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Above is a thumbnail sheet of the design work for a song sequence from the upcoming Nick Jr. series, Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! The show was created by the inimitable Bob Boyle, who I met while working on the Fairly OddParents and Danny Phantom series at Nickelodeon.
I had the pleasure of watching Bob develop his shows, which began with rough sketches and notes in yellow legal pads, that he diligently worked on every day in his “spare” time. It was inspiring to see a person who works so hard at his day job, have the discipline to turn down lunch offers every day so that he could go off to his regular booth at the local coffee shop to work on the stories and art for his personal projects.
Eventually, his legal pad scribblings became the basis for two series that are currently in production at two different cable networks. It’s good to see that good things do happen to good people.
I had wanted to be involved with Wubbzy as soon as I heard that it was going to be picked up because the style of the show is so darned cute, but the timing didn’t work out, as I still had commitments to FOP and Danny, which I had been working on concurrently and consumed virtually all my time. When Fairly OddParents finished preproduction, it freed me up to take on some freelance, and the opportunity eventually came around to do the character, prop, and BG designs for song sequences for Wubbzy. The thumbnail sheet above is from one of those sequences, and as a designer it’s great to have that much input into the design of a film.
Of course, the style was already set by Bob, and there is a very talented team of designers working on the regular episodes whose work I routinely pillage, and then the stuff is recolored by people who know what they’re doing, so I can’t take too much credit. Since the show is animated in Flash, the design work is done in Adobe Illustrator. This means that I can build a library of work that had been done by others, cobble it together into scenes, and then take credit for it as my own! I love modern technology! If the shows were hand drawn, like in the good old days when cameras had film, I’d have to stoop to actually tracing the original designs, and that would be like…work.
Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! and all related characters © 2005 Bolder Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
Emily said,
August 17th, 2006, 9:01 am
oh that’s wonderful Frank! Happy to hear you’re already busy working on another project! What cute designs! Hope you have a great rest of the summer!
Melody said,
August 22nd, 2006, 10:34 am
OMG. I love animation. I might even work in the field some day, either that, or computer animation/art stuff… I stumbled across your blog while looking for a Fairly OddParents wallpaper for my computer… You sound like a very interesting person. I would love to know more about your escapades as a graphic arts person and maybe get a bit or two of advice…
Ron Russell said,
August 23rd, 2006, 9:17 am
Frank-
It was so good to finally meet you and your wife last weekend at the Wubbzy party.
Your site looks great…I hope to see you both again soon.
-ron
Rocco said,
August 23rd, 2006, 2:22 pm
Melody,
Thanks for the nice comments. As far as advice about being an artist; the only suggestion I can make is to figure out exactly what it is you want to do right now, and learn as much about it as possible. Whether that means taking classes, or hanging out with other artists, or being involved with web based communities, that’s up to you, but being as invovled as you can with learning your craft is the best way to improve your skill, and improve your chances of making a carreer out of it.
I’ve been making a living as a creative person for more years than I can count on my fingers and toes, and it’s still a learning process for me. As a matter of fact, I spend so much time learning new things because I have such a short attention span and I’m constantly finding new obsessions, the latest being CG modeling. But, every time I’ve learned something new, I’ve been lucky enough to incorporate that into my work. It keeps me from getting bored, and keeps the work fresh and hopefully interesting.
Thanks for your interest in my ideas, and good luck!
kat said,
December 15th, 2006, 6:16 am
I LOVE WUBBZY A LOT LOVE KAT
kat said,
December 15th, 2006, 6:18 am
I LIKE WUBBZY A WHOLE LOT LOVE KAT
kat said,
December 15th, 2006, 6:25 am
I JUST ADORE WUBBZY A LOT I FEEL LIKE GIVING HIM A HUG OH TELL
HIM I SAID MERRY CHRISTMAS TO PLEASE THANKS LOVE YOUR FRIEND KAT
WUBBZY said,
December 15th, 2006, 6:28 am
I LIKE THE SHOW TOO LOVE YOUR FRIEND WUBBZY
Jono said,
December 23rd, 2006, 12:32 pm
wubbzy rox! i am no preschooler, but i just think wubbzy is the most awesome show ever! merry christmas wubbzy!
-Jono.
katie rose hooper said,
April 1st, 2007, 11:07 am
I love wow wow wubbzy
katie rose hooper said,
April 2nd, 2007, 9:13 am
ilovewowwowwubbzyiloveyoutokatiewowowwubbzywentinourhomeand
weyplaytogethereallthetimeandweysdadtheerforevr
David Ranieri said,
April 18th, 2007, 3:52 pm
I love Wow Wow Wubbzy, he is cool !!
ruby said,
July 1st, 2007, 11:33 pm
I love Wow Wow Wubbzy he is soo cute
mk said,
August 23rd, 2007, 4:27 pm
do u know hes a cat
Steven said,
October 16th, 2007, 8:03 am
Does anyone know where i can download the wow wow wubbzy songs? particularly “we’re all together”??
if so, please email me at coopsta424@yahoo.com
THANK YOU
anomynous said,
November 3rd, 2007, 8:53 pm
the show is really COOL!!!
Elinor said,
December 31st, 2007, 10:24 am
I really want to know where i can download the songs. If anyone could post a link on this site I’d be grateful.
x x