Welcome to A Comic Conversation! a new podcast brought to you by The Team at Distance NERDing!
Have you ever thought, dang if only i had a way to listen to an interview at a comic con that i missed even tho i had no way of being there? well think no further!!! Jahmez 5000 and Yung Phil of the Distance NERDing podcast thought the same thing and started recording their interviews for you, The NERDs, to listen to at home!!! You may be revisiting an interview that you atttended and wanted to hear again, or maybe hearing it for the first time!! were here for you!!!
This Week we bring you Legendary Artist Len Smithy! We go over his history in animation, his work in the industry, and even how he started!!
Sit back, Relax, and Enjoy a Comic Conversation!!!!
[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening! This is Comic Con Radio!
[00:00:05] [SPEAKER_01]: Comic Con!
[00:00:06] [SPEAKER_01]: Coverage of pop culture events from around the globe. Amazing interviews with celebrities.
[00:00:12] [SPEAKER_01]: Daily recaps and reviews of popular television. Movie reviews. Everything fandom from around the globe.
[00:00:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Comic Con Radio. Get ready to enter our universe. Let's go!
[00:00:34] [SPEAKER_02]: Who likes cartoons? I know I do. And this week's guest is someone who designed some iconic memories from your childhood
[00:00:39] [SPEAKER_02]: and as his credits put us in a tailspin, it's time for...
[00:00:42] [SPEAKER_00]: A Comic Conversation!
[00:00:46] [SPEAKER_02]: Our guest is the co-creator of Toontown, the character designer for classics like Tailspin and Bonkers.
[00:00:53] [SPEAKER_02]: We sit down with the incredible Len Smith. We go over his history in animation, his work in the industry, and even how he started.
[00:00:59] [SPEAKER_02]: So get your airplanes ready for adventures. It's time for...
[00:01:02] [SPEAKER_00]: A Comic Conversation!
[00:01:07] [SPEAKER_02]: Ladies and gentlemen, Distance Zerting back with another interview for you here.
[00:01:11] [SPEAKER_02]: So, let's go ahead and get right into the intro.
[00:01:13] [SPEAKER_02]: From Hanna-Barbera Studios to Disney features and TV animation to Mattel toys, Toontown, from Who Framed Roger Rabbit to Tailspin,
[00:01:23] [SPEAKER_02]: our very special guest this has spent 30 years creating our childhood memories.
[00:01:27] [SPEAKER_02]: Please, welcome to the show, Len Smith.
[00:01:30] [SPEAKER_04]: Thank you for having me.
[00:01:31] [SPEAKER_02]: Absolutely.
[00:01:32] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh my God, I'm so excited that we get to sit down and chat about you and your career.
[00:01:37] [SPEAKER_03]: But before we get into that, we have a segment on our podcast called Growing Up Geeky.
[00:01:42] [SPEAKER_03]: So, what did you geek out on as a kid?
[00:01:44] [SPEAKER_03]: The Flintstones.
[00:01:45] [SPEAKER_03]: Ah, the Flintstones.
[00:01:46] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm very old school.
[00:01:48] [SPEAKER_03]: No, I grew up on the Flintstones too.
[00:01:50] [SPEAKER_03]: I loved it.
[00:01:51] [SPEAKER_03]: I loved it.
[00:01:52] [SPEAKER_03]: Who was your favorite character?
[00:01:53] [SPEAKER_03]: Fred.
[00:01:54] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh yeah.
[00:01:54] [SPEAKER_04]: You gotta go Fred.
[00:01:55] [SPEAKER_04]: Or Gazoo.
[00:01:56] [SPEAKER_02]: Oh, the Great Gazoo was always good to me.
[00:01:58] [SPEAKER_02]: The Great Gazoo!
[00:01:58] [SPEAKER_02]: So underrated.
[00:01:59] [SPEAKER_02]: I used to love watching episodes and the Great Gazoo showing up.
[00:02:02] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[00:02:03] [SPEAKER_03]: So, is that what inspired you to be an artist or...
[00:02:07] [SPEAKER_03]: How did you get into the business, so to speak?
[00:02:09] [SPEAKER_04]: My dad had an art scholarship to Chouinards in LA, which was like CalArts at the time.
[00:02:15] [SPEAKER_04]: And he was an artist, but he became a carpenter.
[00:02:18] [SPEAKER_04]: So I kind of picked up the artist mantle from him.
[00:02:20] [SPEAKER_03]: Interesting.
[00:02:21] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
[00:02:21] [SPEAKER_03]: You know what's funny is that my brother was really, really good at being an artist.
[00:02:26] [SPEAKER_03]: And he's a little bit older than me, so he's about to be 50.
[00:02:28] [SPEAKER_03]: And he never pursued his artistic side, even though he should have, and he liked it.
[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_03]: But I see his son, who's an incredible artist too.
[00:02:37] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm like, you have to tell your son to be the artist that you never were able to become.
[00:02:43] [SPEAKER_03]: And he's like, yeah, I think I am.
[00:02:44] [SPEAKER_03]: Give him permission to follow that.
[00:02:45] [SPEAKER_03]: Exactly.
[00:02:46] [SPEAKER_03]: Give him permission to follow in his footsteps.
[00:02:48] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
[00:02:49] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, I totally agree.
[00:02:49] [SPEAKER_03]: So let's get into your career.
[00:02:51] [SPEAKER_03]: So what was your first breakout project?
[00:02:54] [SPEAKER_03]: How did you get into the whole industry?
[00:02:56] [SPEAKER_04]: I had graduated high school about five years before, and everybody in high school was saying,
[00:03:01] [SPEAKER_04]: you've got to get into animation.
[00:03:02] [SPEAKER_04]: You've got to get into animation.
[00:03:03] [SPEAKER_04]: And I kind of avoided it, you know, for five years.
[00:03:07] [SPEAKER_04]: And I finally just broke down and called Hanna-Barbera Studios, was given an interview,
[00:03:12] [SPEAKER_04]: and was hired and went to work the same day.
[00:03:14] [SPEAKER_04]: What?
[00:03:14] [SPEAKER_04]: So you just cold called?
[00:03:15] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.
[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_03]: That is amazing.
[00:03:18] [SPEAKER_03]: That sounds like a movie, you know, like cold called, just made it happen.
[00:03:21] [SPEAKER_04]: I went to work for Iwo Takamoto, who was the guy who designed Scooby Doo.
[00:03:25] [SPEAKER_04]: Wow.
[00:03:25] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, he was in charge of the studio at the time.
[00:03:28] [SPEAKER_04]: Wow.
[00:03:28] [SPEAKER_03]: That is amazing.
[00:03:30] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, so I went to work directly into concept design.
[00:03:33] [SPEAKER_03]: That's awesome.
[00:03:34] [SPEAKER_03]: That's awesome.
[00:03:35] [SPEAKER_03]: That's awesome.
[00:03:35] [SPEAKER_03]: So any, I always, we were asking everybody that we've been interviewing, like Rob Paulson,
[00:03:40] [SPEAKER_03]: like, do you have any fun behind the scenes?
[00:03:42] [SPEAKER_03]: Like, stuff us normal, you know, people don't get to hear, like, what's it like in the process
[00:03:47] [SPEAKER_03]: of doing animation?
[00:03:49] [SPEAKER_03]: Any fun behind the scenes stories?
[00:03:50] [SPEAKER_04]: Like, no, the fun is being there, you know, and having the job, because it's like you won
[00:03:56] [SPEAKER_04]: the lottery.
[00:03:57] [SPEAKER_04]: Right.
[00:03:57] [SPEAKER_04]: What are the odds that you're going to make a phone call and go to work for Hanna-Barbera?
[00:04:00] [SPEAKER_04]: Right.
[00:04:01] [SPEAKER_04]: And, you know, the Hanna-Barbera stuff is what I grew up on.
[00:04:04] [SPEAKER_04]: Right.
[00:04:04] [SPEAKER_04]: Yogi Bear and...
[00:04:06] [SPEAKER_04]: A boo-boo.
[00:04:06] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.
[00:04:07] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.
[00:04:08] [SPEAKER_02]: Flintstones.
[00:04:09] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[00:04:09] [SPEAKER_02]: What particular projects at Hanna-Barbera did you work on?
[00:04:12] [SPEAKER_02]: Hound puppies.
[00:04:13] [SPEAKER_04]: Snorks.
[00:04:14] [SPEAKER_02]: So the underwater smurfs.
[00:04:16] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[00:04:16] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[00:04:17] [SPEAKER_03]: We were just talking about the snorks with, like, Rob Paulson or something.
[00:04:21] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
[00:04:21] [SPEAKER_02]: There's a really famous story about Welker doing underwater lobster while it's drowning
[00:04:27] [SPEAKER_02]: kind of thing on the snorks.
[00:04:28] [SPEAKER_02]: It was weird.
[00:04:31] [SPEAKER_02]: That's nuts.
[00:04:32] [SPEAKER_03]: That's nuts.
[00:04:32] [SPEAKER_03]: But, okay, so you did Hanna-Barbera, and that's amazing.
[00:04:36] [SPEAKER_03]: But you also worked for Disney, and you worked on Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
[00:04:40] [SPEAKER_04]: Well, that came through Hanna-Barbera because...
[00:04:42] [SPEAKER_04]: Oh, okay.
[00:04:43] [SPEAKER_04]: Somebody that I worked with at Hanna-Barbera was teaching me layout, got the job designing
[00:04:48] [SPEAKER_04]: Toontown, and he hired me to assist him.
[00:04:51] [SPEAKER_04]: His name was William Frick.
[00:04:52] [SPEAKER_04]: He went by the name William Frick III.
[00:04:55] [SPEAKER_04]: And so I got the job assisting him, and his wife was about to have a baby, and he disappeared
[00:05:01] [SPEAKER_04]: for like three weeks.
[00:05:02] [SPEAKER_04]: And I had no experience, you know, for doing a major motion picture like that.
[00:05:06] [SPEAKER_04]: Right.
[00:05:06] [SPEAKER_04]: So I was kind of left on my own there with Bob Zemecki standing over my shoulder.
[00:05:12] [SPEAKER_04]: And, yeah.
[00:05:13] [SPEAKER_04]: So that was an experience.
[00:05:14] [SPEAKER_03]: Here.
[00:05:14] [SPEAKER_03]: Draw the world we're all gonna be part of.
[00:05:17] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
[00:05:17] [SPEAKER_03]: Go.
[00:05:17] [SPEAKER_04]: I'm going to do Toontown now.
[00:05:19] [SPEAKER_04]: That's nuts.
[00:05:19] [SPEAKER_03]: That's nuts.
[00:05:20] [SPEAKER_04]: That's pretty funny.
[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_04]: We're on a schedule.
[00:05:22] [SPEAKER_03]: So what was it like creating Toontown?
[00:05:25] [SPEAKER_03]: Like, where did you draw inspiration from?
[00:05:27] [SPEAKER_03]: What were the...
[00:05:28] [SPEAKER_04]: I grew up in cartoons.
[00:05:30] [SPEAKER_04]: Mm-hmm.
[00:05:30] [SPEAKER_04]: Mm-hmm.
[00:05:30] [SPEAKER_04]: It was amazing to be given the ability to create the land where toons live.
[00:05:36] [SPEAKER_04]: That's awesome.
[00:05:36] [SPEAKER_04]: Who gets that off the ground?
[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_04]: You.
[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_04]: You're the only one that gets it.
[00:05:40] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.
[00:05:41] [SPEAKER_03]: So tell us a bit about the animation process.
[00:05:45] [SPEAKER_03]: You know, like, we've spoken to Rob Paulson, like, voice actors, like, we don't know what
[00:05:49] [SPEAKER_03]: it's like to be a voice actor.
[00:05:51] [SPEAKER_03]: We don't know what it's like to be, you know, doing animation.
[00:05:54] [SPEAKER_03]: Like, what is it like?
[00:05:55] [SPEAKER_03]: How does it start to finish, you know?
[00:05:57] [SPEAKER_02]: Right.
[00:05:58] [SPEAKER_02]: Because we've been in other processes.
[00:05:59] [SPEAKER_02]: Like, we've talked to character creation.
[00:06:00] [SPEAKER_02]: We've talked to storyboarding and things like that.
[00:06:04] [SPEAKER_02]: But we haven't really talked through animation, so...
[00:06:06] [SPEAKER_04]: Well, I don't know much about animation.
[00:06:07] [SPEAKER_04]: I'm not an animator.
[00:06:09] [SPEAKER_04]: I'm just a designer.
[00:06:10] [SPEAKER_04]: Mm-hmm.
[00:06:11] [SPEAKER_04]: So they would explain the parameters and what they wanted to see on screen.
[00:06:15] [SPEAKER_04]: And I tried to give them, you know, do the most with what I had.
[00:06:19] [SPEAKER_03]: Gotcha.
[00:06:20] [SPEAKER_03]: Mentally.
[00:06:20] [SPEAKER_03]: Gotcha.
[00:06:20] [SPEAKER_03]: So a lot of the...
[00:06:22] [SPEAKER_03]: Is it called backdrops in...
[00:06:24] [SPEAKER_03]: Layout.
[00:06:24] [SPEAKER_03]: Layout, I guess?
[00:06:25] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, that's the term.
[00:06:26] [SPEAKER_03]: See, I don't even know the terms.
[00:06:27] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.
[00:06:28] [SPEAKER_03]: You know, so it's more layout of how the town looks and whatnot.
[00:06:32] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.
[00:06:32] [SPEAKER_03]: That's crazy.
[00:06:33] [SPEAKER_03]: Just set the environment.
[00:06:33] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, exactly.
[00:06:34] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.
[00:06:34] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, that must be tough.
[00:06:36] [SPEAKER_03]: So let's hear about some other projects.
[00:06:38] [SPEAKER_03]: Like you can talk about Pound Puppies.
[00:06:40] [SPEAKER_03]: What was that like?
[00:06:41] [SPEAKER_03]: Is that one of your bigger ones?
[00:06:44] [SPEAKER_03]: Not really.
[00:06:44] [SPEAKER_02]: I was gonna say, well, you worked on Bonkers too, right?
[00:06:47] [SPEAKER_02]: Like you did character design on Bonkers and...
[00:06:49] [SPEAKER_02]: I designed Bonkers.
[00:06:50] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[00:06:51] [SPEAKER_02]: And like Tailspin and things like that.
[00:06:53] [SPEAKER_04]: Probably the bigger show for me would have been Tailspin.
[00:06:56] [SPEAKER_04]: Mm-hmm.
[00:06:56] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, I started out on the new adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
[00:07:00] [SPEAKER_04]: Okay.
[00:07:01] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, but that was more just like costume design.
[00:07:03] [SPEAKER_04]: Okay.
[00:07:04] [SPEAKER_04]: The characters had to have bunny ears for these.
[00:07:07] [SPEAKER_03]: Everything was established.
[00:07:08] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
[00:07:08] [SPEAKER_03]: So you're just...
[00:07:09] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.
[00:07:10] [SPEAKER_04]: But it was still exciting to work with a classic like that.
[00:07:14] [SPEAKER_04]: That's a good point.
[00:07:14] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.
[00:07:14] [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, because like Tailspin is kind of a spin on a lot of things because you think
[00:07:19] [SPEAKER_02]: about it, it's classic characters from the Jungle Book.
[00:07:21] [SPEAKER_02]: At least some of the characters were.
[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_02]: Right.
[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_02]: In a whole new world.
[00:07:24] [SPEAKER_02]: Right.
[00:07:24] [SPEAKER_02]: You know, like Baloo's wearing, you know...
[00:07:26] [SPEAKER_04]: And flying a plane.
[00:07:27] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.
[00:07:28] [SPEAKER_02]: You know, and Shere Khan's in a suit.
[00:07:30] [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, things like that.
[00:07:32] [SPEAKER_02]: Like...
[00:07:32] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[00:07:33] [SPEAKER_02]: Were these just ideas and concepts that they already had and said, okay, put Shere Khan
[00:07:37] [SPEAKER_02]: in a suit or was like, you know what?
[00:07:38] [SPEAKER_02]: Let me create this character.
[00:07:40] [SPEAKER_04]: No, I mean, we already knew what Shere Khan looked like.
[00:07:42] [SPEAKER_04]: It was just a matter of getting him to stand upright, carry his arms right.
[00:07:46] [SPEAKER_04]: Right.
[00:07:46] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, how bang.
[00:07:47] [SPEAKER_04]: Right.
[00:07:48] [SPEAKER_04]: So, yeah.
[00:07:48] [SPEAKER_02]: And then some of the choices for Baloo, like were you just drawing from like kind of like
[00:07:53] [SPEAKER_02]: 1940s serial kind of things or...
[00:07:54] [SPEAKER_04]: Somebody asked me today about a show called Tales of the Gold Monkey that happened right
[00:07:59] [SPEAKER_04]: before Tailspin.
[00:08:01] [SPEAKER_04]: And it was kind of the same adventure type show set in the 40s.
[00:08:05] [SPEAKER_04]: It was kind of a more Indiana Jones kind of for TV.
[00:08:08] [SPEAKER_04]: Right.
[00:08:08] [SPEAKER_04]: And so it was kind of set in that world.
[00:08:11] [SPEAKER_04]: So we knew what the pilots would kind of look like and what era it was set in and what
[00:08:16] [SPEAKER_04]: they would be wearing.
[00:08:16] [SPEAKER_04]: So it was just borrowing from different ideas.
[00:08:19] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.
[00:08:19] [SPEAKER_03]: So did Indiana Jones have a lot of influence into how you presented?
[00:08:24] [SPEAKER_03]: Like how do you adapted say, you know, Baloo into something brand new?
[00:08:28] [SPEAKER_04]: Well, I'm sure that's what sold the series is...
[00:08:30] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, that's a good point.
[00:08:32] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, you're gonna put Baloo in Indiana Jones type stories.
[00:08:34] [SPEAKER_04]: Right.
[00:08:34] [SPEAKER_04]: Tell me the question again.
[00:08:37] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, he was saying like, you know, was Indiana Jones a big inspiration for when you were
[00:08:43] [SPEAKER_02]: doing the character design for that?
[00:08:44] [SPEAKER_03]: I just looked up the Tales of the Gold Monkey and I'm like, this looks a lot like Indiana
[00:08:48] [SPEAKER_03]: Jones as well.
[00:08:50] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
[00:08:50] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[00:08:50] [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, 1940 cereal is basically what all that stuff is based on.
[00:08:54] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[00:08:54] [SPEAKER_02]: You know, like, like, pull a pulp cereal and kind of like the way the comic, like they did
[00:08:58] [SPEAKER_02]: pulp comics back then, things like that.
[00:09:00] [SPEAKER_02]: So, I mean, you know, a lot of those characters, like again, you look at the way Baloo looks and
[00:09:04] [SPEAKER_02]: it's a very iconic look on a bear that everyone knows from the sixties, you know?
[00:09:10] [SPEAKER_04]: So, yeah, it was fun to design because he's not going to get a shirt that pulls all the
[00:09:14] [SPEAKER_04]: way over his gut.
[00:09:15] [SPEAKER_04]: Right.
[00:09:15] [SPEAKER_04]: You know?
[00:09:16] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.
[00:09:18] [SPEAKER_03]: But those are kind of decisions you have to like come up with in the process, right?
[00:09:22] [SPEAKER_04]: It's still got to fit the personality.
[00:09:23] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.
[00:09:24] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
[00:09:24] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
[00:09:24] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
[00:09:25] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
[00:09:25] [SPEAKER_03]: Like, same thing with tummy, you know?
[00:09:27] [SPEAKER_03]: Like, you got to have the shirt that doesn't quite, doesn't quite get there.
[00:09:31] [SPEAKER_03]: So, yeah.
[00:09:31] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.
[00:09:31] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.
[00:09:31] [SPEAKER_03]: Awesome.
[00:09:33] [SPEAKER_03]: I have that problem too.
[00:09:36] [SPEAKER_02]: I...
[00:09:36] [SPEAKER_02]: What are we talking about?
[00:09:37] [SPEAKER_02]: I have that problem less.
[00:09:39] [SPEAKER_02]: So, are there any projects that you're working on now that you're, you know, working on at
[00:09:44] [SPEAKER_02]: all?
[00:09:44] [SPEAKER_02]: Uh, not right at the moment.
[00:09:45] [SPEAKER_02]: At the moment.
