#FredFilms postcards

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Best of Original Cartoons: Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake

FredFilms Postcard Series 3.7

• How a casual web comic became a MAX series.

Don't think that Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake isn't for you.    

Starting as a tossed off web comic by Natasha Allegri –then a storyboard revisionist, now creator/showrunner of Netflix's Bee and PuppyCat– in the summer of 2010, Fionna and Cake starred in some massively popular episodes included in the the original Adventure Time series and then spawned merch, costumes, cosplay and comics.    

Mathematical! A woman had the chance to be the hero of her favorite show.    

It wasn't uncommon to find gender reversed fan fiction in aughts. But of course, Natasha did her fan fic with art that was perfectly on point. Eric Homan,  AT creative executive, put it on our Tumblr and the fandom went nuts.    

Soon enough, Cartoon Network would greenlight an 11-minute one-off and lo and behold, an already hit series had it's most popular episode yet. More followed over the next several seasons and if you happened to be at a comic con women who had been cosplaying other series characters all of a sudden were all over the place as Finn-now-Fionna.   

KaBOOM! comics knew how popular their Adventure Time was, but they couldn't have anticipated the success of the Natasha written/drawn F&C books. 

What we have here is a gen-u-ine phenomenon.    

Adam Muto, the showrunner and executive producer of Fionna and Cake, has been with the original Adventure Time series longer than even creator Pendleton Ward. He was Pen's sole Los Angeles co-worker on the original short we produced for Nickelodeon in 2006, went with the show to Cartoon Network in 2009, eventually becoming the creative director. When Pen moved to a consultancy role, Adam became the stellar showrunner, bringing the characters to new and continuing intriguing places. He ran the movie mini-series starring Finn and Jake, Distant Lands, and then took on the leadership of Sam Register's Cartoon Network Studios putting together a full blown F&C series.    

Today, MAX drops the first two episodes of a complete Fionna and Cake cartoon series, cementing Adventure Time's status as a bona fide franchise, the coin of the realm in our streaming world.    

A web comic-to-series success!    

Rhombus!   

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From the postcard back:

Congratulations! You are one of 125 people to receive this limited edition FredFilms postcard!

www.fredfilms.com

Adventure Time Fionna and Cake Created by Pendleton Ward Original characters by Natasha Allegri

Executive Producers Adam Muto Sam Register, Fred Seibert

Series 3.7 [mailed out August 28, 2023]

#FredFilms postcards #Series 3 #Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake #Fionna and Cake #Pendleton Ward #Natasha Allegri #Adam Muto #Sam Register #MAX #Cartoon Network Studios #Adventure Time

[fredseibert]

Fred ❤️ Keith Haring

FredFilms Postcard Series 4.10

I know, I know, I just told you I’m suspending the FredFilms Great Artist Series of postcards because of the misunderstandings it projects (yes, we’re still making cartoon films, no, we’re not making documentaries). What I hadn’t mentioned is that I’d already printed a bunch. (I have no idea what to do with them.)

But then, I visited an amazing exhibit, the Los Angeles resurrection of the 1987  Luna Luna Traveling Art Carnival (read the amazing story at the links; thank you Drake), and one of its great stars, Keith Haring. 

A lot of snooty art critics think Keith is, at minimum, a lightweight. Too bad, I’m not an art critic. I think his work is awesome.

So, the more I’m reading about a new biography (I’m reading it now), the more attention Keith is getting 34 years after his tragic, early death at 31 years old, the more I’m reflecting on the stuff of his I bought at the Pop Shop in the 80s, the more I needed to change my mind, just this once. I’m honoring Keith Haring, a FredFilms Great Artist.

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From the postcard back:

Congratulations! You are one of 125 people to receive this limited edition FredFilms postcard!

www.fredfilms.com

FredFilms Great Artist Series

Keith Haring

Photographer unknown

Series 4.10 [mailed out March 9, 2024]

#FredFilms postcards #Series 4 #Keith Haring #FredFilms Great Artist Series #photography #postcard #postcards

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“Best of Original Cartoons”

Best of Original Cartoons P... by Fred Seibert

When I left Frederator and set up FredFilms a few years ago I updated the Best of Frederator book we published. And then, I either did new editions or updates of all nine (as of now) of our promotional books. You can check them out as the ‘FredFilms Professional Library.’ Each of them is available as a downloadable PDF, or you can get hard copies at Amazon and Bookshop.

There are posters, cartoon sketches and full color artwork, jokes, some incredible graphics,  and lots and lots of postcards. In the ‘Best of Original Cartoons,’ there’s some of each.

