7 Questions* for Yvette Kaplan: animation artist, director, creator
“Young artists grew up watching, loving, and learning about life from a sweeter, warmer, kind of odd kid, and that is the sensibility they are bringing to their work now.”
In a cartoon industry often dominated by old, white men, Yvette Kaplan is a member of a small, stunningly talented club of women directors. Maybe it’s because she started her career in New York City (more on that in the interview below), Yvette has held an incredibly diversified career in the animation business that has spanned from character design on network specials (a dying breed) to a director on groundbreaking comedies like Beavis & Butthead and King of the Hill, to story on one of the great feature successes, Ice Age. By the way, so we can add the necessary “full disclosure,” it would be remiss of me to not point out that Yvette directed one of our Random! Cartoons shorts, created by Diane Kredensor and Dana Galin, “Call Me Bessie.” And, an excellent piece of work was done by all.
As if her CV wasn’t big enough, Yvette recently added “creator” (with Gili Dolev) of the charming Nick Jr (in the US) hit, Zack & Quack, a role rarely attained by longtime animation talent.
So, read away with our short interview with Yvette Kaplan, and get her take on, among many other topics, the differences between New York and Hollywood studios, her excitement about the new wave of women cartoon creators, and how she felt the first time she watched “Frog Baseball.“
1 How’d you find your way to animation? Did you start as a painter or illustrator, or what?
I always say that I let a 5 year old rule my life and it’s true.
I was 5 years old when I decided I wanted to be an animator. I’m sure I got the idea from watching Disney’s TV series, The Wonderful World of Color, one of the episodes Walt visited the Animation Department. I spent every waking hour either making up and drawing characters or watching cartoons so I guess this sounded like a dream for the future if ever I heard one. Once that got into my head, it stuck. I never veered from it. I had other skills and talents, like writing stories, plays and songs, singing and playing music- I even had a band and a little loyal following, but that five year old voice was a strong one.
Animation it was and still is.
2 Your first IMDB credit is on Why the Bears Dance on Christmas Eve. How does one jump from there to Beavis & Butthead?
Ha! No one has ever mentioned that special before and I’m really glad you did!
Lots of talented people worked at the crazy little low budget studio called Tele-Tactics where it was made. It was a special time, and I’m very proud of that credit — a single page, up front, Character Design credit! My agents have to negotiate for any credit now, a single page one is not easy to get at all. But I got one –unasked for!– when I was 21. But, more a big deal to me was having had the chance to design characters for an ABCChristmas Special in the first place.
If you recall, I said I spent all my time drawing and making up characters. I was kind of shy as a kid, and my characters were real to me. Happily, they were real to some other people too, most notably, my father. He used to go crazy over them, shouting how they ‘were alive!’ What better thing for a budding animator to hear? Well, as you might imagine, my father was over the moon when “The Bears” aired on TV and there for all to see, my characters. Though sadly, the special aired only once due to the studio owner’s premature death and subsequent estate battles, my father never stopped talking about it. And amusingly –if a bit frustrating!– he was never as excited about anything else I worked on as a Director, including Beavis & Butthead. Which brings me finally back to your question! : )
OK. First of all, there were LOTS of things in between the two, and it was actually my directing on 3 seasons of Nickelodeon’s Doug that preceded my intro to B & B. But I’m guessing you are talking about attitude and content, and “Bears” or “Doug.“ Yes, at first sight, it would appear very different indeed! I often said “I left the good boy for the bad boys!” but the truth is, to me, Beavis and Butthead– especially Beavis– are as vulnerable, innocent, lovably misguided, needy and adorable as Bashful Bear and Doug.
It’s all about character for me, and I’ll never forget the first time I saw “Frog Baseball”, Mike Judge’s first B & B short. Though I’d braced myself for what I’d heard was so ‘gross’ and ‘violent’, instead of cringing I squealed with joy! I’d never seen anything so pure and so funny, and it seemed incredibly innocent to me — they were just so dumb! When I met their creator Mike Judge later that same day, I knew his perceptions and humor was on a level I’d never experienced before and I was hooked. And very luckily and happily for me, he thought I was pretty good too. : )
Since you got me thinking, I’d like also to point out one other important insight/similarity AND difference between my involvement on “Bears” and “Beavis.“ Barry Drucker was the (late) owner of Tele-Tactics. Yes, he hired young kids right out of school partly so he could pay us low wages, but he did give a lot of us a chance others might not have. For me personally, I know he saw something in my character designs that delighted and moved him –in fact, his enthusiasm wasn’t unlike my father’s!– and he didn’t hesitate to give me big responsibilities. That particular one– character design on a network Xmas special, was for me a natural step; I knew my characters were cute and appealing. “Of course I’ll design the characters! Who else?” Ha! You see I had ALOT of confidence back then!
