Two brothers who created "Manly" the animated short on Cartoon Hangover, as well as writer/artist/songwriters for Adventure Time. AMA!

I'm in the preliminary stages of painting my kitchen and at current am torn between paint colors for the wall - my choices come between what I would describe as "lime green" and "light blue". I feel like the blue would give more of a calming effect, but at the same time am not sure how well it would mesh with the white countertops. Lime green, I think, is one of those colors that you either pull off really well or really bad. What would you choose if you were put in my position?

Lime green is a favorite color of mine. Light blue is generic. Don't be a wimp. Go for lime green.

lime green, light blue trims and around an entry way, or one small wall -justin

Amazing work writing for adventure time, I love how the pacing and subject matter has changed through out the seasons. I've been meaning to ask if there's anyway to apply to freelance for either the AT comics or the show? Sorry if that's not you guys' area, again, amazing work! :)

AT has a semi-open door policy for applying, although it's gotten a lot more difficult as the show has gained popularity.

Our method of hiring at the moment seems to be scouting Tumblr for talented illustrators and webcomic artists. We usually reach out to them and ask them to take a test for the show. It's an indirect way of getting a job, but I think we are interested in people who make stuff on their own, living independent creative lives.

Love Manly! Really love how you flip the idea of machismo on its head. I love the daddy-issues theme. Really great. QUESTION: Do you think MANLY could work as an epic animated movie a la Bakshi or something like that?

Yeah it would be amazing to make a feature length movie! All about the funding I suppose. Our dad got Jesse and I into Bakshi when we were probably too young for it. Must have influenced something along the way.

Yes to re-enforce what Justin said - our dad showed us Wizards when we were like 8 and 10. It would be a dream to make a movie in that spirit of sci-fi, fantasy.

Is there an element of the Adventure Time world you've wanted to flesh out but haven't quite found how to turn it into an episode? Awesome job with Manly guys, really hoping to see more!

Yes I've been wanting to explore the other parts of the world outside of Ooo. We haven't been able to tackle that yet, but I'm hoping to do so in the future. We'll see what happens. I've also wanted to flesh out in greater detail how the different Dead Worlds work. I've tried to put it in outlines, but it has always been to big to address. So it always gets cut out. I hope to explore that someday! Depending on how long the series lasts. - Jesse

How do you coordinate where to hide the snail in Adventure Time?

That's something that happens in the design breakdown I think. I don't go to the design breakdown. My job pretty much stops after I hand off the storyboard. Unless I feel like I need to be at the voice record, or follow up on something that got missed.

What are your thoughts on Bubbline?

I don't ship any characters. As a writer I have to try to stay neutral and do what's best for the story of Ooo. I'm not telling you not to ship Bubbline. You can ship all you like!

is it hard for someone to write music for animated tv shows like adventure time?

in terms of getting into the industry, I'll let jesse answer that. In terms of actually writing a song for the show, I think you just need a sense of how to read into a story board; imagining the final product and whether what your writing hits the mood. For AT I had the fortune of working with Jesse near by to make sure I am hitting the emotional cues he is looking for. The other challenge is conveying all that, making the music memorable and interesting, and the melody catchy all within a really short time frame. It's much easier writing a 5 min song than a 30 second one. -justin

What/who are some of your influences (musical AND artistic) and why?

Artistic influences: Jack Kirby, Matt Brinkman, Moebius, Gary Panter, Peter Bagge, Henry Darger, Alejandro Jodorwsky, Rene Laloux, Dave Sim, Yuichi Yokoyama, Philippe Druillet, Michael Ende, CS Lewis -jesse

Michael Chekhov, Hermann Hesse, John Boorman, Knut Hamsun, Alejandro Jodorwsky, Victor Schauberger, Miyazaki, Victor Turner, Michael Ende, CS Lewis, Rene Daumal - justin

Zardoz????

YEAH!!! Zardoz was great. Not my #1 Boorman piece, but a great one still.

Musically I think Jesse and I share a bunch of influences, progressive rock, late 20th century classical to modern, zeuhl, Beach Boys, Daniel Johnston... I think the major conditions being: ambitious, intentional, and progressive. -justin

Hey y'all, just fyi I think you two are powerhouses of creativity and my own art has been heavily influenced by Jesse in particular. Manly is FANTASTIC and I cannot wait to see more.

This is probably a question for both of y'all: How big of an influence have comics had on your art/philosophy? I was reading Jodorowsky's THE TECHNOPRIESTS and THE INCAL and I couldn't help but feel a connection between the themes both Jesse and Jodorowsky seem to gravitate toward... I could be way off here though. I'm not super familiar with Justin's work yet but I assume you two have some overlapping influences (after watching Manly).

I hope y'all continue doing what you are doing... it's really really inspiring.

Jack Kirby is probably my biggest influence as far as combining spiritual sci-fi ideas with good old adventure yarns. Jodorowsky's movies had more of an influence on me philosophically than his comics. But the Incal was instrumental in encouraging me to get serious about making comics. -Jesse

Hey guys! I was at the puppycat panel at comic con and I was there when Manly premiered! Really rad show, keep up the awesome work.

My question for you guys is: what's your experience with animation in general? Did you guys study the subject in University or did you guys do it for fun?

I have loved cartoons and animation all of my life and I even fiddled with traditional animation in high school on my own. Once I was admitted into a CSU as a business major, I hated everything. I hated the subject, I thought I could do art on the side, but it was really difficult. After comic con, and I saw the puppycat panel, regular show panel, gravity falls, Steven Universe, I want to do what I love which is animation. I didn't want to do business, screw that.

And now I see all these great people, pen ward, Thorup Van Orman, J. G. Quintel, alex Hirsch, they all went to CalArts. Does it really matter where I studied in the end?

It seems like there are a lot of people in the animation world who studied at CalArts. I think the combo of that school, talent, and ambition land a lot of people work. Then there are people like Jesse and a handful of story board artists on AT who didn't study animation, but are dedicated comic book artists. You might remember Jesse kind of answering this question at the Bee and Puppycat panel "pick up a pen and draw." To expand on what he was saying, he quit his job and sat in a cafe for like 10 hours a day making comics. I had to pay his rent half the time while he was pushing to make his comics better. He pushed the business side for sure, but more importantly he was developing his craft as an artist. And in the end it was recognized by Pen Ward, and he landed the job at AT. For sure that is the rarer approach, but the message is, make art the priority, you have to be dedicated to craft, whether or not it pans out to pay your bills. -justin

Yeah I do remember that he said to just pick up a pencil. That was one things that made me realize I can do it. Thanks for answering, guys. I'm going to try my best and create an awesome comic! Natasha actually wrote down my Tumblr name so she could check it out which meant a lot to me. I hope to be discovered.

I hope that for you too -justin

What can I do to help Manly become a series? Also, I found the backgrounds,among many other things, in Manly to be quite breath-taking, is there anyway you guys could post some somewhere for fans to use as wallpapers?

I believe there are posts of the backgrounds on our Manly webpage. Here's a link: http://manly.cartoonhangover.com/post/93558283872/robsatoart-background-designs-for-manly Yeah Rob's background art blew my mind. It is nice to have such a rad artist as a friend. You should check out his paintings: http://www.robsato.com/ In terms of making Manly a series, just spread the word and if we get enough views the powers that be will give us funding to make more. - justin

What are your goals when writing for adventure time? Given the broad audience, do you try to cater for both adults and kids?

Our goal is to write something compelling for ourselves. At this point, having worked on the show for 4+ years - I can't even think of how to write for adults or kids. I'm just writing to experience the layers of the themes and characters.

Jesse: In between boarding, forming, music, and Manly, do you still find time to paint for pleasure/exploration, or does most of your drawing/painting lead directly to narratives? Thanks, man!

I'm working on some paintings for an art show in September. I try to put aside some time to explore separate worlds from my work in comics and animation. It's not easy to find the time to do it, but I think it's really important to keep developing a well rounded artistic life.

So far in Manly I see a whole lot of similarity to your comic Forming in terms of the violence, tone, and art style. What do you think will be strikingly different between Forming and Manly?

I think the difference is that in Manly we're focusing heavily on one character, whereas Forming is spread all over the place. The other difference is Justin's influence, which is more poetic than my sensibilities. It's hard to say how different they will get. But I suspect there will be some stark differences. -jesse

Hey guys! Adventure Time is one of my favorite shows and really blows me away with every new season and almost every new episode, even when I think it can't possibly get any better. I plan to go to animation school next year and want to be an animator or storyboarder someday, any advice? Also on an unrelated note, when do we get more Lemongrab? Thanks for doing this you guys are great!

My advice is to learn the value of relentless work ethic. Emphasize your study of anatomy and perspective. Study traditional story structure. And always be pursuing your advancement of taste. -jesse

Also yeah there's a Lemongrab episode coming soon called "The Mountian". I'm pretty sure that info already leaked somewhere.

some people in the comments said the shows look reminded them of moebius. Did his work have any influence on manly or anything else you guys have made?

Moebius is the greatest of all time. He's basically the god of sci-fi comics and design. I can't help but be influenced by him in some way. I think most people working in the field of sci-fi/fanstasy owe some debt to Moebius. -Jesse

Jesse, in "Spiritual Dad" there's something about long hair giving a person power. I heard about this before. Like, it heightens intuition or something. Where did that come from? Justin, does your hair give you heightened intuition?

Also, do you regularly consult your tarot cards when working on a project or is that more for personal life crises?

Long hair giving power for us comes from two places: Samson in the bible, maybe the best story in there, and Cat Stevens Sitting ("I feel a power growing in my hair"). Our Dad had long hair when he was our age. I think long hair triggers a couple things for me: 1. persistence, which is a tool I use for magickal access; 2. mood, it creates a vibe for me (like dressing the part); 3. sigil or representation, it represent a power and can therefore call up the power itself. I've never seen Jesse use Tarot Cards for Manly. It's not to say he hasn't. -justin

I watched the episode "something big" on LSD last night. And it was Absolutely incredible. How do you feel about that episode? Is it one of your favorites as we'll?

Something Big is an episode that I was really excited to make. I think it came out pretty close to how I imagined it. I'm really proud of that episode yeah. -jesse

Do you guys have any thoughts on the closure of Studio Ghibli?

I didn't know Ghibli was closing. I thought just Hayao was retiring and his son would continue the studio legacy. -jesse

Hi Moynihan's! For Justin: I really enjoyed the songs in Breezy! I hear them having a darker tone than most AT songs, which I like a lot. I noticed that in Manly's credits one of your roles is the Animatic Editor. Did you have any experience with that job before, and what does it entail? Also when working on the score or a song, how much time is spent on making sure what you're trying to convey through the music is clear? Or when do you know when a piece of music is ready to go?

For Jesse: I'm a huge fan and I really hope that Manly gets picked up! My question is about Forming. I noticed how the angel-beings are sometimes pretty intimidated by the local animals. There might not be much else to it, but I was really interested when I saw these Super-Humans getting freaked out over flora and fauna. Is there something behind that like nature vs. blank or something?

Jesse: Yeah I wanted to convey the idea that these aliens live on worlds where nature has been pretty much wiped out. They don't know how to deal with animals or plants. I thought it would be a funny element to have in the story, where these super advance beings are freaked out by lions and ants.

