Long live the print industry.

Why are the cats always the bad guys? Dogs have a more militant nature than cats do, in my experience.

Isn’t this kind of like Maus?

I could see that being played in classrooms. haha

I echo T’s sentiment. Cats as bad guys is kind of overplayed. I suspect that they went with “pups” because mice as good guys would have been too similar to MAUS.

Also, there were no women involved in the Boston Tea Party. Revisionist history much?

I don’t think cats care enough to form an imperial society, they’re content with simply plotting by themselves to come together, thankfully.

This looks pretty good in the art department, but at the same time the subject is a bit hackneyed, but that might have something to do with this showing up in conjunction with those inane tea-bagger protests.

T, I just came to post that very sentiment. More hero-dogs against villain-cats. Bah.

I wonder if these guys have heard of the American Revolution? Makes this look a bit redundant.

Oh, wait, reproducing history verbatim but swapping out humans for animals and stream-lining out all the ugly nuances makes stories more compelling. (?)

What a heap of negativity. I, for one, really like how it looks. Great backgrounds, and really nice animation.

I like the animation and the overall design looks very well done. Backgrounds are well executed.

Congratulations to Bert and Jen. It’s not easy to do any film independently - and this looks like it cost much more than was actually spent. A true labor of love. I hope others are inspired by this to forge ahead with their own projects. Maybe CB can interview Bert and Jen about their experience in putting this project together!

Yeah, why should cats be the bad guys here? What creature is more freedom-loving, more independent, more desirous of liberty than the cat? Dogs are much more likely to toe the line, act like subjects of an imperial leader, be part of the collective (pack mentality). Can’t say I like the subject matter, but looking at this in terms of technical skill, I’d say it’s fine.

Yes kiddies try and learn from allegorical history so you don’t repeat the allegorical mistakes. No taxation without representation, a timely message for today.

Amazing! congrats to all the people involve.

It looks like all the ‘why do cats always have to be the bad guys?’ sentiments have already been played out, so I’ll just say the animation looks adorable, lol. I really just wanna pet their fluffy ears, ya know?

I don’t think cats as bad guys is any more played out than cats as good guys.

Movie looks like something I woulda really liked as a kid.

I second what Fred Cline said : would love to see CB interview Bert and Jennifer Klein about their production process and how they went about wrangling the various talents involved on this film. (did anyone read the credit list ? Some pretty heavy hitters involved with this production.
http://www.pupsofliberty.com/FullCrewCredits.html )

I think it looks really well done and I am encouraged to see people initiating their own independent productions.

Sweet animation and lovely bg’s. Congratulations!

Looks beautiful! Congrats Bert and Jen! It looks amazing and I can’t wait til I can see the whole thing!

This is looking really good, especially the animation! It’s really impressive to see something as polished as this completed on Bert and Jen’s off-time, especially with their studio work on the side.

This is great…I had the pleasure of meeting Bert Klein and Hyun-Min Lee (The Chestnut Tree) a couple years ago, and am really excited to see they’ve made another film. Congrats to the entire crew! Can’t wait to see this.

Love it! We also loved The Chestnut Tree and can’t wait to see this short… congrtas Bert and Jen!

Yes, the animation looks very nice. There’s lots of nice artwork in here that captures that graphical style of the revolutionary period. It’s bit of a literal translation of history, though. If the point is to teach the history, why not just do that? Why cats and dogs at all? Or why not use animals that were around in the colonies? Horses? Pigs? Chickens? Geese? Turkeys? Diversify the population. Make the Tories chickens or something.

And was I the only one who wondered why the dad dog was walking on peg legs? Kinda freaky. Four legs good. Two legs better?

I like the theme and time period for a cartoon! Very original edutainment!

It looks good.
I like the animation, the characters, and style. I just wished they existed in their own world rather than a history lesson.

The color and design it’s really good, but I share the sentiment of previous posters, this looks to idilic and simplistic to actually be taken seriously. But maybe I’m just being bitter, because this could work really well as a educational video (the thing it was made for, obviously).

@A.M. Bush

Cats as good guys everdone?? Really?? You can count with one hand the list of animated series or films with cats as main heroes.

Congratulations to Bert and Jennifer, the animation looks polished and “Disneyesque”. The backgrounds and color designs are very satsfying.

The content weirdly echoes the sentiments of today’s Tea Party Movement (an extreme Rightist faction of the Republican party that has appropriated a lot of ” rebel patriot” themes), though I know that is not the filmmakers’ intention.

The trailer makes it look like a film that might be shown in public schools or as a PBS program for kids. Will the short be all history or is there some character like a little mouse who saves the day in some unexpected way?

Screw the story, this looks just plain adorable! It’s nice to see an independent short that isn’t just trying to ape John K’s grotesque style.

Art direction wise it’s looks REALLY good. The animation looks great, the character designs look appealing, and I’ll also mention that the BGs looks great, too.

Don’t know about the story, though. Maybe it’s an attempt to make an statement with all that’s going on right now, but…I dunno. I could be proven wrong.

I might check it out just for the art direction alone.

Cats are natural villains. Just think of it this way. If you woke up tomorrow to find yourself one foot tall, your dog would still be your loyal friend for life. You cat would eat you.

I think it’d be nicer if the characters didn’t all move exactly the same way. I miss the “character” in “character animation.”

This is exactly the kind of short I want to work on. Historical, educational, visually appealing and fun. Love the animation, and the smooth, simple shapes really appeal to me in character design.

Can’t wait to see more, best of luck Bert and Jennifer!

Congratulations Bert, Jennifer and Crew!

This is a creative, beautifully made animated film, to be used by teachers as a simple fun introduction into a history lesson that the teachers and kids will enjoy!
You all did an amazing job!

Knowing this film has taken over two years to make… I therefore doubt purposely made to represent recent tea parties.

MAUS? More like “Liberty’s Kids,” the 2002-3 DiC series with several teens working on Ben Franklin’s newspaper (Franklin was voiced by Walter Cronkite), dramatizing various Revolutionary War events. This looks like a furry version of the same premise, well-done from what I can see but hardly original.

The crew section is an unbelievable list! I know most of them are already the busiest people in the industry in that area- how the heck did they have the time to work on this?

Cats as good guys everdone?? Really?? You can count with one hand the list of animated series or films with cats as main heroes.

Let’s give it a go :-)

Samurai Pizza Cats
The Lion King
The Aristocats
Oliver and Company

hmmm … maybe you’re on to something.

Sylvester was sometimes the good guy.

Congrats to Bert and Jennifer!!!! You two set the bar high for the rest of us, thanks for that. the trailer looks fantastic, I can’t wait to see the rest. Hope to see it on TV and or cable soon:) Beautiful!

I doubt it will be Maus, but I am interested in seeing whether it’s a fairly straight, if furry-fied version of history, or if they do something with a bit more bite. Either way the animation is really charming.

gorgeous!!-what a sweet looking project.!
really easy on the eye..
drawings moving..who would have thought it?

Disney animators like Mark Henn worked on this short.

Looks gorgeous. Congrats to all involved. As mentioned by others in the comments section, would love to see an interview.

Wow, I noticed the hate, too…

I like cats, but I’m more a dog person. That said, I am very impressed with the trailer! Bert and Jennifer Klein did a great job again.

In a way, the dogs have just a tiny bit of a Snoopy look to them (as if done by Bill Melendez). :)

I can just imagine the sequels right now:

The Coyote Trail of Tears, The Pedigree Wars, The Battle of Little Big Paw, Massacre at Wounded Kneebone…great fun!

Who’s putting down the art?? This looks AMAZING!

Congratulations to all involved. Beautiful combination of characters and traditional painted backgrounds.

pretty art.

It is sad to see the tea-baggers appropriating “no taxation” without the point, “no taxation without representation.” Inane.

congrats, Bert and Jen, looks great. love the animation! very appealing.

“furry-fied version of history”

“furry-fied version”

“furry-fied”

Uhhhh, no.

There’s an interview with Jennifer and Bert Klein about the making of their film “Pups of Liberty” on Michael Sporn’s blog :

http://www.michaelspornanimation.com/splog/?p=2018

The short looks really charming. I wish the makers the best of luck. But I have to agree that cats get the short shrift in general in animation. There are just too few cartoons with them as the heroes.

What’s wrong with everyone on here? This is a historically-based cartoon with dogs instead of people to make the story more interesting to children. And as for those people who are looking for a story with a little more bite; what is the birth of a nation a little too commonplace for you?

I think it looks great!