Hope you enjoy them.

#FredFilms #Frederator #posters #postcards #cartoons #title cards #FredFilms Professional Library #My Life as a Teenage Robot #ChalkZone #Fairly Oddparents #Adventure Time #Bee and PuppyCat #Costume Quest #Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! #books #Cartoon Hangover #Channel Frederator #MTV #Nickelodeon #book

[fredfilmsblog]

Fred ❤️ Keith Haring

FredFilms Postcards Series 4.10

I know, I know, I just said I was suspending the FredFilms Great Artist postcard series. It just caused too many misunderstandings (yes, we still making cartoon films, no, we’re not making documentaries).

But, then I visited the Los Angeles resurrection of the amazing 1987 Luna Luna Art Carnival (read the incredible background at the links; thank you Drake!) and one of its great stars, Keith Haring.

The Keith Haring Merry-Go-Round @Luna Luna, Los Angeles

A lot of art critics seem to feel Keith is, at a minimum, a lightweight. Whatever. I’m no art critic, so I have to say I think his work and his approach to art is fantastic. I love his stuff. 

So, I’m temporarily changing my mind, just for this card. I’d already printed a bunch of the Great Artist cards, Keith’s was one of them. Misunderstandings notwithstanding, it’s going in the mail tomorrow.  Don’t be confused. Be inspired.

.....

From the postcard back:

Congratulations! You are one of 125 people to receive this limited edition FredFilms postcard!

www.fredfilms.com

FredFilms Great Artist Series

Keith Haring

Photographer unknown

Series 4.10 [mailed out March 9, 2024]

#FredFilms postcards #Series 4 #Keith Haring #postcards #FredFilms Great Artist Series #postcard #photography #painting

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Coming in 2025! A new graphic novel series!

FredFilms Postcard Series 3.9

One of my favorite shorts produced at Frederator for GO! Cartoons was Elyse Castro’s The Summoning (developed by the indefatigable Eric Homan). I loved it so much that when I left the company I asked Elyse to come along to FredFilms so we could redevelop it as a series. Lucky for us, she said yes!

Given the f-up’d state of the kids marketplace, while we continued work on the series I thought we ought to take advantage of Casey Gonzalez’s –FredFilms’ VP development– long time background as a graphic novel editor. Elyse agreed again, and being the hardest working woman in show business (hat tip to JB and Butch Hartman) and agreeable, had it worked it within days and we proceeded to engage super-graphic-novel-agent Judy Hansen to snag us a deal. Which, of course, she did in a quick minute.

I thought about what I wanted to see in a cartoon—I’m drawn to the macabre, odd stuff, like my taxidermy. I’m very crafty, always making things, which lends itself to a witch character. And tone-wise, I wanted to keep it real, even have nuggets of education. Like in The Summoning, I tucked in a great factoid about poo consumption in the animal kingdom.

–Elyse Castro interview 2017

This week’s FredFilms postcard isn’t announcing any particulars (that wouldn’t be smart, yes?) but to give The Summoning super fans some optimism in what has been a disheartening era in wonderful work.

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From the postcard back:

You are one of 125 people to receive this limited edition FredFilms postcard!

www.fredfilms.com

Coming in 2025, A graphic novel series from Elyse Castro, creator of The Summoning

Series 3.9 [mailed out February 26, 2024]

#FredFilms postcards #Series 3 #Elyse Castro #The Summoning #graphic novel #Casey Gonzalez #postcard #postcards

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“There’s no reason to be afraid..."

 FredFilms Postcard Series 10.2 

One of the truly wonderful, and unusual things about “Adventure Time” –and boy, are there many, many wonderful and unusual things in “Adventure Time”– is that, unlike any other cartoon show I can think of, there’s dialog that one could never image happening in any other cartoon show.

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From the postcard back:

Congratulations! You are one of 125 people to receive this limited edition FredFilms postcard!

www.fredfilms.com

Original, always Your next favorite cartoon Creators first

FredFilms Quotations “There’s no reason to be afraid of things that are beautiful.”

From the “Adventure Time” episode “To Cut a Woman’s Hair” Story by Pendleton Ward, Steve Little, Patrick McHale, Merriwether Williams, Thurop Van Orman Written by Kent Osborne & Somvilay Xayaphone

Series 10.2 [mailed out March 26, 2024]

#FredFilms postcards #Series 10 #FredFilms Quotations #Adventure Time #postcards #Pendleton Ward #Patrick McHale #postcard #Kent Osborne #Steve Little #Merriwether Williams #Thurop Van Orman #Somvilay Xayaphone

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Best of Original Cartoons: Fanboy and Chum Chum

FredFilms Postcard Series 8.9

Creator Eric Robles pulled something off with his Fanboy & Chum Chum (one of the wonderful Random! Cartoons that made it to series) that I’d bet most people would think is not possible in a cartoon for kids. He used his own, personal story as the basis of a rip roaring, CG comedy. 

