Sparkle Friends goes Noir...

So... we're nearly at the end of this years run of Sparkle Friends and it feels kinda weird! To see where Sparkle Friends started and where it's ended up is very cool. It's pretty much a totally different show, at least in how we make it!

For some reason this episode didn't feel like it was going be a fun one to make. We cut together the animatic and it just didn't seem to be firing like the other episodes. However, due to fast approaching deadlines, we rushed it through and gotta say...it surprised the crap out of us! It turned out to be a bunch 'o fun and people seem to really dig it!! Much credit to Jeremy for scripting a nifty little mystery. Bravo!!

Mukpuddy on 20/20!!

Last year after we won the Auckland 48hours we were contacted by 20/20 New Zealand and they said they wanted to do a story about us.
It has taken a while to come together, but that's partly due to us having so much on. What with our trip to The States, new Sparkle Friends, more 48 Hours stuff, the It's The Pughs pilot - it's been a pretty full-on year!
So last night it aired on tv here and we couldn't be happier. We're very grateful they found us interesting enough in the first place, but also happy with how cool the finished piece is! We were really nervous about being on telly but now it has been and gone and we're super stoked.
So, a big thanks to Cara, Pete and all the 20/20 team, you guys rock! Check it out..... WATCH US!!!

Witchy-Poooo...

This episode is definitely one of favs, for one gag in particular, and I think you'll know which one it is once you've watched it. Once again Ryan provided an awesome voice for our additional character, even though he couldn't quite get the "whistles" down when he was in the voice recording booth...

How Now Sea Cow!!

So one thing we've noticed about cartoons these days... not enough Sea Cows!






ALSO...
Here's some cool artwork we received recently. It was for a competition where kids could win the hand made Gungi Plush Toy by drawing themselves as a Sparkle Friend with Gungi. It's such a blast seeing how kids interpret the characters...

Mo Shmo!

Once again this episode was a monster to make but it was well worth it and has turned out to be one of our absolute favs! When we watch these back it's really hard to remember how the hell the story evolved into something so frickin' weird, but thankfully it totally works! We even enlisted the help of our good buddy Rich Simpson for a cameo at the start, as the world's next great action hero...

As always, here are some sketchy-poos....

Super Spew Action!!!!

Ever since we started making Sparkle Friends we've wanted to do a super hero episode but could never really figure out how it'd be possible to simplify an idea down to 3 minutes. Well with the introduction this year of the new Sparkle Friend, Tu, we thought we'd give it a shot! We actually made this episode 2nd as we knew it'd be a "beast" due to the city backgrounds we'd have to make up and other such carry on that makes it hard to put together one of these in a week! The city shot at the start was a killer and definitely stretched our deadline to its max!!

Robots Rule!!

Yip, here's another one! Hope ya like...


And some drawings...







ON A SIDE NOTE...

A little while ago the peeps over at Dumm Comics asked us to contribute a comic to their weekend slot. We're super stoked to be considered as all of the artists over there are pretty much our heroes. It's a little daunting but hopefully it'll go well - you'll be able to check it out this weekend so be sure to head on over!!

Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner couldn't do this...

This episode was another really fun one to make - the crazier ones always seem to be. Ryan did another awesome job voicing the scene stealing 'bodyguard' and it all stems from an encounter Jeremy had with a shoe store security guard on our trip to the US last year! The Guard took his shoe protecting job very seriously and quickly put an end to Jeremy's photo taking in a very tough yet casual fashion.

With gun on hip and no eye contact, he smugly but firmly remarked:

"No taking photos of the shoes please. Thank you for understanding..."

Ryan did a spot-on impression so we knew we'd have to put him in something one day, and that one day has arrived...

Here's the shoe store where the inspiration began....

And here's the post shoe store laughing...

Here are some production sketches....

And here's the final episode

All the twos Titty2!

We've made 22 of these things... how weird!! Not much to say about this one really except that it was heaps of fun to make so watch it with eyeballs! Oh and Ryan is the voice of the hunter and did a bang up job!!

IN OTHER SPARKLE NEWS!!!

The peeps at What Now wanted to run a Sparkle Friends competition and we suggested kids draw themselves with Gungi as a Sparkle Friend, and that they would win a "one-of-a-kind" Gungi Plush Toy!! They liked the idea and we got Karla to sew it!!

Check out more pics here!!