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Doogtoons is an award-winning production studio founded and headed by Doug "Doog" Bresler,^[1] best known for producing the first (and currently only) fully animated talk show on the internet, "In the Studio". Bresler has been producing animated shorts since 2001, however his cartoons only became widely known after they were released as podcasts beginning October 22, 2005.^[2] One of the pioneers of cartoon podcasting, Doogtoons has been mentioned and featured in several publications, both online and in printed versions, including The Washington Post, BusinessWeek Magazine^[3], Animation Magazine, USA Today, Rolling Stone, several front page spots on Apple Computer's iTunes podcast directory, and the front pages of Yahoo!, YouTube and MySpace. Doogtoons cartoons and shorts have been viewed over 35 million times on video sharing sites across the web.^[4]

Doogtoons Productions

Nick and Haig Episodes

Doogtoons' first series of cartoons was entitled Nick and Haig and was created using actual voice clips of interviews Bresler had conducted with a couple of his close friends at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where they were currently studying. Bresler said his initial intention was to create an animated horror movie, but needed to do something smaller first in order to practice and learn. Bresler then compiled hours upon hours of interviews with his friends, picked what he thought to be the best content, and began animating characters to go along with the dialogue.^[5]

Nick and Haig - Episode I was originally released as a seven minute short film, but was then cut down into smaller "episodes" for podcasting. In 2006, an episode from the show entitled The Vice of Human Beans won first prize in Bolt's "1 Minute Film Festival", a grand prize win would've earned the cartoon $5,000.^[6] This was actually the show's second award, after winning "Best Animated Short" at the 2006 DIY Film Festival in Los Angeles.^[7] Later in the year, Bresler signed a deal with G4 television to air Nick and Haig episodes during the station's "Late Night Peep Show" segment starting in May.^[8]

In the Studio

In late 2006, Doogtoons launched their official animated talk show, In the Studio, with animated interviews featuring Grammy winner "Weird Al" Yankovic and comic legend Tommy Chong. According to their website, Doogtoons intends to interview and animate several other celebs and personalities from around the net.

In March 2008, one of the shorts of the series, Al's Childhood, was awarded Best Animated Video of 2007 by Yahoo.com.

Doogtoons Asks A Ninja

Doogtoons has created seven animated interviews with the "ninja" from Ask a Ninja (which have since received a "Best of the Web 2007" nod from Animation World Network). The shorts have been featured several times around the net. One of the cartoons, Ninjas and the Matrix, was featured on the front page of Yahoo.com.

Eli's Dirty Jokes

In late 2006, Doug Bresler signed on with GoPotato.tv to animate and direct a show for their website. Eli's Dirty Jokes, a short-form series of animated adult-themed jokes told by an elderly real-life accountant, has since become a hit on YouTube, being featured several times and garnering millions of combined views for the episodes currently posted.

In November 2008, Eli's Dirty Jokes was picked up by HBO for exclusive episodes to be broadcast on their Cinemax cable TV network. The first episode of the weekly show premiered November 8, 2008 preceding the network's premiere of Juno (film). The series is the first original internet show ever to be picked up by HBO and broadcast on any of their TV networks^[9].

Trapped in the Drive-Thru

In March 2007, Doug Bresler produced and directed a music video for "Weird Al" Yankovic for his track, Trapped in the Drive-Thru. The video is currently viewable on MySpace, YouTube, and downloadable on Apple Computer's iTunes Store, and has reached over 20 million combined views on all sites. Doogtoons has recently been awarded a gold record for their contribution to Straight Outta Lynwood. The video was also featured as Channel Frederator's 100th episode. In June 2008, Trapped received the award of Funniest Film of 2007 at the Channel Frederator Awards.

Trapped in the Drive-Thru is the #1 highest viewed animated short on all of Myspace.com ^[10], and had remained in the Top 100 music videos on iTunes for over a year since its release.^[11]

Average Homeboy Returns

Doogtoons' first music video, produced in 2006, features self-proclaimed "Average Homeboy" Denny Blaze^[12].

L.B. Rayne

In July 2008, Doogtoons released a retro song and music video for "pop star" Laurence Butler Rayne entitled "Indiana Jones". The video, said to be made in the winter of 1984, features the purported "lost theme song" to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

L.B. Rayne's second video, Skywalking, was released October 31, 2009. Said to be produced in 1980, it is being touted as a lost love ballad intended for the soundtrack of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.

Holding for Miss Kiley

In August 2009, Doogtoons teamed up with Jonathan Katz (of Dr. Katz fame) to animate a short sketch for his podcast show, "Hey, We're Back!". The short is currently viewable on YouTube and the Doogtoons podcast.

Other Projects

Doogtoons has also contributed a 10-second piece to Channel Frederator's compilation short, Fredex: The Secret Lives of Robots, which won Best Internet Film at the 2007 Platform International Animation Festival in Portland, Oregon.

List of Shorts

Nick and Haig Episodes

Doogtoons Asks a Ninja

In the Studio with "Weird Al"

Eli's Dirty Jokes

Music Videos

References

1. ^ "Doogtoons FAQ". http://www.doogtoons.com/faq.php. Retrieved 2006-07-12.  
2. ^ "Doogtoons Interview". Brizos Web Guide. http://brizos.com/Doog_Bresler_cfm.cfm. Retrieved 2006-07-12.  
3. ^ Green, Heather (2006-04-16). "New Discovery: Doogtoons Video Podcast". BusinessWeek Magazine. http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/blogspotting/archives/2006/04/new_discovery_d.html?campaign_id=search. Retrieved 2006-07-12.  
4. ^ "Doogtoons FAQ". http://www.doogtoons.com/faq.php.  
5. ^ Honan, Mathew (2006-04-11). "Podcasting lets an animated dog have its day". Playlist Magazine. http://playlistmag.com/news/2006/04/11/podinterview/index.php. Retrieved 2006-07-12.  
6. ^ "1 Minute Film Festival". http://www.bolt.com/1mff. Retrieved 2006-07-12.  
7. ^ "DIY Film Festival". http://www.diyconvention.com/categoryC/?category_id=66. Retrieved 2006-07-31.  
8. ^ "G4's Late Night Peepshow". http://www.g4tv.com/latenightpeepshow/videos/index.html. Retrieved 2006-07-12.  
9. ^ Ante, Spencer (2008-11-25). "Plentitube: Your Agent for Online Video". Businessweek. http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/nov2008/tc20081124_609553.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-25.  
10. ^ "MySpace Top Videos". http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.charts&show_for=4.  
11. ^ "iTunes Top 100 Music Videos". http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewTop?id=34&popId=5.  
12. ^ Benson, John (2006-06-09). "Before Vanilla Ice, there was Denny Blaze". Cleveland.com. http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/friday/1149842577184260.xml&coll=2. Retrieved 2006-07-12.  

External links

• Doogtoons Homepage
• Doogtoons FAQ
• Doogtoons on MySpace
• Doug Bresler's IMDB Page
• Doug Bresler's Personal Blog
• Video interview of Doug Bresler by Zadi Diaz of EPIC FU, weekly web show that covers online pop culture (August 21, 2008)