Eric grow up in LA’s San Fernando valley as a latch key kid, someone most of us can relate to. Everyday after school he’d hang at his neighborhood’s 7-Eleven with his buddies and crack jokes, talk about comics, video games, TV and cartoons. Together, they created a community. In my town, it was the local record store, in others it was an ice cream parlor, but wherever it was for you, those people made life worth living. 

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From the postcard back:

You are one of 125 people to receive this limited edition FredFilms postcard!

www.fredfilms.com

Fanboy & Chum Chum Created by Eric Robles premieres on Nickelodeon November 6, 2009

Executive Producers: Eric Robles, Fred Seibert

Best Original Cartoons Series 8.9 [mailed out October 10, 2023]

#FredFilms postcards #Series 8 #Best of Original Cartoons #Fanboy and Chum Chum #Eric Robles #Random! Cartoons

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Fred ❤️ Beatles.

FredFilms Postcard Series 4.8

The photograph on this postcard probably wasn’t the first one I ever saw of The Beatles, but in it sure does represents how so many people felt when the group exploded their consciousnesses. That’s sure true for me.

On February 9, 1964, 8pm Eastern Standard Time (US), Channel 2 (CBS) in New York, on "The Ed Sullivan Show," The Beatles performed on American television for the first time. My life changed forever, even if it took a few years to sink in. 

To modern eyes and ears, the performances might not seem all that, so I won't try to explain. But, suffice it to say, from the moment of those first three songs were over, my path was cemented forever. I was a science and math kid, I sloughed off my other classes, even enrolled to study chemistry in college. And, a few weeks in, I looked at a lab mate and said, "I like The Beatles more than this," and walked out. From that moment on, I put all my cards on the number that said, in essence, pop culture is everything to me.

I wouldn’t have produced records. I wouldn’t have worked in radio. I wouldn’t have worked in television. I certainly wouldn’t have produced cartoons or started an video streaming company.

By the way, probably the hardest thing about this postcard was finding the perfect photograph. There were so many that could have been great! But, I think I picked right.

.....

From the postcard back:

Congratulations! You are one of 125 people to receive this limited edition FredFilms postcard!

www.fredfilms.com

FredFilms Great Artist Series

The Beatles April 1963 for Boyfriend Magazine

Photograph by Fiona Adams

Series 4.8 [mailed out February 6, 2024]

#FredFilms postcards #Series 4 #The Beatles #FredFilms Great Artist Series #postcards #postcard

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Best of Original Cartoons: Castlevania: Nocturne

FredFilms Postcard Series 3.8

Kevin Kolde changed American cartoons on television and streaming forever. And Thursday, September 28, will just be more proof of it. 

You think that’s hyperbole?

When producer Kevin Kolde joined us at Frederator Studios in 2005, he brought along the animation rights to the Konami video game Castlevania, thinking it would make a great direct-to-DVD movie, and that the 30+ years of the franchise’s worldwide success would feed sequels forever. A “universe,” if you will. There certainly wasn’t any broadcast or cable channel that had shown a scintilla of interest in anything other than an animated comedy. Kevin, on the other hand was a dedicated video game player and felt that the video game-to-feature film attempts had been woeful failures. He was absolutely certain felt he could do better. 

Who was I to argue?

It took 10 years after Kevin had recruited Warren Ellis to write the script and “no” after “no” after “absolutely not!” before the good folks at Netflix stepped up and gave a Castlevania series a chance. As a global video platform, Netflix was uniquely suited to reaching across the Earth to the game’s generation of fans. And Kevin’s team building of Warren, voice director Meredith Layne and Powerhouse Animation’s Sam Deats, Adam Deats and Brad Graeber would deliver a winning mini-series (the original movie script broken into four episodes) guaranteed to capture the imagine of fans that had been pining for adult animation that examined more than just the hijinks of a wacky family.

Kevin’s showrunning skills were unparalleled, extremely unusual for a non-writing producer. But all his instincts were perfect, extending to the notion that a franchise universe could be in the cards. Enter Castlevania: Nocture, a new series that, IMHO, is just the beginning.

