his statement as a mistake from internal memos between the possible production of 1-4 Futurama movies that are most likely, probably going to definitely perhaps, happen. We can only hope.

Also of note, last week Futurama made it onto the top three in Sunday night ratings. Plus, it's awfully nice of [adult swim] to move Futurama to 10:30 at night, so if I want, I can change the channel to watch The Daily Show, and no longer have to fight over which is more important. Also, it's just another step towards [adult swim]'s total domination and towards getting themselves their own channel.

Xbox Funbox

Here's a topic I wouldn't normally talk about, but since the commercial runs [constantly] during [adult swim], I figure it counts. This is perhaps the worst commercial I've seen in a very long time. It makes me upset to be an XBox supporter. Yes I have all the XBoxes from 1 to 360, but this commercial makes me want to hide them.

If you haven't seen it, I suggest you watch it once, and only once. Don't let it get stuck in your head. I understand that the commercial is supposed to be cheezy, but there is a line where it's just not funny.

It's been awhile since I've ranted about [adult swim] but last night's show featured clips of future pilots and upcoming series. Below I mention the ones I saw, but there may have been more shown. Some were better than I expected, and some were exactly what I expected. Crap.

Death Clock Metalocalypse: I barely caught this clip, and it wasn't anything special when I saw what I did, but I am very open to checking it out more, as the creators should know exactly what they're doing.

Assy McGee: Well, I'll try and be nice. This seems to be made for 8 year olds, so I don't understand what it's doing on [adult swim]. More to the matter, I don't understand what it's doing on television. Fart noises and fart jokes every 2 seconds is NOT funny and there is nothing you can tell me to make me change my mind.

Saul of the Mole Men: I didn't think live-action bits could be worse than what is done in Tom Goes to the Mayor, but hey, I was not pleasantly surprised when I found that there could be.

That Crook'd 'Sip: A show with potential, but the clip shown doesn't give enough about the show. It will be about dysfunctional families in the south, but we'll have to wait for the pilot to give a better review.

Lucy, The Daughter of the Devil: Not the best clip, but after seeing the pilot before, I'm just excited to see it when it finally hits the air. I am happy to see a show that has a low budget try a new art style for a cartoon, and to not use a low budget as an excuse to have poor production values. For instance, www.bitterfilms.com, home of The Animation Show, has a style that is very minimalist, but it doesn't matter, as the creator and director, Don Hertzfeldt, knows exactly what comedy is. His work was once on [adult swim] really early in the morning. You may remember the short, "Billy's Balloon". I heavily suggest you buy his DVD's. One is out now, and one is on the way. You don't know what you're missing.

Korgoth of Barbaria: This was the one that I was pleasantly surprised to see be completely better than just the synopsis. When the main character took a guy's pony-tail and just skinned the guy alive by ripping off half of his body gives me tingles as to possibly great writing to witness later this year. Time will tell.

The Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie, due this fall in theaters, could be really great. From the synopsis given is sounds like it has grounds to be a great long episode. I will say that South Park really set the bar as to what it takes to bring a television cartoon and put it on the big screen. Recently The Simpson's has finally given a release date for their movie, which I don't care much for, unless they somehow get Conan O'Brien to write it.

Robot Chicken was fantastic as it returns to television. The way they transitioned back into the series was great and right into the opening. Classic. Plus, anything that brings back the great memories of You Can't Do That On Television is wonderful in my book. I wish it had one more "Million Peso Mexican" bit, but maybe it will be on the DVD. And season one is out now on DVD.

Venture Brothers is coming so close! Keep up to date on Jackson Publick's livejournal with behind the scenes information, here.

How in the world did Tom Goes to the Mayor, Squidbillies, and 12oz. Mouse get second seasons ordered, but a genuine comedy like Stroker and Hoop doesn't? I have to know how Stroker and Hoop get out of that mess. Give me a DVD, please!

Well, it seems that Perfect Hair Forever wasn't mentioned in returning series, and it's been forever since I've had to change the channel away from Super Milk Chan, so maybe someone in the department knows a little of what they're doing.

