THE SIMPSONS NEWS

Last Friday I went on the Simpsons ride. I’ll write about it in a second, first though, I should mention what I found out about the Simpsons voice actor’s negotiations. It seems that they are going very well and it shouldn’t take long before an agreement will be met. This is good news for us. It seems we’ll be getting back to work soon (for more on this topic, you can read about it in this Variety article). This has nothing to do with the Screen Actors Guild negotiations, so please don’t mistake one for the other. They are two separate things.

Okay, so now for the Simpsons Ride. On Friday I made my way to Universal Studios at around 11:00am. I felt like a bit of a star because we had free parking passes that got us into a special parking area. I then made my way to a side part of the park where I found a table with a few of my co workers and I was given a pass and got into the park through a side “door”. I made my way, following the signs, to the area of the park where they do a western stunt show. There was a small Simpsons party going on there. I got myself a sandwich and a drink, sat down, and waited for them to tell us it was time to go on the ride. The Simpsons family (people in suits) made an appearance and people were having their pictures taken with them (must have been hot in those suits.) It was a scorching hot day that day. I wasn’t there long (half way through my sandwich) before Matt Groening got on a mic, thanked us (as he always does), made a lame joke (also as he always does) and told us to head on over to the ride.

We all made our way over to it, like a bunch of cattle. It was bit of a long walk from where we were to the ride but when we turned the corner and we had our first look at the facade surrounding the ride, we were all in awe. It was fantastic.

We were very impressed. If you weren’t excited before, you sure were now. It was very cool. We all made our way inside through Krusty’s mouth and walked in.

There were monitors inside, playing the animated shorts that we had worked on specifically for the ride. We made our way through them fairly quickly (we weren’t many). We were herded into a special, antechamber line area, right before a door that lead into, yet another antechamber. We spent the longest time in line there, on the first antechamber. Conversations were struck. Then the door opened and we were escorted into the second antechamber themed like a carnival with “booths” painted on the walls. The “booths” had monitors in them that cycled little animated gags from the Simpsons characters that “manned” the “booths”. I was happy because I had worked on some of those gags and got to see the finished product.

After waiting there for about five minutes or so, we were shown a little animated cartoon on a monitor before us that set up the “story of the ride”. Then we were escorted into yet another antechamber, were we were shown an animated safety video (which I also worked on) featuring Itchy and Scratchy.

When we were finally let onto the ride itself, I was really excited. We sat in the ride’s car and waited as a small animated cycle of Krusty the Clown and Mr. Teeny (his monkey) tap danced on the small screen in front of us (this was animated by my friend Tommy Tejeda). Then the story for the ride continued and the ride began. The roof above us opened up and we were elevated up to the biggest screen I’ve ever seen for a virtual ride, and I’ve been in quite a few. I must say, this is by far the best virtual ride I’ve ever been on. It was fantastic. It almost felt as if we were using 3D glasses in some places because it all seemed to be coming out at you for real. It’s a blast! If you get the chance, go on it. It’s so much fun!

There were a lot of proud happy faces from everyone who helped work on it when we emerged about five minutes after, when the ride was over. My face hurt from smiling so much. I then went into the Kwik-e-Mart they had there for souvenirs and looked around, just to see what they had. They had the Monopoly game I worked on, as well as some of the comics I’d done. It was neat seeing them there. They even had real Buzz Cola there (the fake brand cola of the show). I didn’t buy anything though.

I kept wishing my family could have come with me (but they couldn’t since this all was taking place at 11:00 am on a Friday). I kinda wanted them to have experienced it with me. I would have brought my daughter but she was too small to go on the ride so I didn’t bring her. You have to be 40″ high to ride it. After it was over and they closed down the ride, I made my way around the park really quick, just to take advantage of the fact that I had gotten a free pass. I spent that time by myself, missing the company of my family. Especially when I passed the Nickelodeon area and the Curious George Adventure park. I got on a few rides, like the Revenge of the Mummy ride, and got wet on the Jurassic Park Ride (I wanted to get wet because it was so darn hot) and then went home around 3:00 pm in order to avoid traffic (which I didn’t).

In any case, in spite of the fact that I felt a bit lonely at Universal, I had a pretty decent time there. I highly recommend going on the Simpsons’ Ride. IT’S AWESOME!

BOARD GAMES

So as a board game geek, I get a kick out of seeing who else is into board games. I came across this video, while reading my board game news, and thought I’d share it. Turns out the actor Rich Sommer, from the remarkably well written TV show Mad Men, is a big board game geek as well. Here is the proof:

COPYRIGHT PROTECTIONS

Here’s an update on the Orphan Works thing:

FROM THE ILLUSTRATORS’ PARTNERSHIP

 

Call to Action

Last Thursday the Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed their Orphan Works Act.

It is now headed for the full Senate.

 

If you’ve written before, now’s the time to write again.

Urge your senator to oppose this bill.

 

Because it has been negotiated behind closed doors, introduced on short notice and fast-tracked for imminent passage without open hearings, ask that this bill not be passed until it can be exposed to an open, informed and transparent public debate.

 

We’ve drafted a special letter for this purpose.

You can deep link to it here:

Contact your Senator in opposition to S.2913 NOW

The House Judiciary Committee is considering H.R. 5889, the companion bill now. Please write them again:

Contact your Congressman in opposition to H.R. 5889 NOW

2 minutes is all it takes to write your senator and representatives and fight for your copyrights. Over 68,000 e-mail messages have been sent so far.

 

Don’t Let Congress Orphan Your Work

 

Please forward this message to every artist you know.

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