Well, when I met and first started working with Mike Judge a similar thing happened as far as his impression of me; we’d be in a meeting discussing a script, and I’d laugh and mutter something, mainly to myself, but Mike would stop me and ask me what I said. I was embarrassed, but humbly repeated what I said and he’d laugh and say “That’s a great idea! Let’s do that!” I was dumbfounded and could feel my face blushing.
Mike saw something in me too –only in THIS case, it was something I had no idea I could do UNTIL then– and that was comedy. Sure, I was funny in my Doug direction, but I never would have described myself as a comedy director until Beavis. But less a change of direction, it was an evolution, a natural progression of my understanding and ability. It’s wonderful to discover something inside of us that we don’t even realize is there. I’ll always be grateful to Mike for seeing it, and for giving me such an amazing playground to grow in.
3 When I first moved to Hollywood to work in animation, all the veterans looked down on Beavis as terrible. I told them they were wrong, but I didn’t really know anything about the techniques of animation or art. Was I wrong?
Yes Fred, you were wrong. : ) One day I will show you the bible I put together for the movie.
What no one realized at first, and to be honest, I didn’t either at the start was that Mike was more serious about the specifics of his designs, and more idiosyncratic and consistent than anyone I’d ever met.
Artistically, Mike was adamant about accuracy in background design and props, and in the physics of the animation. And despite their over sized heads, Beavis and Butthead were real kids, with realistic and properly drawn hands. They had five perfectly jointed fingers and even fingernails! And they moved and behaved like real kids too.
Part of the early disconnect came from the fact that what most animators took for granted, like broad antics and ‘good silhouette’ poses –including generic ones like the both arms out and hands up shrugs– were anathema to Mike. Because real people don’t move like that. Especially teenage boys uncomfortable with their own bodies.
Butthead moves stiffly because he’s keeping everything in, he’s got to be in control. We weren’t allowed to bend their wrists, they had to grab and lift things stiffly. Not because Mike was homophobic but because THEY would be. That’s why we also had rules about how close they could sit together on the couch. As teenage boys obsessed with sex and their own budding and frustrated sexuality, they couldn’t risk getting too close!
Every limitation was for a reason, and it was thrilling and exciting to think about character the way Mike did. I learned to dig deep, and I’ve taken that with me on everything I’ve worked on since and always will.
Of course there’s also that thing about great writing and superb voice acting… but I’ll save that for another interview!
4 Animation studios in New York approach series production in a dramatically different way than Hollywood. Do you prefer either one? How does it affect a director’s directing?
I don’t think I can answer in an overall way because I feel my work experience in NYC was more about a specific time in animation history, but with that disclaimer I will try.
Aside from MTV, which had a very different structure because we WERE the Network, and as such, our deadlines were fluid, so if something wasn’t ready there was the possibility the air date would just be changed! And that’s a very different production model than most. So you could say I was a little spoiled in that regard! I learned quickly though– lest anyone think I don’t take deadlines seriously!
A NYC studio would rarely have more than one or two series in production at a time. Bigger studios with more projects in production and schedule and deadline realities demand different job distinctions.
The only other meaningful difference for me has to do with the smaller size of most NYC studios, and the need for directors, and everyone else, to wear multiple hats.
For instance, I first became a director in NYC, and one of my major responsibilities as a director was to prepare Exposure Sheets to send to the overseas studio. Timing is crucial to me, and properly timed exposure sheets ensure that. Unlike some other directors, I LOVE timing exposure sheets and look at the skill as an important one. It was a big surprise to me when I arrived in LA, to discover that Sheet Timing was a job in itself and that directors did not do their own timing. It took me a long time to get used to that, since I was used to controlling every aspect of the acting, including the internal timing. I was also used to sitting with our animatics editor and working through the animatic timing start to finish, while it’s more common in LA for editors to make a first pass and directors to then make comments.
I’ve happily adjusted to all of that, and have learned to be grateful for the more collaborative nature of LA studios and the ability to concentrate more on other directorial duties like time with storyboard artists and designers. Happily, I think I can function quite well in either.