Back to my original “hyperbole.” Cartoons on television have changed forever. Proof? Arcane, The Guardians of Justice, Beastars, Blood of Zeus...  the list goes on. And none them possible without the success of Castlevania.

You can thank Kevin.

.....

From the postcard back:

Congratulations! You are one of 125 people to receive this limited edition FredFilms postcard!

www.fredfilms.com

Castlevania: Nocturne

Executive Producers Kevin Kolde Clive Bradley, Fred Seibert

Series 3.8 [mailed out September 18, 2023]

#FredFilms postcards #Series 3 #Castlevania: Nocturne #Castlevania #Kevin Kolde #Clive Bradley #Netflix

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Fred ❤️ Warhol.

FredFilms Postcard Series 4.9

It was so boring when I went to museums as a kid, couldn’t figure out why school was subjecting us to such an excruciating exercise. And then, in college, we went to the original Whitney Museum building on Madison Avenue for Andy Warhol’s first retrospective show.

I was never the same.

Some of the branding design I produced over the years.

But, I didn’t realize by quite how much until I looked back on some of my branding work of the last 50 years. Hah, multiples! So, I figured it was fitting that Andy should be the first non-musical artist in the FredFilms Great Artist Series.

(Andy’s photographs up top from 1981 Andy are by Steve Wood.)

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From the postcard back:

Congratulations! You are one of 125 people to receive this limited edition FredFilms postcard!

www.fredfilms.com

FredFilms Great Artist Series

Andy Warhol [1981]

Photograph by Steve Wood

Series 4.9 [mailed out January 20, 2024]

#FredFilms postcards #Series 4 #FredFilms Great Artist Series #Andy Warhol #postcard #Steve Wood #photography #1981 #postcards

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Fred loves Fred (McDowell)!

FredFilms Postcard Series 4.7

We all take inspiration where we can get it. Me, it’s music and musicians. After all, when The Beatles came to America in 1964, they completely derailed me from a life in science to decades enmeshed in pop culture.

Loving music –not just the songs and records, but also how the musicians looked at their art– led me to producing records, and the vinyl LP covers led me into photography, illustration and graphic design. Which led me to cable television and creating the first television brandings, and then to cartoon production. Which led to the internet and streaming video.

Mississippi Fred McDowell was a bluesman whose concert became my first record production. But more importantly, thanks to my first professional partner, Tom Pomposello, Fred was from whom I learned what the blues really is. Hint: not the British rockers I thought it might be at first.

Not for nothing, Fred is not the only incredible artist honored in this card. Carlos Ramos was part of my first Frederator production, Oh Yeah! Cartoons. He’s also totally into music, so I commissioned him to illustrate Fred for an album project I haven’t gotten around to yet.

......

From the postcard back:

Congratulations! You are one of 125 people to receive this limited edition FredFilms postcard!

www.fredfilms.com

FredFilms Great Artist Series

Mississippi Fred McDowell

Illustration by Carlos Ramos March 2018

Series 4.5 [mailed out November 13, 2023]

#FredFilms postcards #Series 4 #Mississippi Fred McDowell #FredFilms Great Artist Series #postcard #Carlos Ramos #postcards #illustration

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Bee and PuppyCat on Netflix, September 6, 2022

FredFilms Postcard Series 3.6

Since Natasha’s new “Bee and PuppyCat: Lazy in Space” is dropping the day after Labor Day next week, I wanted to make sure this limited edition postcard gets to people in time.

B&PC: LIS has been a long time coming. Fans know that the first shorts dropped just nine years ago (!) on Cartoon Hangover, followed by the first series (powered by our Kickstarter fans) in November 2014.

Lazy in Space’s original 13 half hour episodes were completed a couple of years ago, but when we licensed them to Netflix, their YouTube-a-phobia had them ask Natasha to do a retelling in three new half hours, which delayed the release quite a while (it takes a lot of people a long time to draw as many  animation frames as are needed). Not to worry, the three new ones have a lot of material hard core fans will love! Not to mention the next 13!

Anyhow, Bee on pins and needles. Only eight days away!

PS: This postcard is an adaption of the title card of the episode “Again for the First Time,” designed by (pay attention, these guys do amazing work!) Efrain Farias and Hans Tseng.

