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FableVision Studios' and National Wildlife Federation's Earth Day Celebration

Happy Earth Day! Since it’s Ranger Rick’s favorite holiday, the National Wildlife Federation is celebrating with a BIG sale on their apps for kids, including our Ranger Rick's Tree House app. We tweeted out an original story about Ranger Rick and his friends in Deep Green Wood helping the earth.

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Ranger Rick's Tree House: Issue 2

Post Written by Lead Artist Renee Kurilla A few months ago, I wrote some words about Ranger Rick’s Tree House, an app I designed at FableVision for the National Wildlife Federation. This project is just the gift that keeps on giving! In fact, Ranger Rick's Tree House was recommended by the Parents' Choice Awards. Ever since the launch of the App and Issue #1 (below), we have been hard at work on Issue #2.

The second issue (below), which is a spring-themed download, includes two new games, new “Who Am I?” animals, brand new articles (Grizzly Bears and Ocean Giants!), seasonal Tree House Decorations and MORE!

Here are some close-up samples of the art and title screen I created for the new issue. The first of the two new games in Issue #2: Manta Mission! First, here are some preliminary sketches.

And then, what it became!

Here are some backgrounds, one of underwater seascapes, and some above-water sights.

The second game, a matching game disguised with flies! Ribbit Rodeo! Lasso up some dinner.

Check out the before and after!

Can you tell what’s hiding behind that door?

Enjoy the new issue!

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Spotlight on Animation-ish User, Jason Lethcoe

Since we launched Animation-ish in 2008, it's been exciting to see how it's been used in creative ways. It's been especially awesome to see internationally published author, storyboard artist, and Hollywood animator Jason Lethcoe take to it so professionally. His studio, Wizardtree Animation, calls themselves "an animation studio that spreads the joy of what we love through original content creation." A perfect match for FableVision software, don't you think? We reached out to him to see a little bit more about him, his work with Animation-ish, and beyond. Watch: Jason Lethcoe's Mr. Mimbly.

Jason Lethcoe's Mr. Mimbly.

FableVision (FV): Tell us a little bit about your background -- what made you want to go into animation?

Jason Lethcoe (JL): I've loved animation since I was a little kid, especially the old Disney cartoons. As an adult, it was a real treat to get to work at Disney and several other studios and to get to draw Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny and many other characters I grew up with when I was young. I got to work with some of the artists that actually knew Walt Disney!  They really taught me a lot when I was there.

Now, I have my own studio, Wizardtree Animation, and I get to draw and animate the things I love every day.  I also write books for kids!

FV: What are three cool things about yourself?

JL: (1) I once slid down the French Alps on my belly while wearing a Hefty trash bag. Kids, don't try this at home. (2) I've spent the night in a haunted hotel and lived to tell the tale. (3) I'm a member of a secret society called the Brotherhood of Thaumaturgic Cartographers and we went on a real life search for Sasquatch. I won't tell you what we found... But let me just say it was amazing.

FV: How did you find out about our Animation-ish software?

JL: I really like Peter Reynolds' illustrations and stumbled upon his FableVision site. Being an animator, the Animation-ish software looked so fun to try, I had to download it. I've been hooked on it ever since!

FV: What makes Animation-ish a unique software?

JL: There are many professional grade programs out there that are so filled with "bells and whistles" that they don't focus on the most important part of creating traditional animation... the drawing! Animation-ish has such a friendly, easy-to-use interface that it makes it easy for beginners or even pros to sit down and start making cartoons. I absolutely love it and prefer it to some of the vastly more expensive programs I've worked with.

FV: Who is Mr. Mimbly?

Wizardtree Animation's video for the KIA SOUL.

JL: Mr. Mimbly is an ambassador of goodness, a little magician with a magic mustache that tries to help everyone around him with his unique abilities. He's a character I came up with for a book series I've been writing and he really came to life when I started to feature him in short, 30 second cartoons that feature positive and encouraging messages. His design style is similar to the cartoons I loved growing up as a kid in the 1970's, borrowing heavily from cartoony approaches like Rocky and Bullwinkle.

The philosophy at Wizardtree is to promote the positive people, places and things we love. Our motto is, "An acorn, lovingly planted, will produce a mighty oak" and we try to put love and goodness at the forefront of our business.

