Sit back, grab a cold one, and listen to Michael Cavna talk about million dollar comic books, animation Oscars, the future of the iPad generation, and celebrity interviews.  Michael does the most excellent “Comic Riffs” column over at the Washington Post, and if you go through his archives, you’ll see he’s talked to everybody you’ve ever wanted to talk to in the comics/film/entertainment world. He’s an amazing resource of information, and a damn nice guy to boot…so we can’t hate him for his stunning job too much.

His column is required reading every day, so get over there, and join in the discussion!

Eddie Pittman’s “Red’s Planet” has already leaped boldly into the webcomics scene with it’s stunning art and engaging story. You can immediately tell there’s a real artist at work, and it’s no wonder…Eddie spent a number of years at Disney as an in-betweener and clean-up artist, does storyboards and illustration professionally, is a top-notch character designer, and taught aspiring Disney artists. I’d say he’s qualified to kick some graphic novel butt.  We talk “Red’s Planet,” Disney, animation in general, art, and Saturday Morning Cartoons!

Don’t miss my little tribute to Mike Witmer’s “Pinkerton,” celebrating his 500th comic! And stay tuned at the end for a visit from someone from sitcoms long past!

It’s time to talk to Jeff Ranjo, story artist at Disney, and John Sanford, story artist at Dreamworks…between them, over 30 years of animation experience, having worked on films like “Surf’s Up,” “Mulan,” “Chicken Little” and “Home on the Range.” John also does the brilliant webcomic “Chippy and Loopus.” We did a great show about animated films in general back on Episode 25, talking about our favorite and not-so-favorite films and TV shows.

This time, we get into the nitty-gritty of how animated films are actually made.  Who pitches the story? Who green lights the film? When does character design start, and what does it take to become a character designer? How long does the process take? How is scripting done? When is music added?

I’ve been a fan of animation all my life, and I’m fairly knowlegeable in the film making process overall, but I learned a ton from these guys. If you like cartoons and animated films…and I know you do…this is a great show.

If you have specific questions about the making of animated films, post them in the comments section, and I’ll be sure that Jeff and John see them and we’ll get them answered.

With a big tip of the Magritte-inspired bowler hat to the most excellent Bob Scott of “Molly and the Bear” and Pixar fame, I got to give big time Nickelodeon show creator, writer, and artist Butch Hartman a call for a great interview! Here’s the mind behind the great “Fairly Odd Parents,” “Danny Phantom,” and the upcoming “T.U.F.F. Puppy.” Butch is an incredibly nice guy, and if you’ve seen any of his shows, they harken back to the glory days of Warner Brothers’ type of stuff…great for kids and adults alike.  I watch the “Odd Parents” with my 3 1/2 year old daughter, and I’m laughing more than she is. Butch talks to me about his early years, the underlying comic book influences, working with some great voice talent, his upcoming San Diego Comic Con appearance, and his newest show, “T.U.F.F. Puppy,” a “Get Smart/60s Spy Show” influenced cartoon coming out this fall.

We also talk about the up and down nature of doing a TV show, wondering why a hit show might have trouble getting renewed, and how to deal with that sort of uncertainty. With any luck, I’ll get to meet and talk with him at the Con, too, so stayed tuned.

As always, be sure to check out Keenspot, a proud sponsor of Tall Tale Radio.  Host your comics for free at Comics Genesis, and download their cool new iPhone app and get the first issue of “Marry Me” absolutely free.

Keenspot is also going to be out in force at the San Diego Comic Con (July 23-26), with all sorts of exclusive comics available only there, world premieres of many issues, and 14 writers and artists of some of their finest offerings. Check ‘em out at booths 1229 & 1328, and they’ll be hosting a panel on Sunday, July 26th at 11am in Room 32B! And if that wasn’t enough, they’ll be broadcasting live video from their booth at the Con! Check out Keenspot.com for more details!

And speaking of Comic Con, I will be there next week for all four days, running around trying to convince people I’m an actual member of the press. That’s right…me and Dan Rather…in the same sentence. There are a bunch of panels I’m going to try to attend this year, with high hopes of getting some high-profile interviews. I’ll be cruising the floor, of course, and talking to all sorts of people. (Hey, it’s not Comic Con unless I talk to Lex Fajardo of the excellent “Kid Beowulf!“)  I believe Justin “Mythtickle” Thompson is going to make an appearance one day, and we found out today that Brock “SuperFogey’s” Heasely and his lovely wife are going to show up, too! An unexpected Tall Tale Features jam fest, baby. I’ll snag Lucas Turnbloom of “Imagine This” and we’ll sequester ourselves in a corner and talk comics and conventions.  I hope to blog every day and post pictures and maybe some video, so stay tuned!

Bob Scott, artist and writer of the most excellent “Molly and the Bear” over at Comics Sherpa, joins me for a discussion about old school art, the struggle to get syndicated, and the world of animation.  Bob is an amazing cartoonist, and “Molly and the Bear” is a great throw-back to strips of yore, with gentle humor, great characters, and above all, beautiful art. If you didn’t know Bob was an animator, you would after reading a few of his strips.

We also talk about animation, as Bob’s been with Pixar for some time now, working on a wide-range of projects, including several of the terrific animated shorts that appear before the Pixar films, including the most recent “Party Cloudy” that’s in front of “Up.” We cover his favorite films, his hidden gems, and the influences on his career. (And you can find out which character he voiced in the movie “Monsters, Inc.”!)

Next time, it’s time to set the Way-Back Machine to 1977, as I talk to Byron Wilkins of the great webcomic…well, 1977!

Reuben Award Madness continues! Stephan Pastis of the most entertainly excellent “Pearls Before Swine” joins me for a chat. He’s up for two Reubens…Best Comic Strip AND the big enchilada itself, the Reuben. I had originally planned on posting this next Monday, which is AFTER the Reubens this year, but as you’ll hear, Stephan basically threatened my life if I didn’t put it up ASAP, so here it is.  I didn’t want a visit from a psychopathic duck or cat.

What do we talk about? Everything. The Reubens, the state of newspapers, his animated film, movies in general, violence, sex, boat parties in San Diego, Comic Con,  Justin $%#!@ Thompson, Magellan…you name it. When it started, I thought we had about 20 minutes to talk…we ended up chatting for over an hour.  It’s a ton of fun…but I’m still pulling for Coverly.

We go sliding off the beaten path of comics today to the nearby path of Animation! Joining me on this show is Jeff Ranjo, story artist for Disney, and John Sanford, story artist for Dreamworks. (John is the madman behind Chippy and Loopus…take a listen to Episode 23 where we talked about R-rated webcomics!)  These boys have serious chops and resumes, and we have a blast talking about the animation that inspired us as kids, the movies we love, the movies we think are overrated, and we do a quick summer movie preview as well.  It’s a bit of a long one, but we just couldn’t stop talking about this subject!   I had a blast putting this one together…I hope you like!