Bill Plympton
Encyclopedia
William "Bill" Calvin Plympton (born April 30, 1946) is an American
animator
, former cartoonist
, director, screenwriter
and producer best known for his 1987 Academy Award
-nominated animated short Your Face
. and his series of shorts Guard Dog
, Guide Dog, Hot Dog and Horn Dog.
, to Don and Wilda Plympton. From 1964 to 1968, he attended Portland State College, where he was a member of the film society and worked on the yearbook
. In 1968, he transferred to the School of Visual Arts
in New York City
.
Plympton's illustrations and cartoons have been published in The New York Times
and weekly newspaper The Village Voice
, as well as in the magazines Vogue, Rolling Stone
, Vanity Fair
, Penthouse, and National Lampoon. His political cartoon strip Plympton, which began in 1975 in the Soho Weekly News, eventually was syndicated
and appeared in over 20 newspapers. His distinctive style is easily recognized.
Plympton is the only animator ever to draw every frame for an animated feature film by himself. Signe Baumane
, also a director and animator, has been inking and painting Plympton's cels for many years. , Plympton had created 26 animated short films and five animated features. He has also published a comic book
, The Sleazy Cartoons of Bill Plympton. Plympton usually publishes a graphic novel version during the production of each feature in order to raise money for the film itself.
Plympton, together with other independent New York City animators, has released two DVD
s of animated shorts, both titled Avoid Eye Contact. His work also appeared on the 1992–1993 Fox
comedy series The Edge; on MTV
during the late 1980s; and on MTV's animated series Liquid Television
in the early 1990s. In 1995, he contributed animation and graphics to a computer game collection, Take Your Best Shot.
From 2001 to 2003, he teamed with Don Hertzfeldt
for the touring "The Don and Bill Show", which played throughout the United States. In 2005, Plympton animated a music video for Kanye West
's "Heard 'Em Say
". The following year, he created the music video for "Weird Al" Yankovic
's "Don't Download This Song
".
The actress Martha Plimpton
, a distant relative of his, served as associate producer on Plympton's animated feature Hair High
(2004), doing much of the casting. The movie's voice cast included her father Keith Carradine
and her uncle David Carradine
. Plympton contributed animation in the History Channel series, 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America
, to illustrate the events of Shays' Rebellion
.
His films: The Fan and the Flower; Eat, Your Face, Guard Dog and Santa: The Fascist Years were included in the Animation Show of Shows
.
Plympton's 2008 80-minute feature, Idiots and Angels presented by Terry Gilliam
, had no dialog. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival
on 26 April 2008, and was nominated in the feature film category at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival
2008.
In 2011, a documentary on Plympton's life called Adventures In Plymptoons! by Producer/Director Alexia Anastasio, with Executive producers, Edward A. Anastasio, Katy Anastasio, Mark Steiner, and Ken Mora
was completed.
Jenika and The Spoon (2009)
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
animator
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
, former cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
, director, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and producer best known for his 1987 Academy Award
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
-nominated animated short Your Face
Your Face (film)
Your Face is a 1987 animated short film by Bill Plympton. It involves a man seated in a chair crooning about the face of his lover, and as he sings, his own face starts to distort in various ways...
. and his series of shorts Guard Dog
Guard Dog (film)
Guard Dog ...Guard Dog is a short film which was hand-drawn and produced by Independent Animator Bill Plympton at his Plymptoons Studio. In 2005 the film was nominated for Best Animated Short at the 77th Annual Academy Awards held in 2005 and produced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and...
, Guide Dog, Hot Dog and Horn Dog.
Biography
Bill Plympton was born in Portland, OregonPortland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, to Don and Wilda Plympton. From 1964 to 1968, he attended Portland State College, where he was a member of the film society and worked on the yearbook
Yearbook
A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a book to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school or a book published annually. Virtually all American, Australian and Canadian high schools, most colleges and many elementary and middle schools publish yearbooks...
