Run Ginger Run away

Above: Inspirational sketches by my two good pals Nate, and Ean Moretti.

The above animals are for the infamous race/ chase sequence of the film... I wanted a different look for this sequence... something creative and fun... Nate and Ean didn't let me down. We just finished the animation, and it's really fun to watch... Thanks fellahs! -tod

Visitors from far lands

Above:Poul, Salvador, and Ingo at "The Monk"

Salvador came for a month earlier this year to help with boards and layout. Now he is directing the other project in the studio... a 60 min commercial! He just returned from Spain this week... his paddle pop in hand. All three of these fine gentleman have added so much to the Gingerbread Man. It's been a fun time. -tod

Background Sprinkles

Above: The matchmaking festival poster by Chanya "Pu"

Both Chanya and Susanne finished up the BGs this last weekend... it was great to have them both involved... and they added so much to the production. Susanne finished up around 70 or so backgrounds... giving a nice graphic artsy look to my keys... and Chanya focused on logos, prop textures... and all the other bits and bobs that needed designing. Thanks to both of you! - Tod

Title wave

-Susanne and I are working on the title sequence of the film... trying to get a more "water-colory" style... above are two "tests" ... basically not finished art... just taking stabs trying to get the right feel... mixing her painting, my painting... and borrowing examples of things for inspiration. Still a ways to go... but getting there... tod

Shaw This

Above: George Bernard Shaw

-GBS was a huge inspiration for the storyteller character in GBM. He was such a character himself... and had such charisma, confidence, and was such a great storyteller. Below are some more development sketches by the fantastic Maahir Pandie. The storyteller uses his hands a lot in the film... so it was important that they have character as well. - Tod

Picture this

Above: More sketches for the pub... things to be hung on the wall to warm up the overall atmosphere. I imagine the pub to have been built around 1850 or so... the story takes place in 1950... so various artifacts from different periods littler the room. The old part of the pub is mostly stone and timber. The newer section of the pub ... made during the Victorian era... reflects a slightly different more ornate style. tod

Brewing Away in GingerLand

Above: A color key for one of the portraits hanging in the old Pub. Arthur is reacting to Paul and his silly ways.

In Production! Animation has started and looking good ... models are being textured... the pub is coming along well. In Ireland... a band is cooking up some "New pub songs" for the film... in a traditional style.

Putting the Ingredients Together

It's been a long while since I posted here... mostly it's because the whole team has been busy finishing up the pre-production on the film. A lot of final art... keys... character models and designs... tightening the timing on the animatic... working on 3D layout... But it's all coming together and looking good... I will be posting more frequently now that I am through the hardest part of pre-production... tod

NobleTales Re- Re Post

Above: Only a few of the stories that have been in development for the NobleTales series... there are many more at various stages... and a lot more blanks on the map to fill in.


Above: Part of the NobleTales TV series pitch... But originally designed to be a series of theatrical shorts... inspired by the classic shorts that Maurice himself helped create. The Pumpkinlove website is not working at the time of this post... but I am hoping to get it back up and running soon.

This post has a lot less to do with Gingerbread, and more to do with the series Gingerbread is a part of... Noble Tales. I posted some of the presentation material from the series a while back... but for some reason the images were too small. So I have been asked to re-post the images at a larger size. You can see a few more examples of art from the series here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/todpolson/ and can read more about the project, and Maurice Noble himself here: http://www.nobletales.com/ Enjoy! tod

Kenny in the Can

We haven't posted here in a while... but January and February have been busy months... working on design, script, boards... and most importantly recording Jon Kenny. The animation workshop brought Jon all the way to Denmark for a 3 hour recording session... and he did a fantastic job... bringing new ideas, along with his talent. The night before the recording session, Jon, Michelle Nardone, and Tod stayed up until 6am... sharing song, stories, and Irish whiskey... just to "get to know each other a bit better". Seemed fitting. Tired during the recording session... but a much better vision of what we were actually doing.

Congratulations as well to Susanne, Jannick, Jeppe, and Maahir on graduating, and getting your bachelors degrees. Thank you for sharing your talents, and humor... I hope we cal all work together again soon. tod

A little Pandie- monium

The internship is over, but a few of the students are still helping out with the short... Including Mr. Maahir Pandie. He has spent the last week or so trying to come up with a final design for the "story teller" character. We've all taken a crack at him... but nothing has been quite right. He's difficult... because he is the main character in the film... and he has a fairly deep and complex personality. Getting closer though... and I expect Maahir will nail the thing down this week. tod

Santa Bros. Storm Bangkok

(photos by Aaron)

Every tuesday night, animators from around Bangkok get together and eat "shwarmas". However, this night it was just Ingo, Aaron (shy behind the lens) and I with the rest of the gang on vacation... or busy back in Europe, South Africa... or wherever they happened to land. My santa suit is in storage... so thanks to Da... Ingo and I were able to continue the Santa Brother tradition another year. Bringing smiles to children of all ages here in the Kingdom of Thai.