I look at some of my early stuff - back when I was 12 or 13 years old - and I was already doing cross-hatching back then. I don't know where I picked that up. I think I was in a hurry, and I wanted to shade something really fast, and I tried cross-hatching a shadow.

Bill Plympton

Categorized in : Know Think Look Shadow

Negotiating with Disney isn't like good cop/bad cop; it's like bad cop/Antichrist.

Bill Plympton

antichrist cop negotiating

People used to want to be filmmakers and animators; now they want to make apps.

Bill Plympton

apps want people

I think it reflects well on the state of animation that people are knowledgeable about it and love the fantasy and imagination that goes into it.

Bill Plympton

imagination people thinking

I like the idea of seeing a film that has the artist's hand in there,a film where you can see his strokes, you can see his working patterns. It's like going to a museum and seeing a Renoir drawing. You want to see their work and you want to see how they put it together. For me to see that in animation is really fresh, it's really exciting, it's really original.

Bill Plympton

drawing artist museums

America is behind Europe and Japan in terms of accepting adult ideas in animation.

Bill Plympton

europe america ideas

Im very happy with the success of short films. In fact, for me, the short films make more money than the features.

Bill Plympton

more-money film facts

The amazing fact that one person can make his own film - I think animation is somewhat unique in that respect. I don't need to deal with lawyers. I don't need to deal with corporations. I don't need to deal with executives or agents or any of that. I can just sit at home and make a feature film. That's a wonderful experience. Each film I make gets more popular, more press and makes more money. So it's amazing that I've survived and actually prospered doing that sort of homegrown, cottage-industry filmmaking.

Bill Plympton

unique home thinking

Animation can be a full spectrum of different storytelling techniques and different genres. I think it's sad that there is only one audience that the studios are aiming for and that's the kid audience. It's really tragic that they don't' make films for older people.

Bill Plympton

kids people thinking

I don't see why it's such a stretch for distributors, buyers, and studios to put cartoon characters into adult situations on film.

Bill Plympton

adult why see cartoon

My films usually start with an idea that I get while walking the streets. For example, I got the idea for 'Guard Dog' when I was walking in the park and I saw a dog barking at a bird.

Bill Plympton

start dog walking bird

Being a talented artist is good, it's nice, but it's not the most important thing. I think being a good storyteller, having a good idea, a good gag, is probably more important than being a great artist.

Bill Plympton

great good think nice

Hand-drawn animation is something that I feel really strongly about. A Pixar movie may be really great, but it looks like it was drawn by a machine.

Bill Plympton

something feel great looks

I love Pixar films; I think they're the greatest filmmakers in the world. I love Disney films. 'Tangled,' was great. I loved 'How to Train Your Dragon,' the Dreamworks film. But it's not for me. I don't want to make a film for families; I want to make adult films.

Bill Plympton

great me love world

I'm not as successful as Pixar or Dreamworks, and that is disappointing to me, because I think my films are as valid as a Pixar film. I think there's an audience for my films. I know there's a market for someone like Quentin Tarantino, who basically does adult cartoons in live action.

Bill Plympton

live think me action

I'm much better known in France and Germany and Spain than I am in the U.S. When I go to Russia, I get mobbed; I have groups of fans waiting for me out in the hotel lobby, waiting for me to come down off the elevator. In China, I almost got beat up because people were trying to get me to do a drawing for them.

Bill Plympton

i-am me waiting people

For me, the perfect film has no dialogue at all. It's purely a visual, emotional, visceral kind of experience. And I think one can create wonderful depth and meaning and communication without using words. I started out as an illustrator and a cartoonist and caricature artist, so for me the visual is primary.

Bill Plympton

words me experience communication

I listen to Emmylou Harris. She's my favorite. I don't know why, but I just feel more creative with her playing.

Bill Plympton

she feel know creative

If I'm really feeling good and not having a lot of interruptions, I can do a minute of animation a day, so theoretically, I could do a film in three months without any interruptions.

Bill Plympton

feeling day good i-can

I think each film I do has less and less dialogue. It really helps a lot for foreign sales, because when I go to Europe, there's very little problem with communication. All the gags are visual. The music they can understand, and it helps communicate a lot better.

Bill Plympton

better understand communication music

I like to get up at six in the morning, and I draw until sometimes ten at night.

Bill Plympton

like morning sometimes night