A Chowder/Grim crossover! In Spanish!

Comic Con Roundup

(Pendleton Ward, Thurop van Orman, and me with no beard)

The CN panel and signing went great. While we weren't really allowed to talk about what's been going on here or what our future is, we had a great time connecting with the fans. I saw some familiar faces from past cons and met some awesome people who made incredible Chowder costumes. It was also exciting to see all the enthusiasm for Flapjack and Adventure Time as well. There's still love out there for silly cartoons!

I'm not one to usually go to panels (I like just walking the floor and looking at the people and stuff for sale), but I knew I'd regret it terribly if I didn't see the Mighty Boosh panel. And man, it didn't disappoint. Those guys were a little taken back by the fan love. I think the girl screaming was topped only by the Twilight panel. Plus I got to sit up front in the VIP chairs! Working at CN finally pays off!!

Comicon Time!

Well it's summer and that means one thing - ANTS!!! We've got them swarming in the house. So I suppose the only thing I can do is head down to San Diego to escape. Lucky for me Comicon is happening this weekend.

If you're down there, be sure to come to the Twilight panel. I hear Robert Pattinson will be on it!!! He's so dreamy!!! Oh and if you can't get in to that, then come to the Cartoon Network comedy cartoon panel. You'll see myself, Thurop VanOrman (creator of Flapjack), and Pendleton Ward (creator of Adventure Time), along with various actors and writers of said shows. It should be fun for all! And there'll be a signing afterwards. But since CN didn't want to pay for a booth this year, they're doing some weird raffle for the signing line. Apparently you have to be there Thursday morning to get tickets to go to the signing since we have limited time and space. I dunno. It's all so confusing.

CN comedy animation panel
Room 6-A
Thursday 4:15
Signing afterwards

**Double check your guidebook to make sure this is all correct!

See you there!

New Time Slot - 7:30

I just found out that we're in a new time slot beginning this week - 7:30 pm Thursday. So be sure to readjust your schedule! This is our third time change since we began, for those of you keeping count.

Unused Chowder Idea

Monkey & Parrot

Welcome to the new CN!

As I sit here on an empty floor of an empty building looking at all the empty animation offices, I can at least put this on endless loop for some comfort.

The Dinner Theatre

This week's episode was supposed to be promoted as a special, so I figure at least I could get the word out. It's a half-hour story about the catering company putting on a mystery dinner theater show. Waiting for Guffman was a big inspiration. I love that film so much, probably because I had so many crazy theater friends in high school.

This is one of those episodes where nothing actually happens. I always like those kind of stories - the much ado about nothings. They're harder to write but give you more time for little character bits; like Shntizel standing in line at a bank, or the cast from Evil Con Carne stuck in traffic on their way to a heist. I want to give a big thanks to Bill Reiss for making it turn out so well.

And also a very big thanks to the crew of the show. They've been friends of mine since we worked on Billy & Mandy and it's sad to be laying them all off. Each week there's fewer and fewer of us left. It's rare when you get work with people you really like, and I'm grateful for having that for the last seven years at CN. I hope we all get to work together again soon!

Early Endive & Panini Designs

Here's some art from the original Chowder pitch I brought to Cartoon Network. Both characters changed pretty radically once the series began. Endive had a physical change, but Panini had a total rethinking. In fact, she was originally named Borlotti (a type of bean.) The first version of her design had pointy ears, but that didn't fit with the rounded, soft feel of the rest of the characters. She also had an outfit where only her face poked through.

In this stage, she was kind of mean and I thought of her as someone who would take advantage of Chowder to her own ends. She seemed like an Angelica from Rugrats. But then I realized I don't like those kind of characters. She needed to be cuter and sweeter. Once I figured out she'd have a crush on him, everything about her made sense. Not being of the age yet where he's into girls, she would cause Chowder plenty of consternation, but in a more fun way. And the new name seemed to suit her better.

Endive's character stayed pretty much the same, but became more of a triangle shape. The long nose was always there and was supposed to represent the way she would look down her nose at everyone. It was great to see her personality evolve naturally over the course of the series, especially when written by William Reiss. Now it's crazy trying to imagine if the two of them had stayed like this.

Jay Bastian

When I came to CN on the Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, I was lucky to work on a show with a great crew. But the show also had another great element, Jay Bastian. Jay was our executive in Atlanta, and I don’t think there could have been a bigger supporter of the show. Billy and Mandy had a lot of opposition over the years, and I know that Jay stuck his neck out for it again and again. Upon meeting Jay and the rest of the executives in charge of CN’s original series, I was impressed by how much they genuinely loved animation and the people who made it.

Jay was one of the first people I pitched Chowder to. The first thing he said was, “It looks young.” But the next thing he said was, “It’s you, so I’m sure it’ll be awesome (and wrong).” When the time came for Chowder to begin, I was thrilled to find out that Jay would be the executive in charge of the show. He never gave notes for the sake of giving notes to justify his job. His notes were his gut feelings. He didn’t approach his job as an executive – he approached it as a fan of the series. He always pushed us to do better, letting us figure out our own solutions rather than dictating exactly what he wanted. He respected the artists and that’s rare. His list of credits runs far and wide across the last 11 years of CN.

Anyone who knows Jay knows he has three favorite movies: Star Wars, Jaws, and Indiana Jones. Anytime Jay had a story problem in one of our episodes, he’d invariably compare it to one of those movies for reference. Always. Without fail. So here’s a drawing I made for him, merging two of his great loves.



