| Founded | 2001 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
| Key people | Doug Bresler, Founder |
| Slogan | Cartoons, shorts, music videos & more! |
| Website | doogtoons.com |
| Type of site | Humor |
| Advertising | Banner ads |
| Registration | Optional |
| Current status | Active |
Doogtoons is a production studio founded and headed by Doug "Doog" Bresler,[1] best known for its series of "animated celebrity interviews" on the internet. Bresler has been producing short films since 1993, however his cartoons only became widely known after they were released as podcasts beginning October 22, 2005.[2] One of the pioneers of cartoon podcasting, Doogtoons has been mentioned and featured in several publications, both online and in printed versions, including The Washington Post, BusinessWeek Magazine,[3] Animation Magazine, USA Today, Rolling Stone, several front page spots on Apple Computer's iTunes podcast directory, and the front pages of Yahoo!, YouTube and MySpace. Doogtoons cartoons and shorts have also been featured and licensed by numerous television networks such as Cinemax, G4TV and G4 Canada. As of June 2011, Doogtoons cartoons and shorts have been viewed over 80 million times on the web.[4]
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Doogtoons' first series of cartoons was entitled Nick and Haig and was created using actual voice clips of interviews Bresler had conducted with a couple of his close friends at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where they were currently studying. Bresler said his initial intention was to create an animated horror movie, but needed to do something smaller first in order to practice and learn. Bresler then compiled hours upon hours of interviews with his friends, picked what he thought to be the best content, and began animating characters to go along with the dialogue.[5]
Nick and Haig - Episode I was originally released as a seven minute short film, but was then cut down into smaller "episodes" for podcasting. In 2006, an episode from the show entitled The Vice of Human Beans won first prize in Bolt's "1 Minute Film Festival", a grand prize win would've earned the cartoon $5,000.[6] This was actually the show's second award, after winning "Best Animated Short" at the 2006 DIY Film Festival in Los Angeles.[7] Later in the year, Bresler signed a deal with G4 television to air Nick and Haig episodes during the station's "Late Night Peep Show" segment starting in May.[8]
In late 2006, Doogtoons launched their official animated talk show, In the Studio, with animated interviews featuring Grammy winner "Weird Al" Yankovic and comic legend Tommy Chong. In March 2008, one of the shorts of the series, Al's Childhood, was awarded Best Animated Video of 2007 by Yahoo.com.
After several production delays, Doogtoons has begun releasing new animated interviews starting August 2010, the first featuring comedian and actor Harland Williams.
Doogtoons has created seven animated interviews with the "ninja" from Ask a Ninja (which have since received a "Best of the Web 2007" nod from Animation World Network). The shorts have been featured several times around the net. One of the cartoons, Ninjas and the Matrix, was featured on the front page of Yahoo.com.
In late 2006, Doug Bresler signed on with GoPotato.tv to animate and direct a show for their website. Eli's Dirty Jokes, a short-form series of animated adult-themed jokes told by an elderly real-life accountant, has since become a hit on YouTube, being featured several times and garnering millions of combined views for the episodes currently posted.
In November 2008, Eli's Dirty Jokes was picked up by HBO for exclusive episodes to be broadcast on their Cinemax cable TV network. The first episode of the weekly show premiered November 8, 2008 preceding the network's premiere of Juno (film). The series is the first original internet show ever to be picked up by HBO and broadcast on any of their TV networks.[9]
In March 2010, Eli's Dirty Jokes was nominated for "Best Animated Web Series" by the International Academy of Web Television at the 2010 Streamy Awards.
In March 2007, Doug Bresler produced and directed a music video for "Weird Al" Yankovic for his track, Trapped in the Drive-Thru. The video is currently viewable on MySpace, YouTube, and downloadable on Apple Computer's iTunes Store, and has reached over 20 million combined views on all sites . Doogtoons has recently been awarded a gold record for their contribution to Straight Outta Lynwood. The video was also featured as Channel Frederator's 100th episode. In June 2008, Trapped received the award of Funniest Film of 2007 at the Channel Frederator Awards.
Trapped in the Drive-Thru is the #1 highest viewed animated short on all of Myspace.com,[10] and had remained in the Top 100 music videos on iTunes for over a year since its release.[11]
Doogtoons' first music video, produced in 2006, features self-proclaimed "Average Homeboy" Denny Blaze.[12]
In July 2008, Doogtoons released a retro song and music video for "pop star" Laurence Butler Rayne entitled Indiana Jones. The video, said to be made in the winter of 1984, features the purported "lost theme song" to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
L.B. Rayne's second video, Skywalking, was released October 31, 2009. Said to be produced in 1980, it is being touted as a lost love ballad intended for the soundtrack of The Empire Strikes Back. It is portrayed ironically as a love ballad between Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia, who would be retconned as siblings in 1983's Return of the Jedi
L.B. Rayne's latest video, The Groove Grid, was released December 29th, 2010. It has been advertised as the lost theme song to Disney's 1982 science fiction epic Tron.
In August 2009, Doogtoons teamed up with Jonathan Katz (of Dr. Katz fame) to animate a short sketch for his podcast show, "Hey, We're Back!". The short is currently viewable on YouTube and the Doogtoons podcast.
