Black History: Cartoon Characters

Claudia Grant and Bowie Grant from the Robotech cartoon series.

I know it has been a while since my last post, but life has been kicking my butt. For the few of you that actually read this blog, here is a little something that I want to do for Black History Month.  I want to put a spotlight on some of my favorite black characters in cartoons. The spotlight will be on some of the lesser known characters instead of the famous ones you already know about.

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Claudia Grant (left): A bridge officer on the SDF-1 with the rank of lieutenant commander.  Her story took place during the First Robotech War, also known as the Zentraedi saga in the U.S. Read more about her on Wikipedia. 

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Bowie Grant (right): He is the nephew of Claudia Grant, a skilled fighter and musician. His story took place during the Second Robotech war, also known as the Robetech Masters saga in the U.S. Read more about him on the Robotech wikia.

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Robotech was one of the first cartoons I remember that had black characters. I liked the fact that they weren't just throwaway characters. They played a crucial part in the story, right alongside the main characters. Seeing Claudia and Bowie on screen helped to set some good foundation for my own artistic development. The world is diverse, and animation should be as well. 

New Episode of Cel Therapy - Green Lantern

I know it has been quite a while since my last post. Thanks for being so patient.  As a small reward, here is Episode 18 of the Alt Animation podcast.  Pendleton Ward and Thurop Van Orman talk about their adventerous journey into animation.  After their talk, you will hear the latest Cel Therapy session, where I give my thoughts on Green Lantern: The Animated Series.  The AA crew and myself have been very busy with work and projects, but we have not forgotten about you.  Be sure to keep up with us on twitter to see what we are up to.
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Check out the therapy session on Episode 18 of the Alt Animation podcast.

New Cel Therapy - Legend Of Korra

Finally, it's here.... Avatar: Legend of Korra, and a new episode of Cel Therapy that talks about it. Fans of the show have been waiting for a very long time to feast their eyes on LOK, the follow-up to arguably the greatest cartoon of all time, Avatar: The Last Airbender.  Nickelodeon released the first two episodes on line, and they are incredible to say the least. They bring you right into the new character and the new world to explore. It is extremely rare to see a female protagonist in cartoons, so be sure to show this series some love.
This therapy session is featured at the end of episode 16 of the Alt Animation Podcast. They cover the saltier side of the SXSW festival and interview two very talented animators. I close the podcast with my thoughts on Legend of Korra in the latest installment of Cel Therapy.
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Check out the therapy session on Episode 16 of the Alt Animation Podcast.
Or click HERE to listen to the therapy session by itself.

New Cel Therapy - Meet The Team

Here is a new episode of Cel Therapy, where you get the help you need to satisfy your cartoon addiction. I am in a very unique place for this episode. I take it over to the video game space for a series of shorts called Meet The Team. These videos are introductions to the characters of the popular online shooter Team Fortress 2. This is film quality animation that is done with video game models. They draw you into the characters in a way that I have never seen in a video game. Instead of making you want to play as the character, they make you actually want to BE the character and DO what the characters do. Phenomenal.
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Check out the therapy session on Episode 15 of the Alt Animation Podcast.
Or click HERE to listen to the therapy session by itself.

African-American Animation Artists

I found this post on Cartoon Brew's wesbsite, cartoonbrew.com. It is a tribute to African-American Animation Artists. It is beyond awesome to see some diversity in the industry. You might know some of these talented individuals, but a good many others you might not. Even the ladies are well represented. Hopefully this will inspire other artists of color (including myself) to pursue their dreams. Check out the post on cartoon brew, leave some comments. Then go to the Facebook page where this originated and click that like button.

African-American Animators - Floyd Norman

I can't believe an interview like this slipped through the cracks. This should have been on every animation blog across the internet. Floyd Norman is an African-American animator with a very long list of credits. He worked on many of my favorite shorts from Disney to Hanna-Barbera, and helped with story on Toy Story 2 and Monsters Inc. He really has been all over, even worked with Disney himself. Check out this interview, click the like button, and repost it wherever you can so it gets as many views as possible.

New Cel Therapy - The LeBrons

A new episode of Cel Therapy is here for your listening enjoyment. In this episode, I give my thoughts on The Lebrons. This is the cartoon series created by All-Star basketball player LeBron James. I know what you are thinking, but trust me, it is good. Very good in fact. There are a lot of references and throwbacks to old cartoons from as far back as the 50's. He really did his homework on this, so I gotta give him credit.
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The therapy session is featured on Episode 13 of the Alt Animation Podcast. Click HERE to download it. Do me a favor as well: Find Alt Animation on iTunes and leave them a 5 star review. They are kind enough to feature me on their show, and it is the least I can do to show my appreciation.
If you want to listen to the therapy session only, click HERE.