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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.
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Best thing I’ve seen in years. Just beautiful. Thanks
If June Foray, is in it, I’ll definitely watch it.
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.
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.
very enjoyable. one of the best shorts i’ve seen in a while
BRAVO! Many of today’s animators could learn a thing or three from this short.
Stunning! Really makes me wish we had more of this type of stuff available to us on DVD.
Very good film. If only the United States had a stronger environment for independent animation.
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.
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?
now this is a cartoon. A really great short done very well by very talented people. I really enjoyed it.
Thanks
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.
that was amazing
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!
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!
Amazing short, Tod!! Not only beautifully designed, but top notch animation as well.
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!
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.
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
what a fantastic film. nice pick Cartoon brew.
OMG that was great!
THIS is what animation is all about!
MOCAP FEATURES SUCK!!!
Please keep the CBTV shorts animated, no ‘live action’.
awwww I thought “Rocky” had the same voice actor that Kimba and Astro Boy had…
Tod is a BEAST.
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.
Really beautifully done. Thanks for bringing it forward!
Not wild about the character design (though they are well-animated), but the backgrounds are spectacular. Absolutely love the nighttime shots of the palace.
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.
Wow! That was fantastic. Beautifully designed and animated with some genuinely funny gags (fave was the telescope one).
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.
wow! that was a great treat .more tod!!!
BEAUTIFUL DESIGNS!
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.
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.
woohoo tod you are the best!
hope your’re well
greetings from holland
BRAVO!! Very nice idd!
That was so cool. Seriously.
Splendid. The kind of thing I’d like to see more often.
This was amazing! I enjoyed the style, animation, everything!
HOLY WOW!! I love everything about the short… cool story, great design, the palette, it’s all awesome!!!
I think this was great! I really enjoyed the style of the film and the neautiful storytelling too. Simply lovely!
Magnificent.
very funny and I love the style and the pace of the story
I really enjoyed that! Thanks for sharing it with us :)
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.
Wow…it’s literally been years since I’ve seen anything that inspired me as an animator like this short. Thank you!!
pretty and cute
that was great. i can’t stop grinning, and i’ve thought thats what cartoon were supposed to do.
(wonderful gags too)
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.
That was absolutely wonderful, and very funny.
This reminds me of the thief and the cobbler from the 1968 verison
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.
Fantastic!
Man… this is brilliant. really. Best short I’ve seen in a long while.
Thank you. :)
this is gorgeous! wouldn’t it be nice if newer shorts of this caliber weren’t so rare?
GORGEOUS!!!!!!!
I can’t speak….