Tag Archives: mother

Best Cartoon Voice in History: TreeTrunks on Adventure Time

I hope you know by now I’m rather infatuated with voice characterizations (Jim Meskimen as new Mel Blanc). Meet the best new voice impressionist ever: Polly Lou Livinston, tapped by animator Pen Ward, 27.

Ward, who created the recently launched CartoonNetwork show, “Adventure Time With Finn and Jake” (a bland name for a quirky, unique and delightful cartoon series, fueled by the proven success of Producer Fred Seibert). Wait! (4/23 update): Correction: Polly Lou is not Pen Ward’s mom, but an artist from his San Antonio origin: “Pen, no doubt, has fond memories of hearing Polly Lou’s definitive drawl while growing up in San Antonio. And who can blame him? Somewhere between a hinge in quest of lubricant and Blanche Dubois as channeled by Olive Oyl, there’s no other tonality quite like it.”

"Adventure Time" creator Pen Ward with his Polly Lou Livingston (not his mother, Bettie). Livingston, an artist, does the voice of TreeTrunks the yellow elephant.

“Adventure Time” creator, Ward, also does the voice of “Lumpy Princess,” a manly valleygirl princess who looks like Chowder’s pet fart. But his mom steals the show with her characterization of TreeTrunks, and you can read more about her in this San Antonio article. The tender voice, gentle whispers and Southern draw were just the beginning. The tiny unexpected speech pragmatics (for instance, oddly timed pauses) is what brings her characters new dimension. Check out this wonderful clip (depicting “old and bonkers” TreeTrunks loving a wall-of-flesh creature). Seriously- a unicorn sticker with a unicorn that doesn’t have a horn? Ward and his Southern Mama bring out the 14 year old in me. Thanks, Seibert. I read you weren’t first impressed with Ward, but thank GOD you had faith.

Tree trunk adventure time elephant yellow
Tree Trunks for The Win

By way of background, my 7-year-old son Grant has always had a keen eye for quirky funny… and this goes back to his watching Baby Mozart as an infant (I think it was the frog that created a euphoric giggle). Grant can watch 20 minutes of television, and detect and replicate the single, isolated moment that is at the DNA core of hysterical. I don’t know how he does it, but he’s now our family’s comedy compass. When he cracks up and replays a moment of a cartoon or television show, the six of us are laughing simultaneously. Here’s Grant giggling from years ago that will help you understand that he’s is to comedy what a metal detector is for quarters on a beach. Who says “boring” about Goodnight Moon at that age? Seriously.

Grant’s favorite shows have one thing in common. They’re all born by Seibert (with the exception of Spongebob, a show I hated until Grant hooked me). Well this week Grant literally grabbed me and said “Dad you’re going to LOVE Adventure Time with Finn and Jake!” Then he started rolling with some quotes that I now get… “yogurt chip, yeah man (in soft, cool voice).”

He was soooo right. Yeah man. I’ve become rather obsessed with “Adventure Time” in the past week (check out a great backgrounder here, which details how BigTime Cartoon Producer Fred Seibert’s discovery of Ward is the best thing to happen to parent/kid television viewing in years). And Seibert, I’ll be sending you Grant’s resume in about 10 or 15 years, and volunteer him to act as a “litmus test” of any prospective shows.

It’s a rare show that amuses dad & kids this well (Modern Family is a recent new one but a bit blue for the kiddies). My fascination with this distinct Masterpiece called “Adventure Time” prompted me to dig and dig through YouTube, stumbling into this wonderful episode called Bravest Warriors. Wowzer is this a cross between the 60s and 10s!? Read a nice POV on this one-episode series. Sounds to me like Livingston is the alien voice, no?

Five words for Seibert, CartoonNetwork and Pen Ward:

Tree Trunks is voiced by Polly Lou Livingston, the Mother of Animator Pen Ward (the inspiration behind Adventure Time With Finn and Jake)

We need more TreeTrunk, baby.

Mom Blogs? No Time. Let’s Try Mom Online Video.

There’s no shortage of blogs written for and by mothers. But WifeofNalts now has a new YouTube channel called “Joeymoms.” The purpose is to bring relevant content to moms in a fun, irreverent way in a delivery medium for which moms have time… video. The name was chosen for two reasons. First, there are virtually no other common mom names available. Second, a YouTube channel needs to be about a person not just a topic. Rather than WifeofNalts or MomTubers or something, we went with Joeymoms… kinda like Nerdfighters. It’s hosted by Joey, but bigger than her. Hoping a community of other moms forms, and maybe this channel attracts some new people to YouTube.

There’s one thing that’s certain. There’s no shortage of advertisers trying to reach moms, and most of them want content by moms (as opposed to a male creator that happens to have a large audience of mothers). While this isn’t likely to rival Fred or Nigahiga, it’s getting my wife excited about the YouTube community, and I’ve found her migrating from Facebook to her channel in her scarce spare time.

The tricky thing about mom content is that it can be lifestage dependent, and boring. Moms typically form community around specific milestones like new babies, toddlers, teenagers, or “off to college.” That’s too niche for a new channel, so she’s trying to speak to a broader range of moms. It’s kinda Momversations meets The View meets Entertainment Tonight. Done for and by moms, but not devoted to mom topics exclusively… for moms that are more than moms.

Whatya think? I’m racking my lil’ marketing brain trying to figure out how to grow it, so it can be a resource for moms… showcase other YouTube channels and good online resources for this audience.  The fundamental question is this… there aren’t many popular mom channels on YouTube. Is that because there’s not a market for it, or simply that nobody has cracked the code? We’ll find out!

Reality TV Isn’t Reality. THIS is Reality. A Drunk Naked Narcissist.

This is perhaps one of the most memorable moments of online video I’ve seen, and it’s from regular WillVideoForFood reader/commenter James Jarvis (Marquisdejolie). The former homeless man lives in Marshall, Texas and has posted 852 videos to date (and for reasons I can’t understand, has fewer subscribers than videos).

Before you comment on “Drunk Naked Narcissist,” please recognize that he may well read your observations. And this is tragedy not comedy (of course comedy is tragedy plus time). Marquis was the first person with whom I interacted in online video (via Revver), and the first person that appeared in a dream. He was disk jockeying a party not chasing me with a pitch fork.

I find it remarkable that James permits us into to observe a fight between he and his alcoholic mother — who appears tortured by her past and resentful of her son for not providing more support. We join him from a safe perch behind the camera. But he occasionally leaves us alone as he defends his behavior and challenges his mother’s views of him and his siblings.

It’s more shocking than anything I’ve seen on Jerry Springfield, but curiously artistic. Marquis explains in his video description, “Mom and I performing a scene from my play entitled “A Simple Life.” While it’s clear that his mother isn’t acting (unless she’s Julliard trained), it’s unclear how many of Marquis’ “lines” are provocations of his subject… or a visceral response by a son being blamed for his mother’s sad state.

One thing’s for sure. This is reality. Unscripted, unedited and raw. Marquis sometimes goes live on Stickam and the arguments continue. I submit that if he and mom did regular live Blogtv shows he’d make enough money cover’s mom’s missing bonds. If nothing else, they’d remind us that no matter how strange our lives get we’re not alone.