Off the top of my mind, I somewhat miss The Ripping Friends, but I am wondering, why was Boo Boo Run Wild put on constantly? I see that Spumco made three episodes, but it's not funny to air the same show everyweek. I saw the Ranger Smith episode a couple times too. They could have at least put on The George Jetson cartoons that Spumco made. No new news on the Ultimate Ren and Stimpy DVD set, which is what I'm holding out for. I still can't get over that Spumco is, partially, dead unless the Ren and Stimpy DVD's pull a "Family Guy".

And Harvey Birdman will be back, so that's something to look forward to. Again, will Captain Planet be seen? Oh, I do hope so.

Finally, Adult Swim Fix is finally here in a fashion that runs the whole week, anytime you want to watch [adult swim] shows, go for it! I love it! It's one of the best ideas they've had in awhile.

In other cartoon news, the creator of the Undergrads, Pete Williams, has a new Teletoon blog, which he has started posting on recently. At the end, there is an email address, where he welcomes more questions, as he answers quite a lot in his first post. I wrote him an email and suggest that you all do to.

And if for some reason you haven't picked up your copy of Undergrads go to amazon and be happy.

And shaolin_ninja posted this message from Tommy from Abandoned Pools.

"For all those Clone High fans out there, the creators -- Phil Lord and Chris Miller -- are now co-executive producers and sometimes writers of the CBS show 'How I Met Your Mother'. Just thought you would like to know...."

My parents love the show, but I only started watching it for Ashely Williams, but the show has definitely grown on me, and now all the more reason to keep watching.

Oh, and Scrubs needs your love (ratings) as well.

I suppose the only gift I have to give you all, is the best news that I could ever hear (away from a Clone High or Mission Hill second season). It's straight from Billy West's mouth. Futurama is Back!

January 19th, 2006
-------------------
HERE'S GREAT NEWS!
Here's the official word on Futurama!!
David X. phoned me about an hour ago and said that this Futurama project
is a done deal! Here's the word from DX---
There are 4 DVD movies that we'll start recording at the end of July or
August.Full feature length FUTURAMA movies.
Everybody is excited to get back together--as I am!

Into the Future,
Billy
---------------------
---------------------

From his message boards on billywest.com

More great art from the LiveJournal message board.

Jenn (pac) posted this great art piece while being moved by the emotional song heard in "Litter Kills" called "Meaning of Good-bye" by James Stewart. You can listen to the song by going here. Borrow the song for just a day, just to listen.

Also pictures were posted from the recently held Clone High Michigan Marathon. You can check them out by going here.

Here are some posts about the shindig.

We served 18 pounds of taco meat (roughly 250 tacos), 4 lbs. of cocktail wieners, and 2 large bowls of punch.

Our party started around 8:30 and lasted till after 3:30. We watched all the episodes several times, served lots of Snowflake-themed foods, and had 2 groups of people go caroling with us. My best friend finished writing lyrics for 6 of the songs listed on the commercial for "JFK Sings the Er, Ah Holiday Hits".

We can only hope that they will post the lyrics they made up for the JFK songs.

What a lucky friend. And hey, what better way to get together to celebrate Snowflake Day than to have a marathon, say, in Michigan. That's what this group did this year at a Michigan Sci-Fi convention. Saturday night they had the party. I hope to see some pictures because they promised to have: tacos, punch, cocktail wieners, eye patches, and caroling!

Maybe even some celebratory Cabbage-patchin' (bursts into dance to that rhythmic beat).

Also, I have watched my first disc of Mission Hill and am plenty enjoying it. I was so close to just listening to all of the commentaries when I first got it, but now I am savoring the moment and listening to them as they come in order.

Also, the Venture Brothers DVD is coming in a couple of months and you can bet that I'll be first in line at my local store getting it.

I also want to state here a big "Thank You" to those who have sent me emails stating they are awaiting the episodes of Clone High and Mission Hill. That really does help me along the lonely nights of animating. That, and music from and inspired by the hit shows "Clone High" and "Mission Hill". Wow, that sounds like a sales pitch...

I've done a couple more pages of storyboarding, but it has slowed down due to Final Exams week here now. I'd really like to show off some more storyboards, but I can't find one just now that doesn't give too much away. I'll try to have one for next update.