Sometimes we create what we call a "FAN-vertisement" about a product just because we think its great. This is done purely to promote and share something awesome with others and give something back to the company or person that inspired us.

So, I'm currently directing several projects for classrooms and also doing some work for Hollywood.  But Mr. Mimbly is our character mascot, Wizardtree's "Mickey Mouse," and his good hearted reminders about a positive way to live keeps us centered on the reasons for what we do.

Wizardtree Animation's 'Wings For The Soul' for the American Library Association.

FV: What kind of art inspires you?

JL: I love illustrations that feature lively line work and simple, judiciously placed color. Most of the work Wizardtree does reflects this style.

FV: What kind of projects are you working on now?

JL: There's a longer Mr. Mimbly story I'm animating, all with Animation-ish. I also recently finished creating a bunch of Tom and Jerry animatics and some work for DreamWorks on an undisclosed project.

We've done several projects for Wireless Generation and are also hard at work on many new and inspiring short cartoons and commercials. I've found that in this fast paced world of social media and tweets, 30 seconds is often the perfect length to tell a simple, thought provoking story or concept.

All in all,  I'm having fun every day and I really love what I do!

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"Classic in the Jurassic, Jr." App Featured in App Store!

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"Classic in the Jurassic, Jr." App Featured in App Store!

Check out our new Dinosaur Train app "Classic in the Jurassic, Jr." featured this week in the App Store! The app welcomes kids to an adventure with Gilbert the conductor, helping him get Troodon Town ready for a big event! The app includes three math games and a sticker book with one more game update on its way.  We were so proud to see Classic in the Jurrassic, Jr. claim #1 in popularity in iPad/Education, #5 in iPad/Overall, and #1 grossing in iPad/Education.

In addition to the app, there are seven online games that make up the Classic in the Jurassic suite featuring the stars of Dinosaur Train show (hilariously) competing in athletic events--including diving,  gliding and football.  Through these games, we introduce preschoolers to math concepts like weight, distance and volume. The app and games transmedia suite were funded through a grant from the Ready to Learn Initiative. Buy and download the app here.

Bridge Builder: Help the dinosaurs get around Troodon Town! Measure the distance by dragging your finger across, and choose the right length of logs to finish the bridge.

Chow Time: The dinos are ready for snack time! Add or take away food from the scale and when it’s balanced watch them eat their fill!

All-Star Sorting: Get the dinosaurs in order from shortest to tallest! Once they’re lined up correctly, drag them to their appropriate homes.

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Biomimicry

Post written by Director of Art & Animation, Bob Flynn At FableVision, I often get to work with museums, which is the best! Even better, when I'm given the chance to work with museums directly engaged in teaching the public about Science. We were recently approached by our friends across the channel, the New England Aquarium, to help develop an app on Biomimicry. The project is part of a larger initiative on Global Climate Change and Ocean Education.

The New England Aquarium, collaborating with other aquariums across the country, is leading a national effort to enable aquariums to effectively communicate the impacts of climate change and ocean acidification on marine animals, habitats and ecosystems. Our goal is to build on visitors’ emotional connection with ocean animals, connect to their deeply held values, help them understand causes and effects of climate change and motivate them to embrace effective solutions.

What is biomimicry, you ask? It's when we look to nature for inspiration, examining systems and organisms to find ways to solve challenges and improve technology. An example you've probably heard of is Velcro, the hook-and-loop fastener system inspired by the tiny hooks on sticky burrs.

The app in development will be used by staff interpreters to get people thinking about the importance of our relationship with nature. We're still doing early testing, but in this post I've included a series of illustrations I created to introduce each topic on biomimicry (in a fun way). The above image of the whale shows how wind technology is looking to the contour of humpback whale flippers to improve the energy efficiency of wind turbines. Seriously, look it up!

Below are other examples... involving solar technology inspired by trees (this one is a mangrove),

fuel efficient cars inspired by the design of the boxfish,

cement production mimicking the way coral uses CO2 to create their skeletons,

and a coating for ships which prevents barnacles from attaching—inspired by sharks!

Like I said, we're still in the testing phase, but you'll soon be able to see this activity playing on iPads on one of your upcoming visits to the aquarium. Cool, right?

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