Ratzafratz
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Ratzafratz! is an animated cartoon and was created by Karl Toerge and Jim Wyatt. It will air as one of Nickelodeon's Random! Cartoons in 2008. It was produced by Frederator Studios and executive producer Fred Seibert. It was directed by Gary Conrad.
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[edit] Synopsis
In a mall, three rat roommates, Cyrus, Urban and Squawk sneak out to the food court for dinner and a cookie. Cyrus is the loser of the bunch and is trying to prove himself to the others. Cyrus has a problem with heights, which is a big problem, since the rats use wires above the mall as their highway. The mall security guard, Crank, spies them and the chase is on! Can Cyrus prove himself?
This cartoon is an updated throwback to the great limited animation cartoons of Jay Ward, while adding in a bit of Tom and Jerry.
[edit] Creators
Karl Toerge has written and directed episodes of The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries for Warner Bros. Animation, as well as co-directing the Tom and Jerry Short, "The Mansion Cat" with Joe Barbera. Karl also developed the Nickelodeon cartoon series “The Angry Beavers” with Mitch Schauer. He was the storyboard supervisor for "Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!" for Nick Jr. and is currently developing an animated pilot for the Disney Channel.
Jim Wyatt has produced shows for Film Roman and for his own company, Ink Biscuits, which won an Annie award for Cartoon Network’s "Late Night, Black and White". His comedy material is published in Judy Brown's "Joke Stew". Jim also provided the voice of Cyrus the Rat in Ratzafratz! and is currently developing other projects for television and film.
Ratzafratz was a truly collaborative effort. Jim came up with the concept, wrote the script and co-produced. Karl designed the characters and storyboard, art directed, voice directed and laid out each scene.
[edit] Directors Statement
Working on "Ratzafratz" was a blast. My job was easy...the creators, Jim and Karl, faced the real challenge in making it: introducing new characters, new worlds, and telling a story, all in just six minutes and forty seconds. The hardest thing I had to do was deciding between the jelly donuts and the bran muffins before production meetings. One of the best parts of making "Ratzafratz" was that, because it's in Flash, it was animated right here in Hollywood. As a result, we got to sit with the animators, look over their shoulders, and drop donut crumbs on them. With conventional 2D, we ship the donut crumbs overseas, which isn't nearly as creatively rewarding. Flash is a remarkable program, and terrific work is being done with it. "Ratzafratz" is very much a throwback to the early days of TV animation. Karl did a beautiful job of designing Ratzafratz in a Jay Ward style, and Flash really made it shine. Or flash. There's a pun in there somewhere.
[edit] Voice Cast
June Foray as The Mall Walker, Old Man #1 and Food Court Patron
Debi Derryberry as Shakaza, the Pop Singer and the Cookie Store Worker
Jess Harnell as Crank, The Mall Security Guard
Scott Frazina as Urban the Rat
Don Cameron as Squawk the Rat
Jim Wyatt as Cyrus the Rat
[edit] Trivia
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June Foray lent her voice to 3 characters in the cartoon. Ms. Foray worked extensively with Jay Ward, Disney and Warner Bros.
Gary Conrad is also a director of The Fairly Oddparents.
The music was composed by Eric Schmidt, whose credits also include The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries.
Six Point Harness in Hollywood, CA provided the animation, so this cartoon was truly "Made in Hollywood".
Ratzafratz artwork is prominently displayed in the Random! Cartoons chapter in Jerry Beck's new history of Nickelodeon book "Not Just Cartoons: Nicktoons!"
[edit] Festivals
"Ratzafratz" was selected to be part of the 11th annual LA Shorts Fest September 5 - 16, 2007 and was screened Saturday, September 8th at 9:45pm at the AMC Burbank
