11) Project X…

I was recruited to be a storyboard supervisor for a show at Project X Productions. At first I thought I’d be working on Peter Pan and The Pirates. When I showed up for work the first day, I got this weird vibe that made me feel uncomfortable. The studio did not seem to have its act together. I got the impression that the project was way behind schedule and was facing multiple production problems. What had I gotten myself into? 

As it turned out, I wasn’t going to work on Peter Pan, but on a special titled Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue. The storyboard had already been assigned to Adrian Gonzales, a very nice and talented gentleman, with whom I would work again on Widget, the World Watcher for Calico Studios. Adrian was such a chain smoker that his boards would reek of nicotine.

The basic premise of All-Stars was that notable cartoon characters (from a variety of different studios) would join together to show that it was wrong to do drugs. I remember Adrian being a little challenged by Bugs Bunny, first portraying him as a rather dumpy looking rabbit, devoid of the physical attributes normally associated with the character. I worked hard with Adrian to try to keep all the characters true to themselves and retain their unique personalities despite a rather cliche and preachy script.

I left Project X at the completion of the All-Stars project primarily because the studio had misrepresented itself as a union shop. A number of artists on staff like myself were lied to, thinking they were earning hours for their union benefits. I was very pleased when the union fought for us and won compensation, though by then I had moved on.

If you have any questions or comments, please email me at themythfits@gmail.com.