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Pencilmation

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by AngusWOOF (talk | contribs) at 16:56, 11 June 2021 (External links: per WP:ELMINOFFICIAL retain only one social media website). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

  • Comment: User-generated sources (Newgrounds, youtube, etc), interviews and passing mentions in lists do not adequately establish notability. -Liancetalk/contribs 16:19, 27 January 2021 (UTC)
  • Comment: Needs more external news sources. Only Cartoon Brew so far. Do not cite IMDb. AngusW🐶🐶F (barksniff) 04:12, 19 December 2020 (UTC)

Pencilmation
Genre
Created byRoss Bollinger
Written by
  • Ross Bollinger
  • Jared Woods
  • Ama Bollinger
  • Joe West
  • Andrew Martin
  • Brien Hart
  • Yuri Custodio
  • Rachel Van Nes
  • J.R. Gloyd
Directed by
  • Ross Bollinger
  • Sam Johnson
  • Matt Wilson
  • Arin Scalfo
  • Christian Flannagan
  • Francis Florencio
  • Richard C. Tan
Voices of
  • Ross Bollinger
  • Joe Porter
  • Oswald Garrington
  • Daphne Garrington
  • Kesh Mesha
  • Leif Grant
Composers
  • Ross Bollinger
  • Brendan Cooney
  • Adam J. Eros
Country of originUSA
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons26
No. of episodes542
Production
Executive producerRoss Bollinger
Producers
  • J.R. Gloyd
  • Ama Bollinger
  • Brien Hart
Animators
  • Ross Bollinger
  • Francis Florencio
  • Kirun Kunju
  • Antonia Villamandos
  • Makoto Matsumura
  • Yuri Custodio
  • Joshua Palmer
  • Martin Daniels
  • Junaid Chundrigar
  • Ryan Krzak
  • Josh Floyd
  • Martin Daniels
  • David Brown
  • Harvey Rothman
  • Riccardo Pennacchietti
  • Owen Fishback
  • Jennifer Li
  • Brett May
  • Fabian Pineda
  • Michael Brooks Chandler
  • Dindo Santos
  • Arin Scalfo
Running time2–5 minutes
Production companyRoss Bollinger Animation
Original release
Network
ReleaseJune 4, 2004 (2004-06-04) –
present
Pencilmation
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2009–present
Genre(s)Film, animation, comedy
Subscribers19 million[1]
Total views9.9 billion[1]

Pencilmation is an American animated comedy web series on YouTube created by Ross Bollinger.[2][3][4][5][6] The series follows the endless struggle between creator and creation, in which pencil-drawn stick figures and doodles come to life and grapple against the torment of their animator's pencil and his arsenal of other drawing implements. The cartoon can be recognized by its trademark ruled paper backdrop, traditional frame-by-frame animation technique,[3] inclusion of pencils and other drawing material, energetic music, classic cartoonish sound effects, simplistic character designs, and a mix of slapstick, situational comedy, meta, and doodle-based humor.

As of June 2021, Pencilmation is the 260th most subscribed channel, the 225th most viewed channel, the 104th most subscribed channel from the USA, the 15th most subscribed channel in the Film category, and the largest (most subscribed and most viewed) 2D Animation-focused original creator channel on all of YouTube.[4][7]

History

At age 16, after being inspired from watching the Daffy Duck cartoon Duck Amuck,[4][8] Bollinger created the first Pencilmation cartoon in Macromedia Flash and uploaded it to Newgrounds.com. Bollinger worked alone and was responsible for every aspect of creating the cartoon, including writing, drawing, animating, sound design, and composing, a trend that would more or less continue for the first few dozen Pencilmation episodes.

2004–2008: Beginnings

On June 4, 2004, Bollinger uploaded the very first Pencilmation cartoon onto Newgrounds.com.[9] It was received with high praise and would end up being awarded a Daily Feature from the site. One year later, on October 31, 2005, Bollinger would upload the second installment, Pencilmation #2.[10] This too was well received and ended up winning a Frontpaged award along with other accolades. Between 2004 to 2006, Bollinger would upload onto Newgrounds these first two episodes of Pencilmation, two installments of the short-lived sister series Infinity Snail which takes place in the same Pencilmation universe, two installments of the short-lived dialogue-based Generic Brand Cartoons, and a one-off titled A Sad Swim.

2009–2011: Early YouTube era

After a 3-year hiatus, Bollinger returned to his Pencilmation series, uploading all previous episodes onto his new YouTube channel and producing a total of ten new episodes during 2009. In April 2010, Pencilmation #10, Hook, Line and Stinker, won 1st Place in Animation at the 31st College Television Awards hosted by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Foundation.[11]

2011–2012: Hank Hanky period

After the release of Pencilmation #19, Bollinger branched out to other projects. A four-part sister series titled Mythtory of the World was created. Also during this time, Hank Hanky, a figure who had been featured in a number of Pencilmation episodes and came to overshadow the original Pencilmation lead figure, was highly emphasized. The recognizable style of pencils drawing dialogue-absent doodles coming to life on a ruled paper background was dropped in favor of more traditional methods and having Hank speak. A few segments dubbed "The Hank Hanky Show" were produced, where viewers (mostly children) called a toll-free number to leave voice messages for Hank to answer. During this time, Bollinger drastically changed the layout of his official Pencilmation site and that of the Pencilmation Facebook page, pretending he was Hank taking over the program.[12]

2012–2014: Return to form

At the start of Pencilmation's Season 2 in mid-2012, Pencilmation #20 was produced. Following these new episodes, Hank Hanky and all non-Pencilmation material was soon phased out, with few exceptions down the road.

