Joe Murray, creator of animated series Rocko’s Modern Life (1993-1996) and Camp Lazlo (2005-2008), announced on his blog that his eBook, Crafting a Cartoon, has been picked up for print publication by Random House. The eBook will be discontinued as a result (although it’s still available as I type this) and the book will come out in 2010.
Crafting a Cartoon is a book on making an animated cartoon, whether for television or for independent film market (Joe has experience on both).
“Crafting a Cartoon” by Joe Murray is an amazing resource of insight into the world of animation. Joe gives a behind-the scenes- view of creating a series idea, putting together a pitch proposal and navigating the world of animating content for both networks such as Nickelodeon, and the Cartoon Network as well as independent film festivals and the internet. Grab the e-book now, otherwise you’ll have to wait til 2010. Trust me, you won’t want to wait that long. It’s just a download away and is an absolute must buy for anyone interested in animating their own cartoons for television or the internet. And I recommend Joe’s blog as well. His philosophy about our lives as creators is can’t miss stuff especially given the current economic climate.
I agree with Drew. I’ve been looking at animation more lately because the print cartooning industry isn’t, um, strong, especially in these hard times.
True, the animation industry isn’t that great either, with seasonal layoffs and more animation work getting outsourced to cheaper countries (such as Korea), but hey, it’s not dying.