OFFICIALLY UNOFISHAL FISH HOOKS

Check this out:

I know..

you're all like,

AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

What happened to the main characters of Fish Hooks?!

And I'm all like,

Relaaaaaaaaax.

That's just an early drawing of the gang 

that Fish Hooks creator 

Noah Z. Jones 

did while the show 

was being developed

at Disney.

Cool, right?

I mean, it's

ALWAYS

interesting to see how 

shows gets made.

So wouldn't it be 

BLOCK ROCKIN' 

if there was a place

you could go 

to learn 

all 

about

EVERYTHING 

Fish Hooks?

And wouldn't it be great if it was 

made by the very same people who 

MAKE

Fish Hooks?

Yeah.

So...

BOOM!

It's the 

UNOFFICIAL

OFFICIAL

FISH HOOKS 

FAN PAGE

Set your bookmarks for

AWESOME

and check it out

right

over 

HERE!

COMIC CON FISH HOOKS PANEL!

Sunday morning got off to a rockin' start at Comic Con 2011!
How could it not?
There was a Fish Hooks panel goin' on!

With precision questions being handed down from our own Sooper Powered Disney Executive/Panel Moderator Jill Sanford, the fans were on the edge of their seats waiting for the star-studded panel's answers.

For example, Fish Hooks creator Noah Z. Jones was on hand to explain how the show got started:



And Chelsea Kane let everyone know what it's like voicing the role of Bea.



Also assembled were Executive Producer Maxwell Atoms, Director Bill Reiss, Atticus Shaffer, (voice of Albert Glass), and Justin Roiland (voice of Oscar).

The room was PACKED with fans who got to watch a clip from the original Fish Hooks pilot along with a full song from the upcoming half hour Fish School Musical season finale!

Which, BTW... RULES!
Don't miss it when it airs this Fall!

But that wasn't all...
The fans also got a taste of Disney Channel's latest upcoming series Gravity Falls by Alex Hirsch (one of the guys who helped develop Fish Hooks and plays the voice of Clamantha!)

So yeah.

AWESOME panel.

And everyone who came to the panel got a free...

Wait...

I'll show you next post.

THE VOICES OF FISH HOOKS!

Okay, you gotta see this.

Just before Comic Con went down the Fish Hooks mobile assault force was sent to Washington DC to blow the minds of the National Press Club.

Fish Hooks creator Noah Z. Jones and Executive Producer Maxwell Atoms laid down a suppressing fire of Fish Hooks clips and explosive Q and A's before dropping THE BUH-BOMB on the assembled crowd.

Actually, three bombs.
I'm talking about
Kyle Massey (voice of Milo)
Chelsea Kane (voice of Bea)
and
Justin Roiland (voice of Oscar)

Check it out:



BA-BOOM!

Take THAT National Press Club!

Dude, I lurves watching voice actors do their thing!

MORE FISH HOOKS MUSIC!

Remember

when I 

rocked you 

a couple

Fish Hooks 

songs

I wrote

way back 

HERE?

Well,

ima rock you

some more!

Before I became

Creative Director

on

Fish Hooks

I storyboarded an episode

called

OSCAR MAKES AN IMPRESSION.

In the story,

Oscar does an impression of the

Queen of Fish England

that's so good he's forced to marry

a rich, old Duke.

But Mr. Muscles

(who has a thing for fancy British ladies)

interrupts the wedding to challenge the 

Duke for the Queen's hand in marriage. 

How?

With a

SLOW JAMS RAP BATTLE 

of course.

Deejay...

Hit it:

Tiny Lister (voice of Mr. Muscles) tore that jam up! That same episode had  a montage with a song I wrote called IT'S GOOD TO BE THE QUEEN:

This was a cute number called FIERCE from KOI STORY:

Writing

lyrics for

Brandon Bubbler's

pop songs 

was always fun.

My all-time 

favorite is

definitely

SNAP GIRL!