2014–2017: Early collaborative period

For the first 36 episodes of Pencilmation, barring music and occasional animation assistance, Bollinger did all of the work solely by himself. From Pencilmation #37 onward, a trend began that saw Bollinger delegating more and more responsibilities to other creatives, whether it be with the writing, animation, sound design, composing, or voice acting. Bollinger would stay on as director and executive producer, and then eventually just executive producer and occasional writer.

2017–2018: Early production team period

By this period, Pencilmation had become a well-oiled machine, each intricate process handled by several hands, the animation style becoming much more extravagant and sophisticated. Several new episodes were being produced every week, a process that once took Bollinger several weeks per episode by himself. A regular cast of recurring characters had been established.

2018–present: Rise in popularity

In 2019, Pencilmation was featured in YouTube's annual YouTube Rewind, being acknowledged as the third most viewed creator channel of the year with 2.8 billion views.[4][13][14][15][16][17] Between 2018 to 2020, Pencilmation's subscriber count exploded from a little more than 1 million to over 18 million,[2][18] the channel views count from tens of millions to over 9 billion. This was largely in part to YouTube's internal algorithm promoting videos on its YouTube Kids platform, as well as considerable exposure from being included as a part of the 2019 YouTube Rewind video recap. By the end of 2020, Bollinger and company had produced the 500th episode of Pencilmation.

Today, Pencilmation is still helmed by Bollinger and employs a global, remote team of hundreds of artists, writers, and production staff.[4]

Characters

Main Cast

  • Pencilmate (voiced by Ross Bollinger, Joe Porter, Oswald Garrington, and Leif Grant), the main protagonist throughout the series. Color: blue. The tormented yet tenacious leader of the Pencilmation gang.
  • Pencilmiss (voiced by Daphne Garrington and Kesh Mesha), the secondary protagonist throughout the series. Color: pink. The assertive, smart, and sweet character with a bit of a silly side. She is Pencilmate's romantic companion.
  • Mini-Pencilmate AKA Mini P (voiced by Joe Porter, Oswald Garrington, and Leif Grant). Color: yellow. The hyper and mischievous young neighborhood boy who pals around with Pencilmate and crew. He is constantly finding himself in trouble.
  • Tall Guy (voiced by Joe Porter, Oswald Garrington, and Leif Grant). Color: orange. The high-strung but friendly member of the ensemble.
  • Big Guy (voiced by Joe Porter, Oswald Garrington, and Leif Grant). Color: red. The strong yet sometimes cowardly gentle giant of the group.
  • Granny (voiced by Daphne Garrington). Color: green. The sneaky and beguiling wise elder of the crew.
  • Lil' Miss (voiced by Daphne Garrington). Color: purple. The cute, caring little neighborhood girl whom Pencilmate and Pencilmiss look out after.

Other Characters

  • Infinity Snail. The mute gastropod drifter whose inexplicable luck finds him saving the day through the power of coincidence.
  • Hank Hanky (voiced by Ross Bollinger). The thick-browed, overalls-wearing little rambunctious loudmouth who loves stealing the show and speaking his mind. Starred in The Hank Hanky Show where callers would ask Hank for advice with their personal problems.

References

  1. ^ a b "About Pencilmation". YouTube.
  2. ^ a b Zahed, Ramin (March 12, 2021). "'Pencilmation' Creator Ross Bollinger Sharpens His Next Big Toon 'Gil Next Door'". Animation Magazine. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Zachary, Brandon (April 26, 2021). "Pencilmation Creator Ross Bollinger Dives Into His Animation Inspirations". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e Kornelis, Chris (June 9, 2021). "How 'Pencilmation' Became a YouTube Sensation". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  5. ^ Miller, Pat (June 10, 2009). "'Pencilmation' Abuses Cartoons For Our Pleasure". Tubefilter. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  6. ^ Beck, Jerry (December 4, 2011). ""Pencilmation" by Ross Bollinger". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
  7. ^ "Pencilmation". Social Blade. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
  8. ^ Dudok De Wit, Alex (December 2, 2020). "The Animation That Changed Me: Ross Bollinger on 'Duck Amuck'". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
  9. ^ captainmcross (June 4, 2004). "Pencilmation #1". Newgrounds. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
  10. ^ captainmcross (October 31, 2005). "Pencilmation #2". Newgrounds. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
  11. ^ Emmys.com Staff (April 2010). "College Television Awards". Emmys. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
  12. ^ Young Writers Workshop Staff (May 2012). "Ross Bollinger (Alumnus, 2002-2004)". Young Writers Workshop. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
  13. ^ YouTube (December 5, 2019). "YouTube Rewind 2019: For the Record | #YouTubeRewind". YouTube. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
  14. ^ Lawler, Richard (December 5, 2019). "YouTube Rewind 2019 charts put 'Minecraft,' PewDiePie at the top". Engadget. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  15. ^ Business Insider India Staff (December 6, 2019). "The most-viewed creators on YouTube in 2019 include PewDiePie, David Dobrik, and some of your favorite gamers". Business Insider India. Retrieved December 19, 2020. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  16. ^ Woodcock, Zara (December 5, 2019). "PewDiePie crowned most watched and most-subscribed YouTuber of the year". Metro. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  17. ^ Doménech, Emilio (December 5, 2019). "QUIÉNES SON LOS 10 CREADORES DE YOUTUBE MÁS VISTOS DEL 2019". Vanity Fair España. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  18. ^ Datalented - Most Popular Data (May 21, 2020). "Most Popular Animation Channels | Most Subscribed Animator [ 2012 - 2020 ]". YouTube. Retrieved December 9, 2020.


Category:2000s YouTube series Category:2004 web series debuts Category:2010s YouTube series Category:2020s YouTube series Category:Animated web series Category:American comedy web series Category:Flash cartoons Category:American web series