For more on the series, check out our exclusive CHF interview with co-creators Stephen Warbrick and Christy Karacas.

In this behind-the-scenes clip below, we learn that Jackson Publick (co-creator of The Venture Bros.) is the story supervisor, and they’re knuckling down to add even more full-animation to the show. Along the way, you’ll hear from Superjail! co-creators Stephen Warbrick and Christy Karacas, and two members of the character layout team Tom Marsan and Joe Jurewicz. What I enjoyed the most from this clip was that Superjail! is called “an animator’s show.” You don’t often hear that about something produced in Flash.

For more on the series, check out our exclusive CHF interview with co-creators Stephen Warbrick and Christy Karacas.

[APOLOGIES - only viewable to our US readers]

via Drew Newman

The episode, titled Damnesia Vu, premieres Thursday, March 19th (tomorrow!) at 12:15 am ET/PT. Below we ask him a few questions about the production, and his response includes a video tutorial detailing his one-man-band process. But first, here’s a :25 second clip from the 2:00 minute sequence he animated.

AARON SIMPSON: When did you produce this segment?

M. WARTELLA: The animation was done entirely by hand over the course of one month late last year. No assistants or in-betweeners or background artists or anything like that. Just cranked it out all myself, which isn’t too bad for a two-minute cartoon. I’d just come off a gig storyboarding the second season of Xavier, and I think the show’s directors, Vernon Chatman and John Lee, were inspired to try something different based on the illustrative style of the animatics I was doing. They asked if I’d be willing to animate a special segment, and of course I said yes.

SIMPSON: What type of creative direction were you given?

WARTELLA: Well, I had worked with John and Vernon on Wonder Showzen, so I already had a bit of insight into their particular brand of humor. The premise of this episode, Damnesia Vu, is that Xavier is kind of “Quantum Leaping” into different lives, sort of a reincarnation theme, and they had the idea that it would be a cool twist for Xavier, a CGI character, to jump into a flat 2D world. They wrote the script, and we just kind of developed it back and forth from there.

SIMPSON: What transpired during that back-and-forth?

WARTELLA: We actually ended up doing two different levels of animatics. The first pass was storyboarding the entire episode. I’d never worked on a CGI show before, so I was curious to see how my animatics would translate into CGI. But the animation house, Cinematico, did a great job and really took the basic boards and added some great 3D flourishes. The next step was going back in and doing a second animatic for just my 2D segment. The second animatic was even more detailed, and here the timing and action were finessed in even greater detail. I’d basically go frame-by-frame through each version with John and Vernon, and sometimes new ideas would come out right there and we’d work them in. Basically just refining and refining, adding more and more levels of detail each time, until it was dense enough and time to draw and animate the final art.

SIMPSON: How much Aztec reference did you pour over before your design style came together?

WARTELLA: A lot. I just spent a day digging online picking up everything I could. I’m into old books like Von Daniken‘s Gods From Outer Space and Landsburg’s In Search of Ancient Mysteries, so I had a few other references on my bookshelves. There’s a touch of Egyptian hieroglyphics in there, too. So it was basically comparing all these different images and then applying that look and color palette to my character designs. John and Vernon had this idea that Aztec art kind of looked like Looney Tunes stuff, so I think that was also an inspiration for the segment.

SIMPSON: Vernon Chatman described the show as a “warning… about the dangers of spirituality.” Your episode deals with false idolatry. Do you think the Adult Swim audience will pick up on these messages, amidst the comedy and bloodshed?

WARTELLA: Actually, I think so. I’ve skimmed over some of the discussion boards over on Adult Swim and you’d be surprised how much people pick up on. Personally, I believe that they aren’t nearly as nihilistic as a lot of people think, and that there is what David Lynch calls an “all-pervading happiness” that underlies their writing. But that’s something you’d have to ask them.

SIMPSON: How did the Cintiq change your process?

WARTELLA: Well, I’ve been working with the Wacom digitizer pads since the first PL model came out about ten years ago, and needless to say I can’t imagine working without one. Especially doing animation. The Cintiq is extra special because it gives you the luxury of a large drawing space. I just think it’s a great invention, as important a step forward as going from a typewriter to the first word processor. Now if the entire system were just portable….

SIMPSON: Tell us a little about this tutorial we’re going to watch.

WARTELLA: Well, I’ve spent so many years of trial and error trying to figure out the best way to make professional animation using Flash, and I just thought it’d be fun to share a few secrets with people who might be just starting out or doing animation in their spare time. I hope people will drop me a line and let me know if they found this useful. So in this video, I describe my basic process, as well as highlight a few “tricks of the trade” that were major stumbling blocks on my learning curve. It’s all jam-packed in there fast though, so take notes!

60-second D.I.Y. Animation Tutorial

The show takes place in what can only be described as an alternate universe, far removed from civilization in a monstrous lockdown called Superjail, which is run by a dandy known simply as Warden. Almost everything beyond that is downright weird – there’s a dutiful, levitating robo-worker named Jailbot who handles the dirty work, a booze-lusting operations chief, a pair of teleporting inmate twins (twinmates?) and then of course the talking vegetables. But it’s the playfulness in the animation that takes it into another realm – Warden can tie himself into a knot, ride to work on a rainbow or blast an inmate to the moon with the touch of a button. Inmates can be delivered to the prison in a giant bird’s egg, sent to their cell on a rip-roaring rollercoaster, or blown dry with a 20-foot tall hair drier. It’s the elasticity of Tex Avery, the madness of Ren and Stimpy and the trippiness of Yellow Submarine all baked into one bloody, animated pie.

For those of you paying attention to the first two episodes, you may have learned that each installment brings a new title sequence along with a fresh escape and incarceration for a recitative jailbird named Jackknife, but what else do we know? If you go watch the series pilot, Bunny Love, at adultswim.com, you can view a whole mess of commentary videos as well. In one, the creators discuss how each episode will feature some all-out madness – a no holds barred fight scene. It’s a legacy from Christy and Stephen’s short Barfight, which is boils down to the biggest, longest, most insane bar fight in this or any other galaxy. We also know there’s 10 11-minute episodes in the first season (all of which have been delivered), and that every frame of animation was produced in Brooklyn at Augenblick Studios. It ranks right up there with Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends and El Tigre as the most intense TV production ever attempted with Flash. Plus, Superjail! surely features the highest volume of “traditional” TV animation created on US soil in over a decade. That’s not what anyone would have predicted 10 years ago when Flash debuted as a fancy new tool that could make shapes dance on screen. It’s all the more impressive when you realize that Augenblick did it on an Adult Swim budget, which are known for being thrifty. You gotta hand it to the Augenblick team, who pulled off a real coup here.

Aaron, Christy and Stephen

Aaron was joined on the animation front by Chris Burns and Kristofer Wollinger, character layouts we handled by Christy Karacas and M. Wartella, while background layouts were delivered by Jeremy Jusay and Will Krause.

That’s about as much as we know, so let’s turn to the show creators to learn more. We’re first joined by Christy Karacas and Stephen Warbrick. Following that, we again meet with Aaron Augenblick, a producer and animation director on the series. Aaron joined us for a 2-part interview back in 2005.

AARON SIMPSON: Christy and Stephen – this psychedelic world is extremely unique and sadistically hysterical. How did the concept come about?

Barfight

STEPHEN WARBRICK: We tried to come up with a show that was somewhat unique but also interesting… conceptually and visually.

CHRISTY KARACAS: Our buddy Dave Hughes showed Barfight to Adult Swim and they were psyched so they asked if we wanted to pitch something. Stephen and I then kicked around some ideas. I had an old pitch about a jail show but it was more like a reality show parody, and we were like, “eh, that’s boring.” What if it was the craziest most insane, dangerous jail ever created run by a psychopath who was more ‘supervillan’ than ‘superhero?’ And it all kind of came out of that. A Charlie’s Chocolate Factory that was a jail instead. Kind of like a kids show except but not for kids. I think the world itself happened because we all like fun, weird stuff. Creating a world that had no rules that existed in its own special place also allowed us to have fun and make all these little worlds that existed inside the big world.

SIMPSON: Did you visit any jails for research purposes?

STEPHEN: No… not intentionally anyway.

CHRISTY: Hell no! Jail scares the crap out of me.

SIMPSON: In the first episode of Superjail! we return to the bar, where you staged Barfight. Do you have a favorite watering hole, and does it inspire your animation?

