I Was an Animator for the Yellow Submarine Movie. I also was involved in the production of Scooby Doo, Rugrats, Flintstones, Jetsons, Smurfs and more. Ask Me Anything

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Never cheat on your wife.

Did you draw yourself into any of your animations/cartoons? Self cameo!

Never

To what extent, if any, were drugs involved on the production of these shows (at least on the story end)? We've all joked about the fact that the writers must've been high for at least a few of them, but is there any truth in that?

There is no truth for that. People who are high cannot be creative they only think they can be.

What was the idea behind the Ed, Edd, n Eddy characters' squiggly outlines?

It just looked good

I heard news of a Yellow Submarine remake, is this true or false.

It was true, but it has since been scrapped.

What is something you have animated (for example, a world, scenario, character, or item), that you wish was real? Thanks for the AMA!

Jessica Rabbit, but I didn't animate that movie.

I LOVE YOU

I love you too

Hey Ron! Loved all of your work.

I have two questions for you

Did you get to met the Beatles?

And what is your opion on most animations is now done on computers instead of paper?

1. They were busy touring the world while I was animating the movie.
2. You couldn't animate such characters, or paint such characters and the process is much more difficult in my opinion. The younger generation is welcome to it.

Hey Ron, it's awesome that you're doing this AMA, I grew up with your shows. My question is this what is it that got you interested in animation and how do you work together with the writers?

P.S. My cousin Eryk Casemiro worked with you on Rugrats and Rocket Power.

Tom and Jerry got me interested in animation when I was little. As for the relationship with the writers, it depends on the show. For example, The Smurfs; I always tried to make the films as funny or funnier than the writers had originally imagined. I'm afraid I do not remember your cousin, but I might have known him and he might have known me, but I worked alone on the Rugrats doing story boards in Arizona while almost everyone else was in California.

Peyo is said to have been a major control freak so did you find that to be the case as well, while working on The Smurfs?

Control freak is a pejorative. He knew the Smurfs because he created them, and he didn't want anybody changing them, which is understandable. He was a sweet man.

To what extent were you involved on these shows?

Depending on the show, I story edited, story boarded, produced, directed, and animated.

How many hours of drawing does it take to produce one episode of any of the cartoons?

Six people working three hours a week, for four weeks, could animate a cartoon 5 minutes long.

How did you get started in the business? I love your work :) rock on man!

I went to an art school when I was 17 and 18. I then kept going back to an animation studio in Australia every week until they gave me a job.

What has been your most memorable experience while animating all these shows?

My very first animation assignment. About a hundred drawings of a centipede dying of bug spray.

A hundred drawings of a bug with a hundred legs.

Were you involved with the cigarette ads that the Flintstones used for sponsoring? If so what we're your thoughts later on when it became common knowledge smoking is so bad for you?

Also, why was angelica such a bitch?

1. I was not involved with those ads.
2. She was a lovely bitch

Was there any specific inspiration behind Captain Caveman, or was he simply a superhero for the Flinstones? Also, was it Yogi's Tie that made him smarter than the average bear?

The inspiration for Captain Caveman was Charlies Angels. (Charlies Angels their was Charlie, and the three girls. In Captain Caveman there was Captain Caveman, and the teen angels.

Alright, one question I've always wondered about Scooby Doo. How could Shaggy shovel in so much and not gain a pound of weight. Is the greatest exercise really being chased by men in ghoul masks?

Shaggy was a drawing, we could draw him any way we wanted.

What is your favorite cartoon?

Looney Toons

Thanks for doing this Ron!

1. What was your favorite part about working at Klasky-Csupo?

2. Any memorable segments that you worked on for Sesame Street? Did you only animate them or did you do other work with them?

1. My favorite part was the Rugrats. It was a fun show
2. I animated the small segments in the first year or two that Sesame Street was made. Also a little in the mid 70's.

Hello Sir, Big respect for you and what you do. Here is my question.

I was in my early twenties when I first saw ed, edd and eddy and I absolutely loved that show.

What was it like working on that show and any favorite memories you can share with us about it?

Thanks. Have a great day

I loved Ed Edd n Eddy and I especially loved the horrible attitude the characters had toward the Kanker Sisters

Was it difficult storyboarding an entire movie, but still incomporating several of The Beatle's songs and making them part of the plot in whole? And what was your inspiration when having to animate characters such as the lonely man? -I am a big fan. I watched the Yellow Submarine Movie several times when cable was out after hurricane Rita, as a child.

1. I story boarded episodes on the Saturday Morning T.V. show, I only animated for the Yellow Submarine Movie.
2. Inspiration for Nowhere man? The song, Nowhere Man.