. In 1968, he transferred to the School of Visual Arts
School of Visual Arts
The School of Visual Arts , is a proprietary art school located in Manhattan, New York City, and is widely considered to be one of the leading art schools in the United States. It was established in 1947 by co-founders Silas H. Rhodes and Burne Hogarth as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School and...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Plympton's illustrations and cartoons have been published in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
and weekly newspaper The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
, as well as in the magazines Vogue, Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
, Penthouse, and National Lampoon. His political cartoon strip Plympton, which began in 1975 in the Soho Weekly News, eventually was syndicated
Print syndication
Print syndication distributes news articles, columns, comic strips and other features to newspapers, magazines and websites. They offer reprint rights and grant permissions to other parties for republishing content of which they own/represent copyrights....
and appeared in over 20 newspapers. His distinctive style is easily recognized.
Plympton is the only animator ever to draw every frame for an animated feature film by himself. Signe Baumane
Signe Baumane
Signe Baumane is a Latvian animator, fine artist, illustrator and writer, currently living and working in New York City. A member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, she was a 2005 Fellow in Film of the New York Foundation for the Arts...
, also a director and animator, has been inking and painting Plympton's cels for many years. , Plympton had created 26 animated short films and five animated features. He has also published a comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
, The Sleazy Cartoons of Bill Plympton. Plympton usually publishes a graphic novel version during the production of each feature in order to raise money for the film itself.
Plympton, together with other independent New York City animators, has released two DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
s of animated shorts, both titled Avoid Eye Contact. His work also appeared on the 1992–1993 Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
comedy series The Edge; on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
during the late 1980s; and on MTV's animated series Liquid Television
Liquid Television
Liquid Television is an Emmy Award–winning 1990s animation showcase that appeared on MTV. The first season of Liquid Television also aired on BBC Two in co-production with MTV. Ultimately, MTV commissioned three seasons of the show, which was produced by Colossal Pictures...
in the early 1990s. In 1995, he contributed animation and graphics to a computer game collection, Take Your Best Shot.
From 2001 to 2003, he teamed with Don Hertzfeldt
Don Hertzfeldt
Don Hertzfeldt is the creator of many short animated films, including the Academy-Award nominated Rejected and Everything Will Be OK. His animated films have received over 150 awards and have been presented around the world. Before the age of thirty, his films were already the subject of several...
for the touring "The Don and Bill Show", which played throughout the United States. In 2005, Plympton animated a music video for Kanye West
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
's "Heard 'Em Say
Heard 'Em Say
"Heard 'Em Say" is a song by American hip hop artist Kanye West. It was released on November 8, 2005 as the third single for his second studio album, Late Registration. The song features Maroon 5 lead vocalist Adam Levine, who sings its chorus and bridge. Co-produced by Jon Brion, the song contains...
". The following year, he created the music video for "Weird Al" Yankovic
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...
's "Don't Download This Song
Don't Download This Song
"Don't Download This Song" is the first single from "Weird Al" Yankovic's 12th studio album Straight Outta Lynwood. The song was released exclusively on August 21, 2006 as a digital download. It is a style parody of "We Are the World", "Voices That Care", "Hands Across America", "Heal the World"...
".
The actress Martha Plimpton
Martha Plimpton
Martha Campbell Plimpton is an American actress and singer and former model. Plimpton is a screen, stage and television actress. She first appeared as Jonsy in the feature film River Rats before rising to prominence in the Richard Donner film The Goonies portraying the character Stef...
, a distant relative of his, served as associate producer on Plympton's animated feature Hair High
Hair High
Hair High is a 2004 animated comedy-horror-romance by American filmmaker Bill Plympton.-Plot:A gothic high-school comedy with a Carrie-like story. Cherri and Rod are the high-school king and queen and they justifiably rule their domain...
