Sketches, Stories and Other Stuff from Tom Ruegger
The Imperial Bank Building in Sherman Oaks, CA, where we made Tiny Toons , Animaniacs , Pinky and the Brain , Freakazoid, Batman: The Animated Series, Road Rovers and Histeria . These paintings of our home base were made by Alfred Gimeno's crew. (They loved their Godzilla, especially Paul Trandahl!)
Norm McCabe had one of the longest histories of any director and animator to work at Warner Bros. Animation, from his early days on "Looney Tunes" and "Merrie Melodies" with the Leon Schlesinger Termite Terrace team in the 1930s all the way to his work on "Tiny Toons," "Taz-Mania," "Animaniacs," "Freakazoid" and "The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries" at the Warner Bros. Animation offices in Sherman…
Here's a beautiful animation smear of Slappy Squirrel from Jon McClenahan, Barry Caldwell and the Startoons crew in Chicago. The series: Animaniacs. The episode: "Bumbie's Mom." At the local multiplex, Slappy's nephew Skippy is enjoying the movie -- "Bumbie" -- until there's an onscreen gunshot and it appears that Bumbie's mom has been killed by a hunter. Skippy burst into tears, waking Slappy…
Check out the video of my rhyming picture book "Will You Wear A Mask? I Ask"...a fun 4-minute video for the whole family! Narrated by Mark Hamill! And please wear a mask! You can find the video here: https://youtu.be/60lF1bLAWYA
Hey folks! Just published a fun little rhyming picture book about wearing a mask during this COVID-19 pandemic. It's entitled "Will You Wear A Mask? I Ask" and it's fun for the entire family. You can find it for sale at Amazon... https://www.amazon.com/Will-You-Wear-Mask-Ask-ebook/dp/B08GF1JH2Y/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=ruegger+kindle&qid=1598139340&sr=8-1
Dinnertime for our dog Hunter (the inspiration for "Road Rovers") -- the very picture of perseverance.
If you need to leave the tower, be prepared!
Here's a clip from the first cartoon I made -- "The Premiere of Platypus Duck." Made it in college. The music is composed and performed by Parker MacDonell, and that's Parker singing as well. The entire cartoon is 11 minutes long. This 50-second clip was drawn mainly in colored pencil, with some inked lines on paper. This sequence covers evolution from the dawn of time to the present day, as we…
Here's a short clip from the unreleased, unedited and unexpurgated "blooper reel" of the "Animaniacs" episode entitled "Drive-Insane."
Animation Lesson: 1. Here are some in-between smears that intensify the acting and animation in "Woodstock Slappy." Slappy leans in on Skippy with a smear face stretch. Slappy makes a fast, single-frame gestures toward the stage... Slappy uses her arms to beseech Skippy to answer the question that's driving her crazy: "Who's on stage?" Skippy stretches up then goes down into a squash and freaks…
IN CELEBRATION OF THE 5OTH ANNIVERSARY OF WOODSTOCK... Here's a pan of the Woodstock crowd as Slappy Squirrel tries to shoo them away form her summer treehouse in "Woodstock Slappy" from "Animaniacs" (1994). And here's Slappy grabbing Jimi Hendrix guitar in an attempt to bring the concert to a close.
Here's the original background from the first cartoon I made in college along with classmate Sarah Hobel. The story: a stray dog finds a magic lamp in a big pile of rubbish and gives it a lick. Then all his wishes come true. The deli pictured in the background is named after my professor and mentor Maury Rapf (screenwriter for Disney, among other studios). This animated film was made for Maury's…
In Hanna-Barbera's YOGI BEAR cartoons from 1958 and onward, Boo Boo played Yogi's sidekick. But here's one thing about Boo Boo that has been strange from the very beginning: his design seems to change from one cartoon to the next. He might have a round head in a cartoon, and then be blocky in another. He might have no forehead at all in one segment, and then he'll have a long tall forehead in the…
Paul Dini and I have been developing a new animated series! Here's a sneak peek of a few B.G.s...
Some recent interviews you might check out if you care to... Joey, Nate and Kelly's THE ANIMANICAST is the only weekly podcast dedicated to "Animaniacs!" It's packed with reviews, interviews and info about the series. In this week's episode, they interview "Animaniacs" producer/writer/story editor/voice actor and Slappy Squirrel herself, Sherri Stoner. I chimed in too during the podcast. And…
It's time to celebrate! And to think, it all started with three lunatics escaping from a water tower.
Monday, September 10, 2018, marks the 30th Anniversary of the premiere of "A PUP NAMED SCOOBY DOO" -- the first show I produced at Hanna-Barbera. Thanks to Bill Hanna, Joe Barbera, Jenny Trias and her team at ABC for giving me the job, and thanks to all the members of the Scooby crew, including Kellie Martin (Daphne), Scott Jeralds, Lane Raichert, Charlie Howell, Bill Matheny, Jim Stenstrum,…
September 9th, 2018 marks the 40th Anniversary of the first animated show I worked on in Hollywood and at Hanna-Barbera, "The Godzilla Power Hour" (designed by Doug Wildey). I worked as an assistant animator on the show -- along with colleagues Tom Sito, Mauro Maressa, Rik Maki, Bob Wilkie, Rich Bowman, James Tim Walker, Mark Kirkland, Dennis Venizelos, Joanna Romersa, Bronnie Barry, Will…
Back in 1975-76, I made my first animated cartoon, "The Premiere of Platypus Duck," with the help of a lot of people like Parker MacDonell, Barry Braverman, Maury Rapf, Blair Watson, Tom Ropelewski, Willy Small, Gigi Jones, Glo Ruegger, Sara Hoagland, Chuck Reach, Robert G. "Boris" Fisher and the Arthur and Lillie Mayer Foundation. Below are a few random storyboard panels from the pre-production.…
Don's miss "FREAK-A-CON," the live online virtual Comic-Convention dedicated to all things FREAKAZOID. It's Thursday, March 15th 2018 at 5pm to 6pm Pacific time , 8pm to 9pm Eastern time. Go to -- https://www.facebook.com/FreakACon/ ...and Freak-Out!
Apologies to Winslow Homer. Including detail inserts: