An Interview with Internet Animation Sensation Mr Weebl
Jonathan “Jonti” Picking otherwise known as Mr Weebl, is a British Internet personality animator and is the creator of Weebl’s Stuff. He is probably best know for creating the series “Weebl and Bob” to egg shaped characters who share a love of pie.
Over the last decade Mr Weebl has created many viral cartoons and in the process brought many fantastic charaters to the internet. We spoke to Mr Weebl about some of his creations, inspiration and upcoming work…
Hi, Mr Weebl can you introduce yourself to our readers and tell us a bit about yourself?
I’m Mr Weebl, also known as Jonti Picking or “You’re the guy that did Badgers?” I’ve been making cartoons on the Web (mainly) for about 14 years now. This makes me about 400 in internet years. I’m basically Dorian Grey is what I’m saying. DON’T CROSS ME!
Your most famous creation is probably the “Weebl and Bob” series. Can you tell us a bit about the series?
The idea came about because PCs were fairly slow back then and Flash tended to slow down quite a lot what moving a lot of shapes around. Couple that with 56K modems for the majority of viewers and you get Weebl and Bob. Everything looked simple to keep sizes and processor usage down to a minimum. In fact the episodes streamed quite nicely so no need for loading screens. Everything was made to be simple including Weebl and Bob. Obviously over time things got more complex as speeds and power improved. One thing that never changed was their love for PIE!
Which is your favorite “Weebl and Bob” episode?
I keep coming back to the Art episode but I’m also a fan of the Anywhere episode and the Pastry Back one too.
Last year you worked on Save The Badger Badger Badger, a mashup of your previous 2003 viral animation, can you tell us a bit about the new version and what it was like working with Brian May & Brian Blessed?
The new version was based on the soundtrack to Flash Gordon written by Queen and Brian May. He asked me what we could do to make something together featuring my badgers and that was the first thought in my head. I love Flash Gordon. I did a rough remix using my track and samples and sang the new lyrics I’d come up with in a queen stylee. When I got there they’d fished out the master tapes from the film’s soundtrack and I was like a kid in a sweet shop.
Then Sir Dr. Brian May did his guitar thing which was amazing to see. That man. I tell you.
I’d also suggested getting Blessed in to reprise his King of the Hawkmen role and do some shouting. This happened. It was odd. He is loud.
Some of your characters have found their way into commercials, how does the process differ when working for a commercial client?
It takes a lot longer due to meetings and a huge amount of back and forth. It’s very time intensive but I love working on things like that. It’s quite refreshing having some constraints put on my work after just being given free reign when working on my own stuff. I think there’s a lot of great advertising out there and it’s always fun to be a part of it.
You have brought to the internet many fantastic characters which project has been your favourite?
A Walk In The Woods is still probably my favourite thing. There is a piece we’re working on called Branches 2 which I’m very pleased with but it’s taking a long time to complete due to having various threads.
How important has the internet been for launching your animations?
100% I’d say. Without it I wouldn’t have even started. I never trained as an animator so it never really crossed my mind as a career until I began messing around with it on my own site.
How has the internet changed over the years since you began launching your cartoons, has it become easier or harder to launch new videos?
Oh it’s vastly harder to get noticed but much easier to get them out there. You don’t need to build your own site or have servers any more so the barrier for entry is pretty much non-existent. However the big boys have basically taken over and audiences tend to congregate on these large sites. YouTube are now the gatekeepers and it seems that newcomers are at a massive disadvantage now when it comes to getting eyes to their work. I’m not sure what can be done to change it now.
You have had many viral hits, do you have a recipe for viral success?
Nope. I would say though that you should always try and entertain yourself first and foremost. If you don’t like it then it’s unlikely anyone else will.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in your career so far?
Try and maintain control of your work.
Where do you find is the best place to come up with ideas?
It’s very important to get out and do things. Don’t just sit around at home. How on earth are you meant to write anything if you’re not experiencing anything?
Have you always wanted to make films/animation?
Not at all. I really wanted to be a comedy writer though and loved making music and drawing so it’s all worked out pretty well.
Where does your overall inspiration come from?
Everywhere and everything. I try and watch as much stuff as possible, see places, meet people, all that good stuff. I’ve also got an incredible capacity when it comes to remembering pointless crap.
Can you tell us about some of your upcoming projects?
We’re working on a series idea for Magical Trevor. It’ll either have to be on TV or crowd funded. I want painted backgrounds, the works. Trev’s my baby. There’s a massive relaunch of our site, tons of series ideas, a kid friendly channel… So much stuff.
What words of advice would you give to aspiring animators?
You’re not going to get much sleep so get into coffee or Coca Cola.
What was your earliest memory of animation?
The Clangers and Mr. Ben
What animated film do you wish you could have made?
Castle in the Sky. I think that’s the film that really got me into animation.
