The Axe

The second season of Wander has been hugely satisfying to work on. First, I was able to board more episodes - which is my favorite thing to do.  And second,  I actually got to direct episodes with Lord Hater in them!

YESSS!

And this is a juicy one -  full of heartbreak, rage, jealousy, revenge, explosions,  spaceships, evil sandwiches and love! Such shipping! So much fun to draw! So much fun to direct!

Huge thanks to Craig for giving me this one, Mike Yank, Frank and Amy for writing it, and Andy Bean for the best song I've ever had stuck in my head for six weeks.

The Axe by David Thomas

The Big Day Storyboard

This season of Wander I took a storyboard rotation in addition to my responsibilities as Supervising Director and Producer.  

There's nothing better than boarding and directing your own episodes.  (except maybe WRITING, boarding and directing - which I got to do on the Mickey Mouse shorts!)  In any case, this is why working at Disney TVA is AWESOME. If you can do the job, they let you!

If you compare the drawing quality of my Wander boards to the Fairly Oddparents or TUFF Puppy boards, you'll see that the Wander drawings are a lot less polished. 

It's not that I put less time into them, or forgot how to draw, it's that the time was put into different places. 

The emphasis on FOP was graphic design and written jokes. On Wander the emphasis is on performance and animation. 

On a FOP board I would average about 600 panels a board. On a Wander board I would average about 1500. Obviously I had more time per panel on FOP.

Every show is different! My job is to make the creator happy, whatever that may mean.

I should also point out that this is the shipping version of the board, so it includes the character layouts by Justin Nichols (scenes 17, 20, 32 and 35,) and James Suhr, (scenes 87 and 155 156 160.)

Big Day Storyboard by David Thomas

6 Annie Nominations for Wander!

Congratulations to the entire Wander Over Yonder Crew for it's 6 Annie Nominations!

I'm honored to be working with you all!


Best Animated TV/Broadcast Production For Children’s Audience
Wander Over Yonder 
- Disney Television Animation

Outstanding Achievement, Character Animation in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production

Justin Nichols - Wander Over Yonder - Disney Television Animation

Outstanding Achievement, Character Design in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production
Benjamin Balistreri - Wander Over Yonder 
- Disney Television Animation

Outstanding Achievement, Directing in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production
David Thomas - Wander Over Yonder - 
Disney Television Animation - HEY THAT"S ME!!


Outstanding Achievement, Production Design in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production
Alex Kirwan, Chris Tsirigotis, Alexander Duckworth, Janice Kubo & Francis Giglio - Wander Over Yonder - Disney Television Animation


Outstanding Achievement, Storyboarding in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production
Mark Ackland - Wander Over Yonder - Disney Television Animation

Happy Trails

Well, after 10 great years at Nickelodeon, I have decided it's time to move on. While I am sad to be saying good bye the all the wonderful people at Nick, I am very excited about a new opportunity.

Craig McCracken has invited me to be the Supervising Director of his new series, "Wander Over Yonder," which he is producing with Lauren Faust.

The series probably won't be on the air until late 2013, so I won't have anything to post 'til then. However, if anyone has any questions about the Fairly Oddparents I was involved with - or TUFF Puppy, feel free to write.

With Every Good Wish,

Dave Thomas

Welcome Back

Nickelodeon officially announced a new season of Fairly Oddparents yesterday at the Upfronts. The series will be produced concurrently with TUFf Puppy, so you can look forward to new episodes of both on Nickelodeon!

Farewell Ricky Garduno

I am sad to say that Ricky Garduno has passed away, losing a long battle with depression.

Ricky was a board artist on El Tigre. We had a lot of great artists on the show, but Ricky was special. His work always stood out.

Like his boards, Ricky was rebelious, anarchistic, and undisiplined. But also passionate, hilarious, and at times brilliant.

Ricky and I didn't always see eye to eye. But I will say this: Ricky was the closest thing to a true Artist that I've ever know. I admired him, and have often wished I had the courage to be more like him. He lived by his beliefs and his ideals. 

Ricky boarded the series finale of El Tigre. And it seems a fitting tribute to post that here.

Farewell, Ricky. You will be missed.

No Belt, no boots, no 'brero

Working in animation is fun!

Every year Nickelodeon throws a Halloween party, and it's really special. Each crew transforms their work area into a haunted house, and gives out candy to the all the lucky kids who are invited.  This year the TUFF Puppy crew built King Mutt's tomb, and I wanted to share it with you.

It started out with a little animation of the Chief - which I did in Flash.

Then comes the amazing stuff! Like entrance to King Mutt's tomb:

Inside, we find the tomb is filled with booby traps!

And finally you come to the treasure chamber. And guess what? The treasure is CANDY!!

Congratulations to everyone who worked so hard to craft such an amazing Haunted House!