(I probably should've made Truffles into Yoda and Ceviche into R2-D2.)

I’ve been spoiled and it’ll be hard working with anyone else. I hope that Jay and I can work together again sometime soon. And like the Golden Girls said, "Thank you for being a friend."

Watch Chowder Tonight!

8 pm Eastern, Monday through Thursday.

And if you need more proof that we're not a part of CN's future, take a look at this page.



No mention of Chowder or Flapjack in the summer shows. And you can't say it's just new shows they're promoting, because Clone Wars has been on, Flicks has been on, and Total Drama Action is a sequel to an existing show. There's a sea change afoot and we're getting swept under.

But at least we get to premiere all new episodes until the end of the year! And they're really good ones. We hit a great stride second season. So do enjoy!

Chowder Re-Premieres June 1st!

We'll be back with all new episodes starting Monday, June 1st. In fact, we're starting with a mini marathon - a new episode premieres every night that week at 8pm (Pacific) through Thursday. Then we'll be part of all new Thursdays every week for quite a while.

In one of the stories we see Mung as a young apprentice and meet his cranky cooking master, Lo Mein.

Chowder Grows Up

We're working on the last Chowder episode and it's looking to be a really good one. I wanted to make sure know you how everyone's lives ended up, so we're doing a special half-hour story set twenty years in the future. Best of all, you get to meet the kid who becomes Chowder's apprentice! It was actually an idea I had from the very beginning to pull a Dragonball Z, where the series jumps to the future and we follow the next generation.

We don't know if there'll be any more Chowders after this one, so we have to assume this is the end until we hear otherwise. As I was told, CN doesn't cancel shows, they just don't renew them. This summer could change things if ratings are really good. We premiere in June, but I have no idea what week, and I was told there'll be minimal advertising before the re-launch. If we do well, it'll be thanks to the dedicated fans, not the network.

More Chowder Shirts

First of all, thank you to everyone who donated or bid on the art. It was very successful and everything will mailed out asap. There were a few pieces that didn't get any bids, and we might put those back up.

Here are a couple more of the Chowder shirts available at Hot Topic, modeled by Jay Bastian's enthusiastic children. There are some really nice Flapjack shirts available as well.

Charity Auction

We've got an art auction up on ebay to help raise money for the Team in Training triathlon I mentioned a few weeks ago. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research and providing education and patient services.

Both Maxwell Atoms, creator of The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, and Mr. Warburton, creator of Codename Kids Next Door, graciously donated awesome art. I've put up some original Chowder drawings as well. If you're a fan of any of these shows it wold be worth checking out the auction. And if you can't get the art but can donate a little to help Joanne reach her goal, that would be greatly appreciated as well.

Ebay auction link!

Here's a preview of the artwork.

Hot Topic

Look! Invader Zim Shirts!!!! At Hot Topic!!! Finally!!!!


Oh, and Chowder shirts too. For the ladies only. But don't worry boys, I've been told there'll be Kimchi shirts for you soon.

Chowder Returns This Week!

Thursday night will premiere a new episode titled "The Party Cruise." Mung just wants to go fishing but ends up on a cruise ship piloted by Reuben. It was boarded by Chris Reccardi and William Reiss.


You might have seen the press releases of the new shows coming to Cartoon Network. There's a big shift in what this network will be next year, and we don't know if we'll still be a part of it. There will be new Chowders airing until the end of the year, but right now we're winding down production. People get laid off starting at the end of next week. We could still be picked up, but it would be hard to reassemble the crew in its current form. If this really is the end, then it's been a good run and we've had a lot of fun. I hope you all continue to enjoy the show.



EDIT: This will be the only week with a new Chowder episode until June. We'll be back soon with lots of goodness.

Batman Adventures : TURDFOOT!

When I'm out walking my dog, he has a habit of doing the butt scoot when he poops. That's where he slowly walks forward as poops come out, like he's an asphalt machine laying pavement. One day as he was laying his stinky asphalt, he stepped in an older turd left by some other dog. It stuck to his foot like a big turd shoe.


Needless to say he got a good hosing down before he was let back in the house.

Team In Training

A friend of mine is participating in Team in Training, an organization that raises money for Lukemia and Lymphona research and services. She's been working hard but still needs some donations to meet her goal. I know no one has a ton of money right now, but if each person who reads this, each person who buys a cup of coffee or a smoothie or a donut each day gave $5 (tax-deductible!) her goal could be reached in no time. It's a very worth-while cause. Very few of us get to feel like heroes, but this is actually a way in which you can help save a life, make someone's day a little easier, and make someone's struggle a bit less daunting.

Here's a link to her page.

We're also gathering some original artwork to be auctioned on ebay. I'll post those auctions as soon as they're up.

I hope that you can donate. Whether or not you can, I hope you will pass this information on to others who may be able to.

Thanks to those who've already given. I really do appreciate it.

Chowder DVD Vol.2

It's out now and has the next 5 half-hours on it! In the original widescreen format, I'm told!

Here are the episodes:
The Wrong Address & The Wrong Customer
Burple Nurples & Shnitzel Makes a Deposit
Gazpacho Stands Up & A Taste of Maripan
The Puckerberry Overlords & The Elemelons
Sniffleball & Mung on the Rocks