James Brown as a sex-obsessed cyborg? Brunch with Mike Tyson? Bloopers from classic Stanley Kubrick movies?
These are just some of the short films sprouting from online cartoonist Dan Meth whose website, DanMeth.com, is a treasure trove of inspired silliness.
Dan Meth: Frederator Studios Animator
According to his biography, Meth was born in Mt. Kisco, NY (in 1977), and studied illustration at Syracuse University. While growing up, he read and devoured every cartoon he could get his hands on.
"I think my biggest influence was Mad Magazine," he says. "What it taught me about satire, plus the art, was unparalleled. Later R.Crumb taught me about being weird, funny, and adult at the same time. Some other influences are B. Kliban, Gahan Wilson, Warner Brothers, Mr. Men books, Peanuts, and now I love Brad Neely and Adult Swim."
During his 4 years at Syracuse, Meth also wrote and illustrated a strip for The Daily Orange, the campus newspaper. The name came from procrastination.
"I couldn't think of a good name when the paper asked me what it was called," he says. "I was going to get back to them with a title when I thought of one, but they ended up calling it Meth by accident. It stuck."
In 2006, Meth joined Frederator Studios, the animation studios founded by Fred Seibert in 1997. The studio has developed several animated properties, including The Fairly OddParents, ChalkZone, and My Life as a Teenage Robot.
Meth Minute: Random Silliness
"Meth Minute originated from me pitching producer Fred Seibert a weekly web show: 39 seconds, 39 weeks, 39 shorts," Meth says. "The cartoons ended up becoming much longer than that but we stuck to 39 weekly episodes."
Ideas for the shorts came from "just goofing around with friends and keeping my eyes open to pop culture and stories and so on. That's where i get my ideas."
Many stories are from his own life.
""Syd Barrett Visits His Accountant" was inspired by trying to understand my accountant father explain my tax forms to me," he says. "While "The Music Nerds" are inspired by being a rock know-it-all with my friends."
After dreaming up the concept, Meth hits the recording studio with his friends. He doesn't have a script, and leaves plenty of wiggle room for his actors to improvise scenes.
"Usually I have an idea of the characters and the scene and then I cast friends who would be funny in those roles," he says. "Then I let them improvise for a long time. There's usually no script. I like the acting better when they aren't trying to read my words and I also find an funny actor will come up with a hilarious bit of dialogue that i never thought of.
"Later, I cut all this down and rearrange it into a short soundtrack and animate to it."
Although "Mike Tyson's Brunch Off!" appears to be the fan favourite, he currently prefers "the episodes that are montage like and have many different little cartoons in them like "For Kids!", "Japandering" and "Meth Minute 39 Thousand". There's a lot in each of those so I still get a kick out of them."
Nite Fite: Penalty and Lloyd Face Off
Nite Fite is an animated series that features schlumpy, bearded Penalty (Meth) versus skinny, sarcastic Lloyd (Mark Vitelli) battling each other in a fictional call-in show. They argue about a wide array of topics such as marriage, fish rights and moon landings. In fact, Penalty and Lloyd are so ready for an argument that they're scrapping even when there's nothing to argue about.
"Nite Fite came from having funny arguments with my friend Mark Vitelli," Meth says. "We decided to channel our debates into something entertaining, so we recorded a radio show."
In addition to his shorts, Dan Meth is also writing and directing The Seven Deadly Sins for Frederator Films, a "hip-hop film" featuring the voice of boxing impresario Don King.
Fun Fact: Remember: lobsters are also delicious!
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