#earmouseandbottle

Here’s my Nickelodeon short Earmouse and Bottle I made a few years ago. Now available for mass public consumption. #nickshorts #earmouseandbottle https://www.facebook.com/NickAnimatedShorts/videos/235129540681778/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BneQHSohNmA/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1eyeya94w6jfx

Tomorrow Nickelodeon will release my short Earmouse and Bottle on the Nick shorts Facebook page and the Nick animation YouTube page. Stay tuned I’ll post a link once it’s up. #nickelodeon #nickshorts #earmouseandbottle (at Nickelodeon Animation) https://www.instagram.com/p/BncXHMqh842/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1x2w1etof9arw

Here are some early sketches from 2012 for the idea of a wild eyed Earmouse character that lives without fear. In these sketches I’m stilll looking for the nervous character he’d be teamed up with. I eventually landed on a bottle created by magic as his partner. His fragility worked well with Earmouses indestructibility. Originally I thought it’d be cool if bottle had a key inside him that he couldn’t get out unless he was broken, and it was a huge mystery as to what the key went to. I used an aspect of that idea later after I made the short in the #earmouseandbottle pilot. (at Nickelodeon Animation) https://www.instagram.com/p/BnmfnXZhsTy/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1i25ib12jbqur

In case you have a life and missed this Saturday, my Nick short Earmouse and Bottle is online (link in bio). Also you can check out some of my previous posts that talk about pitching and making this short. #earmouseandbottle (at Nickelodeon Animation) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bnj9sROhGJ8/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=nugo0ye4fnkj

Earmouse as a character is hard to draw, even for me. I had a lot of weird rules and ideas of how he should work. He never blinks, his eyes don't move, and should have a distinct way squashing etc. Unfortunately I don't think I was clear enough in my storyboards. So when the first batch of animation came back my weird little character was just all over the map. For the most part Bottle always would turn out great. Here are some draw overs I did from the animation I got. Some of it was Earmouse specific and some of it was just making the pose stronger and making it read better by getting rid of tangents. I loath tangents... #earmouseandbottle #nickshorts #backafterabreak #deathtotangents

Bottle is a timid, nervous character (he’s made of glass after all), and the heart of the duo. He was brought to life by an evil wizard to act as his indentured servant. He eventually escapes, and is out in the world for the first time. This was an early model sheet I threw together for the actors auditioning to voice Bottle. The hilarious (pre Silicon Valley) Thomas Middleditch got the part. #earmouseandbottle #nickshorts #hopfullyyournottiredofthesepostsyet

While I was finalizing boards and refining designs, Bardel animation in Canada were working R and D for how they were going to bring a 2d/cg character to life. They animated this Bottle test. When I got this in my inbox I was super excited. I didn’t realize it would be all uphill from here. #earmouseandbottle

This is an early attempt to nail down the Earmouse design. Where Bottle was created by magic, Earmouse was created by science. Where Bottle is fragile glass, Earmouse is indestructible and radioactive. He lives his life without fear or consequence. Eventually ‘It’s always Sunny in Philadelphia’s David Hornsby nailed the role of Earmouse. #earmouseandbottle #olddrawingsthatmakemecringe