Thanks happywool. With Breezy I was thinking of Excalibur (John Boorman) while composing, something about middle ages, opera, and starry nights made that work. Animatic Editor; once Jesse completed boarding, Ako Castuera, Jesse and I got together and recorded scratch vocals for the episode. Cleaning up the panels Jesse drew and dumping them from photoshop into FinalCut I timed out the episode, to make sure jokes landed right, the action felt smooth, and the emotional content delivered, all within the time constraint of 5.5 minutes. We took this to the studio as a guide for the final voice record with the pro actors and I repeated the process with the final boards and the final voice records. In terms of scoring, music is a bit fickle with me, a song can take an hour, or it can take years (seriously). But for scoring we can usually make it happen within a couple weeks. The Nimbus song took me a week in a dark haunted (feeling) room. - justin

Who is your favorite character of AT and why? And what's something you find difficult about writing songs?

My favorite character right now is maybe Magic Man. He's a real challenge to write for. I've been wrestling with him for a couple years now. I like the relationship we have. It's hard to describe. It's like trying to get to know a brother who got really weird and distant. The challenging thing about writing music is living up to your expectations of what makes a good song. You listen to these great songs all the time, and you want to makes something that moves you that much. It's super intimidating. - Jesse

Do you have any idea how long it takes to cook 37 cakes?

depends on the number of ovens

4

3 hours if you have your shit together; if it's your first time I'd plan on 6 hours

hey guys, Jesse I met you in England with Nick it was cool to meet you. I'm part way through reading the secret teachings of all ages cos I saw both you and Ron rege jr mention it, it's seriously thought provoking stuff so thank you.

My question is do you think Forming will continue on further than a trilogy or do you think you'll be able to wrap it all up as much as you'd like in one more book? (I only ask because I think I saw somewhere it was intended as a trilogy?)

Manly was super incredible in all ways, really hope you guys get the opportunity to do more!

All the best! Matthew

Hey man! Forming is definitely gonna wrap up as a trilogy. Maybe the book will have to be extra long to end it though. I'm not sure. I'm still gestating on how to approach it. Regardless I'm definitely going to end it on the third book.

Glad you're digging that Manly P Hall! -Jesse

I watched Manly for the first time last night (kinda late) but it was amazing. I super love the contrast that the little dude, Nimbus, brings to the show. It feels like he's the calm, quiet, level-headed force to counteract the vibrance of everything/ everyone else. Was there any specific inspiration for him?

The spirit of Nimbus has a lot to do with Justin's aversion to violence. We needed a voice on the show that would reflect Justin's views on art and beauty and peace. I'm more prone to celebrating violence, so you could say that Manly roughly represents me, and Nimbus represents Justin. -Jesse

I agree with Jesse mostly on this. My views of violence go far beyond aversion. I understand it's value and absolute necessity in evolution and growth. It is an essential tool in birth, rebirth, ritual, and is married entirely to life. I have more of an aversion to unthought-out or non-intentional acts. Intentionality and holistic approaches is what I am more dogmatically drawn to. -justin

If Manly gets picked up to be an actual series, would you be leaving Adventure Time? I admire your work on the show too much to be able to handle you leaving it.

I would try my hardest to do both. But I'm not sure. It might break my brain, doing both. I am taking a long hiatus right now, trying to gain energy to work very hard in October. We'll see how much I can handle.

Is it fun collaborating with your brother on a project like this? Did you guys ever make comics/do projects together when you were little kids or talk about working together in the future? Manly is awesome by the way, great job!

Justin and I used to make a zine together called "Assificado". We made like, 8 issues. It was terrible. I liked Justin's jokes the best though. Justin and I have always played music together. We have a band called Make A Rising that's pretty much just a recording project right now. -Jesse

We tried to have a comic book company together when we were super little called J and J (second J backwards) comics. We made a bunch of movies together including Justin the Ninja and Opera Jesse. The collaborations continued and got more serious with less fighting as we've gotten older. -justin

I love Adventure Time! My question is about how production works exactly for the show. Since there are multiple writers and storyboard artists, how do you work together to create the final product? Are the episodes something that already have a specific idea and scenery decided and you write and storyboard scenes that work together? Or is it broken down into specific tasks assigned to specific people due to their strengths in different areas? I profess I'm rather ignorant on how animated shows get produced so if it would be easier to just say your process, that would still be awesome. I enjoyed the music for Breezy!

The board artists usually work in teams of two. We get a 2 page outline from the writers. Sometimes we collaborate with the writers on the premises, if we feel like we have a good idea for an episode. Then we turn those two pages into roughly 200 pages of action and dialog. There is a lot of back and forth between the board artist and the writers. It's very collaborative. That process lasts about 5 weeks. Then when the board is finished, it gets passed on to designers, colorists, background artists, revisionists, voice actors and cleanup artists. It's a crazy conveyor belt. Then the whole thing gets shipped to the animation house. Everyone has specific skills that they use to contribute to episode after episode coming down the pipeline. -Jesse

For Jesse: So, I've just gotten into "Forming." I'm kind of obsessed with the prism-portal-space-transporters that are present in that and "Manly." Where did they come from? Crazy dream? Did you arrive on Earth in one such geometric travelling vehicle?

Also, how did you break into animation? And which animators have inspired you the most?

I wish I had arrived on earth in a prism, but I came out of a birth canal. The prism thing I think came from an early interest in sacred geometry. I thought maybe these guys were using technology that manipulated the building blocks of the universe. That would help them travel faster. I'm still working these ideas out.

I love drawing, and, as a kid, my dream was to be a comic writer but when I grew up I changed my mind and decided to try being an architect because it is a "safer job" (in the way you are more likely to get employed).Do yo consider professional animator a "safe job" ? Have you struggled to find a job ? (Sorry for my english, I'm french)

Being an animator is not really a safe job. Productions get cancelled all the time. I've never really thought about having a safe job. Most of my life I've worked really low paying jobs - dishwashing, box folding, video stores etc... Working on Adventure Time was sort of an accident. It's been great to be able to afford doctor visits and the dentist, but who knows how long it will last? I don't know! Then what am I gonna do? Work on a weed farm? -Jesse

For Jesse: A lot of your work has a really interesting blend of super-natural and metaphysical elements that seem to follow closely with certain religions or mythologies and deal with heavy existential topics. I'm trying to progress as a writer, and I look to you and authors like Grant Morrison as inspirations for these kinds of subjects.

