O shit waddup

Mr. Meany has a new voice-over gig. Mama's so proud.

Hello again, folks

Even after all this time, hearing Kevin MacLeod's Harlequin still gets me kind of choked up. I always loved it as the theme for the show. It's got that playful yet strangely bittersweet piano, and then that sad bassoon kind of groaning in the background. That's Sweetie and Mr. Meany, right there.

Sometimes I miss my little cartoon people. I miss them like friends you know you'll never talk to again.

Isn't that weird?

Abby Travis' LIGHTNING SQUARED music video - DIRECTOR'S CUT!

It's Halloween, and as a special treat here is the director's cut of my music video for Abby Travis' single Lightning Squared. The resolution is better, the sound is clearer, some of the animation is improved and there are a couple of new shots. (Mostly this is just an excuse to fix a few of the things that have bugged me since we debuted the original clip!) Enjoy.

The final episode of URSULA HITLER'S HEAD

After 4 years and nearly 150 episodes, the story of Sweetie and Mr. Meany is over. A big thanks to Xtranormal, who gave us this truly amazing program and let us have a lot of fun with it for a while. And another big thanks to everybody who watched this crazy show, especially the handful of folks who actually stuck with it and watched the whole damn thing. You guys will never know how much your support meant.

That's all, folks.

THE END OF URSULA HITLER'S HEAD, PART 2 OF 3

In our penultimate episode, old friends return, as do old enemies. There are some explosions, too. And be sure to watch next time, when we close the doors, turn out the lights, and say our final farewell to Ursula Hitler's Head.

Want to catch up on everything that's happened so far? Poke around in the archives, and you'll find more of this stuff than any sane person could ever need. And if you'd be so kind as to tap that Youtube "like" button one last time, well, that'd sure be nice of you.

THE END OF URSULA HITLER'S HEAD, PART 1 OF 3

This is it, folks. With this episode, we begin our 3-episode series finale. This is the way the world ends... with a bang, and a whimper.

Want to catch up on everything that's happened so far? Nearly 150 episodes of fetish-y satirical weirdness await you in the archives. And if you'd be so kind as to tap that Youtube "like" button one last time, well, that'd sure be nice of you.

THE FAIRY DONG-MOTHER - Ursula Hitler's Head, episode 144

 Introducing the Fairy Dong-Mother, perhaps the strangest and kinkiest character to visit Ursula Hitler's Head so far. (And if you saw our episodes with the Fetish King, you know that's sayin' something!)

This is our final standalone episode. Next time, we begin our epic, 3-part series finale. Don't miss it!

BIMBOMAXX - URSULA HITLER'S HEAD, episode 143

Are you sick of all the stupid people? Well, all you need is one little pink pill... the latest innovation from our trusted friends at Expando Incorporated! Thanks to Bimbomaxx, you'll soon be feeling giggly and jiggly!

I can't really make any excuses for this one. It's offensive in dozens of ways, and I am sorry. But if it's any consolation, you won't have to put up with many more of these.

Yes, the rumors are true, and Ursula Hitler's Head will be ending soon. But we've got a few more freaky fetish comedy cartoons to go, and if you enjoy this one you should definitely click around in the archives. And please, don't forget to give that Youtube "like" button a spanking!

This cartoon was not meant as a knock on Tina Fey. She just got cast in the leading role because her character model was available on Xtranormal and she makes a good "uptight" lady. (Mitt Romney can go eat a bag of corn-fried scrotums, though.)

Things we'll never see

Maybe this will seem a bit sulky, but with Xtranormal going belly-up, I thought I'd  post some of the ideas for Ursula Hitler's Head that I'll never get to do now. I don't know how many of these I'll post, but I certainly have plenty of stuff I always thought I'd get around to doing someday...

I had a whole storyline planned out where Lulzo the Killer Clown was going to afflict S & M with a virus that would turn them into their sex fantasies, starting with the mild stuff and gradually working up to their "ultimate" fantasy. Sweetie would turn into people like 1966 Captain Kirk and George Clooney in a tuxedo, mostly because those are the Xtranormal character designs that would be available! And she'd have some fun with that. But it would be quite an ordeal for Meany, as he turned into all sorts of embarrassing people, like Lindsay Lohan in her orange prison jumpsuit (again, the character model was ready to use.) And the whole time, he would be panicking about the revelation of his "ultimate" fantasy... because of course, Sweetie herself is his great, secret love.

In the end, they would BOTH turn into Sweetie. (We've established many times that Sweetie has a lot of self-love.) Just when we think Meany's secret has been revealed, Sweetie would laugh and say something like, "Jesus, Lulzo fucked up, yet again! He gave you MY fantasy, instead of yours!" Meany would agree that that's exactly what must have happened, but after it was over and Meany turned back into himself, there would be the subtle implication that Sweetie may very well have known what was really going on, but for her own reasons she allowed Meany to keep his true feelings secret.

Sigh. That one could've been fun. Ah, well.

Your eyes can be so cruel...

