((PKG)) PIA -- GUY GILCHRIST
((Banner: “I drew that too”))
((People in America))
((Executive Producer: Marsha James))
((Camera: Kaveh Rezaei))
((Adapted by: Philip Alexiou))
((Map: Washington, D.C.))
((NATS))
((Guy Gilchrist, Cartoonist, Author, Storyteller, Animator of “Muppets” Comics))
Hi, Rowlf! Rowlf the dog here, and welcome to Dogs in America.
Rowlf.
What?
It's, it’s, it’s, it’s People in America. People, not dogs.
Well, I think that's a huge mistake.
((NATS))
((Guy Gilchrist, Cartoonist, Author, Storyteller, Animator of “Muppets” Comics))
I always wanted to know, how is the art created? How do I make that character move and become alive? And that was always my passion.
((NATS))
((Guy Gilchrist, Cartoonist, Author, Storyteller, Animator of “Muppets” Comics))
Here are some of the stories I've told for you. Tom and Jerry, Pink Panther, Bugs Bunny and Wiley Coyote, and all of the Looney Tunes guys. I'm one of the guys that made up the Muppet Babies. And then, there are these four weird turtles that, kind of, live in a sewer and eat pizza. Yeah, and drawing them for, like, I don't know, longer than you've been alive.
My job is making you smile. How cool is that?
My name is Guy Gilchrist and I'm Jim Henson's cartoonist, and lots and lots and lots of other stuff.
((NATS))
((Guy Gilchrist, Cartoonist, Author, Storyteller, Animator of “Muppets” Comics))
I always say, I didn't go to school, I went to work. Completely became absorbed in anything that would show me how the art was created, whether it's music, telling a story, drawing pictures. I found out that there was a place called the Museum of Cartoon Art, and they were about to do the Muppet Show comic strip, and Jim and his folks had turned everyone down. They were about to lose the development deal on having the biggest comic strip of all time. So, I just kept mailing more and more jokes in, for a year, and finally the phone rang and it was Jerry Juhl, head writer of The Muppets, and he gave me the job.
((NATS))
((Guy Gilchrist, Cartoonist, Author, Storyteller, Animator of “Muppets” Comics))
The Muppets are all of us and all of these characters really have such forceful personalities. You know, every color, every size, every sort of person in the world, we're all a family, and we may squabble, but together we can do anything. Because you know what? We’re all a little weird. And you know what? That's super cool!
((NATS))
((Guy Gilchrist, Cartoonist, Author, Storyteller, Animator of “Muppets” Comics))
I'm a total old school guy. We have like a thousand pencils, brushes, inks, paints, dyes, acrylics, gouaches, every kind of thing that you could ever think of, the same sort of stuff that people have been doing artwork with forever. And that's what I use.
((NATS))
((Guy Gilchrist, Cartoonist, Author, Storyteller, Animator of “Muppets” Comics))
My favorite cartoon or comic is the one I'm drawing for you right now. It's the only one that matters and that's my favorite thing.