More on the Nicktoons Festival, part 2
The Nicktoons Film Festival may be over, but my continuing coverage is not! Over a dozen shorts in the Festival used Macromedia’s Flash software to animate with, and ‘The Manly Bee’ is surely a standout amongst those (Editor: it has just come to my attention that this short, contrary to the festival website, was NOT produced in Flash).
Produced by Nelvana (and also Executive Produced by Frederator’s Fred Seibert, the host of the Nicktoons Film Festival), ‘The Manly Bee,’ is the brainchild of Steve Daye. Steve is Canadian-based artist whose resume includes design work on ‘Eek! the Cat,’ ‘George and Martha,’ and ‘Bob and Margaret,’ and recent storyboard work on ‘My Dad the Rockstar’ - all Nelvana projects.
We’re introduced to ‘The Manly Bee’ as a young, strapping superhero who can do no wrong. But he and his sidekick, The Ugly Duckling, abruptly retire, leaving their city at the mercy of the evil Doc Havoc. Cut to present day, and the Manly Bee, a wrinkled, much less strapping citizen, decides to take back the reigns of his superhero powers. Only now, he’s forgetful, nearly blind and in need of regular naps. Needless to say, we watch as The Manly Bee ‘bumbles’ his way through a modern-day adventure with Doc Havoc.
The designs are fresh and unique, and the overall production design is very appealing. Updating the music from the original live-action Batman series, Norman Orenstein’s score is fantastic. My only quibble is the difference between The Manly Bee’s hulking, youthful physique and his decrepit, old body - it’s almost too jarring to register as the same character. As I mentioned in a previous post, since Steve and his team produced ‘The Manly Bee,’ the ‘un-retired superhero’ has become quite a popular story direction. Pixar’s ‘The Incredibles’ and Renegade’s ‘Captain Sturdy’ come to mind, but we have yet to see a series break through to series TV. I’m hoping ‘The Manly Bee’ does just that, and that they continue to produce this great looking show in Flash.
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