5 Does it matter to you if a film is written by a traditional writer and then storyboarded, or written by animators directly to boards?
Alas, most of the shows and movies I’ve directed have been script driven ones– and since I love working closely with writers and writing, I’ve been happy with that. However, I’d love the opportunity to work on a board driven show.
As Head of Story on Ice Age, I did much writing, creating new moments, along with my entire Story Dept, as we visualized the script and rethought sequences to ensure the most emotionally resonant — and funny!– approach to a scene. Even if it was something completely different than what was written. I imagine it would be something like that, and very exhilarating and exciting.
6 From my perspective, storytelling in animated filmmaking has been through at least three distinct phases in the past, say 30 years. How’s Clarence different than something like Doug? Does CG play into things at all these days?
I’m curious to know what your three distinct phases are Fred, but interestingly, your two examples –Doug and Clarence– are actually not all that different from one another! They both star a kid who is very much an individual, and shall we say, a bit off the beaten track. Though Doug is more timid and meek than Clarence, they both have a rich inner life, as well as strong friendships and a loving family relationship. They live in a real world, not a fantasy one. Both shows are good spirited and warm hearted– now that’s something that DID fall out of favor for a while– and I, for one, am delighted it’s back. And I think it’s back for a very simple reason; the children who grew up with shows like Doug and Hey Arnold! have come of age– they are our current generation of show creators and artists.
My discovery of this was profound and happened while I was working at Cartoon Network on Clarence as Supervising Producer of first season. When I’d walk around the studio, I noticed that one of the artists had You Tube running in the background, and it was a Doug episode! I commented and thought it was a fluke– but no– as I continued my walk, I noticed one artist, PA and intern after another also watching Doug! Of course I took the opportunity to win their affection by telling them my background with the show!
The main thing it taught me is that things come full circle. These young artists grew up watching, loving, and learning about life from a sweeter, warmer, kind of odd kid, and that is the sensibility they are bringing to their work now. I’m thrilled.
As for CG, I think that’s another question, but I’ll answer best I can. I think comedy in TV animation is still best fulfilled in a 2D world. But as a director, I am equally excited about CG, because back to that ‘evolution’ of abilities I spoke about– I never used to give much thought to the camera, preferring a flat, proscenium staging– like Beavis and Butthead for instance. But as Co-Creator and Director and EP of a CG pre school series [Zack & Quack] that takes place in a pop up book, there’s nothing quite like being able to use the camera to allow your viewers to experience exactly what your characters are experiencing –to see what they see and feel what they feel, it’s a wonderful freedom. When it comes to action especially, it’s terrific. I love the cinematic possibilities. Who knew? : )
7 Women in animation. Discuss. Fred, we all know there have always been women in animation, but for whatever reasons, the animation industry has been heavily a boys club for years. Luckily I was welcomed into and happy in that boys club so I have no personal complaints or vendettas.
However, I am extremely excited and happy to see the tides turning in the VERY AREA that I believe will make the biggest difference in welcoming female animation artists into the fold. And that area is SHOW CREATORS. I believe that the recent influx of female creators, and the huge hits their creations are proving to be, are and will continue to change not only the gender of the crews, but the landscape and content of TV animation itself.
Shows like Rebecca Sugar’s ground breaking and beloved Steven Universe on Cartoon Network, Daron Nefcy’s Star Vs. the Forces of Evil on DisneyXD, and yes, Frederator’s own Bee and PuppyCat, created by Natasha Allegri. Each of these shows feature multi dimensional characters who are not afraid to express their emotions and uncertainties about life. Comedy comes more from the characters than from the gags, and comedy and tragedy often seem intertwined. There is a depth to these shows that I find thrilling, and can’t help but attribute to their female creators.
Shows of this sort will naturally attract more female artists and inspire more female creators –and I think male ones too– to continue to elevate the form by creating empathetic and interesting characters, instead of just pushing the envelope of taste. Yes, there’s a place for that too– but we’ve been there and now it’s time for something else.
It’s definitely in the air; animation schools everywhere have seen increasing enrollment of girls each year, and Women In Animation (I am a very proud member) is strongly promoting it’s 50/50 Initiative, with the goal of hitting a 50/50 gender balance in the animation workplace by 2025. I for one, am not worried, we’re on our way.
*7 Questions, an irregular series of interviews with interesting people. Coming up soon, writers, graphic designers, educators, tech founders, start up investors, music folks, and more.
- See more at: http://fredseibert.frederator.com/tagged/7-Questions