How do you approach such deep topics like the nature of the universe and life/death in the context of a 15 minute television show or a comic series--especially while adding in humor and keeping things nonchalant? Also, are there any writers or artists that inspire or guide this creative part of you?

It think as a writer you have to explore the things that move you. So the stuff you mentioned are things that move me, things I've looked into in my day to day life. I read a lot of books on spirituality and philosophy. So that's where my brain goes naturally. I try keep an open dialog between what I write and what I'm interested in. So if you are interested in this stuff, then it will come through in your work. Keep it personal. Don't worry so much what Grant Morrison does. Your work should reflect your individual spirit.

My method is to launch myself into the story without fear. I keep in mind a priority list of character arcs and motivations. I try to remember some ideas about three act structure. Everything else is fair game.

-jesse

absolutely loved manly, great job!

for jesse: could you talk to duncan trussell about coming on the podcast again? it's seriously my all-time favorite podcast episode

Duncan has reached out to me a few times for a second visit. We're working it out! Hopefully soon -Jesse

Who is your favorite Adventure Time character and why is it Lumpy Space Princess?

I love writing for Lumpy Space Princess. She's so horrible, but it's fun trying to find a place in her to relate to. You can make her behave in the worst ways possible, and still give her pieces of redemption. -jesse

I loved Manly and Forming (also AT), manly itself reminds me a lot of forming and I was wondering if you two have thought about it making its way into a comic format?

If Manly does well as a pilot, there is a possibility of developing a comic. Although at the moment I'm mostly just hoping we can explore the story in animated format. I want this thing to be tight and heavy! -Jesse

Is working on Adventure Time the most algebraic thing ever?

Yeah man. Before I worked on Adventure Time, I was a towel boy in a gym. Now I get to draw cartoons and eat at restaurants. It's awesome. -jesse

Hey guys, I just want to say I really appreciated your work on Manly. It felt somewhat refreshing, maybe due to its visceral violence... while still feeling somewhat familiar, mainly due to the buddy comedy set up and obvious influences from your previous work. My question is about the animation industry as a whole. I have only been working in the industry since the early 2000's so I don't really know what things were like before then, but I have noticed, in the last few years especially, an absolute flood of great content and creators to sites like youtube. This is due to obvious facts such as being able to easily animate for little money on a home computer now. So my question is this, do you think there is a chance of the online animation sphere becoming over saturated? I am personally starting to feel that while this indeed could be another golden age of animation and creativity, the ease in which things can now be created has led to a massive influx in content of varying quality, and with most young people learning by example, a lot of it is starting to feel the same in terms of content and style. Could too much of a good thing actually burn out audiences or make it even harder for new people to be discovered on top of the problems such as Youtubes CPM model?

Hey that's a really good question. I think about this sometimes, but what always seems to hold true for me is that the really good stuff will always rise to the top. Or at least, near to the top. Yeah sometimes something that's not so great will get tons of attention, and this may feel disheartening. But I think it's good to hold on to your desire to make stuff. If you're really an artist, it won't matter what is going on in the world, or what your competition is doing. You will make stuff regardless, because it's in your soul to make stuff.

With each new advancement in technology there will be a give and a take. Some aspects of it will help and some will hurt. In the face of that advancement, the only power you have is to keep making what you want to make. Then just hope for the best I guess! -jesse

I've got a couple of questions for Jesse!

I'm a big fan of your boarding, Manly's first episode, and although I'm not all caught up on Forming, I love that as well.

First question: I work in the animation field myself and did an alright student film a couple of years ago, but I am looking to do another short film. I have it designed and boarded and am slowly making changes and adjusting and tweaking, but my level of commitment and enthusiasm waxes and wanes. I was wondering if you have a sort of ritual or process you go through (or went through) when beginning an independently motivated long term project? Any words of wisdom and encouragement would help.

Second Question: Are you going to do anymore "Anecdotal Evidence" episodes? This may sound strange, but I am a huge fan of the 3 (now 2) episodes that are available. The stories were freaky and out there, yet the vibe was casual and intimate. Thoughts?

Thanks!

1. My energy levels wax and wane like anybody else. The ritual I have is to just push through no matter what. I don't give myself a break. It's a total commitment sort of thing. Even when I want to lie on the floor and roll around and do nothing, I drag myself to that art table. Around 6 or 7pm I usually go for a 4 mile run to get my blood flowing and reset my mental state. Then I make dinner and work till I fall asleep. You have to re-wire your brain and set up new priority overrides. And you have to sacrifice some personal life stuff. I've found this to be true. Although I think I need to work on my personal life a little more.

2. I really really want to do more Anecdotal Evidence episodes but I keep putting it on the back burner. I know people who want to be interviewed I just gotta get on the ball about it. I promise there will be more!

-jesse

Hi Jmoyns. I think you've boarded some of the series' best episodes for Adventure Time. Your style of drawing gives amazing proportion even to characters like Finn who are anything but proportionate.

My question is how are you partnered with different guest artists such as Thomas Wellmann and Derek Ballard? And do you think their personal style makes the show different?

Thanks man! I partnered up with Thomas Wellmann because Pen was a fan of his comics. And I partnered up with Derek because I was a fan of his comics as well. He took a test for the show and it was one of the best submissions we got. Plus his drawings are crazy! Both Thomas and Derek contributed in ways that had a lot of personal touch. I loved working with those guys. It was really fun to see Thomas' German sensibilities. Just the way he pitched the dialog with English being a second language, gave the board an eccentric energy that was really fun.

I wanted to ask, how would you describe Manly's character? She seems very passive and apathetic at times, like she wants to be doing her own thing, but she's also trying to please her dad because she thinks he's cool. Manly doesn't think much about what she's doing and has grown accustomed to her tasks and relationship with her family.

