ComiCon 2008

The con was fun as usual, even thought it was a bit crowded. Nothing in particular stood out to me this year, but I did snag a few good books and t-shirts. There's a really great collection of Jules Feiffer comic strips from the Village Voice that Fantagraphics is putting out. The Chowder signing and panel went very well. Thanks to everyone who showed up! We had a lot of great questions and enthusiastic fans.


Here are some Chowder fans waiting in line. Thanks for the drawing Cammiluna!


Some fan art.


Here's me, Tara Strong (Truffles) and Dwight Schultz (Mung).




And here's a little treat we found...

Never leave the con without some Enchanted Wood!!!

Apprentice Games - the big 20!

Tonight's Chowder is another epic half-hour story. It marks 20 episodes that have now aired, and the end of our official first production season! There'll be a break before new ones air, so hold tight. We've got some good ones coming. In the meantime, here are some of the new characters debuting tonight.

We get to meet Ceviché, the apprentice to Paté. You may recognize Paté as the guy who sang "I'm not your boyfriend" on stage in "Chowder's Girlfriend." Well we decided to make him a reoccurring character, and he's a Master Dancer! You'll see more of the two of them in future episodes.


Since the story is about Gorgonzola and Chowder, we felt it was time to see who Gorgonzola studied under. So meet Stilton, the Master Candleholder. He's not much of a role model, but he's all poor Gorgonzola has.


See you all at ComiCon! If you're there, be sure to check us out on Sunday - we've got a signing at 10:30-11:30, then a panel at 1pm. Mung, Chowder, and Shnitzel will be at the panel as well!

Banned From the Stand/ Creme Puff Hands

New Chowder tonight! Only one more after this week, then we'll have aired all of the first 20! Next week's episode is our other half-hour special. More info on that that one soon.

If you're going to the ComiCon next week, be sure to come to the Chowder signing and panel, both on Sunday.

Nick Magazine Biography Comic

For those who didn't get to see it, here's the full version of that two-page comic from Nickelodeon Magazine that ran a few months ago.

Shnitzel Quits

Tonight's episode is a special one - our first full half hour story. What happens when Shnitzel has had enough abuse at Mung's and goes to work for the enemy? This picture should give you a clue. I even make a guest appearance as myself. Then tomorrow there'll be an all day marathon of Chowder from 8 am till 8 pm. Have a fun and safe 4th everyone!

Chowder Bowl

I was just told about this. It was set up at the San Diego Zoo. I have no idea about any other details, but it sure looks cute.

Bluenana / Lead Farfel

There's a new Chowder on tonight. It's a good one. The first half's got Panini; the second half's got Shnitzel. And hopefully this week not everyone will be watching the Laker game while we air.

Let the New Chowders Begin!!

I hope you're all ready for new episodes, because starting this Thursday night, you're going to get two whole months of weekly new episodes! Spread the word and help us get good ratings so we can keep making more! We're still at 8pm Pacific/Eastern. And hang around right after for CN's new animated comedy show, Flapjack.

Plus, the network will finally start airing the puppet segments over the credits! (Not on premiere nights, but in repeats.)

And for those who wonder why the new episodes are being billed as "Second Season," I think that's really more of a promotion thing since there's been such a big break from our first run until this one. The real seasons are every 20 half-hours we produce. Currently we're in the middle of season 2 production.

I'm also told that there's work happening on Chowder DVD's. Stay tuned for more.

Chowder News

Word is officially out that we have our second season pickup. We actually got this a while back, but had to keep mum about it. The network wanted to be able to announce it at the upfronts in April. CN has extended our run to 40 half hours. (The first season was 20, so they gave us 20 more.) We're well into season two and the episodes keep getting funnier and funnier.

It's our monthly new episode premier this Thursday night! In "At Your Service," Mung and Chowder become Endive's servants for the day. This is one of my favorites. Here's a peek at Endive's bathing suit.


In "Chowder & Mr. Fugu," Chowder is forced to spend the day chaperoning the catering company's most valuable customer around town. Mr. Fugu is a balloon man, and his valet, Foie Gras, is a "Lucky Cat." If you listen carefully, you'll notice that Foie Gras is voiced by George Takei.



