I was chillin at my parents this evening and I had a chance to gaze upon the wonders of cable television (read: any television) for the first time weeks. Luckily Camp Lazlo was on Cartoon Network, and seeing as how that’s one of the best kids (read: kids of all ages) cartoons on TV right now, I decided to tune in.
Who should I see on the credits for the first time? None other than Kaz, for storyboarding. I had never realized before, but Kaz has been doing the storyboards for CL for two seasons so far. Who the hell is Kaz, you say? He’s that dude what does the most excellent comic titled “Underworld”. If you’ve never read it, you should do yourself a favor. You can see a bunch of the strips here.
This had me thinking … it’s awesome how some of the best alt comix artists are also involved with the creation of more mainstream projects these days. At least the kids of the next generation(s) who are into it (read: Camp Lazlo) are getting something of quality. It’s legues better than the totally lamoid alternative at 6:30pm on a Wednesday night, Room Raiders, that was trying to eat my brain on MTV. Long story short, I think its pretty awesome that these super talented humans can share their creations with so many other humans. What they do makes me happy. I hope one day, I’m doing something like that.
*mind explodes*
With two seasons of Cartoon Network’s Camp Lazlo under his belt, Kaz embarks on co-writing Derek Drymon’s pilot cartoon for Nickelodeon. Derek Drymon was the Creative Director on SpongeBob SquarePants — and by Creative Director we mean the number two man on SpongeBob. Derek is funny and talented and originally from New Jersey (like all the greats). So it’s an honor that Kaz was tapped to help him write the pilot episode for his top secret show. After that, Kaz returns to Camp Lazlo for season three. Camp Lazlo is now the highest rated show on the Cartoon Network. How the hell did THAT happen? Hey, would anyone like to see a major publisher put out a Kaz retrospective book? Well, it’s in the works. Also now in the works is a short animated cartoon based on Kaz’s last comics story for Little Lit. Has Kaz gone Hollywood? Nah, just Burbank.