Since we've only had a small introduction to Manly, and I'm crossing my fingers your short is successful, I'd love learn more about her without spoiling - what traits of her do you relate to, and were trying to express?

I think Manly is a character that is stuck in a bad mental loop. She's been trained to think a certain way about herself, and she's just on the brink of a mental crisis/revelation. Hopefully this series will follow her journey into herself, to find out what her true purpose is.

Right now Manly is very naive and impressionable. She also has certain views about life and death that I hope we can get a chance to explore. -jesse

Do you consider the AT comics cannon at all? What kind of communication is involved between the writing of the comics and show?

I consider the comic to be sort of an alternate universe Adventure Time. Sort of like how DC has alternate Earths. There is no communication between the writers of the show and the comics, although Kent Osborne is doing a series about the Banana Guards. So uh I guess it can get a little messy. In general I'd say that they are separate universes.

Jesse, thank you so much for doing this IAMA, I looooovvve forming. My question is, when you started writing Forming, how far planned out did you have it? Did the plan change at all as you wrote it? Also if either of you could collaborate on a work with one person, who would it be, and what kind of artistic venture would it be?? Thanks so much for Manly, I loved it (check my comment history to see me defending it in /r/animation haha)

When I started working on Forming, I had most of the basic story planned out. Since working on it, everything has changed so much that most of my plans are obsolete. I keep updating character arcs and concepts. When I get into something new, I try to incorporate that into the work.

If I could collaborate with one person it would be Alejandro Jodorowsky. Mostly I wish I could study Tarot under him. I met him once and was totally star struck. I asked for his autograph, which is something I never do.

Thanks for defending Manly!

Justin- Your songs in the Adventure Time episode Breezy were beautiful. You said before that piano ballets inspired them, could you be more specific as to which pieces/composers?

Jesse- I love your comics and Adventure Time episodes. Spiritual Dad made me cry. If it's not too personal for you, what caused that "breakdown" you had in Spiritual Dad in the scene where you call your dad about quitting college? Have you ever dealt with depression or anxiety, and if so, how have you managed to make art in spite of it/how has it effected your art? Thanks for everything!

The breakdown I had in "Spiritual Dad" was the crisis of being 18 and not knowing what to be or do with my life. Not being able to relate to other people, or my experience in college. Feeling isolated and hyper-sensitive. I also think I was pretty messed up about a girl, haha.

I've had depression and anxiety ever since high school. It comes and goes in waves. Sometimes more manageable than others. Art is the thing that helps me keep going. Art is the only thing that's been with me as a constant this whole time. Sometimes I use my depression to inspire my art. But mostly I try to use art to inspire me to reach out of the shadow into the light. -jesse

I'm not sure if there is a piece in particular. I studied ballet accompaniment for a few years, and that has impacted my composition. I really like Bach's piano work, Debussy, and Ravel. I was huge into Stravinsky for a while, especially Rite of Spring and Les Noces, but I don't think there is much of that in Breezy. Sometimes it is the just the idea of something that gets twisted round my head and comes out different. I think Christian Vander is equally influential. -justin

Which notable episodes of Adventure time did you storyboard?

Jesse Moynihan is an artist who has created the storyboards for Adventure Time starting in the second season with episodes such as "Crystals Have Power," "The Silent King," "Sons of Mars," "Mystery Dungeon," and "The Pit." He also does various works of promotional art for the show, and has helped with character designs as well.

Jesse also has his own webcomic, called Forming, that he has been developing since 2009. He has an upcoming animated series, Manly, through Cartoon Hangover.[1]

He is a part of a band named Make a Rising. He wrote "Journal Song" in "Marceline's Closet" which he also storyboarded.

From: http://adventuretime.wikia.com/wiki/Jesse_Moynihan

• Something Big (2014) ... (storyboard artist)
  • Breezy (2014) ... (storyboard artist)
  • Wizards Only, Fools (2013) ... (storyboard artist)
  • One Last Job (2013) ... (storyboard artist)
  • The Suitor (2013) ... (storyboard artist)
  • The Great Bird Man (2013) ... (storyboard artist)
  • Mystery Dungeon (2013) ... (storyboard artist)
  • All the Little People (2012) ... (storyboard artist)
  • Finn the Human (2012) ... (storyboard artist)
  • Reign of Gunters (2012) ... (storyboard artist)
  • Who Would Win (2012) ... (storyboard artist)
  • You Made Me (2012) ... (storyboard artist)
  • Sons of Mars (2012) ... (storyboard artist)
  • Beyond This Earthly Realm (2012) ... (storyboard artist)
  • Return to the Nightosphere (2012) ... (storyboard artist)
  • Web Weirdos (2012) ... (storyboard artist)
  • Ghost Princess (2012) ... (storyboard artist)
  • Marceline's Closet (2011) ... (storyboard artist)
  • No One Can Hear You (2011) ... (storyboard artist)
  • The Creeps (2011) ... (storyboard artist)
  • Wizard Battle (2011) ... (storyboard artist)
  • Too Young (2011) ... (storyboard artist)
  • Hitman (2011) ... (storyboard artist)
  • Mortal Recoil (2011) ... (storyboard artist)
  • The Limit (2011) ... (storyboard artist)
  • Death in Bloom (2011) ... (storyboard artist)
  • The Silent King (2011) ... (storyboard artist)
  • Crystals Have Power (2010) ... (storyboard artist)

there's more

I really like your musical score. What kind of software or programs do you use to create your sounds/music? What is your compositional process?

We use logic, but we want to move to protools. We have a couple synths and drum machines: the roland sh-1000, juno 60, juno 106, oberheim dx, and a mellotron sampler. Compositional process? For Manly we sat down and watched the episode, deciding where we wanted to accent scenes. We started with a drum beat and built off of that. The final song was written before we even boarded the episode, so that was a stand alone piece that we worked into the overall score so that it made sense. -justin

Yo big fan here! What are some of the major differences between making web shorts and writing for television? Are you given much more leeway and creative freedom? Any drawbacks?