[00:09:46] [SPEAKER_02]: What was the last project you worked on?
[00:09:47] [SPEAKER_02]: I'm available.
[00:09:47] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[00:09:48] [SPEAKER_02]: Right.
[00:09:48] [SPEAKER_02]: Uh, it's been a while.
[00:09:49] [SPEAKER_02]: It's been a while.
[00:09:50] [SPEAKER_02]: Okay.
[00:09:50] [SPEAKER_03]: So, uh, you kind of asked everybody about this, but like, how's the pandemic changed your
[00:09:56] [SPEAKER_03]: process or how things work and...
[00:09:58] [SPEAKER_04]: It seems like animation is going away as it's killing animation.
[00:10:02] [SPEAKER_04]: Interesting, huh?
[00:10:02] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, people don't have the same sensibility.
[00:10:04] [SPEAKER_04]: It's just not open.
[00:10:05] [SPEAKER_04]: I mean, they just recently shut down Looney Tunes altogether.
[00:10:09] [SPEAKER_02]: They merged it.
[00:10:10] [SPEAKER_02]: They merged it with another studio.
[00:10:11] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[00:10:12] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[00:10:12] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.
[00:10:13] [SPEAKER_04]: That's tough.
[00:10:14] [SPEAKER_04]: The end of Looney Tunes.
[00:10:15] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[00:10:15] [SPEAKER_02]: It seems like that's, that was more of a budget thing than it was anything else.
[00:10:19] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.
[00:10:19] [SPEAKER_04]: But it's also sensibility.
[00:10:21] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.
[00:10:21] [SPEAKER_04]: They don't feel like they're going to get it anymore.
[00:10:23] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.
[00:10:24] [SPEAKER_03]: It feels like the pandemic has halted like the flow of money and it feels like, like
[00:10:29] [SPEAKER_03]: what you're saying, animation took a big hit.
[00:10:31] [SPEAKER_03]: I feel like that's, that's what happened.
[00:10:33] [SPEAKER_03]: It's like, Hey, let's pull back.
[00:10:35] [SPEAKER_03]: Let's not push forward to some of these projects.
[00:10:37] [SPEAKER_03]: We think we were going to do.
[00:10:38] [SPEAKER_04]: It's also halted creativity.
[00:10:40] [SPEAKER_04]: I think, you know?
[00:10:41] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.
[00:10:41] [SPEAKER_04]: I mean, it's had an effect on comedy.
[00:10:43] [SPEAKER_04]: Can't say certain.
[00:10:45] [SPEAKER_03]: That is actually a really good point.
[00:10:47] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
[00:10:48] [SPEAKER_04]: Skins are thinner.
[00:10:48] [SPEAKER_03]: I was going to say sensitive, but that's right.
[00:10:50] [SPEAKER_03]: Skins are thinner.
[00:10:51] [SPEAKER_03]: That's nuts.
[00:10:52] [SPEAKER_04]: That's nuts.
[00:10:53] [SPEAKER_04]: So I don't know how animation is going to bounce back from that.
[00:10:56] [SPEAKER_04]: If it be all educational shows or what's going to happen.
[00:10:59] [SPEAKER_04]: Right.
[00:11:00] [SPEAKER_04]: But I think it's kind of in between right now.
[00:11:02] [SPEAKER_03]: Gotcha.
[00:11:02] [SPEAKER_03]: Gotcha.
[00:11:03] [SPEAKER_03]: Do you have any passion projects that you're working on or just stuff on the side that
[00:11:07] [SPEAKER_03]: you're working on?
[00:11:08] [SPEAKER_03]: Like you and I were talking on the way up here, like, oh, you have your son and your
[00:11:12] [SPEAKER_03]: grandkids and like, and I know how much time my kids take for me, like, is as like
[00:11:17] [SPEAKER_03]: everything shifted towards family life?
[00:11:20] [SPEAKER_04]: I think I just turned 60 and things kind of slowed down for me.
[00:11:23] [SPEAKER_04]: I don't know if I have the passion for it.
[00:11:26] [SPEAKER_04]: Hopefully that spark doesn't go away.
[00:11:27] [SPEAKER_04]: Right.
[00:11:28] [SPEAKER_02]: Or just find something with some type of inspiration that just, you know, is like, oh, you know
[00:11:32] [SPEAKER_02]: what?
[00:11:32] [SPEAKER_02]: This is something that I want to do and I'm going to shoot forward and get this done.
[00:11:35] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
[00:11:36] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, I think it's great that you're out here at the cons, like here at LA Comic Con
[00:11:39] [SPEAKER_03]: and yeah.
[00:11:40] [SPEAKER_03]: And I know, you know, Mouse Con, you guys have been at Mouse Con together.
[00:11:44] [SPEAKER_03]: I think that's amazing to, you know, kind of get out and meet fans and see how your projects,
[00:11:50] [SPEAKER_03]: your work from, you know, decades ago have affected people to this day.
[00:11:54] [SPEAKER_04]: Decades ago.
[00:11:55] [SPEAKER_04]: Did you just call me old?
[00:11:56] [SPEAKER_04]: I think that's what he just said.
[00:11:57] [SPEAKER_04]: I'm right there too.
[00:11:58] [SPEAKER_04]: I'm right there too.
[00:11:59] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.
[00:12:00] [SPEAKER_04]: It's great to get the feedback directly from, you know, the people that grew up on that.
[00:12:04] [SPEAKER_04]: Right.
[00:12:05] [SPEAKER_04]: Right.
[00:12:05] [SPEAKER_04]: I think I just called me old.
[00:12:07] [SPEAKER_03]: We're old.
[00:12:08] [SPEAKER_03]: You know, it's not about being old.
[00:12:09] [SPEAKER_03]: It's all about being young at heart, you know?
[00:12:11] [SPEAKER_03]: And hey.
[00:12:11] [SPEAKER_03]: You're only as old as you feel.
[00:12:13] [SPEAKER_03]: It doesn't get any younger than having a career in drawing and doing a passion and creating
[00:12:18] [SPEAKER_03]: memories for everybody else.
[00:12:20] [SPEAKER_03]: It's a wonderful life.
[00:12:21] [SPEAKER_03]: It is a wonderful life.
[00:12:23] [SPEAKER_02]: All right.
[00:12:23] [SPEAKER_02]: So I got some quick questions for you here.
[00:12:25] [SPEAKER_02]: Maybe they might be quick.
[00:12:26] [SPEAKER_02]: Depends on how the answer goes.
[00:12:27] [SPEAKER_02]: If you are on a 10 hour flight, who is somebody that you would like to sit next to and have a
[00:12:32] [SPEAKER_02]: conversation with?
[00:12:32] [SPEAKER_02]: Now this can be anyone, right?
[00:12:34] [SPEAKER_02]: So past, present, dead or alive.
[00:12:36] [SPEAKER_02]: Just any person that you think would just be a good 10 hour conversation.
[00:12:40] [SPEAKER_02]: Walt Disney.
[00:12:41] [SPEAKER_03]: Hmm.
[00:12:42] [SPEAKER_03]: Interesting.
[00:12:43] [SPEAKER_03]: That's a good one.
[00:12:43] [SPEAKER_03]: That's a good one.
[00:12:44] [SPEAKER_04]: I'd like to explore his brain and get his feedback.
[00:12:47] [SPEAKER_04]: Right.
[00:12:47] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
[00:12:47] [SPEAKER_03]: I want, I want, I mean, like you say, Walt Disney, I think that would be a riveting conversation
[00:12:52] [SPEAKER_03]: to see where he is, but also to explain to him what he's done and the legacy that lives
[00:12:58] [SPEAKER_03]: on past himself.
[00:12:59] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
[00:13:00] [SPEAKER_03]: Just to like, Hey, Walt, by the way, you have your land, Disneyland, you have Disney world,
[00:13:05] [SPEAKER_03]: you have all this other worlds around the, uh, around the globe, plus all the movies and
[00:13:09] [SPEAKER_03]: how it's evolved, you know?
[00:13:11] [SPEAKER_03]: And he'd be like, this was all based on my legacy.
[00:13:14] [SPEAKER_02]: Like your name has built an entire industry, you know, because the theme park industry exists
[00:13:21] [SPEAKER_02]: because of him.
[00:13:22] [SPEAKER_02]: Yes.
[00:13:22] [SPEAKER_04]: But also there are current backlashes against certain ideas, things that are just not kind
[00:13:28] [SPEAKER_04]: of they're kind of fraying.
[00:13:30] [SPEAKER_04]: Mm-hmm.
[00:13:30] [SPEAKER_04]: Uh, how do you keep the belief alive?
[00:13:32] [SPEAKER_04]: Right.
[00:13:33] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.
[00:13:33] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't think I've heard anybody say Walt Disney yet when we asked this question.
[00:13:37] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
[00:13:37] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[00:13:38] [SPEAKER_02]: Good poll.
[00:13:38] [SPEAKER_02]: Good poll.
[00:13:39] [SPEAKER_02]: So what are you, what are you nerding out on?
[00:13:41] [SPEAKER_02]: What is it like just anything in general?
[00:13:42] [SPEAKER_02]: What's something that you enjoy immensely to no other belief?
[00:13:48] [SPEAKER_04]: The internet archive.
[00:13:50] [SPEAKER_04]: Internet.
[00:13:51] [SPEAKER_04]: Just discovering old, I've always loved old movies.
[00:13:54] [SPEAKER_04]: Okay.
[00:13:54] [SPEAKER_02]: I was thinking more like the way back machine.
[00:13:56] [SPEAKER_02]: It's like, oh, let me go, let me go check out.
[00:13:58] [SPEAKER_04]: The internet archive is the way.
[00:13:59] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.
[00:14:00] [SPEAKER_02]: So it's like, hey, let me just look up all these things that are no longer on the internet.
[00:14:03] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[00:14:04] [SPEAKER_02]: That's awesome.
[00:14:05] [SPEAKER_04]: Old TV series and movies.
[00:14:07] [SPEAKER_04]: Mm-hmm.
[00:14:07] [SPEAKER_03]: I think that's an untapped market because, you know, the shows from the fifties and sixties
[00:14:13] [SPEAKER_03]: and seventies, they don't get as many of the reruns that, you know, some of the later
[00:14:17] [SPEAKER_03]: shows get that were kind of mass produced, you know?
[00:14:20] [SPEAKER_04]: So my favorite show then and now is Green Acres.
[00:14:24] [SPEAKER_04]: Oh yeah.
[00:14:24] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.
[00:14:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Green Acres is the place to be.
[00:14:28] [SPEAKER_00]: The place to be.
[00:14:28] [SPEAKER_00]: I love that show.
[00:14:29] [SPEAKER_04]: The warped comedy that came out of that show has warped me.
[00:14:35] [SPEAKER_03]: That's great.
[00:14:36] [SPEAKER_03]: Gotta go find that.
[00:14:37] [SPEAKER_03]: Green Acres.
[00:14:38] [SPEAKER_03]: That's another good poll.
[00:14:38] [SPEAKER_02]: I know it's streaming somewhere.
[00:14:39] [SPEAKER_02]: I think it's on Hulu actually.
[00:14:41] [SPEAKER_02]: Oh, is it?
[00:14:41] [SPEAKER_02]: I think it is.
[00:14:42] [SPEAKER_02]: Somebody needs to get on it.
[00:14:43] [SPEAKER_02]: I know I watched it with Jackie a while back.
[00:14:45] [SPEAKER_02]: I'll tell you eventually.
[00:14:47] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay.
[00:14:47] [SPEAKER_03]: We got some wrap up questions.
[00:14:49] [SPEAKER_03]: Our first one is what is your favorite taco or favorite taco spot?
[00:14:53] [SPEAKER_03]: My grandma's house.
[00:14:54] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, that's a good one.
[00:14:56] [SPEAKER_03]: I like that.
[00:14:57] [SPEAKER_04]: My grandma's tacos.
[00:14:58] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
[00:14:59] [SPEAKER_03]: Now what goes into the grandma's taco?
[00:15:02] [SPEAKER_04]: First of all, not ground beef.
[00:15:03] [SPEAKER_04]: It's corned beef from a can.
[00:15:05] [SPEAKER_04]: Right.
[00:15:05] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, that's amazing.
[00:15:07] [SPEAKER_03]: I love corned beef, especially out of a can.
[00:15:10] [SPEAKER_03]: That's like what I grew up on.
[00:15:12] [SPEAKER_03]: Like, you know, when my mom's at work and my dad's got us and he's like, ah, guess what
[00:15:16] [SPEAKER_03]: kids?
[00:15:16] [SPEAKER_03]: You're having corned beef.
[00:15:17] [SPEAKER_04]: So it's like.
[00:15:18] [SPEAKER_04]: We used to get tacos from Jack in the Box and wonder what that cat food was.
[00:15:24] [SPEAKER_02]: It's so, so we've got, we've got a little bit behind the, the veil here.
[00:15:28] [SPEAKER_02]: It's, it's actually soy.
[00:15:29] [SPEAKER_02]: Soy.
[00:15:29] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[00:15:30] [SPEAKER_02]: It's like a soy meat substitute.
[00:15:31] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[00:15:32] [SPEAKER_02]: So is it vegetarian?
[00:15:33] [SPEAKER_02]: It is.
[00:15:34] [SPEAKER_02]: It's actually veggie tacos.
[00:15:35] [SPEAKER_02]: Wow.
[00:15:35] [SPEAKER_02]: It's actually the same veggie tacos that you refuse to eat when I've told you to try
[00:15:39] [SPEAKER_02]: them.
[00:15:39] [SPEAKER_02]: Interesting.
[00:15:40] [SPEAKER_03]: I hope I don't get a loss.
[00:15:42] [SPEAKER_02]: They're actually, it's, I mean, it's good.
[00:15:43] [SPEAKER_02]: It, it, it, it, it tastes like cat food, but it tastes like beef for two extent.
[00:15:49] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[00:15:50] [SPEAKER_03]: Grandma's let's go back.
[00:15:51] [SPEAKER_03]: I'll stick with the grandma's tacos and corned beef.
[00:15:53] [SPEAKER_03]: That's I'm okay with that.
[00:15:54] [SPEAKER_02]: By the way, Green Acres is on Tubi and Pluto TV for free.
[00:15:58] [SPEAKER_03]: The Pluto TV is actually a really good app.
[00:16:01] [SPEAKER_02]: Oh, I, I, I, Pluto TV is one of my life lines.
[00:16:05] [SPEAKER_02]: I use Pluto TV for everything.
[00:16:06] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.
[00:16:07] [SPEAKER_04]: Especially the not vain for it.
[00:16:08] [SPEAKER_04]: Exactly.
[00:16:09] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[00:16:09] [SPEAKER_02]: I've, I've watched like entire seasons of mystery science theater on that.
[00:16:13] [SPEAKER_02]: So.
[00:16:14] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
[00:16:14] [SPEAKER_03]: Good point.
[00:16:15] [SPEAKER_03]: Good point.
[00:16:15] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay.
[00:16:15] [SPEAKER_03]: What's some advice you might have for anyone trying to get into the industry?
[00:16:19] [SPEAKER_02]: Make cold calls.
[00:16:20] [SPEAKER_02]: Make that call.
[00:16:21] [SPEAKER_03]: Make the one call.
[00:16:22] [SPEAKER_03]: Don't be afraid to make that call.
[00:16:23] [SPEAKER_03]: Make one call and you'll be set for your life.
[00:16:26] [SPEAKER_04]: Don't be afraid to show up for the industry.
[00:16:28] [SPEAKER_04]: Okay.
[00:16:29] [SPEAKER_03]: Sounds good.
[00:16:29] [SPEAKER_03]: All right.
[00:16:30] [SPEAKER_03]: You got the next one?
[00:16:31] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[00:16:31] [SPEAKER_02]: So who do you think would win in a fight?
[00:16:33] [SPEAKER_02]: Bonkers or Baloo?
[00:16:35] [SPEAKER_04]: Size wise, Baloo.
[00:16:36] [SPEAKER_02]: Mm-hmm.
[00:16:36] [SPEAKER_02]: I'll go with that.
[00:16:37] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[00:16:38] [SPEAKER_02]: I see Bonkers as the psychopath wild card.
[00:16:42] [SPEAKER_02]: So it's like.
[00:16:42] [SPEAKER_04]: Okay.
[00:16:43] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.
[00:16:43] [SPEAKER_04]: I could see that.
[00:16:45] [SPEAKER_04]: But arm reach, Baloo's got it.
[00:16:47] [SPEAKER_02]: It's true.
[00:16:47] [SPEAKER_02]: And he's got the claws too.
[00:16:48] [SPEAKER_02]: So.
[00:16:49] [SPEAKER_04]: And he's got boxing experience.
[00:16:51] [SPEAKER_02]: Oh, that's right.
[00:16:51] [SPEAKER_02]: There it is.
[00:16:52] [SPEAKER_02]: That's right.
[00:16:53] [SPEAKER_02]: He's trained.
[00:16:53] [SPEAKER_02]: He's trained.
[00:16:53] [SPEAKER_02]: Yes.
[00:16:54] [SPEAKER_02]: I forgot.
[00:16:54] [SPEAKER_02]: I forgot about that whole sequence that they had on the show.
[00:16:57] [SPEAKER_02]: He's trained.
[00:16:58] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[00:16:59] [SPEAKER_04]: That's good.
[00:16:59] [SPEAKER_04]: Go back to Jungle Book.
[00:17:00] [SPEAKER_04]: Right.
[00:17:01] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay.
[00:17:02] [SPEAKER_03]: What's, what's next for you?
[00:17:04] [SPEAKER_03]: Any projects, any cons, any.
[00:17:06] [SPEAKER_04]: Hopefully more cons.
[00:17:07] [SPEAKER_03]: Mm.
[00:17:08] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay.
[00:17:08] [SPEAKER_03]: Good.
[00:17:08] [SPEAKER_03]: Good.
[00:17:09] [SPEAKER_03]: Good.
[00:17:09] [SPEAKER_03]: We're going to get out there.
[00:17:09] [SPEAKER_03]: And that's awesome.
[00:17:10] [SPEAKER_03]: I love when, you know, you know, people like yourselves who we've know your work gets
[00:17:15] [SPEAKER_03]: back out and kind of, I don't want to say gives back, but like connects with
[00:17:19] [SPEAKER_03]: people your work is connected to.
[00:17:20] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
[00:17:21] [SPEAKER_03]: It's great.
[00:17:21] [SPEAKER_04]: Feedback and interaction.
[00:17:22] [SPEAKER_03]: That's awesome.
[00:17:23] [SPEAKER_03]: So where can everybody find out more about you?
[00:17:26] [SPEAKER_03]: Do you have any social media?
[00:17:27] [SPEAKER_03]: Or if they want to track you down.
[00:17:30] [SPEAKER_03]: Instagram or Facebook.
[00:17:31] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay.
[00:17:31] [SPEAKER_02]: It's just under Len Smith.
[00:17:32] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[00:17:33] [SPEAKER_02]: Okay, perfect.
[00:17:34] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, Oh my God, it's been great.
[00:17:35] [SPEAKER_03]: I hope we can talk more.
[00:17:36] [SPEAKER_03]: I feel like we're all buds now.
[00:17:37] [SPEAKER_03]: shout out to Project Wish Upon a Star
[00:17:40] [SPEAKER_03]: that made this connection happen
[00:17:41] [SPEAKER_03]: and we're going to go watch Green Acres together
[00:17:43] [SPEAKER_02]: definitely bonding over Green Acres right now
[00:17:45] [SPEAKER_03]: perfect, thank you so much
[00:17:47] [SPEAKER_03]: thanks for having me
[00:18:13] [SPEAKER_02]: we hope you enjoyed this week's
[00:18:26] [SPEAKER_00]: comic conversation
[00:18:31] [SPEAKER_02]: this was a production of the
[00:18:32] [SPEAKER_02]: Distance Nerding Podcast and Time for Tacos Media
[00:18:35] [SPEAKER_02]: for more content follow us on Facebook
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[00:18:44] [SPEAKER_02]: or wherever you get your podcasts
[00:18:46] [SPEAKER_02]: thanks and keep nerding together
[00:18:47] [SPEAKER_01]: good morning, good afternoon and good evening
[00:18:50] [SPEAKER_01]: signing out from another amazing
[00:18:52] [SPEAKER_01]: episode of Comic Con
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