Cartoon Brew TV #2: The Pumpkin of Nyefar by Tod Polson and Mark Oftedal | Cartoon Brew: Leading the Animation Conversation

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Cartoon Brew TV #2: The Pumpkin of Nyefar by Tod Polson and Mark Oftedal

September 23, 2008 8:02 am

The Pumpkin of Nyefar (2004) is a short directed by Tod Polson (El Tigre, Another Froggy Evening, Poochini) and Mark Oftedal. The story was co-written by Maurice Noble (1911-2001), who began his animation career at Disney in the 1930s, and eventually designed many of Chuck Jones’s classic Warner Bros. cartoons including Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century and What’s Opera, Doc?. The film is narrated by June Foray (the voice of Rocky in Rocky and Bullwinkle).

Go here for a Flash website with plenty of details and artwork from the film. Below is a some background information about the film from its director Tod Polson. Tod will also participating in the comments section and looks forward to your comments and questions.

In 1994, Maurice Noble began training a group of young designers at Chuck Jones Film Productions. A lot of us were working on our own personal short projects, several of them based on ethnic folktales. Maurice thought it would be a great idea if the group of us could develop a series of shorts inspired by stories from around the world. We called this series “Noble Tales,” and we, his trainees, became known as the “Noble Boys” (which also included a few girls). Many of us traveled around the world and developed and together designed several dozen idea.

“The Pumpkin Of Nyefar” was one short idea Maurice and I wrote while visiting Turkey. Our first morning in Istanbul we came downstairs to the dining room and around the table were twenty belly dancers and a lot of pumpkin dishes. All the girls of course were smitten by Mr. Nobles charm. Ha ha… I can still see him grinning from ear to ear.

Afterwords we talked things over, and decided to write a story about a prince who could marry any beauty in his kingdom, but instead chooses to wait for true love. As fate would have it, the prince finds true love in the form of a pumpkin. While I was supervising a TV show in Thailand, James Wang (Wang Flm) invited Maurice and I to use his Thai studio to make our short. Maurice underwent surgery so that he could make the flight to Bangkok. Unfortunately he died a few weeks later. I came to Thailand a few months later to work on the short myself. But my friends didn’t leave me to do the film alone.

Soon after, my pal Mark Oftedal, came to town for a visit. His short vacation, turned into a several year working holiday. He became so involved with the project, re-working designs, storyboards, editing, setting the animation style, that he became the co-director. It was very much a partnership and it was fantastic working with such a talented fellah. Other friends from America helped out too. June Foray donated her voice to the film. Ben Jones, and Lawrence Marvit both did short stints in Bangkok to help get things going. Sue Kroyer did a lot of inspirational character design as did Roman Laney. Jules Engel looked over a lot of the early design and color. Aaron Sorenson, Dave Marshall, Dave Thomas, and Mike Polvani all donated time to the project. It was really a great collaboration of friends, just the way Maurice had dreamed about: doing a short film together, everything donated, just because they wanted to do it.

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54 comments posted in BrewTV