There are very few censors for web-content. Frederator did not require nearly as much information (like a bible for the show) that a television network would. Frederator never questioned our direction, it was pretty much complete trust. The only restriction was timing and budget. You also get paid a lot less for web-shorts. Other drawbacks are that the potential audience base for web-based programming is still growing. We (the world) haven't entirely made the transition away from the archaic television broadcasting world. -justin

Why doesn't Justin have a wikipedia page?

I am a bit like a caveman. I don't have a facebook, a twitter, or a tumblr. Also my GF said she doesn't date people with wiki pages. Hope she was joking. I have a webpage though if you want to read into me. -Justin

The voice of "Manly" is Jill Bartlett.....super hot, talented, funny.....how is it working with her and how did you find her for the show?

We listened to like 400 voice auditions and her's was the best fit. She was great, super nice, gave us all hugs goodbye. It was great, and session was pretty easy over all. Pro. -Justin

She beat out like 300 other auditions. We just liked the quality of her voice, and the level of sensitivity in her delivery. She was so sweet at the voice record. Really a good sport. Hopefully we can work together again!

Holy shit, I did not expect to see this when scrolling through Reddit. Betty is one of my favorite episodes, and when I saw Something Big I could tell it had the same vibe. When I looked it up to see if I could find a common link, I saw the name Jesse Moynihan.

I think you both should be incredibly proud of yourselves. I'm not very far into the Manly clip and I already love it. For me, you are what makes Adventure Time special. As an artist, I stop to think about your work and the message you send with it when I create my own. I know these things are supposed to have a question, but all I can say is thank you.

Well, just to make sure you guys get to see this - I'll add one. You seem to write very distinct female characters, yet they all seem to have a specific tone to them. Jesse, is there anyone in your life who you feel strongly influenced how you write who you write the way you do? Also, any reflections on writing Betty?

EDIT: You can also be sure I'll be spreading the word about Manly.

The idea is to write characters that each have a specific tone, and spectrum of possibilities to them. The main influence in my life for writing characters is the belief in having empathy for all people. -jesse

Hello, I just started watching Adventure Time so this question is like 3 years late... In Marceline's closet, was she supposed to be pretending? I mean, she pretended that couldn't see/smell Finn and Jake and then pretending to be asleep? Or she really didn't catch them until Finn started talking?

I don't think she knew they were there until they tried to escape. It seems really unlikely that she wouldn't notice, but I think that's part of what makes the episode funny and tense. -jesse

Just wanted to say thank you for creating such a great show with Adventure Time. It's honestly my favorite show, I love the world and characters you have created and the dynamics of each one. When I'm having a bad day Finn always has a way of showing me the brighter side of things.

Also because I have to ask a question and can't just leave a compliment to reply to this apparently: where did the Lich come from, what's his back story? Or is that something that will be addressed later?

I didn't create Adventure Time, but I help write and draw on it. I'm glad you are into it!

The Lich was developed very early on. They wanted to have a bad guy who was purely evil, scary and not funny. How the Lich came to be is still sort of a mystery. I can't spoil that!

Hey guys fellow animator here. Just wondered what programs you used and how long Manly took to make?

Manly is hand-drawn. The boards were cleaned up on Photoshop and the animatic was pieced together on FinalCut. The music was made in Logic. The animation was hand-drawn in an animation house. It is colored in Photoshop. We're not sure what Jacky used for the CG, or how it was composited. All in all from first pitch to now, it was almost 2 years. -justin

"The breakdown I had in "Spiritual Dad" was the crisis of being 18 and not knowing what to be or do with my life. Not being able to relate to other people, or my experience in college. Feeling isolated and hyper-sensitive." Story of my life, haha. Does/did making art help you feel less isolated and make friends, Jesse? Has achieving the level of success and fame you have now, or being part of the art community, or just the process of making the art itself, made you happier and more connected to others? Or does sacrificing parts of your personal life for your art cause more isolation?

The process of making art itself is what helps me. Relating to other creative people, who share similar struggles and aspirations also helps. Sacrificing parts of my life for art does create some loneliness. It's a give and take. A big part of life seems to be sacrifice. These are decisions we have to make in our lives. I don't know why. It just seems to be that way.

[deleted]

Yeah my basic set of advice is: give some thought to your layouts, your overall composition, your establishing of environments, and your tracking of movement. Be confident in your understanding of anatomy. Give some thought to three act structure. Think about how you're using the medium. What is the intentionality behind the tools you're using, the colors, and the quality of your lines? Think about and question everything. Also be willing to make mistakes, and learn as you go. You don't have to be a master right out of the box. Just make it!

i have another question i forgot to ask. how did skinny ripped make it back to manly when he fell apart after teleporting back to his dad? i was confused on that part.

He says something about "resetting his body" before he teleports back to his dad, so I'm pretty sure he just did that.

I was riding my bike yesterday and I had some more ideas about Skinny Ripped's powers. If we get to make more episodes, I think this will be explained further. -jesse

Hey, big fan of you're work both with Forming and AT, who's a little known cartoonist or animator that you think everyone should know?

edit: cleared out some nonsense

My favorite underground animators right now are Galen Pehrson http://www.galenpehrson.com/

Charles Huetner http://vimeo.com/charleshuettner and Misaki Uwabo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3RsvTjJZjk

That's off the top of my head.

Also I'll check out your tumblr!

Both of you guys seem to work in a variety of mediums (music, animation, poetry, etc), which is something I want to be able to do but always worry about because I feel like I'm not committing fully to one medium and therefore wasting my potential in all three.

So how do you guys find time to work on everything you want to and also be super talented in each medium? Do you think playing music and creating comics and animation compliment each other in some way?