The good news is that starting soon, there'll be a whole slew of Chowders premiering every week. So be ready!

Chromeo

Here's a band a friend of mine turned me on to. It's pure 80's fun and they know it. Give in and enjoy.



"Bonafide Lovin" - a nod to the "Money for Nothing" video.


"Needy Girl"


"I am Somebody" - This is actually a DJ Mehdi song featuring Chromeo. 30 points if you know where the vocal sample comes from.

Nickelodeon Magazine

I did a two page comic for this month's Nickelodeon Magazine. They asked me to write a short biography about my career path and how I got a cartoon show. Here's a little sample:



In a month or two I'll put the full version up.

Guest Voices

We've been lucky to have some really talented guest voices on the show. This week's episode is no exception. In "The Heavy Sleeper," Tone Loc stars as Chestnut, a tiny fella who lives in the city and collects whatever junk he finds lying around. Tone has the deepest voice of any man I've ever met, and he's super nice as well! We like this character a lot, so be ready to see him in future episodes.


In the second episode, "The Moldy Touch," Jon Polito stars as Funjl, a mischevious mold pixie. I've been a big fan of Jon's work from the Coen bothers' movies, and he was great to work with.


Be sure to watch the new episode this Thursday at 8pm pacific on Cartoon Network.

New Chowder Next Thursday!

Here's a scene I boarded from next week's episode called "The Heavy Sleeper." Click them to get a better view.


Edit: I was mistaken. It's not this week. It's next week.

More New Chowders

It'll be a few weeks before another new episode airs, so please be patient. We've got a lot more Chowder coming. I promise.

And yes, there are a few really special Panini and Gorgonzola stories we're working on. One is a full half-hour called "The Apprentice Games." That should give you some idea of what to expect.

New Chowder. New Night. New Time.

Finally! March 6th, this Thursday night at 8pm Pacific.
This will be our new night from now on. Viva la Thursdays!

Radda Radda Doily

What more needs to be said. Someone please buy it.

Lightspeed Champion

This is my new favorite album from Dev Hynes, ex-guitarist of the Test Icicles. It's a bittersweet ride from start to finish.


"Midnight Surprise"
A 9 minute opus of heartache.


"Tell Me What It's Worth"
Watch the signs.


"Galaxy of the Lost"

Happy Valentine's!

Hope everyone has some love and chocolate today. And what better way to spend this evening than with Chowder and Panini! The two characters (as puppets) will be hosting an evening of cartoons. Check your local listings to be sure.

EDIT: Sorry to get anyone's hopes up abut a new episode. Keep hanging on. The new ones will begin trickling out soon.

Kitty Sneezes Interview

Here's a fun interview I did for a nice cartoonist named Joe Meyer.

More Puppets

We deliver every episode to the network with a 30 second skit over the end credits, but sadly they never run them. The network thinks the puppets will turn kids off the show. Luckily, we're still getting to make them. Maybe someday you'll get to see them all. In the meantime, here are some photos to look at.

Chowder Patterns

I really love seeing all the fan art that's out there. We've printed out a bunch and put them up around the office. So I thought I'd post the actual patterns that we use for Chowder's outfit. Feel free to use them to keep making more great art.


Here's a quick way to apply them with Photoshop:
- select a big chunk of the pattern, then "copy" it
- with the magic wand, select the areas you want to fill in
- paste in the pattern

New Chowder Episodes

You may have noticed there wasn't a new episode this week even though it had been advertised. I'm sad, too. There may not be any new episodes airing for a little while. I think the network wants to hold them so they can do a longer run of new ones, rather than in short spurts. I can't say much else except to hang on patiently. We've got some really, really good ones coming up.

In the meantime, here's an absolutely incredible Chowder short made by a very talented fan, AnimateEd. Be sure to give him some love. He obviously worked very hard on it.

New Chowder this Week!

Friday night at 7pm Pacific. Our time slot has officially changed (for some unknown reason, they changed us just 2 months into our run). The first story in this week's show, called The Puckerberry Overlords, was boarded by Billy & Mandy creator Maxwell Atoms! Chowder gets sucked into his own mouth when he eats a super sour fruit and must fight for freedom. It's a bit darker and weirder than the usual stories. I hope you dig it!