As we walk abroad in this big old world of ours, you're likely to spot plenty of people who could look better than they do. It truly is the rare individual who couldn't benefit from a makeover MAKEover, makeover MAKEover, makeover makeover MAKE O VER!

This item is only available for pre-ordering until Thursday, January 6th.

The second shirt has a description that includes:

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabe!"

Also from LiveJournal, user "cheshire_cat94" mentioned that when signing up for Hotmail, you can view this image if you need help when creating a password.

If your eye-sight isn't there for you, I'll give you the important parts.

After a very funny new Stroker and Hoop tonight, there was new Aqua Teen Hunger Force, where Master Shake totally said "Bling Blong" and to which the Mission Hill fans, I'm sure, all squealed in delight.

And instead of getting Mission Hill for my birthday, i'll have to wait until Christmas for my gift. I really can't wait. My friends have also spotted me going to stores and picking up copies of Mission Hill just to hold. They have yet to prove me to be actually hugging the DVD, but swear to it.

Mission Hill has finally been released on DVD. Fans of the show have had to wait more than Clone High fans, but again, its not a time to bicker and argue, but a time to put the DVD's in your 5-DVD rotunda player, and have yourself a wonderful, animated night.

On a Clone High note, I was unable to progress much this weekend on storyboarding, as it was a family holiday, but I did come up with some more sight gags, and humor that has been added to the storyline. I'm really excited for you all to see the episode.

*After doing some checking, Mission Hill is currently placing poorly on the best sellers list on Amazon.com. Not only is it not listed as being released in the boxed sets section for today (which there really wasn't a way to contact the guy who wrote that article), but its sales rank of all DVD's are currently: #2,458 in DVD. That's not to say that it's not lower if you look at just television, but I'm not going to look page after page to find out what high number that is. I was shocked that there was no 'animation' genre. On the other hand, at amazon.ca, our Clone High friends have been keeping Clone High in the top 20's of all DVD's. Currently residing at the number 18 spot at the time of this news post. Way to go! Also, on amazon.ca, Mission Hill is posted at number 93! Well, top 100 is definitely good. I hope it continues to do well.

The current good news is that I have been able to storyboard Act One, out of a total three acts.

I did, however, receive an early birthday gift. A certain, Macromedia Studio 8. I'm not sure if the upgrades are going to be any more beneficial for the cartoons, but I'm the kind of guy that needs the latest and greatest software.

Maybe this website will be cooler. Who knows, but I'm sure you'd all like me to concentrate more on making the cartoons better, than having a spiffy website.

One more thing. Just a little thing if you all care to know some of the things I do behind the scenes. I definitely listen to Abandoned Pools constantly when working on this episode of Clone High. It just puts me in the right mood. My playlist includes all the short clips of the show available in the CH Downloads section.

Of course, I also added the Dashboard Confessionals - Standard Lines track to the playlist.

Something about it just keeps me going, and I'm sure I'll be listening to my Cake CD's when I move on to Mission Hill episode making.

And speaking of Mission Hill, the freakin' DVD comes out on November 29! Hopefully the person I've been dropping major hints to, correctly gets me the DVD for my birthday.

The rest of the episode, Family Guy taking on the FCC, was brilliant. They basically said everything that needed to be said against them, in song form. And it was well deserved. The fact that you can show extreme violence on television, yet, the first sight of something much more natural to human relations, love, is not to be shown on television. Yeah, let's glorify violence, and hide around love. Yeah, like that's the correct path to fixing America.

Moving along, American Dad, again, was a hit, with it's take on marriage and Saudia Arabia. And the "to be continuted..." ooo, I wonder what will happen. How will he get back to the C.I.A.?

"Why are all the woman dressed as ninjas?" Ha! Classic.

The only downside to "The Boondocks" were the 12 oz mouse and Squidbillies commercial interruptions. Seriously, the show was fantastic. I do think its odd that they say "Jesus was black." If anything, he was more arabic, but they do bring up a point that is very valid, that a white Jesus just isn't correct. But again, that's not what this site is about. But hearing the N-word about fifty times sure seemed to desensitize it. Well, not enough for me to even write it, but you know what I mean. The show was very funny, and very real. It'll be another show I look forward to.

