About four years ago my friend Mike created a company and hired me before he hired himself.
He had dreams of becoming successful enough to be eccentric and crazy.
Eccentricly successful enough to move the company to a giant yacht. “I’m never going to work on a boat” I told him, but I never said he couldn’t some day have his boat.
It’s four years later and paying employees to do things is expensive. As Expensive as a boat. Many reasons have come and gone and sadly and we’re working on our last project before the doors close.
We’re building a desktop Mac/PC game that’s been pretty fun to work on. I’ve been animating shot cartoons with the characters to build some awareness of Nertopia. But we still need some money to not just finish it. But make it complete and fun and super crazy. I made a Trailer for the game so far.
We’d like to take it further of course. Mike is in the process of doing all the things a business-person does to keep his business alive until the end. One such way is an IndieGoGo campaign. We’re offering a chance to be in the game, art books and many other perks.
It’s hard to work on a last project. With some sales we may come back from the dead. Until then, looking for help to keep going just a bit longer to complete our Nerdtopia.
I always wanted to be the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Not just make something like it or work on a sequel. Or even go back in time and be in the movie. No, I wanted it to be my life, at least once a week. But it was never really a thing available at the job fair… so I never went to the job fair. I went to animation school instead.
I never wanted to go to Disneyland or World. In spite of what you think… none of your favorite characters are there. Not one. There are very tall versions of adorable little creatures. Sweaty overheated teens in giant helmets. There are actual humans pretending to be Jasmin and Aladdin. Those two characters happen to be very nicely designed human “characters”… not regular people from the real world. So why would I want to go there and lie to myself? I’ve always thought oversized mascot versions of cartoon characters are offensive to a child’s imagination. I know what they look like on TV and they don’t look like cheap felt full of neck-holes. Cartoons have life in their eyes… plastic googly eyes do not.
Now I’m sure there are hologram versions of the cartoons there now. Which might give me a reason to one day go to Disneyland for a few minutes. Not for the rides or people in costumes. The promise of a “Toon Town” made it more interesting many years ago. But it still looked like over sized hard plastic version of squashy stretchy cartoon life. No. I wated something different.
I’m not insane or a clown posse. I never believed that Bob Hoskins got to meet any of the characters. I understood there was a process and I wanted in on that process. I watched the making of videos and learned that it was actually very complicated. But I still wanted to power to cross dimensions.
I’ve made several short animations where I interact with imaginary creatures. It’s fun but there are a few extra steps. It’s definitely not as complicated as the making of Roger Rabbit, but my computer still does not do all the work.
Recently I launched my web Show, Morning Everybody, which I try to post every Thursday. The goal of this show was to eventually afford the time to hang out with imaginary characters. As much as that is the deluded dream of a 7 year old. It can also be the auspicious dream of a 37 year old. Mostly I talk to the camera and I am usually to warn out from drawing/creating at work to do it some more at night. But this week…
This week I did. And next week I’ll do it again. And one day going to “work” will involve setting up my gear and talking to myself. Then animating the things I Pretended to talk to.
Welcome to episode 36: Everything is a Contest or a Talent Show. In this Episode I talk to the animated soul of my dead cat as we try to win a contest together. All While I live next to my new neighbors who I could hear through the walls saying, “He’s talking to himself, No he is. He’s talking to himself. He’s just talking… to himself.”
Please enjoy what watching what my neighbors could only hear.
I’ve been animating shot cartoons with the characters to build some awareness of Nertopia. But we still need some money to not just finish it. But make it complete and fun and super crazy. I made a Trailer for the game so far.
No Such Thing as Grown Ups 
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