It takes time. For years I thought I was terrible at all the things I did. I would consider myself adequate at a bunch of things now. I definitely think that people who have the ability to focus on one thing tend to do it better than people who spread themselves thin. But for myself, I find it impossible not to serve all the artistic expressions and life callings that I do. I cannot concentrate unless I am doing too much. I pretty much only work when inspired, but I "need" to work all the time, so I simply do a bunch of different things. The cost of all this is I am sometimes a terrible boyfriend, and I won't be as good at a single skill set as others are around me. But I will still try my hardest to be. Yes, diving into multiple mediums does compliment one another, it creates an artist (you), and that is arguably as important as the things you produce. -justin

I agree mostly with Justin. There are things of interest I've had to sacrifice over the years though. For example I wanted to be a filmmaker, but I realized if I wanted to make films, that would be 100% commitment. So I gave it up to pursue music and comics. I do a general assessment of how much time I have in a given day or week to accomplish certain art tasks and then I just go for it with as much energy as I can give. Personal life does seem to suffer because of this. I am also a terrible boyfriend. -jesse

Anything we can do to have Manly get more episodes/get expanded other than sharing the video so more people see it?

There are sites like boing boing and cartoon brew that I think would give it a bump. But mostly just spreading the word I think is most important? Maybe? I don't know how this stuff works really. It's very mysterious! -jesse

Were any of your ideas for Adventure out right rejected for being too weird or bizarre?

No, usually if they are rejected, it's because the idea simply doesn't work as a complete story. Sometimes you get a cool idea but it's difficult to place into a larger framework and have it still feel natural. Mostly the ideas that get rejected just don't feel like they naturally interface with the world of Ooo. Or maybe the idea just doesn't have the right angle. I've had a couple ideas that took several seasons to find a place. -jesse

Really love Manly and Forming, and also really big fan of the "Something Big" episode. I also really admire a lot of the choices made in Manly, both visually and thematically, though I still have some trouble completely grasping it, which I think is amazing. My question for Jesse, (if you guys are still answering) is how is it that you got into the field that you did, both with Forming and storyboarding for Adventure Time, and what do you think someone interested in both comic making and storyboarding should do to get their footing?

First start by making minicomics at Kinkos. Do short runs of whatever you can afford. Then sell them at conventions. Get to know other comics people and publishers. Post webcomics online as well. That's pretty much how you become a professional comic artist, by just doing it.

The animation world is more open to hiring comic artists than ever before. I don't know how long this hiring trend will last, but hopefully it'll be a while. -jesse

Hey Jesse, I was at your storyboard workshop and panel at DePaul University in Chicago, and I wanted to thank you again for coming through and inspiring me to continue doing art. I also spoke to you at CAKE, and you asked me what I thought of Tree Trunks. I was just curious, what do you think of Tree Trunks?

Tree Trunks is a comedy goldmine. -jesse

Tree Trunks scares the shit out of me. -justin

The creativity in Manly has absolutely blew my mind! The unique artistic style, characters, everything!! Ive been following Jesse's work on instagram for a long time and watching the little pieces of this animationcome together has been incredibly inspiring. So! My question for you guys is this: What advice can you give an aspiring artist and animator (stuck in the process of an accounting degree in Wyoming) who wants to 100% commit to entering the artistic workforce? Hard-work is going to be a must-but do you guys have any lessons you had to learn the hard way, schools to recommend, or words of wisdom for us kids who want to risk it all to follow our artistic dreams?

The hardest lesson I had to learn was giving up on the idea of success. This is something I talk a lot about with fellow AT board artist Tom Herpich. We agree that in order to find success, you have to completely give up the idea of success. A great artist is someone who finds complete self fulfillment in the act of creating, and increasing their powers as a creator. Validation has to come from inside. The deeper you go inside, the deeper your connection to the Universe. The deeper you are connected to the Universe, the closer you become to the people around you. In living this way, you attract success as a side effect. I've found this to be true in my life. -jesse

Hey, I think you guys are great, a couple of questions:

Are there any special Moynihan tips you would give to anyone trying to break into the animation business?

Also I adored Manly and would love to see more of her in some shape or form, what do you think the future will hold for that show?

Thanks for everything you cuties

There are a few ways to break in. Here's a real short answer. 1. Is to go to animation school, get an internship and move your way up. 2. Go to animation school, make a super good short film and show it at festivals, and put it up on the web. People in the animation industry pay attention to this stuff. 3. Make your own content without any goal except to make your own content. If your stuff is high level, people will eventually notice. 4. With all this stuff there's some luck involved. Stay positive and live for art

You two ever thought about doing game art? Based on what I saw in Manly, something in that style could be rad.

Jacky Chaing, the person who designed and animated the Eyes No Eyes Planet worked on Journey, which is probably my favorite looking video game. Jesse has also played around with making a video game based around the Forming universe, but I think time is a limiting factor. I agree, Manly would translate well into a video game stylistically. -justin

Huge fan of both of yours since the Make a Rising and love the work on Adventure Time and Manly. Anything in the works that will more fully combine your musical talents with the animated works? Maybe a Manly Musical?

No thoughts of a Manly musical, but we did shape the story of Manly to include opportunities for more songs, and poetry readings and what not. If we get an opportunity to make a series with longer episodes maybe we'll go a little deeper with the union between score and ambitious composition. Thanks for the shout out to Make a Rising. We are hoping to complete a few more songs in the next couple of months for MAR and eventually a full album release of these sessions. -justin

I thought Manly was awesome and beautiful! I loved the colors and the gradients used! I'm an animation student and next fall will be the start of my Junior year. For someone wanting to break into the industry as soon as they graduate college, what should I be doing now to make sure that happens?

Make a bomb *ss film your junior year. Make another bomb *ss film your senior year. Put them in festivals. Enter them in your school competition, if there is one. Hopefully you guys have an end of the year producers show? Send links to Cartoon Brew.