Doogtoons has also contributed a 10-second piece to Channel Frederator's compilation short, Fredex: The Secret Lives of Robots, which won Best Internet Film at the 2007 Platform International Animation Festival in Portland, Oregon.
In October 2011, Doogtoons created an animated featurette for Simon and Schuster's upcoming book, The Last Testament: A Memoir, written by David Javerbaum. The video, entitled "It Getteth Better", is viewable on YouTube and on the Doogtoons website.
| Episode | Title | Released |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introductions | October 22, 2005 |
| 2 | Haig's Childhood | October 29, 2005 |
| 3 | Nick's Childhood | November 5, 2005 |
| 4 | Being Your Age | November 18, 2005 |
| 5 | Join Arnold | November 19, 2005 |
| 6 | Favorite Color | November 26, 2005 |
| 7 | Chihuahua | December 3, 2005 |
| 8 | Chicken Heist | December 10, 2005 |
| 9 | Creative Holidays | December 17, 2005 |
| 10 | The Vice of Human Beans | December 24, 2005 |
| 11 | Episode II Preview | December 24, 2005 |
| 12 | Kid's Commercials | December 31, 2005 |
| 13 | New York Story | January 7, 2006 |
| 14 | High School | February 17, 2006 |
| Episode | Title | Released |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introductions | April 12, 2006 |
| 2 | Being a Ninja | May 4, 2006 |
| 3 | Ninja Knowledge | May 16, 2006 |
| 4 | Ninjas and the Matrix | May 31, 2006 |
| 5 | The Truth About Darth Vader | July 28, 2006 |
| 6 | A Very Ninja Christmas Part I | December 14, 2007 |
| 7 | A Very Ninja Christmas Part II | December 23, 2007 |
| Episode | Title | Released |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Weird Al" Yankovic - Al's Childhood | October 12, 2006 |
| 2 | "Weird Al" Yankovic - Spelling Bees and Accordions | August 23, 2007 |
| 3 | Harland Williams - Career Choices | August 16, 2010 |
| 4 | "Weird Al" Yankovic - School Crushes | November 5, 2010 |
| Episode | Title | Released |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Five Birds | February 1, 2007 |
| 2 | BBQ Booty | February 6, 2007 |
| 3 | Moose Hunting | February 12, 2007 |
| 4 | Rawr | February 16, 2007 |
| 5 | Nice to Meet You | February 24, 2007 |
| 6 | Piano Man | March 5, 2007 |
| 7 | The Farmer's Daughters | April 2, 2007 |
| 8 | Track Team | April 16, 2007 |
| 9 | Monkey Love | June 8, 2007 |
| 10 | Hoshimota | August 10, 2007 |
| 11 | The Shepherd and His Boy | October 9, 2007 |
| 12 | Loving Remembrance | November 27, 2007 |
| 13 | The Three Fugitives | February 6, 2008 |
| 14 | Recovery Roses | March 10, 2008 |
| 15 | The Key to the Bedroom | April 8, 2008 |
| 16 | Arabian Justice | July 8, 2008 |
| 17 | The Sloppy Drunk | November 7, 2008 |
| 18 | Peanut Ear | January 20, 2009 |
| 19 | Nosy Neighbor | January 27, 2009 |
| 20 | Yukon Ho! | February 3, 2009 |
| 21 | Ugly Baby | February 10, 2009 |
| 22 | Sunset Island | February 17, 2009 |
| 23 | Bedroom Burglar | February 27, 2009 |
| 24 | Prime Mates | March 6, 2009 |
| 25 | Face-lifted Spirit | March 14, 2009 |
| 26 | Son of a Beech | March 20, 2009 |
| 27 | Drunk's Drycleaning | March 27, 2009 |
| 28 | Naming Psychiatry | April 5, 2009 |
| 29 | Wild Ski Trip | April 11, 2009 |
| 30 | Lucky Leprechaun | April 19, 2009 |
| 31 | Whale of a Good Time | April 25, 2009 |
| 32 | Hot Mic | May 9, 2009 |
| 33 | Costume Party | May 30, 2009 |
| 34 | Pirate Barrel | June 21, 2009 |
| 35 | Cougar Hunting | July 25, 2009 |
| 36 | Health Hazard | August 8, 2009 |
| 37 | Ladies Night | August 27, 2009 |
| 38 | Schedule Conflict | September 12, 2009 |
| 39 | Genie in a Bottle | September 21, 2009 |
| 40 | Gator Boots | October 28, 2009 |
| 41 | Holiday Special! | December 12, 2009 |
| 42 | Father and Son | June 18, 2010 |
| 43 | Funky Flatulence | October 7, 2010 |
| 44 | What'd He Say? | January 14, 2011 |
| Artist | Title | Released |
|---|---|---|
| Denny Blaze | Average Homeboy Returns | June 11, 2006 |
| "Weird Al" Yankovic | Trapped in the Drive-Thru | March 19, 2007 |
| L.B. Rayne | Indiana Jones (Theme Song) | July 17, 2008 |
| L.B. Rayne | Skywalking | October 31, 2009 |
| L.B. Rayne | The Groove Grid | December 29, 2010 |