Another pilot was again aired on [adult swim]. Minoriteam. I got a kick out of the evil plot by the baddies being presented in Power Point. This show is another example of how a low budget can be well executed in the art department. It makes the other shows look just lazy in art. The show was pretty funny, but I don't know how long they can give us racial-lead jokes and keep it fresh, but good-luck.

About 12 oz mouse and Squidbillies; while I don't want to make fun of shows for their lack of animation or aesthetic-ness, I don't like how they seem to half-ass the shows. Half the shows are dead-air reaction shots and just really mellow jokes. (I just saw an ad for "Perfect Hair Forever, which didn't look any better.) I'm all for an assortment of cartoons, but if you can get a show that looks like "The Venture Brothers" on the same budget that Aqua Teen gives, why cheapen yourself and have barely drawn figures as your characters? I mean, South Park uses the same technology that Jurassic Park used to animate the dinosaurs, but again, uses it well to create their own style, while not looking lazy. Do the creators of 12 oz and Squid just pocket the surplus?

And props to Matthew Lesko and [adult swim] for conceiving a baby that was a joke at Lesko and his previous commercials. It's hilarious that he could make fun of himself, while trying to sell a CD that I have no idea what it really is.

Wow, okay, enough of that. Let's get an update on the Clone High Webisodes. I have continued doing more storyboarding, and have contacted the majority of the voicers. I ended up having to go with girl friends of my own to voice the woman of the show.Cleo's drunk foster mom may be a stretch, but they are fantastic at the voices they can do. To the others, I have sent out some lines for them to begin working on.

And as promised, here is a scan of a storyboard to tide you all over. I made a template of the original Clone High storyboards, received in the previous update. Obviously, by the page number, it is a very early section of the show. I didn't want to pick something that may have been better drawn, but gave away too much.

No, not in some lewd manner, but some really talented people, that I'm sure you'll all be interested in.

The other person I met recently was, in fact, a Clone High storyboard artist, who can possibly give us the insight into the behind the scenes of Clone High, that we so desired. Although the DVD gave us little, at best, these storyboards gave us a look into the full scripts, with jokes cut that we would never know.

Let's hear what Arna Selznick had to say:

I did 5 half-boards for the series. The designs were amazing and the scripts were really clever though they were often a bit long, which meant we'd do more work than there was time for and sometimes the funniest gags would get cut out as the show was put together. Otherwise it was a pleasure to work on. I was disappointed when it was cancelled.

As you can see, in just this 6-frame cut scene from Episode 9, you can see a quick joke that was cut before Gandhi got his lights knocked out.

I put up the whole scene, which is available on her site dancingmonkeys.com, on the newly created CH Bonus Features page, here.

In my web-isode world, I have begun the fun of storyboarding out the episode. It's going really fast, as I've had the whole episode planned out in my mind for quite some time now. It is good to finally get it down on paper, and I'll soon be sending out scripts to the voice acting team. I want to especially thank them for sticking around in the down time.

I didn't realize how hard it could be to do storyboarding without having character sheets nearby. For the pages of work I've already done, most of it is remembering the characters by memory, but then again, its just supposed to be sketches for how the scene should be set up. But when I finish another day's worth, I'll find my finest example page or two, and post them for all to enjoy.

And keeping up with my somewhat regular section on [adult swim] reviews... there wasn't much to post about last week, but last night, the new show "Lucy, the daughter of the Devil", was a great show that I definitely felt needed to be longer. They just barely got into it, and it was over just when the action seemed to be picking up. I laughed a good amount at what little we were given, and am looking forward to seeing more.

And we get a Boondocks premiere next week. It will be good, I'm sure, but nothing will make me happy until we get our official Futurama Direct to DVD greenlit. It's so close to getting the go-ahead, but it's not official yet. The good news is, Comedy Central, bought a 5-year deal to run the existing episodes of Futurama in prime-time when [adult swim]'s contract runs out, so in 2008, the cartoon will be moving channels. And at an expense of 28 million dollars, I hope I help by watching every episode on the new channel. Reportedly, [adult swim] paid 10 million for it the first time, and the fact that Comedy Central paid much, much more for it, just means how special a show it is.