In the second story, The Elemelons, we get some special Truffles time. Truffles' temper gets her locked in a cage with some unruly fruit beasts, and the only way out is to discover her softer side. I see a theme in this week's show - being trapped! This half-hour should be the first of 5 new episodes in a row, taking us to our initial run of 13 half-hours. Season 1 was extended to 20 half-hours, so there'll be plenty more to come.

WonderCon

If anyone is planning to go to Wondercon in San Francisco next month, stop by and say hi. I'll be doing a Chowder signing and panel (along with a sneak peek screening) on Saturday the 23rd. I'll post all the details when I get them.

Shnitzel FAQ

So to ring in the new year, I thought I'd take a few minutes to answer some questions about Shnitzel.

Q: What is he?
A: He's a big, strong rock monster. His job is to help lift and move stuff, along with other grunt work, around the kitchen.

Q: Why a rock monster?
A: Well, here's a little history on him. Shnitzel originally began as a drawing I did in the late 90's as an exercise to see if I could clean up a character in Adobe Illustrator. I was even going to try and animate him in Flash, so I did alternate pieces of him. Back then he was called "Tapiocaca." He was supposed to be sort of like a big rock tiki monster that was always on fire. I even made a cool logo for him. Well I didn't really do anything with him after that, but I still liked the design. So when I was forming the world of Chowder, he seemed like a good fit. I like to think of him as a living menhir from the Asterix comics.

Q: What're all the lines in his pattern supposed to be?
A: The idea is that he's covered with scratches and grooves from all the abuse he's taken over the years. In the pilot (Froggy Apple Crumple Thumpkin) his pattern is swirly. But I felt it looked too much like hair, so I changed the lines to straight criss-crosses.

Here's a very early scribble of Shnitzel from 2000. He was a bit stubbier and didn't have his apron yet.

Here's the way to construct him now.

Q: Why does he have ears?
A: To hear things.

Q: Why does he have chest hair?
A: Because he's a MAN, and real men have chest hair.

Q: Why "Radda radda"?
A: It sounded funny. No real reason. Casting for his part was surreal - Hearing dozens upon dozen of actors saying those words then trying to decide just from some gibberish.

Q: Who does his voice?
A: In the pilot, he was voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson. But Kevin was unavailable when we started the series, so John DiMaggio (Bender on Futurama) jumped in and saved us, doing an amazing job.

Q: Will he ever say anything other than "Radda radda"?
A: I'd rather he didn't. It's like asking if Chewbacca will ever speak English. You can pretty much say he won't, but you don't want to rule out any weird alternate universes or anything.

Q: Is it hard to write a character that speaks in gibberish?
A: The key is context. If other characters repeat back what he said then you'll always know what's going on. Like if he says "Radda radda radda," Mung says "No, we can't chuck him in the furnace!" It gets really hard if he's alone and you have no characters to translate for him.

Q: Is he married?
A: Originally in my head he was. He had a wife that we'd never see, like Norm's Vera on Cheers. But it never came up and didn't really give us anything to add to his character. Plus it's more fun to think of him as the swinging bachelor. So he's definitely single.

Q: Will we ever see his private life?
A: I like his life outside of work to remain a mystery. He's the guy that clocks in, does his job, and goes home. He doesn't share a lot of personal info. Occasionally we'll get glimpses. Like in Gazpacho Stands Up when we saw him doing stand up comedy and he was horrified to be caught by Mung and the rest.

Q: Why does he stay with Mung, Truffles, and Chowder if they make his life hard?
A: They're like his family. Your family can drive you crazy, but they still love you. We're making a special half-hour episode right now that answers that very question. Watch for it in about a year.

So that's it. I'll put up some more history and early doodles on the characters soon. Happy new year!

Chowder is in TV Guide this Week

And they seem to like us! I, however, never won an Emmy.

A Real Life Mung Daal

Or Papa Smurf... your choice. Yes, he's real. Watch the CNN video.

Urinal Bonanza

Here's a funny three-minute movie made by a good friend of mine, Kevin Kramer. It's rated PG-13, so all you kids out there better not watch it. Kevin has written a few Chowder outlines and you'll see his name pop up in the credits occasionally, like in last week's Taste of Marzipan episode.