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From the postcard back:

You are one of 125 people to receive this limited edition FredFilms postcard!

www.fredfilms.com

Your next favorite cartoon:

A Netflix Series September 6, 2022

Bee and PuppyCat Created by Natasha Allegri

Executive Producers: Natasha Allegri, Michael Hirsh, Eric Homan, Kevin Kolde, Toshioki Okuno, Fred Seibert, Junichi Yanagihara

Series 3.6 [mailed out August 29, 2022]

#FredFilms postcards #Series 3 #Natasha Allegri #Bee and PuppyCat #postcards #Bee and PuppyCat: Lazy in Space #postcard #Again for the First Time #Efrain Farias #Hans Tseng #Netflix

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100% Average Tomatometer! Castlevania: Nocturne

FredFilms Postcard Series 3.12

Kevin Kolde and his creative teams have done it again! 

(OK, the TM probably fluctuates here and there. 100% when I printed this card, and always closer to 100% than 90%.)

Kevin’s vision has remained steady ever since we published the first, admittedly optimistic postcard for Castlevania in 2008. Early on, since the video games action spanned over centuries that the series could be a “universe” unto itself. Check! Nocturne is the second series in a continuing saga.

And, that characters only visualized in clunky pixels had room for development and growth.  

Check! Just skim the Black Nerd Problems review to read one take on the series evolution.

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From the postcard back:

Congratulations! You are one of 125 people to receive this limited edition FredFilms postcard!

www.fredfilms.com

100% Average Tomatometer

“A near-perfect outing made up of the kind of creative alchemy that begs for three more seasons.” –Frantz Jerome, Black Nerd Problems

Castlevania: Nocturne

Executive Producers Kevin Kolde Clive Bradley, Fred Seibert

Series 3.12 [mailed out January 27, 2024]

#FredFilms postcards #Series 3 #Castlevania: Nocture #Castlevania #Kevin Kolde #postcards #Rotten Tomatoes #Tomatometer #postcard #Netlfix

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Fuck art. Let’s dance!

FredFilms Postcard Series 6.5

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From the postcard back:

Congratulations! You are one of 125 people to receive this limited edition FredFilms postcard!

www.fredfilms.com

FredFilms Creators First Original, Always Your Next Favorite Cartoon

Clip art by Volk Corporation “Teenagers” 1959

Black & White Series 6.5 [mailed out December 8, 2023]

#FredFilms postcards #Series 6 #illustration #black & white

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Best of Original Cartoons: Bravest Warriors

FredFilms Postcard Series 8.7

This latest series of limited edition postcards celebrates our great creators and showrunners. In this case, the phenomenon of Bravest Warriors. While the original short was created by Pendleton Ward during Random! Cartoons, he was busy with Adventure Time (very busy!) and he suggested his friend Breehn Burns to run the show when we brought it to Cartoon Hangover. Breehn gave us his fantastic pitch, and we couldn’t say no.

While Pen’s short was merely a sketch of what could eventually happen, it was up to Breehn to flesh things out to make it series worthy. And he did not disappoint in the least.

And then, of course, Breehn’s crowning creation... it’s Catbug!

PS: our great friends at Ludoko Studios created a wonderful Catbug iphone game. It’s where this illustration is from.

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From the postcard back:

You are one of 125 people to receive this limited edition FredFilms postcard!

www.fredfilms.com

Bravest Warriors Created by Pendleton Ward Written By Breehn Burns premieres on Cartoon Hangover November 8, 2012

Illustration by Ludoko Studios Michael Lee and Dan Lin

Executive Producers: Breehn Burns, Eric Homan, Kevin Kolde, Fred Seibert

Best Original Cartoons Series 8.7 [mailed out January 11, 2023]

#FredFilms postcards #Series 8 #postcards #Bravest Warriors #Best of Original Cartoons #Pendleton Ward #Breehn Burns #postcard

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“Write every day...”

FredFilms Postcard Series 10.3

Here’s another quote relevant to what I do for a living (I know, there are a lot...): “If I could give my 13- and 16-year-old one competence that I think would stand the test of time, it’d be storytelling...”

In my case, mystery fiction has held me in its tight grip ever since my 6th grade librarian read a Sherlock Holmes story to our class. And when an author is as good a writer as Michael Connelly, I loyally pay attention. Great characters, great stories, like the best advice I ever got as a wannabe producer.

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From the postcard back:

Congratulations! You are one of 125 people to receive this limited edition FredFilms postcard!

www.fredfilms.com

Original, always Your next favorite cartoon Creators first

FredFilms Quotations “Write every day even if it is just a paragraph.”

Michael Connelly, author Photography by Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times

Series 10.3 [mailed out April 5, 2024]

#FredFilms postcards #Series 10 #Michael Connelly #author #mystery #FredFilms Quotations #postcards #postcard