A Hand-drawn project worth supporting - Mark Kausler's "There Must Be Some Other Cat"

Sorry to hear that Michael Sporn's  Kickstarter campaign to raise money for his animated feature-film  "POE"  didn't reach it's funding goal.   (see the post below this one)   I supported it and I urge you to do the same if Michael starts another fund-raiser  , which it sounds like he may do soon.   I hope he keeps moving forward with it.


Onward ...

This doesn't have a KickStarter page , but if anyone is looking to support a worthy hand-drawn animation project check out the latest post on animator Mark Kausler's  "Cat Blog" :

 http://itsthecat.com/blog/?p=3215

 Mark already made the brilliant hand-drawn short  "It's the Cat" a few years ago and has completed animation on his next Cat film "There Must Be Some Other Cat" .

The pencil animation for  "There Must Be Some Other Cat" is finished (Mark showed the pencil test to me at CTN; it's great stuff !)  , but the new film is still slowly inching it's way to completion in color.    It's being done entirely traditionally , so it's hand-inked and painted on actual cels and then photographed on the last working Acme 35mm camera stand in New York City .  (owned by the producer of the film, Greg Ford) .

Like I said, they don't have a KickStarter page, but Mark is selling the hand-inked Cels from the first Cat film to raise money for finishing the new Cat film and also has set up a PayPal account to take contributions from anyone who wants to help finish the film. See his blog post linked above for contact details.

Here are the cels they currently have for sale:

http://www.itsthecat.com/Gallery-FilmArt.htm

I purchased this beauty:

 (actually one very similar to this one , not this exact frame .  This is from the cel gallery on Mark's website) .


Buy a cel or make a contribution if you support independent animators committed to making hand-drawn animation.    The hand-inked and painted cels are beautiful examples of a craft that is now virtually extinct.



By the way, you can watch the full  PENCIL TEST  of Mark Kausler's first Cat film,  "It's the Cat"  on his website, here:


http://www.itsthecat.com/Gallery-Movies.htm



*NEW : Kausler's Kat now on FACEBOOK (go click the 'Like' button) -

https://www.facebook.com/someothercat

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Mark Kausler's "It's The Cat" and "There Must Be Some Other Cat"

Recently when I attended the CTN Expo in Burbank I was really happy to run into my friend Mark Kausler who was selling original hand-inked cels from his brilliant film "It's the Cat" .  

I had sworn off collecting any more animation artwork , but seeing Mark run his wonderful film "It's the Cat" there at his table (on a portable DVD player)  and with those gorgeous hand-inked cels right there on the table I was overwhelmed and just had to have one.

This frame (from the title sequence) is the cel I purchased:

 (this photo doesn't do it justice ... )

The film "It's the Cat" is not currently available for purchase online,  but if you purchase an original cel   they will  include a bonus DVD of the film.

One of these handsome cels would make a great Christmas gift for any cartoon fan.  And these are likely the last of their kind since hardly anyone does hand-inked cels anymore .   AND purchasing one of these unique , one-of-a-kind pieces of animation art will help fund the completion of Mark's second cat film  , "There Must be Another Cat"  , which is finished through rough animation, but still needs to have the inking, painting , and photography finished.    Mark's producer,  Greg Ford, is chipping away at the task little by little ,  but by purchasing a cel you'll have a hand in making sure that "There Must Be Another Cat"  is completed sooner .

http://itsthecat.com/Gallery-FilmArt.htm

(and then we'll have more cels to collect in addition to another great cartoon to watch !  Yay !  See how this works ? )

I was really happy that Mark gave me a sneak preview of "There Must Be Another Cat"  at the CTN Expo .  He had the pencil test on a DVD and was very kind to let me see the pencil test.   It's another great example of pure cartoon joy brought to life by a great animator.


What you may not know is that the pencil test from the original "It's the Cat" film is posted on Mark's website.

Check it out:

It's The Cat - Pencil Test 

"It's the Cat" by Mark Kausler

**NOTE: this film is unfortunately no longer available for download from the MyToons website as MyToons abruptly shut down recently.

The full pencil test of "It's the Cat" is still posted on Mark Kausler's site, so be sure to check that out .  Hopefully Mark will find a new home on the web for "It's the Cat" soon.






Good news , cartoon lovers : Mark Kausler's great short cartoon "It's The Cat" is once again available for download online on MyToons. (it was available on Cartoon Brew's short-lived "Cartoon Brew Films" last year , but now Cartoon Brew Films is no more.)

This film was a labor of love for Mark and his producer Greg Ford. It's all hand-drawn, hand-inked and painted on cels (that's right cels , not digital ink & paint) .

They're making another one called "There Must Be Another Cat" which Mark tells me is finished in pencil test, but is still being inked and painted as funds become available .

Help support independent animators like Mark Kausler and buy "It's the Cat" on Mark's MyToons page for the mere pittance of $1.99.   (as of 4/7/09 - NOT CURRENTLY AVAILABLE due to the abrupt shutdown of MyToons. )

Here's a short preview of the title sequence:



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UPDATE: Mark Kausler has posted a very illuminating answer to a question about how he approached animating to the music on his film "It's The Cat" . Check it out:

Mark Kausler on Animating to Music .



All images from "It's The Cat" copyright ©Mark Kausler.

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UPDATE #2 : Mark has posted the complete pencil test for "It's the Cat" on his site: It's the Cat Pencil Test --Click HERE --

I love watching pencil test animation . It's fun to compare the rough version to the finished film. View the pencil test and then buy the film on MyToons (only $1.99) .

Mark is also selling the original , one-of-a-kind hand inked & painted CELS from the film. These are not the fake "gallery cels" that many places sell to collectors , these are the actual production cels that passed under the camera and are on screen when viewing the film. If you buy a cel you also get the original pencil drawing and he's throwing in a DVD of the film with each purchase : It's the Cat - Original Hand-Inked Cels -- Click HERE --