(2004), doing much of the casting. The movie's voice cast included her father Keith Carradine
Keith Carradine
Keith Ian Carradine is an American actor who has had success on stage, film and television. In addition, he is a Golden Globe and Oscar winning songwriter. As a member of the Carradine family, he is part of an acting "dynasty" that began with his father, John Carradine.-Early life:Keith...
and her uncle David Carradine
David Carradine
David Carradine was an American actor and martial artist, best known for his role as a warrior monk, Kwai Chang Caine, in the 1970s television series, Kung Fu, which later had a 1990s sequel series, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues...
. Plympton contributed animation in the History Channel series, 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America
10 Days that Unexpectedly Changed America
10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America is a ten-hour, ten-part television miniseries that aired on the History Channel from April 9 through April 13, 2006. The material was later adapted and published as a book by the same title.-Overview:...
, to illustrate the events of Shays' Rebellion
Shays' Rebellion
Shays' Rebellion was an armed uprising in central and western Massachusetts from 1786 to 1787. The rebellion is named after Daniel Shays, a veteran of the American Revolutionary War....
.
His films: The Fan and the Flower; Eat, Your Face, Guard Dog and Santa: The Fascist Years were included in the Animation Show of Shows
Animation show of shows
The Animation Show of Shows is a traveling selection of the year's best animated short films, curated and presented by Acme Filmworks founder, Ron Diamond. It began in 1998 with the aim of showing the most original, funny, intelligent short animated films from all over the world and presenting them...
.
Plympton's 2008 80-minute feature, Idiots and Angels presented by Terry Gilliam
Terry Gilliam
Terrence Vance "Terry" Gilliam is an American-born British screenwriter, film director, animator, actor and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam is also known for directing several films, including Brazil , The Adventures of Baron Munchausen , The Fisher King , and 12 Monkeys...
, had no dialog. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Film Festival is a film festival founded in 2002 by Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff in a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the consequent loss of vitality in the TriBeCa neighborhood in Lower Manhattan.The mission of the festival...
on 26 April 2008, and was nominated in the feature film category at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival
Annecy International Animated Film Festival
The Annecy International Animation Film Festival was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of June in the town of Annecy, France. Initially occurring every two years, the festival became annual in 1998...
2008.
In 2011, a documentary on Plympton's life called Adventures In Plymptoons! by Producer/Director Alexia Anastasio, with Executive producers, Edward A. Anastasio, Katy Anastasio, Mark Steiner, and Ken Mora
Ken Mora
Kenneth Oscar "Ken" Mora is an American screenplay writer, director, producer, editor, and voice actor. He is best known for creating the computer-animated short films Magnum Farce: A Shot in the Park and Magnum Farce: Along Came a Sniper...
was completed.
Awards
- 2011 20th Annual Cinema St. Louis Film Festival (traditional name: St. Louis International Film FestivalSt. Louis International Film FestivalThe St. Louis International Film Festival is an annual film festival in St. Louis, Missouri, which has been running since 1992. The coordinating organization changed its name to "Cinema St. Louis" in 2003...
), Lifetime Achievement Award - 2011 Burbank International Film Festival, Pioneer in Theatrical Animation Award
- 2011 Action On Film International Film Festival, Lifetime Achievment Award
- 2010 Delray Beach Film Festival for "The Cow Who Wanted To Be a Hamburger"
- 2008 MoCCAMoccaMargaux Uson known professionally as Mocha Uson and Mocha is a Filipino singer, dancer and model best known for her work as lead vocalist for the Mocha Girls.-Early life and career:...
(Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art) - Cartoonist of the Year, MoCCA Art Festival - 2006 Special Career Award - Fantasporto Film Festival
- 2006 Windsor McCay Award; Annie Awards by ASIFA Hollywood
- 2005 2nd Oscar Academy AwardAcademy AwardsAn Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
Nomination for Short Animation "Guard Dog" - 2005 Life Time Achievement (Time Machine Award) SITGES Film Festival
- 2001 Grand Prize for Short Films, Cannes Film FestivalCannes Film FestivalThe Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
Critics' Week - 1987 1st Oscar Nomination Academy AwardAcademy AwardsAn Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for Short Animation "Your Face"
Animated features
- The TuneThe TuneThe Tune is an animated film by American filmmaker Bill Plympton.-Plot summary:Del, a hard-working songwriter, is trying to write the perfect song for his slimeball boss, Mr. Mega, so he can keep his job and his girlfriend Didi...