-jesse

If I were to ask a second question it would be: what's the difference in atmosphere between working on Cartoon Network, a Frederator short, and Forming? I know you said you find writing for comics very liberating as it's your own thing. Can working with a tight-knit group of animators on Manly - all working on multiple things at once - become more tense than the more organised Cartoon Network crew?

And Justin, how was your experience working on Manly? This is your first animation gig. Was it how you'd imagined?

Cartoon Network is basically a well oiled machine with tons or resources. Frederator is scrappy and small so I had to wear a lot of hats and make sure everything was not totally collapsing all the time. Everyone was working on it in their spare time, so you had to be respectful of their schedules. Basically you had to be grateful that they would work on it at all! It was sort of like riding an octopus. If we get to make more I'm hoping to get some regular folks on the gig. -jesse

It was cool to see all the angles that need to be managed to put a piece of animation together. The Frederator team did a pretty great job at managing the timeline and making sure Jesse and I got what we wanted out of the piece. The learning curve felt pretty organic over all. The hardest part was the hardest part for me in all my endeavors: lining my ambition and artistic goals up with making stuff people want to watch. -justin

What are some of the songs from adventure time that Justin brought to the table? Also, who else is involved in the process as far as melody, instrumentation and lyrics go? Is it created independently of any motif going on in the episode or are they always supposed to be related to the subject at hand? PS. I fucking love every single song on the show and they never fail to stick in my head for days.

Jesse wrote Finn's political rap, Marceline's Diary Song, Xergiok Song, and he wrote a song for Marceline for an upcoming episode. I wrote the two Breezy songs and a song for a new character in an upcoming episode. Casey and Tim score the episodes and write the arrangements for the songs. The songs are written specifically for the episodes, specific to the emotional and situational needs of the board. -justin

I really love Manly. It totally hit me in the feels. What was your experience like working with cartoon hangover. Did you approach them with the completed short or did you contact them with just the idea?

Secondly, do you have any advice for aspiring cartoonists/animators who are trying to get their stuff noticed? Or advice for what to do once you have a finished five minute pilot?

We approached Cartoon Hangover with a basic premise and some character designs. At first I think they thought it was too weird to understand, so we did a rough storyboard of the pilot. We pitched the board to them and they decided to greenlight it.

Frederator has an open door policy for pitching. Anyone can pitch to them.

My main advice is to complete your projects and put them online. My second suggestion is making sure your stuff contains good storytelling, characters and drawing mechanics. My third set of advice is more vague, which is the pursuing a high level of taste. -jesse

Hey guys, I have a few questions actually. First off, where did your inspiration for manly come from? Secondly, how did you go about choosing the colors for the palette for Manly and Forming 1 and 2? Finally, what software do you use for animating and finalizing drawings for comics and everything else? On a side note, what would you recommend for an aspiring writer, drawer, and animator?

I think we answer your first question best in our interview with Gwen http://times.frederator.com/post/93605461574/what-happens-when-two-wildly-creative-brothers-get ). But the short answer is it came about through a lot of back and forth between me and Jesse. The colors for Manly were made by James Stokoe. His comics are rad and Jesse thought that since he worked in Photoshop he could serve our needs best. Jesse's Forming color palette... well I'll have Jesse answer that. Software: Photoshop, Logic, FinalCut. Jesse does everything in his comic by hand. He uses gouache and pen and brush. Recommendation for an aspiring writer, drawer, and animator. "Be it, don't dream it." It is more important that you make beautiful and rad creations than getting acknowledged or paid for making trash that is in your field. Do it big, and don't ever be satisfied by your work, but put it out there still and make the next thing you create better than the last, and make it matter. -justin

The color palette for Forming is basically just based off the color theory I learned in high school and college. I try to make my colors have more symbolic than literal meaning. -jesse

Hey Jessie, I'm a huge fan of Forming and all your other work and stuff! I love the visual language your characters and environments display, it seems very geometric, symbolically enigmatic and almost spiritual. It also feels very modern, often reminding me of action figures and fantasy tropes. What are some of the inspirations for your aesthetic, and your thoughts on how you would describe it?

I have a soft spot for He-Man and the action figure cartoons of the 80's. Part of me tries to take that vibe and elevate it, to give it meaning and resonance. Visually I'm inspired by the films of Rene Laloux, and Fist of the North Star. Mostly I just try to communicate a vibrating energy and inner desire to engage with a higher reality. -jesse

First of all, thanks so much for making an interesting, complicated female character. It seems like you've got a number of things you'd like to explore with her and I'm really hoping there's more show so I can see what else she gets up to!

You've mentioned in this AMA that Manly is most similar to Jesse while Nimbus is more like Justin. Jesse, why did you want to make the main character of this show a woman? What does Manly being a woman mean to you? Is she a response to anything you're seeing in comics/cartoons at the moment?

I'm into writing female protagonists because I am a male and I don't have first hand knowledge of the female experience. It's a way of adding dimension to my brain by trying to engage in a different set of obstacles. Everything I've experienced in my life has been skewed to a male perspective. So, writing from a male perspective is sort of boring to me. Maybe not boring, but it comes very easy. I get excited trying to write a female voice and seeing what I can do in that arena, with the level of engagement our current collective entertainment-brain has for that perspective. Whether her character is successful and enriching for audiences is up to the audience. Anyway, the idea is to make her complex, flawed, and hopefully relatable to everyone. -jesse

So did you guys do any of the animation or did you just set up the animatics for the animation house?

The latter. Jesse boarded, I timed the animatics, there were a couple fun gif's along the way, and the CG was created and animated by Jacky Chiang. All the other animation was sent out. -justin

Is Adventure Time supposed to take place in a post-apocalyptic earth or is that just a rumor?

I think it's been pretty much established.

How do you come up with adventure time? Is there a substantial amount of Peyote involved?

I didn't come up with Adventure Time. That was Pen Ward. And Pen doesn't take psychedelics. I took a Ayahuasca once and it messed me up for years. It did give me some ideas though. -Jesse