CHRISTY: Rosemary’s Greenpoint Tavern (GPT) in Williamsburg Brooklyn. 32. oz bud for $3.50 – can’t beat it. But I think it probably hurts my animation when I show up to work hung-over.

STEPHEN: When we were making Barfight we went there almost every night. Work our day jobs…work on Barfight till about 1am…. head to GPT.

SIMPSON: The two of you met at MTV. What project were you working on at the time?

Christy Karacas

CHRISTY: I was a BG designer on Daria and Steve was on Celebrity Deathmatch. We met there and did Barfight – which is how we got introduced to Adult Swim because they saw Barfight (which is hilarious because it got rejected from every festival we entered it into). Its funny because not only did me and Steve work at MTV, but Aaron Augenblick, George Fort (BG designer on Superjail!), and Tom Marsan (character layout on Superjail!) all worked at MTV too. NY animation is a small world – I’ve known all these people for almost 10 years.

SIMPSON: The Warden has been described as “a sadistic Willy Wonka.” Is the original Wilder film a favorite of yours?

STEPHEN: Yes. The film still seems magical even as an adult. Gene Wilder was amazing in the movie. The remake…not so much.

CHRISTY: Yea, its a great film and I also love Wilder in Stir Crazy. If we get another season, I actually think we need to make the warden even MORE sadistic… maybe going into a ‘Heath Ledger Joker’ territory. Also, after we started Superjail! I saw The 5000 fingers of Dr. T, which is also totally insane. Its got a Warden character who has imprisoned all these kids so they can play a giant piano. It was written and designed by Dr. Seuss, another huge influence of Superjail!. It’s definitely something you should check out if you like Superjail/psychedelic/fun/weird type stuff.

SIMPSON: With a half-submerged Statue of Liberty in the opening credits, are we to assume Superjail! takes place far in the future?

STEPHEN: Maybe.

CHRISTY: Never assume anything in the world of Superjail!. And no its not far in the future.

SIMPSON: What is Jailbot’s job at Superjail?

STEPHEN: He is like the Warden’s gopher. The Warden designed him so he has a few bugs.

CHRISTY: To bust through walls, abuse prisoners and make a mess. Jailbot’s like a red-headed stepchild. The Warden built him but doesn’t show him any love. Its something that is touched on but we’d love to explore more in the future.

SIMPSON: The twins appear to have magical powers. Will we ever learn how they gained these powers?

CHRISTY: You will definitely learn more about them, but I can’t comment further on that one.

SIMPSON: Having produced traditional animation in the past, what’s your take on the Flash or digital 2D approach to production?

CHRISTY: My personal favorite stuff is hand-drawn, gritty stuff like you’d see on Sesame Street or School House Rocks (my favorite!). But we don’t see this much these days, and that’s why we went with Aaron’s studio, because Augenblick makes some of the most amazing looking stuff with Flash I’ve ever seen. I think Aaron’s studio had the knowledge/taste/experience to make Superjail! look as traditionally hand-drawn as we could. When I tell people it’s done in Flash, they often don’t believe me! So my take is pretty positive.

Stephen Warbrick

STEPHEN: Like Christy said, even though Superjail! was produced in Flash, there is nothing “untraditional” about it. Each episode is completely hand drawn.

SIMPSON: Stephen – your production experience has included work in both 2D and CGI production (Beavis and Butthead, Celebrity Deathmatch, Daria, Ice Age 2, Horton Hears a Who). Does a particular medium help or hurt comedy, or is it simply another tool?

STEPHEN: No. I don’t think the medium hurts the comedy. I think the oversaturation and the retelling of the same story does.

SIMPSON: Christy, aside from the theme song, will you band Cheeseburger’s music be featured in future episodes?

CHRISTY: We might turn up again. You can also hear it for a second when Jackknife carjacks the car in the pilot.

SIMPSON: What illustrators, shows and animators inspired the look of Superjail!?

CHRISTY: Dr. Seuss, Gary Panter, Crumb, Sally Cruikshank, Mad Magazine, Vince Collins, Looney Tunes, the Fleischer brothers, Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, School House Rocks, Sesame Street, Itchy and Scratchy, kids art, Muppets, outsider art, underground comics add Pee Wee’s Playhouse!

SIMPSON: What animated TV do you both watch regularly?