(1992) - Mondo Plympton (1997 shorts compilation)
- I Married a Strange Person!I Married a Strange Person!I Married a Strange Person! is a 1997 musical animated feature film by Bill Plympton. When Grant Boyer's satellite TV dish is hit by two birds in mid-coitus, just days before his own wedding, he gains a special secret power. His imagination is no longer something that just goes on in his head -...
(1997) - Mutant AliensMutant AliensMutant Aliens is a 2001 animated film by American filmmaker Bill Plympton. The film is more or less a spoof of B monster movies, featuring Plympton's own distinctive animation style and gratuitous sex and violence....
(2001) - Hair HighHair HighHair High is a 2004 animated comedy-horror-romance by American filmmaker Bill Plympton.-Plot:A gothic high-school comedy with a Carrie-like story. Cherri and Rod are the high-school king and queen and they justifiably rule their domain...
(2004) - Idiots and Angels (2008)
Live-action features
- J. Lyle (1993)
- Guns on the Clackamas (1995)
- Walt Curtis, the Peckerneck Poet (1997)
Jenika and The Spoon (2009)
Animated shorts
- The Great Turn On (1968)
- Lucas the Ear of Corn (1977)
- Boomtown (1985)
- Drawing Lesson #2 (1985)
- Love in the Fast Lane (1985)
- Your FaceYour Face (film)Your Face is a 1987 animated short film by Bill Plympton. It involves a man seated in a chair crooning about the face of his lover, and as he sings, his own face starts to distort in various ways...
(1987) - One of Those Days (1988)
- How to Kiss (1989)
- 25 Ways to Quit Smoking (1989)
- Plymptoons (1990)
- Tango Schmango (1990)
- Dig My Do (1990)
- The Wise Man (1990)
- Draw (1990)
- Push Comes to Shove (1991)
- Nosehair (1994)
- Faded roads (1994)
- How to Make Love to a Woman (1995)
- Smell the Flowers (1996)
- Boney D (1996)
- Plympmania (1996)
- Sex & Violence (1997)
- The Exciting Life of a Tree (1998)
- More Sex & Violence (1998)
- Surprise Cinema (1999)
- Can't Drag Race with Jesus (2000)
- Eat (2001)
- Parking (2001)
- Twelve Tiny Christmas Tales (2001)
- Guard Dog (2004)
- The Fan & The Flower (2005)
- Guide Dog (2006) (sequel to Guard Dog)
- Shuteye Hotel (2007)
- Gary Guitar (2008)
- Hot Dog (2008) (third in the Guard Dog series)
- Santa: The Fascist Years (2008)
- Horn Dog (2009) (fourth in the Guard Dog series)
- The Cow Who Wanted To Be A HamburgerThe Cow Who Wanted to Be a HamburgerThe Cow Who Wanted to Be a Hamburger is an American independent short film directed by Bill Plympton. It was screened first at the Annecy Film Festival and after a long-festival running was nominated for Best Short Film at the 38th Annie Awards.-Awards:...
(2010)
Compilations (DVD)
- Avoid Eye Contact Vol. 1
- Avoid Eye Contact Vol. 2
- Bill Plympton's Dirty Shorts
- Plymptoons: The Complete Early Works of Bill Plympton (1992)
- Mondo Plympton (2007)
- Bill Plympton's Dog Days (2009)
Music videos
- Peter HimmelmanPeter HimmelmanPeter Himmelman is a singer-songwriter from Minnesota, who formerly played in the band Sussman Lawrence.-Family life:He is Bob Dylan's son-in-law, being married to his daughter Maria Dylan...