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09/23/08 8:48am	Joel Brinkerhoff says:
	Best thing I’ve seen in years. Just beautiful. Thanks
09/23/08 8:57am	EatRune says:
	If June Foray, is in it, I’ll definitely watch it.
09/23/08 8:58am	Marcus says:
	Cute. Too much verbal description of what’s being shown. Characters often get lost in the backgrounds, rendering it not much more than an over zealous design project.
09/23/08 9:09am	Doug Anderson says:
	I loved this short. The style was amazing, and the story was funny. I was cracking up when they showed the dog holding the chicken and referred to the peasant couple. Ha!! The expression and acting on the dog were great.
09/23/08 9:14am	Mike says:
	very enjoyable. one of the best shorts i’ve seen in a while
09/23/08 9:30am	Mark H. says:
	BRAVO! Many of today’s animators could learn a thing or three from this short.
09/23/08 9:31am	George says:
	Stunning! Really makes me wish we had more of this type of stuff available to us on DVD.
09/23/08 10:02am	Mr. Semaj says:
	Very good film. If only the United States had a stronger environment for independent animation.
09/23/08 10:32am	Brad Constantine says:
	Looks like you guys(and gals) learned a thing or two. Bravo and congrats on a very well made film….Makes me miss Mr. Noble even more now. Thanx fer sharing.
09/23/08 10:52am	Robert Iza says:
	Awesome and Superbly entertaining! I’m curious, was the animation done on paper then cleaned up on the computer? or how was that gone about?
09/23/08 11:43am	Jason N says:
	now this is a cartoon. A really great short done very well by very talented people. I really enjoyed it. Thanks
09/23/08 12:05pm	Jorge Gutierrez says:
	Bravo! A small gem and a heartfelt love letter to the beauty of design in animation. And it feels so timeless. You sure made Maurice proud Tod. You are my hero.
09/23/08 12:06pm	brandon scott says:
	that was amazing
09/23/08 12:11pm	Tom Bancroft says:
	VERY good short! Great design and- boy- do I miss seeing fun cartoon animation that isn’t limited Flash style. (He says while producing the same.) It gets me going, thanks for putting up this labor of love!
09/23/08 1:36pm	Mike Hollingsworth says:
	This was so fun. The animation was amazing. I’m very glad I was able to see it after reading about the cartoon in the Maurice Noble biography that came out a year or so back. It’s a great book and I suggest you all read it!
09/23/08 2:00pm	Steve Lambe says:
	Amazing short, Tod!! Not only beautifully designed, but top notch animation as well.
09/23/08 2:29pm	Tony DiStefano says:
	That was really good.And to hear June Forays narration was wonderful. The designs had a look and feel of the50s(John Sutherland studios) and the animation was very appealing.I wish we could see more of this kind of storytelling.The story you told of how the project came to be is bittersweet.Hope you do more!
09/23/08 2:33pm	Ryan McCulloch says:
	Wow, how beautiful, what a project of passion! It was a really quirky story too which I like. Is that “Dog Cartoon” Dave Thomas who contributed to the film? Great job.
09/23/08 2:34pm	Gavin Ball says:
	This was a great film. Great designs and timing. I only recently learned about Maurice Noble from a coworker of mine, and after watching that film and reading the post, I find myself wanting to know more about him, maybe I’ll go check out that biography that Mike Hollingsworth mentioned. Thanks to everyone involved in the film. Good job! -Gavin
09/23/08 2:55pm	Lee says:
	what a fantastic film. nice pick Cartoon brew.
09/23/08 3:22pm	WTF says:
	OMG that was great! THIS is what animation is all about! MOCAP FEATURES SUCK!!! Please keep the CBTV shorts animated, no ‘live action’.
09/23/08 3:34pm	babybummer says:
	awwww I thought “Rocky” had the same voice actor that Kimba and Astro Boy had…
09/23/08 3:35pm	roque says:
	Tod is a BEAST.
09/23/08 4:45pm	Nic Kramer says:
	Tod came a long way from “Another Froggy Evening” (that short was okay, but they should’ve used the planned ironic ending). Good job. It sorta reminds me of Jay Ward’s Fratured Frairy Tales.
09/23/08 5:05pm	Wilson Swain says:
	Really beautifully done. Thanks for bringing it forward!
09/23/08 5:29pm	Greg Maletic says:
	Not wild about the character design (though they are well-animated), but the backgrounds are spectacular. Absolutely love the nighttime shots of the palace.
09/23/08 5:41pm	Steve Segal says:
	Wonderful fun. Brings to mind the best of the Fractured Fairy Tales, only with really good animation; June Foray makes a worthy successor to Edward Everett Horton. And I loved the trick ending. I was fortunate to work with Mark Oftedal when we were animators on Toy Story and A Bugs Life. His work there and here is brilliant. He did many key scenes that we used as models of the proper way to handle a character. Like Woody chastising Buzz, “You are a child’s plaything”. Bravo to all concerned.
09/23/08 6:15pm	Tete Carree says:
	Wow! That was fantastic. Beautifully designed and animated with some genuinely funny gags (fave was the telescope one).
09/23/08 6:18pm	Chuck Fiala says:
	That’s really a nice short. I always loved Maurice Noble’s design work, now I’ve enjoyed a cartoon that he co-wrote. June Foray’s narration is also a treat. Thanks for putting together such a wonderful film. It is a treasure.
09/23/08 8:08pm	julian says:
	wow! that was a great treat .more tod!!!
09/23/08 8:35pm	Ira Owens says:
	BEAUTIFUL DESIGNS!
09/23/08 11:07pm	Tod Polson says:
	Thanks for the great comments everyone (and the honest tomatoes)! And thanks to CB for featuring the short. Robert, the animation was all hand animated on paper (mostly by Mr. Oftedal) cleaned up, scanned, and colored up in Toon Boom. There was a comment that the film felt “Too Wordy”. Before Mark arrived in Thailand, I thought I would have to do most of the animation myself. So, before recording June, I added much more description in the narration than I would have usually. Going for a more “storybook” feel, trying to save on animation drawings. And since this was probably a once in a lifetime opportunity to work with June… why not make it a bit wordy? This was basically her first take. Without her voice, the film wouldn’t be nearly as fun or rich.
09/24/08 4:42am	Elliot Cowan says:
	Well you’ve done a couple of remarkable things here. You’ve made a “cartoony” film without the need to reference a million other moments in animation. You have a soundtrack that enhances your film without distracting the viewer. You have character designs that are familiar enough that they’re comfortable to look at yet are different enough that they’re interesting and eye catching. You’ve been influenced by others without the need to scream that from the rooftops. There’s no screaming or intrusive music or endless noise. This is terrific. Well done all.
09/24/08 5:23am	joost says:
	woohoo tod you are the best! hope your’re well greetings from holland
09/24/08 7:07am	Albert says:
	BRAVO!! Very nice idd!
09/24/08 10:06am	Alex says:
	That was so cool. Seriously.
09/24/08 10:55am	Saturnome says:
	Splendid. The kind of thing I’d like to see more often.
09/24/08 2:55pm	Charles says:
	This was amazing! I enjoyed the style, animation, everything!
09/24/08 4:17pm	Mukpuddy says:
	HOLY WOW!! I love everything about the short… cool story, great design, the palette, it’s all awesome!!!
09/24/08 4:38pm	Dominic Foong says:
	I think this was great! I really enjoyed the style of the film and the neautiful storytelling too. Simply lovely!
09/24/08 5:22pm	Gary Conrad says:
	Magnificent.
09/24/08 5:56pm	Makinita says:
	very funny and I love the style and the pace of the story
09/25/08 1:06am	J says:
	I really enjoyed that! Thanks for sharing it with us :)
09/25/08 10:17am	Tod says:
	A lot of the comments are directed at me… and Thanks again to everyone for the kind words! Nice to hear from so many old friends. But I really wouldn’t have been able to pull this film together without Mark Oftedal. As many of you already know… he is one of the most talented animators, and artists around. I remember at one point in the production Brad Bird called Mark up personally… asking him to come work on a little film called “The Incredibles”. Mark kindly refused Mr. Bird… and explained that he was working on a short film of his own in Thailand. I don’t want to embarrass Mark. but I think he’s a bit nuts, But I appreciate his incredible artistry and his friendship. I’m a fan … and feel lucky to have worked with him.
09/25/08 10:45am	Jeremy Rowland says:
	Wow…it’s literally been years since I’ve seen anything that inspired me as an animator like this short. Thank you!!
09/25/08 4:23pm	k. Borcz says:
	pretty and cute
09/26/08 2:20am	rhinotonight says:
	that was great. i can’t stop grinning, and i’ve thought thats what cartoon were supposed to do. (wonderful gags too)
09/26/08 1:19pm	Eric says:
	Whats the story behind the quote at the end? Was it…”Don’t forget the salute”? This story seems to pull from a real life story Maurice once told me about his own life. The story of the Thunderbolt I call it. I’ll have to share it with all of you some time.
09/28/08 4:35pm	CaptainChants says:
	That was absolutely wonderful, and very funny.
09/28/08 8:07pm	Nick R. says:
	This reminds me of the thief and the cobbler from the 1968 verison
09/30/08 11:22pm	tod says:
	One thing that Maurice talked about was being a rebel… experiment… try things out… if someone doesn’t like your ideas… “Give them the one finger salute.” Maurice wanted his tomb stone to be in the shape of a hand flipping the bird… He thought it would be funny to shock people that walked up to his grave… leaving it as his final statement. But it was toned back to font… “Remember the Salute.” … and became sort of a motto for Maurice’s trainees. I have never heard the story of “the Thunderbolt” that I am aware of. But I would love to hear it sometime. Many of the story elements in Pumpkin were drawn from Maurices’ life.
10/4/08 9:35pm	Taber Dunipace says:
	Fantastic!
10/6/08 10:25am	Virgilio Vasconcelos says:
	Man… this is brilliant. really. Best short I’ve seen in a long while. Thank you. :)
10/7/08 2:10am	spencer says:
	this is gorgeous! wouldn’t it be nice if newer shorts of this caliber weren’t so rare?

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