Andy Sturmer

knocked the music out of the fish tank
on this one and

we put it in a ton of episodes

including

LITTLE FISH SUNSHINE:

Sometimes

writing a song was as simple as

 writing a couple words:

And lastly,

here's one 

I love
that

Maxwell Atoms

wrote

(and storyboarded)

called

GO FISH:

That's 

the sooper

heavy metal

power

of

Jess Harnell

singing

right there!
He's so much fun
to work with!

Man,
I've been sooper lucky to get to
write so many songs and get
to work with such
talented musicians!

NEW FISH HOOKS GAME

There's a new app in town

and it's all kinds of 

FISH HOOKS!

Fish Hooks is an underwater physics-based adventure puzzle starring Milo the fish and a host of his aquatic friends from Freshwater High. You assume the role of Milo and must master the art of making and popping bubbles to successfully navigate the treacherous waters of Randy's diabolical design. You will have to float, fall and fling yourself through the mazes to advance, all while maneuvering with the precision of a ninja (well, the fish version of a ninja. While you're in a bubble.) Perfect timing and puzzle solving skills are essential if you want to avoid the increasingly difficult obstacles and master all of the underwater moves you'll need to win. Have you got what it takes to BE THE BUBBLE?
Find out!, as you:

•Play through more than 50 levels of marine madness!
•Unlock 5 of Milo's best friends – who you can use as player characters in the game!
•Master the art of bouncing off turtles!
•Surf whirlpools, fly through tubes and free fall!
•Collect apples in each level and max out your high score!
•Beat Randy Pincherson at his own game and win back the trophy!

I know

I know.

You're all like,

But Mr. Warburton,

I can't afford a game that costs

$562.00!

And I'm all like,

Don't worry, dudes and dudettes.

This game 

is

FREE!

So what are you waiting for?

Go get it over

HERE!

And don't be shy to rate it, okay?

RESPECT, SEASON ONE!

BA-BOOM!

Didja hear that?

That's the sound of the first season of Disney's Fish Hooks being DONE!

Finished!
Over!
Finito!
and
Cooked to perfection!
(or as perfect as we could get it in the time allowed)

Yup... 22 half hours of Bea, Milo and Oscar rockin' your TV set.
And I gotta tell you,
it's been a blast getting to swim in their fish tank.
Know why?

Because of these guys:


No... they're not the long lost Jonas Brothers.

It's Noah Z. Jones, who created Fish Hooks
and Executive Producer Maxwell Atoms, who put together an amazingly talented, hysterically funny crew with
ninja-like fighting skills and sooper model good looks.

He also brought me on...
but everyone makes mistakes.

Still...
Congrats, Fish Hooks crew!
Way to kick some fish butt and take ratings!

So what's next?
Well, I get a two week break before slamming right into
season two post production.

Which is weird.

I've NEVER, in my entire 20+ year career, had a real break.
I've always finished one job on a Friday...
and started a new one on Monday.
Or the job ended and then I spent the next couple weeks
(or months) scrambling to find new work.
Not very relaxing.

But two weeks with the reassurance that season two is waiting for me is nice.
Real nice.

I think I'll go to the beach.

FISH HOOKS SEASON TWO

If you've got your ear to the street--

you should put it somewhere else. That's gross.

In other news... did you hear that that FISH HOOKS has just been picked up for a SECOND SEASON?! That's 22 more half hours of unfiltered fish tank fun!

Mad huge congrats to the whole sooper talented crew, but especially creator/Van Halen fan club president Noah Z. Jones and Executive Producer/Sears underwear model Maxwell Atoms!

And congratulations to me since I get to hang out with everyone on this awesome production even longer! It's been a blast so far and it's only gonna get funererer!

But I'm getting ahead of myself-- there's still LOTS more of season one coming up on Disney Channel. Check 'em out on Friday nights at 9:00!

Bonus big fat congrats to Alex Hirsch (voice of Clamantha and one of the guys who helped develop Fish Hooks) who just got his show GRAVITY FALLS greenlit to series by Disney Channel!

STORYBOARDIN'

As I mentioned in my last post, I'm working on a sooper triple funny called FISH HOOKS right now.



And no, I didn't create it.
This guy did:


That's picture book illustrator Noah Z. Jones right there.
And while he definitely knows his way around an animation desk, he's never really worked on, let alone run his own sooper big network show before.

That's why Disney hired this guy:


Uh huh...
Maxwell Atoms is the Executive Producer/Show Runner/Big Cheese/Judge/Jury/Executioner and Head Pizza Chef of Fish Hooks.

So a while back, he asked me if I wanted to write some stories for the show and maybe do a storyboard.

And OF COURSE I wanted to write some stories!
But storyboard?

Uh...

Storyboarding is pretty intense stuff.
Especially when you're 'boarding your story from an outline instead of a script.
You've gotta be an artist, a writer, an actor, a director, a draftsman, a comedian, a storyteller, an editor, a location scout, sushi chef, lumberjack as well as a 1000 other things. And you've gotta do it all on a deadline!

I tried to talk my way out of it, but Mr. Atoms turned into a were-gorilla and shook me around until I agreed to do it.

And I'm not gonna lie to you...
It was HARD and required every ounce of my sooper powers. Aside from doing all the things listed above:

I was drawing characters I had never drawn before...

I was writing dialogue for characters I didn't know that well...
(I mean, I KNOW how each of the KND would react to something,
but I had just MET these fish!)

And I was doing a storyboard digitally for the first time so I had to learn how to use Toonboom's Storyboard Pro (which, BTW, is pretty awesome).

Like I said... pretty intense.
And after a grueling 4.5 weeks, I had to get up and perform my story for the bigshot Disney executives along with the whole Fish Hooks crew.
And for me... that's the easy part.
I mean... I had to get up and perform a billion KND stories in front of people all the time!
But back then, if someone didn't like my story-- I could fire them.

Not so this time around!
But you know what?

It went GREAT!
People laughed.
I got great notes.
I didn't embarrass myself (or Mr. Atoms).
And no one threw anything at me.

And then I had a (very relieved) week and a half to finish up the board.
And during that time...
Another job opened up.

See, between Pre-Production (writing, designing, storyboarding, etc) and Post Production (calling retakes, spotting music and sound FX, editing, mixing, etc) Mr. Atoms was up to his vampire-bitten neck in craziness. So now it's my job to help him out! I'm kinda doing a little of everything-- Post Production, Pre-Production, hanging out by the pie table at the Disney commissary, etc.



In other words... I get to work on a fun show, hang out with Maxwell Atoms all day, work with an awesome crew, AND get paid for it?!

Duuuuuuuuuuude!

But don't worry... I've got lots of my OWN projects in varying stages of development! Keep it locked here so I can tell you about them!

THE FISH HOOKS FINALE

<sob>
It's been a long time coming, but the end of Fish Hooks is upon us.
Sure, we finished up production 37 years ago. But this Friday April 4th 9:00 PM (Pacific time) the last and final  episode airs.
"The Big Woo"
Here's a little teaser of what's to come:

Not every show actually gets a true finale and this one gives Fish Hooks a sweet, heartfelt send-off. I unabashedly admit I got a little misty while we were making it.
Hope you do to.

BYE-BYE FISH HOOKS VOICE ACTORS

The last couple weeks have 

been filled with good-byes.

We knew 

Fish Hooks 

was coming to an 

end so

back in March

we brought all the 

voice actors in

to record the

final episode.

We even had a little party

and handed out diplomas:

Here's the ever swaggable

Kyle Massey

(aka Milo)

Steven Christopher Parker

(aka Jumbo Shrimp)

Atticus Shaffer

(Albert Glass)

Kari Wahlgen

(Shellsea)

Vanessa

"Donut Snob"

Marshall

(voice of Mouse)

Kimberley Mooney

(Finberley)

and best friend forever

voice director

Kris Zimmerman

We didn't

REALLY

say

goodbye,

though.

We still had

MONTHS

of smaller

ADR sessions

(additional dialogue recording)

to record after we got the shows 

back from being animated.

But then 

August and September 

crept up on us.

And one by one,

the actors 

came in for those last

couple lines:

Milo

Oscar

(rocked by Justin Roiland)

and of course,

Bea

(played by the always deliciously carbonated Chelsea Kane)

Shellsea came in for her last

"Giiiiirrrrrrrrrrrrl":

Albert gave his final turn:

 

Ironically,

the very last line of dialogue 

to be recorded

was a

"HELLO!"

from Clamantha

(by Alex Hirsch)

(of the Gravity Falls Hirsch's)

And then there were none.

Except that big dummy Maxwell Atoms.

(he played Bo Gregory)

I know every show says they

had the 

BEST

MOST TALENTED

cast

EVER!

But 96% of them are lying.

That honor

goes

to the

FISH HOOKS

cast.

GETTIN' MY SWAG ON

Everyone knows I've got swag.

But not everyone knows it's Fish Hooks swag.

Check it:


Uh huh.

That's a Fish Hooks totey backpack-type thingy.

Swag.

And look out:


That's a Fish Hooks mouse pad complete with some kind of liquid inside so Oscar, Bea and Milo can swim around inside.

That swag enough for ya?

Indeed.

BAFTASTIC!

It's kinda old news...
But you know that Fish Hooks won a BAFTA right?

BAFTA
as in:

The British Academy of Film and Televisions Arts.

Yup.

Fish Hooks won
Best International Show.

Well, the actual awards just arrived.
Here's what one looks with creator Noah Z. Jones:


And with Executive Producer Maxwell Atoms:


Congrats Fish Hooks crew!

Hey!

Are you goin' to Comic-con?

I'm goin' to Comic-con.

And as usual it's gonna be a nerdtastic mix of 

animation, games, movies, 

TV shows, toys,

sci-fi, books, fantasy

and yeah... 

I think there'll be comics, too.

And there WILL be panels.

I'm obviously all over this one:

SATURDAY, JULY 14, 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. (Room: 5AB) Disney Channel Television Animation: Fans can see exclusive footage and clips from upcoming episodes of Disney Channel's BAFTA award-winning series "Fish Hooks" and its newest mystery adventure series "Gravity Falls," plus a first look at the upcoming series "Wander Over Yonder." Panelists include: "Fish Hooks" creator/executive producer Noah Z. Jones and executive producer Maxwell Atoms and voice talent Justin Roiland ("Oscar") and Kari Wahlgren ("Shellsea"); "Gravity Falls" creator Alex Hirsch and creative director Michael Rianda and voice talent Jason Morgan Ritter ("Dipper"), and "Wander Over Yonder" creator Craig McCracken and co-producer Lauren Faust. The panel will be moderated by Eric Coleman, Senior Vice President, Original Series, Disney Television Animation.

And you didn't hear it from me...

but we just might be showing a

FISH HOOKS music video
that I directed!

FISH HOOKS FOLEY

So you know when you're watching 

FISH HOOKS

and you hear certain sounds?

Like footsteps on crunchy gravel.

Or sheets of paper being waved around.

Or a teapot being placed on a table.

Actually,

you probably 

DON'T 

notice 

because they're 

ambient sounds that 

SHOULDN'T

grab your attention.

That's the work of a

FOLEY ARTIST.

Now,

Foley is different from

SOUND EFFECTS.

Foley 

is natural, ambient sound while

sound effects are a caricature of the environment.

For example,

putting in a chicken squawk

when Milo

has a surprised reaction.

Or

creating juuuuust the right laser sound 

for a 600 foot robot.

These kind of SFX 

are masterfully done for 

Fish Hooks 

by 

Jesse Aruda 

and 

Glenn Oyabe.

But our 

Foley work is rocked

by a guy named

J. Lapinen:

And how does he make all these sounds?

With 

a

BIG

GIANT

ROOM

FULL

OF 

STUFF:

And with all this

STUFF

J. can make 

stuff

sound like 

OTHER

stuff:

Cellophane creates crackling fire effects!

An old chair makes a controllable creaking sound!

