Responding to the mandate: Make Toons that Sell Without Selling Out! a book by Bill Plympton

Make Toons That Sell Without Selling Out! occupies a prominent spot in the Toontooga studio.

I paid a visit to the Plymptoon's studio two weeks ago and came out with this book in my hands. Make Toons That Sell Without Selling Out! by Bill Plympton. Here is my review which I also posted on Amazon.com.

This book contains Bill Plympton’s infamous lists, and is indeed telling you how to do what the title proclaims. However, in my opinion, the title should be read as a command from Bill Plympton. Make Toons that Sell Without Selling Out! Go ahead, read it again as if you were ten years old and your father is telling you for the last time to . . . (fill in the blank). Make Toons that Sell Without Selling Out! This is the Plympton Mandate (not to be confused with the Plympton Dogma, which is covered in the book), from the King of Indie Animation himself. It’s your cartoon dad telling you to do it, and do it now! Bill is very direct in his instructions to the reader about what to do and what not to do (no big feet), but this is by no means a technical manual. It is more a wonderful stream of consciousness flow of Bill Plympton’s  journey as an artist, his methods of filmmaking, and his relationships in sharing and selling his films. I’m not saying that there is NO tech info in the book, one huge treat for me was the Bill Plympton walk cycles. There is also a fab section on character design, and more great stuff in the technique department. I’m just saying it’s definitely NOT a technical tome. My personal favorite section of the book is the “Selling your Film” section. It’s a bunch of great stories around the deals Bill has made in selling his films (or, not selling, in some cases), and this brings me to what I feel is the bottom line of this book - BILL’S experiences. We want to know how Bill did it, because no one else has done it like Bill. It’s true that others have created features on their own, or mostly on their own, but not in the abundance that Bill has, and certainly not with the renown in which Bill has done it. And this is why you want this book.
You will read about what I think are the two hallmarks of Bill’s success: his love of drawing and his ease of connecting with people. When Bill is telling you about technique, he is recounting from his innumerable hours of drawing. When he tells you about the independent film biz, he is recounting opportunities that arose from his connecting with anyone and everyone. I can’t tell which he does more of - drawing or connecting. But, let it be known loud and clear, if you intend to respond to the Plympton Mandate of Make Films that Sell Without Selling Out!, you will need to be drawing and connecting to do it. An encouraging starting point is to get his book and be inspired by Bill Plympton's lifestyle of drawing and connecting.

Get the book direct from Bill at: http://www.plymptoonstore.com/books/written-by-bill/make-toons-that-sell-without-selling-out

You can also add a caricature of yourself by Bill if you order direct (Bill did this one on the left of me during the Bill Plympton School of Animation).

Or, you can order it on Amazon.com
http://amzn.com/0240817796

Or you can go to this event coming up on June 21 at the Museum of Modern Art.
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/249770