STEPHEN: No too much. Some Simpsons and some South Park.

Quiet Please

CHRISTY: I don’t really watch any animated shows regularly. My favorite things right now are Tim and Eric and I just saw Mike Grimshaw’s Quiet Please [not safe for work] which made my stomach hurt. I think the stuff I watch would be old Looney Tunes, weird stuff on YouTube and Popeye. I like anything that’s fun, gross, retarded, weird or awesome.

SIMPSON: Awesome. We now welcome Aaron Augenblick, founder of Augenblick Studios. Aaron, How did you and your studio first come to be involved with Superjail!?

Aaron Augenblick

AARON AUGENBLICK: We were working on Golden Age when Christy and Steve called me out of the blue. I met Christy years ago at a festival, and we were touring around with our thesis films after graduation; he was screening Space War and I was showing Midnight Carnival. Then in the late 90s, Christy, Steve and I all worked together at MTV Animation. Years later when they approached us, they had just been greenlit to make a pilot for Superjail! and were looking for a studio to produce it. I had always been a huge fan of Christy’s animation, so it was a very exciting project to take on. My regular Augenblick crew all jumped on the production. I had just worked on The Ten with David Wain and suggested him for the voice of the Warden, which ended up being great. So a lot of things fell into place in a short amount of time.

SIMPSON: When did Augenblick Studios start production on the series?

AUGENBLICK: Everyone was pretty excited about the pilot, so we were greenlit for a series order pretty fast. We started in October 2007. But that included writing, audio recording, and a lot of things that came before full animation production. I am proud to say that every stage of the animation process occurred right here in our studio in Brooklyn; nothing was sent overseas.

SIMPSON: Do you work off a tight script, or does some of the storyline and dialog come out of the storyboarding process?

AUGENBLICK: I set up the production in a different way than most current animated productions (I think). We started with brainstorming meetings in which a small group of us got together and hatched the loose plots for every episode. After that (before scripting) Christy would create thumbnails for the entire episode. At that point we had a scriptwriter write the script using the thumbnails as the direction for the story. This was very important because it allowed the visuals to dictate the direction of the show, rather than the dialogue. After that, in every stage of production we encouraged the artists to add their own visual gags wherever they could. All of these areas of creative input added to the mind-numbing avalanche of information you can find in every episode.

SIMPSON: Has your team completed the initial order?

AUGENBLICK: Yes! We have finished 10 episodes, which have left many of our artists in comas.

SIMPSON: Long hours on this one?

AUGENBLICK: We have a relatively small team and every artist is given a great deal of creative freedom. Unfortunately, with that creativity comes an overwhelming workload. Most people told me they were working harder, longer hours than they ever had in their life, but it was worth it because it was so much fun.

SIMPSON: There doesn’t appear to be much re-use in this series. Was Flash still a useful tool for your team?

AUGENBLICK: We approached Superjail! knowing that we wouldn’t be doing a lot of reuse, because we wanted the show to be very organic, and not worry about staying on model with anything. We wanted to avoid the same locations and character animation if we could help it. All that being said, we couldn’t have created this show without Flash. Flash is not merely an animation tool for libraries and motion tweening. It also allows for a platform where the artist can draw directly into the program (no scanning) and where ink and paint are very easy. We approached the animation in a completely traditional way, except that we were doing everything in Flash.

SIMPSON: Who’s a bigger drunk – Drunky or Jared?

AUGENBLICK: I don’t believe in labeling people.

SIMPSON: Can you tell us anything about the shorts you produced for Yo Gabba Gabba‘s 2nd season?

AUGENBLICK: The people at Yo Gabba contacted me because they were fans of our work, especially Wonder Showzen. They asked us to do some cartoons for their show and it was really fun. They were super cool and let us do whatever we wanted. They have a great show; the closest thing to a modern day Sesame Street. We did three cartoons: Wear Your Glasses, Cloudie, and Cover Your Mouth.

SIMPSON: What original projects are coming down the pike at Augenblick?

AUGENBLICK: We are now producing our own signature coffee, cell phones, and clothing line for the coming year. A lot of exciting things are happening at Augenblick Studios!

Coincidentally, that video was shot by Sarah Gencarelli, a Flash-animator who has worked at studios like Two Animators! and World LEaders Entertainment.

[link] – see the video link in the lower right column