A pair of gloves sounds like bird wings flapping!

So what kind of sounds do

you think J. can make with all

THIS STUFF:

To be honest,

I only found out this room existed at

Advantage Audio

a couple weeks ago!

But when I found it 

I just 

HAD

to tell you about it!

Cool, right?

SAN DIEGO COMICON 2011!

Ah yes...

It's time for the annual running of the nerds.
And you know I'll be smack in the middle of the action as usual!

For those of you who've never had a chance to go
it's not just about comics.
In fact, it's BARELY about comics anymore.
(Hence the the rise of the exciting new TRICKSTER festival that's happening at the same time this year!)

The con is REALLY about entertainment these days.

TV shows
Movies
Gaming
Toys
Books
Nostalgia
You name it.


Me?
I love it all.
But my FAVORITE activity is sneaking up on unsuspecting show creators, artists, and authors that I admire and asking, pleading, and threatening them to draw in my sketchbook!
Can't wait to see who I meet this year!

And I'll DEFINITELY be stopping by the Fish Hooks panel Sunday morning:

SUNDAY, 10:00am, JULY 24: “Fish Hooks” – Creator/executive producer Noah Z. Jones, executive producer Maxwell Atoms, director Bill Reiss and cast including “Dancing with the Stars” finalist Chelsea Kane (“Bea”), Atticus Shaffer (“Albert Glass”) and Justin Roiland (“Oscar”). Fans will also get a sneak peek of Disney Channel’s upcoming animated series “Gravity Falls.”

Autograph sessions with the cast and crew from “Phineas and Ferb” will occur throughout the weekend, and signings for “Kick Buttowski-Suburban Daredevil” and “Fish Hooks” will take place at the “Phineas and Ferb-Disney Channel/DisneyXD” booth preceding each of the respective panels.

I HAVE to go.
Who else is gonna heckle Maxwell Atoms?

MIXING IT UP

Fish Hooks Creative Director's Log

Fishdate: April 29, 2013

Every two weeks we board the 

starship: 

ADVANTAGE AUDIO

to mix an episode of 

Fish Hooks.

General Maxwell Atoms and I 

immediately head to the bridge

of the ship where

Navigator Melissa Gentry Ellis

and 

Weapons Control Officer Fil Brown

await us.

Communications Officer Huy Luong

is also there ready to make sure

everything happens on schedule:

As you can see,

the bridge has many buttons and dials 

to get us where we need to go:

Mixing the audio for a show involves

three things:

DIALOGUE

MUSIC

SOUND EFFECTS

(this includes FOLEY which we talked about over HERE)

But if all three of these things 

are played at the same volume

at the same time,

all you'd here

is a 

MESS!

So it's Melissa and Fil's job

to ride the volume up and down

so the dialogue is crisp and clear,

the music is driving the action,

and the SFX are accenting the right points

all without drowning each other out.

It's no small task.

That's why there are

snacks and cookies:

General Burton and I watch the two episodes

Melissa and Fil have mixed

and take notes.

We ask for some dialogue to be clearer...

For some music to be softer...

(or completely removed)

Some monkey SFX added here.

A fart added there.

And then we watch the shows

AGAIN

only this time over 

small computer speakers.

Why?

Because not everyone has an 

eleventy billion dollar sound system 

like the 

Starship: Advantage Audio.

Most people have a regular TV

with regular speakers.

And we wanna make sure

Fish Hooks

sounds great on

EVERYONE'S

TV!

I heard a story that Ric Ocasek of The Cars

used to transfer all his songs to cassette tape 

and then listen to them in his car

before approving the mix...

because that's how most people

heard his music!

Troy Underwood,

our

Series Executive

from Disney Fleet Command

(not pictured for security purposes)

attends the small speaker pass

to give us another set of ears.

After the mix is done,

it's outputted and sent back to Disney

where we prepare the last and final step

of production:

PLAYBACK!

That's our one last

viewing to make sure

everything looks and sounds

PERFECT!

And now you know everything 

you need to know about mixing!

Captain Warburton,

out.