Short of suggesting that the cartoonist have the cartoon brand as a game where the licensee can insert their company’s logo in-game….

It’s possible to syndicate a particular comic strip title (or just licensing a single strip) and having user generate content.
It is being applied on Garfield and Dilbert. On Garfield you can create your own Garfield comic. Dilbert goes one step further (or backward, however you think of it) by allowing the user to come up with just the punchline at the last panel.

As for animation… imagine Joe’s Diner licensing one Family Pants cartoon, putting it on their site for visitors to write or record their catchiest punchline for the cartoon, and then offering a special deluxe dinner for the voted winner each month!

And electronic greeting cards a form of syndicated animation are they not?

Licensing animation is much more appealing if the licensees can personalize t in particular ways. Display their business name, drawing visitors with new content, getting visitors to patronize their business yet again.

Visit this video (time 2:30) to see how Disney personalized an entire video from user-generated info.

http://helpmybusiness.com/2009/01/episode-40-of-help-my-business-sucks-disneys-new-marketing-magic-how-to-price-your-products-a-tool-to-help-keep-track-of-your-websites-and-a-big-lesson-from-top-gear/

Be sure to visit http://sun7news.com/spread.php to see the actual form. I hope that inspires you to something similar for Family Pants.

(btw, the link to your Family Pants video is going to my practically naked youtube account!)

“…pretty tired and neither of us has the energy anymore to want to deal with the latest moves made in the industry. Between the shift in broadcasters’ more aggressive approach to CRTC regulations and a quite sudden and surprising shift back to Asian studios last year…”

More “numbers”. The people above Collideascope want more money, so they go to a cheaper bidder. Who can blame them? Hey, I shop at Walmart because it’s cheaper. But unfortunately, Walmart doesn’t treat their employees so well, which is why their prices are low.

The good and bad of the “numbers” depend on where you’re sitting; the higher ups, or the animators at Collideascope. All political affiliations come to this one question: What’s better for an economy; favoring the higher ups, who GIVE jobs or favoring the lower downs who NEED jobs? The two sides are at ends of a see-saw. Can government balance the two? Or can it only be fixed if both sides work together, regardless of government play? In US history, WWII was such an event to bring all three sides together. Short from world war III, what event needs to happen today to bring all sides together? And equally important, has it really come to that?!

I don’t pretend to know it all when it comes to politics. I’ve gotten into near fist fights with friends about it. But in light of recent US economic woes, I keep looking for someone to offer fixes without fixing blame and simply routing for their team.

I hear you on the business thing. I work in a corporate environment where it all comes down to the numbers. I’m not a fan of the stockholder equation. Long gone are the days of the small business owners back when reviews were a pat on the back and “keep up the good work.”

I’m not sure if you’ve seen this website but it’s niiiiice: http://www.collideascope-animation.blogspot.com/

Thanks again!

There are other edits of the Blair book, where large sections are cut out. Originally, I believe, it was a series of 20 page books. But that above link is the collection of everything.

Haven’t read Whitaker’s book. Seems there’s mixed reviews on Amazon.

But aside from professional notation of X-sheet / dope sheet timing, which you get from books, your sense of timing comes from watching cartoons and on the job training. (Like Yoga, you can learn from yoga DVDs, but you really need to take a class to know what your doing.) Human touch is key. And blow up your VCR or burn out your DVD player and watch as many cartoons in slow motion.

These days, most timing is pose to pose anyway; getting from “arms on hips” to “arms in the air” to other “gestures” to punctuate the verbal gag. The visual gags that are used are super simple and quick falls or hits where the humor comes from the suddenness of it, not the grace of it. (Watch a Peter Griffin fall versus a Goofy fall to know what I mean.)

Is this a bad thing? Animation enthusiasts say yes. (Check most animation blogs, or specifically John K.’s blog. ) Guys who are better writers than animators and producers who want to hire 50 cheap artists or 2 expensive and talented guys to do the work of 50, say no. Sometimes you need the work done, rather than extraordinarily done. (That’s easily said if it’s your money.)

Unfortunately the animation business today is run more like a business thing, not an art thing. It use to be a guy like Disney took a second mortgage on his house for a cartoon he believed in. Today there are stock holders who are looking at the bottom line, not art. They want a pie chart that shows, if 70% of the kids today listen to Miley, then logic would suggest if a cartoon called “Lil Miley”, should capture that 70%. (No offense to Miley, but you get the drift.) Nothing personal, its just business.