This year held a many great deal of wonderfully creative 2D and 3D short films. Including the new Hertzfeldt animation “Everything Will Be Ok”, which had the audience that packed the theater in tears laughing. Hertzfeldt’s new animation takes us on a journey through the mind of Bill as he begins to wonder what his life really means, and as a result slowly grows into a state of insanity. Also feature in the show was the new animation from Bill Plympton “Guide Dog”, the sequel to follow his Oscar nominated “Guard Dog” which appeared in the second Animation Show on their last tour. “Guide Dog” successfully brought back the wonderful character that we all loved in Guard Dog - the poor little canine just as eager and excited about helping people out, but still failing miserably in his own humorous way.

While Hertzfeldt’s and Plympton’s animations are at the top of my list, a couple more of my favorites from this film would have to be “Dreams and Desires” directed by Joanna Quinn, in which a women carries a camera around to keep a diary of her dreams. But it wasn’t the story that impressed me, rather it was the brilliant visuals and realistic motion of the camera. Another of these short films that grabbed my attention was Remi Chayes production “Eaux Forte”. In this piece, a man buys a pack of cigarettes and then finds himself in the middle of a natural disaster. But of course, every piece of animation on the tour was absolute eye candy. This show was wonderfully put together; I wish the best of luck to Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeldt, and thanks to Bill for coming out and talking with me.

Though Don Hertzfeldt was unable to attend The Animation Show because of a bout of walking pneumonia, Bill Plympton did attend and gave animation fans a thrill when he made himself available afterwards signing autographs and drawing “Guide Dog” after “Guide Dog” for everyone in the crowd that awaited him.

Buzz: How did you get in to animation in the first place?

Bill: Well, I wanted to be an animator ever since I was three years old. But unfortunately, when I got out of school, late 60’s early 70’s, animation was dead. The only thing out there was Hanna Barbera, most of the big studios had stopped doing animation. So consequently, I had to get a job doing illustration and political cartoons. So, I moved to New York and started doing caricatures and political cartoons. And the good thing about it was that I was able to learn how to draw fast, I developed a style that was very quick and also I knew how to write ideas really fast I could think up ideas really fast. So, the political cartoons were a great way to develop talents that I used when I became an animator. So, in 85 I did a short film called “Your Face” and that one, surprisingly, was a huge hit. It was in all the festivals won a lot of prizes and it was nominated for an Oscar. And so, all of a sudden I realized there’s a big audience for animation and there’s money in it. So as soon as that thing came out I quit all my illustration jobs my political cartoons and became a full time animator and it’s been great ever since.

Buzz: What kind of tools do you use?

Bill: Well, just basic tools, in this film guide dog and guard dog I used colored pencil prismal color on regular bond paper. On the new film, Idiots and Angels, and for Kanye West and for Weird Al Yankovic I just used pencil on paper number two pencils. Anybody can do it, it’s the simplest cheapest easiest materials are.

Buzz: You draw it frame by frame?

Bill: Draw frame by frame and then we scan it on a computer and then color it on a computer. So, it’s very low-tech.

Buzz: What are some of your influences and some of your favorite animators?

Bill: Well you know Walt Disney certainly when I was really young I was really influenced by Walt Disney. Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, Robert Crumb, A. B. Frost a turn of the century American cartoonist, Winsor McCay. Some of the filmmakers are Quentin Tarantino, Frank Capra, Richard Lester, Peter Jackson, Saul Steinberg, Charles Adams, Tom Younger there’s a lot of influences. Mostly adult mostly darker cartoons.

Buzz: How did you get involved with the Animation Show?

Bill: Well, I knew those guys, Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeldt, for a while, in fact I introduced them, in Austin it was in a bar in Austin. And they started talking, and they just said well we’d like to have one of your films. And so, they asked me to send them in and I sent them in and they liked them. So, I’ve sort of been a staple for the festival for a long time.

Buzz: Tell me about “Hair High” (Bill Plympton’s latest feature release)

Bill: Yeah that’s probably one of our most expensive films. It was quite expensive.

Buzz: Yeah, I noticed that it seemed a lot different than most of your other work.

Bill: Flashier, the backgrounds are really detailed, we had a lot of big name actors in there, David Carradine, Keith Carradine, Sarah Silverman, Dermot Mulroney, Matt Groening, Don Hertzfeldt. And, it took me a lot longer and I think it’s my best film. It’s coming out now it just opened in New York, it’s opening in L.A. in April, I think it’s gonna come to Chicago in May. So, tell everybody to go see it in May, I don’t know if it’s gonna be in this cinema (Music Box Theatre) or the Gene Siskel Cinema, in fact I had a meeting while I was here tonight with some of the people were discussing about releasing it here. And I’ll probably come here to help with the release.

Buzz: You obviously have a love for dogs. What kind of dog do you have?

Bill: I have a Cocker Spaniel actually, when I was a kid. And it was very similar to this dog, it was very eager and happy and everything. Yeah, I love dogs. I love dogs.

Buzz: I’ve got a cocker right now.

Bill: Oh, I love Cocker Spaniels. This one went crazy though, when it got older and barked at everything.

Buzz: Can I ask the about the film that’s coming out, that’s a short film?

Bill: Yeah, it’s a short film. Shut Eye Hotel? Yeah, it’s a short film, it’s about seven minutes long, and it’s much darker. There are no jokes in it, its just straight murder mystery.

Buzz: Currently you’re working on a film “Idiots and Angels” could you tell me a little bit about it?

Bill: Yeah, it’s halfway through production. I did a storyboard that’s two hundred and twenty pages long, and I’m now on page one hundred and thirty. It’s dark, it’s sort of David Lynch, it’s very mysterious. Again, it’s not a big comedy; it’s more of a surreal eastern European kind of film. It’s a different look, its much more kind of filmier, black and white, not so colorful, very realistic looking characters. It’s about a guy who grows wings and how much trouble they cause him having wings.

Buzz: Do you have a preview on your website? ( www.Plymptoons.com www.animationshow.com )

Bill: Yeah, you should be able to see some of the artwork on the website.

Buzz: Could you tell us a little about the change though? I mean it's such a dramatic change to make in films.

Bill: Well, I just wanted to try something different, I just wanted to try and do something more realistic and see what I could do with it. It’s a very low budget, its like one third of the cost of “Hair High” cause I’m doing all the backgrounds all the drawings, there’s no big name actors, there’s no dialogue at all, its all just music and visuals. So, it’s a very low budget film.