Cartoon Pilot in Progress: Koth of the Conans (pt.1)

     In the works for a while now is one of my most ambitious projects ever.  It's a cartoon called "Koth of the Conans", an idea created by me and my friend Demetrius back in 2009.  It all started with a joke about someone mistakingly referring to King of the Hill by its acronym, and from there it just blossomed into an insane concept that drew inspiration from classic Hanna-Barbera shorts like The Herculoids, with our own brand of bizarre surreal humor and incredible action!  No-holds-barred craziness in a land of perpetual carnage, that's the world of Koth!

     The show takes place hundreds of years ago on a planet of constant war called Gearth.  Man warring with man and beast and man-beast alike.  It's a blood starved world tearing itself apart, and among the fray stands one fearsome warrior with no equal in power and savagery.  That man is Koth!

     I designed Koth to looked buff and strong, but still portly in a way.  Not really sure how they got abs back in ancient times without Bowflex, but I think he looks fine with the gut 'n all.  Conan the Barbarian lies!  Koth himself is a man with an iron clad sense of justice and deals it without mercy wherever he finds evil.  Because of his reputation, he's always fighting against foolish challengers that try to outdo his strength.  He's so use to fighting, he doesn't even have to try when overkilling his opponents.

     As far as his powers go,  he's got super strength, able to make cunning tactical perception really quick in the heat of battle, is highly resilient to pain and can walk barefoot on most surfaces.  Most of 'em.  Originally his loincloth was a dinosaur's head he rammed his legs through.  He didn't even kill it before wearing it.  The eyes and still bleeding snout would've been on the front, but i decided to simplify it to make animating it less of a pain.  Koth knows not his age, only that he was born 30 years ago.

     Koth is kind of a solitary character, preferring to keep to himself and fighting alone since he's so use to carnage.  His only constant companion is his surrogate son of sorts, Hank.

  
    Hank is Koth's trusted sidekick and a shapeshifter, able to morph and distort himself into any shape and form he wants.  From giant revolvers to pelicans, Hank can assume any shape that'll help with any fight or situation.  I originally designed Hank to be a sort of midget, and since he's influenced by Gloop and Gleep from The Herculoids, he also originally talked only through grunts and such.  I decided to just make him the silent type, since there's so much more emotion and strength in a character's body language and expressions than there is in simple spoken dialogue (as I've stated before).  And his name is also a reference to King of the Hill.

     Here's a few other bgs, illustrating the landscape of Gearth, colored by Demetrius:

     That bonfire in the first on is full of warriors not worthy of joining Koth on a quest.  The second bg is called "The Oasis".  I guess it doesn't make sense that it's intact since they split up. :)

     With all the backgrounds, I wanted to instill a constant feeling of dread and danger.  Vast bgs with lots of depth and detail always adds so much atmosphere to a cartoon and makes it easier to get lost in that cartoon's world.

     Back in college, I did a promo type vid for Koth of the Conans as part of a class with my pals (credited in the end).  Animation duties were split between all of us.



     We didn't have time to complete that 10 minute story so we shortened it to this promo type vid and I set about animating the actual intro.  Here's the progress, and here's a bit more of the one punchy section.  I'm aiming at a minute and a half in length to this intro showcasing a quick display of Koth's power, and introducing his allies and enemies.  It's modeled after a speedy thrash metal song: fast, angry, insane, and leaving you beaten, bruised and on the floor for more!  

     In the next update I'll go more in depth with the details in the intro, more characters, and some stories.

   More to come...

Fat Kid Update and Shenaniggaz

     1) Finished up the animation from the last update.  Animated the background to show damage from the fat kid's landing.  Still thinking I should add more to that scene, but I'll get back to that later.  Gotta move on to the rest of the cartoon.

     Gonna record more sounds for it tomorrow.

     2) Working on a new illustration, something colorful, creepy, and NSFW (hence the center being covered for now. )  There'll be tons of grey, my favorite color beside green, in this one.

.lC_eaurnK

     3) "The Golden Idol" cartoon is coming along, too.  Still at a steady pace, not as fast as the fat kid cartoon.

My hero!

     4) These are a few concept sketches and art pieces for a show I and my pal Demetrius thought of called "Shenaniggaz".  The whole thing got started from a lousy pun, and from that we came up with the idea for this cartoon.  It's about three black youths living in the rolling hills of Jonesborough, Ireland.  They gain mystical powers from aliens and turn into a gang of troublemaking leprechauns!

     Their powers get stronger with the more mischief they cause to the townspeople.  They do it all, from heaving toilet paper at charity parades to leaving land mines under front door welcome mats.  They're a tremendous nuisance to all and a constant thorn in the side of the town mayor, who's a huge control freak obsessed with security and control.

Catch those... those... Shenaniggaz!!!

     Like the Power Rangers, they turn into the Shenaniggaz when they unite their rings.  They can also summon the P.O.G pod for speedy getaways and general mayhem, and fly momentarily on rainbow beams.  The only one we named was the fat one.  His name is Reese Fallon.  The one with the jerry curl is just called Beirdshartd for now.

     One story we made has the mayor tax the townsfolk extra gold coins to create more security.  What they don't know is that the mayor uses their gold to literally create more security...

Tis gonna be a very good 'ear!

     ... In the form of The Golden Ear, a sentient cop with an iron (or gold?) cast focus on punishing all troublemakers.  Can he stop those Shenaniggaz!?

     I'm sorry, I know this idea is dumb.