Not that I'm into that myself, nor condone it, but to actually pay people to make cartoons like '12 Oz. Mouse' or 'Squidbillies' is just wrong. I didn't laugh once while watching either, and I can be assured that, unless you were currently high yourself, you probably didn't either. Who green-lights these? And who's letting [adult swim] make shows like 'Aqua Teen' and 'Sealab 2021' get away with just random crap added to the thinning plots. Both of those were at once great, and still have some hits, but seriously, just throwing random things in, is not funny. Yes, I know, 'Family Guy' does it all the time. They do it right. And yeah, 'Family Guy' has 30 minutes to fill with action and plot, where as all the shows I mentioned are trimmed down to 12 minutes. But then, there is the 12-minute 'Robot Chicken'. More random than anything already mentioned, but again, does it completely well.

Happily, we have more 'Venture Brothers' coming next spring-ish to save us from 'Tom Goes to the Mayor' (wow, it really is still on the air), 'Squidbillies' and '12 Oz. Mouse'. 'The Boondocks' is shaping up to be a decent show. Some of their daily cartoons are strong in touchy subjects, some I don't even agree with, but at least I can already tell that it is going to be a great show worth checking out.

The 'American Dad' episode that aired tonight, with the father meeting his real dad after quite awhile, who ended up not being who he thought he was, was brilliant. Well, after reading that synopsis I just made, it doesn't sound like much, but it was definitely 'on fire' tonight with laughs. It was just as good as any great 'Family Guy' episode. It was an instant classic in my eye. I just hope they can keep it up.

I know that 'American Dad' and 'Stroker and Hoop' didn't get great reviews before the shows aired, but I have definitely become fans of both. 'Stroker and Hoop' have definitely gotten funnier by the show, so much so that I can't wait for the next one, which is pretty big

And as big of a Harvey Birdman fan I'm beginning to be, I didn't really care for tonight's episode, about "how the boss came to be". In my opinion, its the first "miss" of their season, which, has been outstanding so far. But when will they hear my pleas for a Captain Planet cameo? I mean, come on!

In Webisode news... I am working on finishing my backgrounds while simultaneously working on an animation teaser. The annoying thing about the teaser is making the many, many clone extras in the background. Other than that, I'm having a blast doing it, and can't wait for you all to see it.

We've also got a growing voice cast for the Clone High episode. We've got a Gandhi, Scudworth, and JFK. I'm going to start asking friends for impersonations to try and hurry along the recording, as to not bore the waiting voice actors while waiting. Soon I will be sending out lines to those actors.

You can also check out my first of a 'to be later made simpler' fan art section. All available right now are the live journal icons. It will be made nicer later to allow for less images per page, and other nice features.

Oh, and great news! I got my "Complete Calvin and Hobbes" from Amazon, finally. My life is now complete. Well, maybe after I get my Mission Hill on DVD. Then I'm pretty good.

The Official Clone High DVD Site on DETOUR as brought to our attention by phil. Thanks, phil. The funny thing about it is, they have two images of Gandhi and Abe that we've really never scene before. They seem to be early production art that was colored and some how made its way to the "to be used in promotions" pile by accident.

Well, I'm happy. I don't know if I could live on without having my Gandhi saying "Rock On" in an American Sign Language kind of way... with Abe just looking on. That pictures not coming down from over my bed.

The most surprising to me is that the exclusion of the slow, piano instrumental opening theme song to "Episode 10: Litter Kills: Litterally". plasticf*cktard was kind enough to rip a very nice version of the song and linked it for everyone to download. It was much nicer than my version, as mine was more muffled, and was missing the opening, so it has been added to the CH downloads section, as long as they don't mind it being allowed here. Also, some people were asking for the real theme song, so that has been uploaded as well, along with many more songs/music/quotes so go check it out.

Other changes include the removal of MTV additional music cues and some background music. So, if you were to be a total nerd, and watch both the DVD and your "found" copies of the episodes together, you may notice some musical changes. If you have the time, write up the report and send it here. I don't have the time; I'm making cartoons, remember.

witchbabywigg claims that "you get on all episodes an extended title sequence with more clips and a much longer cut of the theme song." Hooray! They also go on to say "that these are the canadian versions of the show, with 'USA' removed from the title and no annoying background pop music. What i mean is: as with all their shows, MTV uses current pop music instead of score, constantly changing songs, sometimes many times within a scene.....AND IT IS AWFUL.
Since this is a Canadian release, the episodes thankfully have just regular generic score music."

