A quick summary of the panels of relevance to this blog that I went to:
- Morrie Turner on Thursday was quite interesting. A panel about a comic strip legend moderated by another comic strip legend, Sergio Aragones, Turner drew for the crowd in addition to talking about his career. He hasn’t lost much, either; his style is still quite good.
He said he started drawing at around seven or eight; his mom was encouraging, his dad less so. At 12 he wrote one of his idols, Milton Caniff, and included some of his art. Caniff, Turner said, replied with a six-page missive about what it means to be a cartoonist and that proved to be a massive impetus towards his career.
Wee Pals was created to be, in his words, the black Peanuts; meeting Charles Schulz himself helped steer him in that direction. He talked about the individual characters and what inspired them; for instance, Nipper, the lead, was named after Nipsey Russell. Initially, Turner put a great deal of detail in Wee Pals, but after a helpful critique from another mentor, Gus Arriola (in which he traced Wee Pals and sent it to him so that Turner could become aware of what he was doing), his style became more minimal. Turner said that the strip got picked up by many more papers in the wake of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, a mixed blessing to be sure, but one that he learned to make peace with.
In addition, a clip was shown from the documentary-in-progress called Keeping the Faith With Morrie, an overview of black cartoonists in general centered around Turner.
- Boondocks Season 2 on Friday began with an excerpt from the new season that included a fake trailer for “Soul Plane 2″ that had the large crowd in stitches. In addition to creator Aaron McGruder, the panel included voice actors Cedric Yarborough and Gary Anthony Williams (who acted as mod) and producer Carl Jones. This was followed by a longer trailer for Season 2.
Among the things McGruder and the others talked about: McGruder has thought about going back to strips in order to address more recent events, but wouldn’t comment further than to say “anything’s possible.” The wait between seasons was so long because it took longer to make than anticipated; they basically went back and looked at what was successful and what wasn’t and made a concerted effort to strengthen things. R Kelly did see the episode satirizing him and reportedly liked it. The Season 2 music will be done by Ninth Wonder. There will be only one holiday episode this time, a Halloween one. The Peabody Award win for the MLK episode was acknowledged. A movie is in development at Sony Features Animation but there’s no significant progress to this point.
Among the new episodes will include: a Hurricane Katrina story, one that will address the word nigger head-on (originally written during Season 1 before the Michael Richards and Don Imus controversies), an “Uncle Ruckus reality show” story, and an episode taking place during the slavery era. Throughout the panel, McGruder mocked Al Sharpton’s protests of the show by saying he was joining the protest in order to get himself off the air.
- The Black Panel on Saturday was huge. Michael Davis once again moderated, with the following lineup: TV writer-producer Ehrich van Lowe, Stormbringers writer Korby Marks,, rapper Prodigal Sunn, Film Roman executive Sidney Clifton, writer Marv Wolfman, writer-producer Dwayne McDuffie, TV/film producer Andy Horne, writer Kevin Grevioux, editor Axel Alonso, Marvel executive John Dokes, artist and BET executive Denys Cowan, and writer and BET executive Reggie Hudlin.
Marks and Hudlin probably did the most talking of the panelists. A number of audience members got Marks to talk about his experiences as a self-publisher, including offering advice for newcomers. Hudlin, in conjunction with Dokes, Alonso and Davis, talked about marketing issues and of how there’s a greater support network available now than in the past for aspiring creators. Also, Clifton talked about her career.
There was quite a bit of joking around, mostly between Davis and the audience, but overall I’d say that while it was very laid-back and comfortable, having so many people on stage, some of whom barely got to say anything after their self-introductions, seemed excessive. Speaking as someone who has moderated panels, I’ve always preferred smaller ones in order to make better use of the panelists, especially when they’re coming from diverse backgrounds. It doesn’t seem right to me to bring a dozen people on stage and only make active use of half of them. Just my opinion, though.
- The BET Animation panel was very good. Hudlin moderated a group of Cowan, Clifton, and voice actor Orlando Jones. We saw clips from some of the forthcoming shows, including Jones’ BUFU (a comedy about a black TV network) and Vin Diesel’s Hannibal the Conqueror (based on the life of the historical figure). In addition, a censored version of a wildly popular animated music video played called “Read a Book” (I think I mentioned it in an earlier post).
Hudlin and the others talked about the following: most of the animation will be for prime time, but there will also be kids material for the DVD market. Hudlin also specifically emphasized that they’re working on getting more female-oriented material. Also, they’re working with Nickelodeon on some projects. Cowan referred to the “vast cultural oasis” of black animation that needs to be changed to a “black mythology” that will expand.
Hudlin addressed the issue of what he referred to as “provocative content” in their animation, saying that the 18-34 demographic is their target market, which means some controversy is going to be inevitable and he was not afraid of it, saying “the line moves from generation to generation.” He said diversity of product is something they’re working towards (for example, a sci-fi series is in the works, as are superhero series from Jones, Cowan and Dwayne McDuffie). Also, expanding from the animation into other media are all possibilities.