A shot of moi from the Labyrinth of Jareth ball the other night. There was a time when I would've gone crazy with a big photo essay about everything I saw and did. Well, gone are the days. Suffice to say, there is a huge, crazy party going on, just out of frame. Like, 20 feet to the right, there are people in goblin costumes, tottering around on stilts. There's probably somebody jumping through a flaming hoop, too. And there is insane Renaissance fair cleavage busting out all over the place.

We took a whole bunch of photos of me, but this was one of the few that didn't make me weep. I have got to get serious about losing the last of those extra pounds. If the body is a temple, mine is turning into one of those crumbling, overgrown places where Lara Croft gets attacked by giant monkey statues.

Emergent Animation

Xtranormal itself may be shutting down, but the Emergent Animation Yahoo group is still going strong. The group is a meeting place for users of State Plus, a set of extensions that transform Xtranormal State into a much more versatile program. We're talking new sets, new actors, new motions, all kinds of impressive stuff. You can see some examples of the kind of work State Plus is capable of doing on the Emergent Animation Youtube page.

If your computer has the power to run State Plus (mine doesn't,) you'll still be able to make Xtranormal movies long after Xtranormal itself has shut down.

I did consider trying to continue the series, using State Plus. But in addition to my aforementioned hardware problems, I just feel like the story of Sweetie and Mr. Meany has to end with Xtranormal. They're so much a part of that world, it would feel weird to go on after Xtranormal is gone.

SPONTANEOUS GIRLIFICATION SYNDROME: A FINAL LOOK - Ursula Hitler's Head, episode 142

Mr. Boxxo returns one last time to warn us of the dangers of Spontaneous Girlification Syndrome, the tragic disease that can instantly transform even the manliest manly man into a lisping little girl with pigtails and freckles.

While this is indeed the last time we will see Mr. Boxxo and Butch Butchley, the saga of Sweetie and Mr. Meany isn't quite over yet. Stay tuned for the thrilling conclusion of Ursula Hitler's Head in the coming weeks! And hey, while you're waiting, why not click around in the archives and sample a couple of the dozens of weird, fetish-y comedy cartoons to be found there? Go on, get crazy. I promise I won't tell anybody. You can trust me, chief.

And don't forget to pound that Youtube "like" button. Come on, pound it harder. HARDER! Oh, yeah...

Xtranormal update

I'm getting a surprising amount of traffic from people who are apparently doing a Google search for "Xtranormal shutting down." It says something about how tight-lipped Xtranormal has been, and how little info is available about this online.

Well, for those of you who came here looking for info, I do have a little news. In recent days, as people have been complaining about the shut-down on Xtranormal's Facebook page, the company has mostly been responding with a stock reply that customers should report any problems to tech support. But today (7/10/13) they responded to a complaint with the following:

"We will have more information to share after July 31, 2013. Thank you for your continued support and interest. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact us again."

I'd just assumed that after the July 31st shut-down that would be the end of it, but it sounds like something is in the works. I have no idea what they may be planning. I've been putting together my final episodes (I'll have the last Mr. Boxxo episode ready to post soon) and it would be a little annoying if I kill this series and then a few months from now this all turns out to be kind of a false alarm. But I suspect that they're going to shut down Xtranormal for good, and then a few months from now they'll debut some really stripped-down iPhone app or something.

I have been a big Xtranormal cheerleader for years. I feel like I owe the company a lot, and I will always be grateful. But good lord, have those guys made some poor decisions the last few years. Maybe we're lucky they lasted this long.

Xtranormal really is shutting down

It's official, Xtranormal is shutting down as of July 31st: http://blog.xtranormal.com/index.php/important-message-from-xtranormal/

They talk about an "act 2," as if Xtranormal will return again in some form, some day. Here's hoping... but frankly, I doubt it.

So, at least we have a little more time than I thought. Xtranormal is so buggy right now that I don't know if it's even worth attempting some of the big stuff I always planned to do leading up to my final episode. These days it's complicated just to do the simple stuff, and if I email Xtranormal for tech support I doubt they'll even get back to me. (And can you blame them? Anybody who is still working there now is probably busy updating their resume.)

So, no shit, this series is ending soon.

Wow.

The end of the beginning of the end

It looks like Xtranormal really is shutting down soon. They've had major, unfixed technical problems for months, they've abruptly stopped selling points, and I hear that a number of essential employees have suddenly departed the company. I don't want to go into more detail because I don't know how much of this stuff they want to keep private, but it really looks like the end is nigh.

If you have anything you want to do using Xtranormal, I would strongly suggest doing it immediately. It really saddens me to say it, but I would be surprised if Xtranormal is still around by the end of July.

What that means for this series is that I'm going to be forced to wrap things up faster than I expected. I already felt like the series was nearing the end, but being forced to quit so suddenly really sucks. It's possible I'll do a penultimate episode to clear some things up before I post the final one, but right now I think it's more likely I'll just post that last episode and be done with the whole thing.

I will always be grateful to the people who created Xtranormal and kept it running. I know I'm not the only person who will really miss the program. Here's hoping that somebody somewhere is working on an animation program that's even half that good.