Mahjongg Night

This Friday night's Chowder episode is a very personal one. I wanted to do this story from the moment I pitched the show. Every Tuesday night since I was a little kid, my mom would gather with four of her friends and play Mahjongg, a Chinese tile game that's sort of like bridge. (Jewish women love it!) Four play at once, one rotates out each hand.

Each week, the ladies gather at a different person's house, and the hostess serves up yummy snacks for the rest. So when it came to our house, my mom would set out goodies that we rarely got to have (candies and such). She made egg salad too, and while I'm told it's awesome, I'm not terribly partial to egg salad. Of course, I'd get a handful of peanut M&M's then be banished from the kitchen as they played. As I laid in bed, I could hear the clacking of the tiles and a stream of expletives as the women yelled at each other for taking their money. They weren't big rollers. I think they usually played for something like 35 cents a game, and a big winner would walk away with $5 for the night.

So when you watch it, think of chubby little me, dozing off to the thoughts of chocolate while the sounds of "You bitch! You took my money!" ring in my ears.

(And yes, Truffles is based on my mom. She doesn't really have the accent, but everyone is actually scared of her. And she's tiny.)


(Some random women having their own Mahjongg night. This is what it looks like for real. Notice the snacks on the table!)

Truffles Chases Shnitzel

This was shot in Atlanta when they dressed up for Halloween. It's pretty incredible, even if it is just a loop. Yet every time they pass, it just gets funnier to me. I can swear Truffles comes closer and closer to catching him. Benny Hill music and fast forward makes everything better.

Chowder Cake

Here's a cake Atlanta sent us as a congrats on premiere day. I think it helped. We've been getting really strong ratings since we hit the air and we keep growing. Thanks to everyuone who's watching!



And check out this awesome Chowder fan site made by Tyler K! You'll find art and info from this and other blogs collected there, along with news and forums. Give it a look! Chowder Zone

What is Chowder?

Everyone's been asking "What the heck is Chowder? Is he a cat?" Not exactly.
He's a cat, bear, rabbit... thingie. And so is Panini.
I hope that clears things up.

And yes, his nipples are big. The board guys started drawing him that way and it kind of stuck. Be prepared.

Fred Fredburger Sighting Tonight

The Billy & Mandy/ Kids Next Door crossover airs tonight at 7 pm (pacific) on Cartoon Network. Fred has a cameo in it. I haven't seen the finished version, but I hear it turned out great. Give it a watch if you like either show.

Chowder is a "Throw-Away Series"

Why do I get a giddy delight out of the bad reviews? I dunno. Everyone is very much entitled to their opinion. Here's a fellow from my old college giving his two-cents on Chowder. When I went to school there, I worked at the Daily Texan as a cartoonist from '91-'94. I think the people writing for it were just as cynical back then. Gotta love college students.

"All in all, 'Chowder' is pretty much a throwaway series in an endless string of mediocre cartoons. The animation is nothing special - although the colors are a little trippy - , the dialogue is cliché kids show speak save for a few adult references, and the stories are the same contrived ones we've seen over and over again. It is cute, however, which is more than can be said for a lot of today's cartoons. It might interest your nieces and nephews, but until Chowder gets embroiled in controversy via a sex tape or a crack addiction, very few others will care."

The Daily Texan

Oh, and University of Texas, you can stop calling me for money now, please.

I Got Red Ringed!

As thousands upon thousands of xbox 360 owners have discovered, the system is very prone to failure. Well as of this weekend, count me in as one of those thousands. The darn thing went kaput and I got the dreaded red ring of death! So it'll be at least a month and a half before I get a working one back from Microsoft. And just as I was getting into the new Katamari!

Speaking of Katamari, there's a big homage to my favorite rolling game in this week's Chowder. Watch it! Friday night at 7:30 Pacific!

We Made It!

Well we finally got the show on the air! I wasn't sure we we going to make it for a while there. A big thanks to everyone who helped make the show possible and to everyone who watched. If you missed it, don't worry. CN will be re-running it everyday. Seriously. And there'll be a new episode premiering next Friday at the same time. So keep watching.

Here are some early reviews of the show, good and bad:

The Hollywood Reporter

Toonzone

Animation Insider

The New York Times (I don't think this person watches too many cartoons)