You will still get your Abandoned Pools fix, but it seems that if you are planning on getting it from a store, you may be out of luck. It seems that they underestimate the wonderfulness that is Clone High. Ordering only two copies per store, (or none!) is just ludicrous, and I demand that you all demand to see the manager on duty so you can give them an ear-full, or better yet, pull a skunky-poo, and mess up their whole day.

And of side note: the DETOUR site episode guide confirms that Mandy Moore was, in fact, a guest star for the Snowflake Day episode. It is no longer "may or may not" status, but I was still holding out for that it was actually an Angel.

What?!? What's that you say? You didn't buy Clone High on DVD yet?!? For shame.... Go right on over here to Amazon.ca and order it. For the good of your humor lobe of your brain, do it!

If you've never seen the show, and you're here for Mission Hill, I still suggest you go to the Detour DVD site and download their small, though sweet, clips of Clone High, so you can see the glory that is Clone High. But there is bad news to report in Mission Hill news, as missionhillonline reports: There will be no animatic for 'Crap Gets in Your Eyes.'  The reason is there are some legal issues regarding royalties to the actors involved.

That is really sad. I was really looking forwad to checking out these animatics, not only for the MHCH cartoons, but just so I could practically get to see a whole other episode of Mission Hill. Plus, being able to see their directoral shots of the show would be a blast. I love all of that behind the scenes looks into cartoons. That's why I visit Jackson's Venture Brothers LiveJournal for BTS information of the great show: Venture Brothers. You should too. And Home Movies Season 3 is coming out very soon! November 15th, 2005. I can't find anywhere to confirm, but looking at how many episodes, it should have about 5 seasons of DVD-sets eventually.

And lastly, for those who are holding out to buy the American version of the CH DVD, if that even ever gets released, it was quite cleverly brought up on the LiveJournal by happening_hobo that you could just "sell whichever one is worse to a friend for a reduced price so they can enjoy some clone high lovin'". MHCH Refuge whole-heartily encourages the action of buying several copies and happening_hobos view totally represents the nature of this site.

I am happy that Stogie doesn't look like clip art that you can find on the net, like the three roommates in the back do. Andy does look good, except I can't quite understand what's going on with his right arm. It seems as though he's holding something between his arm and body, but then there is nothing, which leaves an odd-looking arm structure/drawing.

You can probably expect some kind of sticker on the clear wrapping stating "As seen on Adult Swim" like Oblongs, and maybe one that mentions "from the producers of 'The Simpsons'"

On the other hand, I'm just so lucky to actually get official releases of cartoons of which I adore.

In other news...

I have uploaded it in background form (1024 * 768) for your desktop pleasure.

If you haven't stopped by the forums lately, you will maybe want to know that the Mission Hill DVD will have four audio commentaries (I was hoping for all 13), and some really neat interactive menus, including an interactive Mission Hill map.

Also mentioned on the forums is that I did a total count on backgrounds needed. There won't be many new locales, (practically zero), but you will visit many old favorites, such as the 'thinking dock' and the grassy knoll.

Not including the prologue, opening credits (which is animation heavy), and "coming up next time", I have a grand total of only 32 backgrounds to create. In my opinion, that's not bad at all, and when I can 'practically' trace the old backgrounds in flash, (if only the stupid characters weren't in the way ) they go by relatively quickly. In that number, I did not include the times when I will need to zoom in on the background to get close up shots, but I only counted a background once, and when it was a far shot.

Oh those 32, I have about ten relatively done, or at least started, and then I have done some work on the intro of the show. Originally, I wanted to redo the music video for the show, the 3 minute video someone created to go along with the full-length version of the opening song, but I may reconsider, or at least, leave it till the end.

Also, I have cast the voice of Gandhi, and can't wait to get a few more people so we can get the script out and start getting those clips back and start animating!

Last, I have added many Mission Hill avatars to the forums, and next up will be Clone High images, you know, to make your forum name that much prettier.