Making a cartoon.

[Drewbacca]

Alright, I've taken on the insurmountable task of animating, directing, writing and producing my own cartoon. I haven't decided on a name, and I'm pretty sure the animation style I'll be striving for will be higher quality. I'm not sure what I'm doing, as I have very minimal knowledge of flash (Not none), but that's not going to stop me, despite going against my previous sentence. It's something I've wanted to do for awhile, and I realize that it's a ton of work, but I'm committing my evenings and spare time to it. I'm eventually planning on getting into the animation feild (2 and 3 D) so it's a good way to brush up on my drawing and animation skills before I spend money on it.

Anyway, a lot of people around here watch cartoons and know what they like. I personally love Futurama, some people swear by Family Guy, and others don't stray further than Simpsons seasons 1 - 8. So give me some pitfalls to avoid in writing and animation.

Thanks in advance.

[AstroBlue]

If it's anything like Chilly Beach, you've failed.

[Revoltor]

If it's anything like Joystick Adventures, you've failed.

Good luck anyway.

[jleverett]

How is that movie coming, I know that it is hard to work with flash but once you figure out what your doing it is really fun. I took it in school and loved it!!! Good Luck!

[Jeremy]

My experience with making a cartoon - Fun, but hard. I had to make a quick one during a course in middle school, and while it was hard work, it was quite fun. I forget which program I used to create it though.

[Drewbacca]

It's nothing like Chilli Beach or Joystick Adventures (which was a comic strip). I've taken one course in Flash so I'm not totally in the dark. I'm a guy with a flashlight that's low on batteries. I know one of the founding members of Chilli Beach, he taught me Flash. But I find the art style in Chilli Beach to be poor and the character designs even moreso. It isn't really all that funny to me, because it seems like it's just going through the motions to get a joke (look how unexpected or goofy this is) instead of trying to tell a decent story.

We'll see.

I already inputted one of the main character into Flash and he looks spot on like he should (line thickness and all) so I'm off to a good start.

[arjue]

For some real help, you'd probably have to be more specific.

[Drewbacca]

I guess so, but there're always things in The Simpsons or cartoons that you hate. I've already decided to make it unique, and not in the artistic style of shows like The Brak Show or Sealab. Anyway, I guess there's not much to say right now.

[Mzo]

The best advice I could give is to focus on something you've already mentioned: the importance of the story.

Even more important, though, are your characters. You could have one-dimensional emotional cut-outs that pratfall and say totally random shit to make people laugh, or you could give them a heart. Make people identify with them. If you're looking for examples from the cartoons you've listed, look at Homer in early Simpsons, before he became a useless trash ape like the father in Family Guy who's name I don't even remember (or care about), or Fry in Futurama. Some of my favorite episodes are when you find out how Homer got his job after Maggie's birth (Do it for her), or the Luck of the Fryrish in Futurama. Fry and Homer are idiots, but deep down they have good intentions, and you want them to do well. I have the same subtle emotional investment in some other Simpsons characters (again, early seasons) and basically the entire cast of Futurama because they're just very well-written.

Yeah, easier said than done.

[Drewbacca]

I totally agree and that's something I want to get out there in the beginning. I'm not going to make them just say stuff randomly for humour, because humour is at its best with drama and vice versa, and the early Simpsons did both extremely well. If they did something off the wall, it made some facet of sense. I understand these concepts, so I think I'm off to a good start. I'm going to make a list, a sort of mission statement of things I want to accomplish. One is to develop characters that have their own ways, two is to never compromise a character or situation with random shit just to get off a cheap joke, and the third is that when I do off the wall shit it has to fit the bill with the show, like a satire of something.

I think the best thing on the Simpson commentaries I heard in the lower seasons was that Homer was lazy, idiotic, and rash. But when he liked something or loved something he went all out for it the best he could (his family, beer, donuts, etc.) That's something you don't see in the newer seasons. They sacrifice integrity and character for cheap jokes. Also the jokes go on way too much.

Ya, this is going to be hard to do, but I'm committed.