How far back does your career go?

My career lasted for 50 years and 1 month.

Did you ever meet/get to know any of the voice actors, like say Tara Strong?

Some voice actors became very close friends, but I don't know Tara Strong

Why do you think it is that people (children and adults alike) have drifted away from watching hand-drawn animation in favor of inferior computer stuff? I reference Dexter's Lab, powerpuff, samurai jack, etc as the starters of the poor animation craze. That type of animation is all I see these days, although I'm not sure how Phineas and Ferb is done.

It is not the audience that has drifted away, it's the producers.

1. Did you have anything to do with the Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds sequence?

2. Were you involved in initial development for Scooby Doo?

3. When I compare/contrast Johnny Quest from early 1960's with Scooby starting in 1968 I get the sense that budgets were starting to be trimmed back a lot. Care to comment?

Thanks much- you're a national treasure man -

1. No, but I did the Sea of Time sequence, and opening sequence before the credits, and a lot of animation of the Blue Meanie, Max, and Nowhere Man.
2. Yes
3. Not true. Budgets were in fact going up.

Do you have any advice for an animation student? I'm currently studying character animation and plan to focus on film/television. Right now I'm just finishing general education courses and pre-reqs so I probably won't start the actual animation courses for another year.

The only advice I can give you that is worth a damn, is learn to draw.

Hey Ron! I have a few friends who were animators on big classic animation (from Sleeping Beauty to Looney Tunes) and they all say that while it was amazing being apart of that time, their favourite thing to do was doing comics in their spare time and when they "needed a break from that business" as they put it. Did you ever venture into drawing comics and if so, what were some of your favourites you created?

I never did comics

What was your favourite show to work on? Also, can we expect anything new from you in the near future?

My favorite show to work on was Big Blue Marble. This is show my own studio produced and directed, and I won a Peabody and an Emmy from it. As for new things, I currently do hand painted drawings of the Beatles from Yellow Submarine/Saturday Morning Cartoon, as well as other shows I've worked on at Rock Art Show. You can buy them at www.rockartshow.com

I was glued to Big Blue Marble. My dad was in the military, and that show was a window to the places he visited. Thanks for your work on it, not to mention all the work on the other much-loved memories from my childhood!

Thank you, I'm very proud of what we did on that show.

I grew up with the Flinstones and the Jetsons and still love watching them to this day with my kids. I have two questions:

1. Did you ever animate any Easter Eggs into what you were working on?
2. I hope I can articulate this correctly. Regarding the Jetsons... fairly late in it's run, I think around the time that Orbitty was introduced, the quality of the animation seemed to change. I didnt like it nearly as much. Is there any insight you can provide as to what the change was and why?

1. In Yellow Submarine, the Blue Meanies ears are a parody of Mickey Mouses ears
2. I don't remember any of that. I only worked on Jetsons in the late 70's

So were you tied to any particular production studios for a long period of time? I see a lot of Hanna-Barbara listed.

Are those Beatles cartoons available anywhere at this point? I think I remember them being on MTV (or VH1?) on Saturday mornings in the late 80s/early 90s but I could have just been imagining it.

Are there any shows that you worked on that you just thought turned out to be utter crap as an end result?

As director or producer, were you around when the voice actors were doing their work at all? Anyone you thought was just the absolute best?

Thank you for your contribution to animation. Long ago I wanted to do cartoon voices because I watched some of the shows you worked on growing up. It never took (I never figured out how to get into the business, plus I really thought the early 90s indicated a dive in cartoon quality) but I still have fond memories.

1. I was never an employee to a particular production studio, I was always independent.
2. They are probably on YouTube, but videos they've never been commercially released.
3. Yes, Trash Can Kids
4. Mel Blanc, he was the best

Is the DVD movie you get now for Yellow submarine different from the original release (in more than just "remastering") or am I going completely mad and only imagined something different?

There's a scene in the DVD (The Hey Bulldog Sequence) that appeared in the British version of the film, but not the American version. It's now included in the DVD.

Were you paid on a salary or a per-episode basis?

It depended on the show I was working on. Never on a salary though. I often paid peoples salaries.

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I haven't seen the new ones. The originals are great though.

Are you currently working on any other cartoons?

Currently I'm retired, but I'm doing hand paintings of many of the shows I've been involved in. You can find these at www.rockartshow.com

How involved in character design were you for Yellow Submarine? As a child, I found the Glove to be particularly fantastic. Thanks for your work!

Heinz Edelman designed the Yellow Submarine. I simply animated it.