– "245 Days" (1990) - Kanye WestKanye WestKanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
– "Heard 'Em SayHeard 'Em Say"Heard 'Em Say" is a song by American hip hop artist Kanye West. It was released on November 8, 2005 as the third single for his second studio album, Late Registration. The song features Maroon 5 lead vocalist Adam Levine, who sings its chorus and bridge. Co-produced by Jon Brion, the song contains...
" (2005) - "Weird Al" Yankovic"Weird Al" YankovicAlfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...
– "Don't Download This SongDon't Download This Song"Don't Download This Song" is the first single from "Weird Al" Yankovic's 12th studio album Straight Outta Lynwood. The song was released exclusively on August 21, 2006 as a digital download. It is a style parody of "We Are the World", "Voices That Care", "Hands Across America", "Heal the World"...
" (2006) - Parson Brown, "Mexican Standoff" (2008)
- "Weird Al" Yankovic – " TMZ" (2011)
Commercials
- The F-Word DocumentaryFuck (film)Fuck is a 2005 documentary by director/producer Steve Anderson and Rainstorm Entertainment about the social, political, personal, historical, linguistic and artistic significance of the word fuck...
(2005) - United AirlinesUnited AirlinesUnited Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees (which includes the entire holding company United Continental...
"Signature" (2005) - Geico Direct (6) (1999)
- Microsoft Windows '95 (1995)
- Taco BellTaco BellTaco Bell is an American chain of fast-food restaurants based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., which serves American-adapted Mexican food. Taco Bell serves tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, other specialty items, and a variety of "Value Menu" items...
(1993) - Nik NaksNik NaksNik Naks are a type of extruded corn snack previously manufactured by Golden Wonder in the United Kingdom, following the successful take over of Sooner Snacks. The brand was purchased by United Biscuits in 2006...
(UK) (1993) - SoloflexSoloflexSoloflex refers to both the Soloflex exercise machine and to Soloflex, Inc., the company that created and produces it. Instead of pulley, the Soloflex used an elastomer Weightstrap made of heavy-duty rubber to create variable resistance...
(1992) - Trivial Pursuit (3) (1990–91)
- NutrasweetNutraSweetThe NutraSweet Company makes and sells NutraSweet, their trademarked brand name for the artificial sweetener aspartame, and Neotame.Aspartame was accidentally discovered in 1965 by James M. Schlatter, a chemist with a master's degree working under Dr. Kurt Rorig, PhD, in charge of new drug research...
(1991) - MTVMTVMTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
public service announcementPublic service announcementA public service announcement or public service ad is a type of advertisement featured on television, radio, print or other media...
"Acid Rain" (1989) - NickelodeonNickelodeonNickelodeon is a US cable TV channel.Nickelodeon may also refer to:-In television:*Spinoffs of the Nickelodeon channel:** Nickelodeon Magazine, a children's magazine.** Nickelodeon Universe, an amusement park....
(1983)
External links
- Internet Movie Database
- Official Web Site
- The Sound of Young America public radio program / podcast: Plympton interview
- Zoom In Online / podcast: "On the Circuit: Idiots and Angels"
- Wild West Whoopee Cushion
Interviews
- October 28th, 2010 – ActorsEntertainment.com interview (video): Cartoonist Bill Pympton. Host: Comedian Brett Walkow
- October 27, 2010 ep. 34 - ManVsArt.com interview (podcast) with Bill Plympton. Host: Raul Aguirre Jr.
- October 2, 2010 - Zedura Magazine vol.1 iss.4 interview: "Idiots and Angels and Beyond" with Bill Plympton By Molly K Enright
- VX Filmmaker, Aug. 7, 2010, "Exclusive Interview: Bill Plympton" with host Lee Stranahan
- February 2nd, 2009 Season 2, ep.5, pt.2 Time Stamp: 9:50 (video) - PetesBasement.com NYC Comic Con interview: Bill Plympton. Host: Roger of Pete's Basement