SpongeBob is Everywhere

You may have noticed that SpongeBob has been popping up even more than usual over the past few weeks. It's because the show recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary. Say what you will of the yellow sponge, but you can't deny his popularity. People (kids especially) LOVE SpongeBob. VH1 recently debuted a documentary special "Square Roots: The Story of SpongeBob Squarepants", Nickelodeon aired a 50-hour marathon last weekend, and Nick Mag currently has an "Ultimate SpongeBob Issue" on news stands. The Atlantic also recently published a great article called SpongeBob's Golden Dream which I think does a unique job of putting everything in perspective.

I posted some spongy thoughts on my blog as well. And I wanted to take this post to highlight some great SpongeBob art.

Sherm Cohen is an amazingly talented cartoonist who worked on the show in the early days as a writer, storyboard artist, and director. His artwork frequents the covers of Nick Mag, and he's one of the best SpongeBob artists around in my opinion. He just posted a bunch of illustrations he did for the Village Voice (posts 1 and 2) a few years back that are some of the best SpongeBob imagery I've seen outside of the show. Here are a few favorites:



And then there are the often sick and twisted drawings of Robertryan Cory. About a month ago he started posting production art from the show on his Flickr account and he keeps adding to it. He seems to be tasked with the more elaborate, exaggerated, grotesque, and cartoony drawings needed in the show. They are some of my favorite drawings PERIOD as of late, and definitely worth your attention.




You may be annoyed by his laugh, you may be tempted to label the shows overly hyper-active, and you may be sick of all the merchandising (I love this camera), but now that the show has been on for over a decade, I think it's a good time to reflect on the phenomenon that is SpongeBob. A character like this only comes around once a generation (once a century, even—I would easily qualify SpongeBob as the new Mickey Mouse). From The Atlantic article:

...the SquarePants writers are interested in stories, even in lessons. Again and again, a kind of innocence triumphs—over fear, over snobbery, and over skepticism.

Trotting along bright-hearted, laughing his spray-on headache of a laugh, he will not succumb to complication. His corner of the world is all levity. Embrace him, drained adult. Where you see his little yellow flag, salute it; it’s a sign of life.

Here's to that!

SpongeBob © 2009 Viacom International Inc. All rights reserved. NICKELODEON, SpongeBob SquarePants, and all related titles, logos, and characters are trademarks of Viacom International Inc. SpongeBob Created by Stephen Hillenburg.

Ira Glass on Storytelling (x4!!)

via Flooby Nooby

On the basics...



On finding great stories...



On good taste...



On two common pitfalls...

Sports, in 3-D!

via Wired


Having a hard time getting into Fenway Park? Have you always wanted to see the Superbowl or World Cup? TV not quite cutting it for you? Why not try watching...in 3-D?

"Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban gave a presentation to the FCC about the future of digital media, and his number one point ...was that people will be able to go to a movie theater and watch a major sporting event in 3-D...It truly is a different experience from seeing a game on 2-D television. It's not like seeing it live, either, but something different and interesting. As the Pace folks explained, for instance, they discovered that constant cutting to different shots -- a TV staple -- isn't necessary in 3-D. It seems better to let the camera take in the full-court action. Viewers feel a little like they're watching from halfway up the arena seats."

Apparently the technology is almost there...we're likely to see experiments in the next couple of years. Cool, huh?

Wobbly Land

via Drawn



Wobblyland is a new show for toddlers created by Ireland's Brown Bag Films.

FANTASTIC!

FVTV

In the future, a children's media company will launch an internet television channel that will forever alter the fabric of space and time as we know it. While the rest of civilization battles off dinobots, mutant gerbils, and global deepfreeze, the creative minds at FableVision break through the airwaves with FVTV to save humanity. Stories that will matter, stories that will move. The year is 2008...the future is now!

Anyone wanna make some cartoons?

Schulz on American Masters

I just caught a preview of a documentary on Charles Schulz to be featured on the PBS series American Masters. It's called "Good Ol' Charles Schulz" and will air on WGBH on October 29 at 9:00. Here's the press release:

This is a quintessentially Midwestern story of an unassuming, self-doubting man who, through expressing his unique view of the world, redefined the comic art form with "Peanuts." His genius lay in depicting the daily collisions of insiders and outsiders, of mundane cruelties and transcendent hopes - seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary. The "Peanuts" cast of characters is as familiar as our own siblings; their trials and tribulations speak of our families and evoke our childhood desperations. They are portrayed with whimsy and poignancy - and always with love and tolerance, each representing different facets of Schulz' personality and his perspectives on 20th-century America.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Thirteen/WNET New York

Yo Gabba Gabba!

Some of you might be familiar with this new show on Nick Jr, Yo Gabba Gabba! Just when you thought TV couldn't get any more sugary sweet! Anyone seen it? I made it through 15 minutes and had to take a break from stimulus overload. Here's a good article to read at PRINT magazine online. A lot of talented artists and musicians are contributing some amazingly creative stuff for the show.

UPDATE: Cold Hard Flash has video clips of a couple animations for the show by Nick Cross and Joel Trussel.

Kid Nation

Anyone catch Kid Nation tonight on CBS? The show has gotten a lot of buzz, both good and bad. Basically, it's 40 kids put in an abandoned ghost town out in the desert for 40 days to fend for themselves. Lord of the Flies ring a bell? They have to build the town and make it work without adults telling them what to do. Some of the negatives have been that it's cruel to put kids this age in such a stressful and emotional situation. They didn't even screen it with critics, choosing instead to show it to schools all over the country today before tonight's airing. But after a first viewing, while there was a lot of crying, I thought it was cool to see kids taking charge of their own lives. And amazed by how serious and profound kids can be, more-so than your average adults (or maybe that was just the editing?). The kids are also allowed to leave if they want to. The producers have set up a framework with class structures and breaking up the towns into four sects--plus they appointed a team of 4 leaders. I'll have to see a couple more episodes to make an official call, but it's definitely an interesting show, even in the wake of controversy.

UPDATE: There will be an encore presentation of the premiere on Saturday, September 22, 8pm in case you missed it. You can in fact view it online in full as well. Also, Salon.com has a decent review of the show.