Dark Bunny Productions

Saralyth, from 'Mean Mike'

Ubel, the evil duck

A chronological history of Dark Bunny Productions

Cuniculus

Cuniculus
Š1988 - Made at University of the Arts

This was my first real animated film (one longer than 15 seconds, that is) and the plot revolved around three nasty mutant rabbits who enjoy terrorizing local citizens. They end up attracting the attention of two superheroes, BatGuy and BatChick, who proceed to kick the rabbits' asses. At this point a fourth rabbit appears, a giant demonic one, and chases down the Bat-duo.

With no other options, BatGuy and BatChick combine to form... SuperBatPerson, then clobber the demon rabbit and win the day. This brilliant piece of narrative ends with an old lady beating up BatGuy.

My life drawing teacher at Cal Arts (the great Corny Cole) used to say that you must draw as often as possible to get the bad artwork out of your system. I like to think making "Cuniculus" got a bad film out of mine.

The Bunny Must Die
Š1989 - Made at University of the Arts

It's the last straw. The Trix Rabbit once again has the cereal in his eager paws but is unable to contain himself, freaking with joy and revealing his identity to the kids. He goes home empty-handed.

That night the Rabbit dreams he dies a loser. He wakes up, gathers a duffle bag full of weapons, and leaves his house for the last time.

In a frenzy of violence, the Rabbit steals the cereal and flees. The Trix Task Force (three big, mean rabbits) is dispatched to neutralize him, and despite the aid of his friend Max (a Clint-Eastwood-type bunny), the Rabbit dies in a hail of bullets. His last words, having just eaten the forbidden cereal: "I can't believe it. It tastes like shit."

This film was the definitive turning point in my animation career. At a time when I wasn't sure if I was cut out for this industry, it was a real shot in the arm. The response at the film show was amazing, and a few people told me later that this film inspired them to pursue animation.

Spike Noodles:
"The Return of the Scorpion"
Š1990 - Made at University of the Arts

Spike is relaxing in his apartment when he sees it on the news -- the Scorpion has escaped again. Donning his spiked mask and iron knuckles, Spike sets out in search of his old nemesis. He finds her in a park and the battle begins. The fight is cut short when they discover that they're actually childhood friends (complete with syrupy flashback), and as they hug, a lone assassin steps from the shadows -- the deadly Big Jim Bunnyface. To be continued...

This film, barely three minutes long, was the result of some major slacking. I cranked it out in about three weeks and it shows. The one good thing to come out of it was a new character, Spike Noodles, who I still plan to use in upcoming projects.

Spike Noodles

Spike Noodles:
"Unspoken Words"
Š1991 - Made at University of the Arts

Spike and Camille meet up for a rooftop picnic, unaware that the Oceanic Terrorist Squad (lead by the evil Dr. Squid) is on the loose. After a leisurely game of frisbee and a few brews, Spike and Camille kick back and relax; only to be interrupted by Dr. Squid himself. Camille is captured and Spike goes after her. A big shootout in the Terrorist's lair leaves everyone dead or wounded. Who survived? To be continued...

I focused a bit more on this episode and fleshed out Spike's arch nemesis, Dr. Squid, as well as his pal Camille. This was the last film I made at University of the Arts and remains one of my favorites.

The Carrot
"Someone New To Hate"
Š1993 - Made at CalArts

A lone madman in a carrot suit weaves his way cross country, seeking out and killing everyone who ever crossed him. Unbeknownst to him, he himself has been targeted for eradication. As the Carrot stops at a gas station for a Pepsi break, a mysterious female assassin teleports in and attacks him. In the course of the battle she notices the Carrot bears a special tattoo... the same one she herself has. After a bizarre flashback (they trained in the same dojo together) she retreats, leaving the Carrot alone and confused. As he drives off, a menacing figure watches him from a nearby mesa... a figure known as the notorious Onion.

This was the first film I made at CalArts (California Institute of the Arts) and it was the result of an inside joke between my friends and I. As quirky and surreal as this film turned out, I still plan to do more with this insane man-vegetable.

X-ile
Š1994 - Made at CalArts

Frank comes home after a hard day's work to find his freeloading tenants, a bunch of big cockroaches, eating everything in sight. Desperate, Frank buys a can of X-ile bug spray and scares them off. "X-ILE them... forever!"

Thin plot, eh? That's because this film was a commercial for a fictitious bug spray, based on an assignment I did in story class.

Wisconsin
Š1994 - Made at CalArts

It was a quiet evening on a farm in Wisconsin. The ornery farm dog is awakened by a noise in the pantry and goes to investigate, only to discover a purple, tentacled monstrosity stealing a box of candy bars. The dog chases the startled alien through the farm and corners it, forcing it to surrender the candy bars and to beam back to the mother ship. Just what the hell are those aliens up to, anyway?

This is easily my best work and is the reason I managed to get a job in animation. It won the 1994 Walter Lantz award at the Producer's Show and will someday be put on cels and colored (time willing... King of the Hill keeps me pretty busy).

The Alien, Chode, went on to star in "Tripping The Rift", a 5 minute computer animated short that is presently being made into a series.

The Brainyzoids
Š1994 - Made at CalArts

I'm including this piece as a footnote because it's not really a Dark Bunny project. The Brainyzoids are the creation of my good pals Jeff Ranjo, Nathan Strum, and Dave Steele, and the film was made as an introduction to the 1994 CalArts Producers Show. Jeff did the brilliant designs, Dave wrote the script and did the voices (except for Janet Reno -- I did that one), I animated them, and Nathan did all the computer work. At the show, The Brainyzoids were a big hit.

Special thanks to Nathan Strum for providing me with this picture.

Tripping The Rift
Š1998 - Made at Film Roman

Back in 1997, while working on King of the Hill, I met a chap named Chuck Austen and, after discussing the various projects we wanted to do, decided to merge together our "sci-fi comedy" ideas - and Tripping The Rift was born. Right about then Film Roman was looking for ideas for computer-animated shorts, so we pitched it and got the green light. They hooked us up with Matthew Mead and Jay Hathaway - two talented 3D animation lads - and we were off.

The concept was basically this: a fat purple alien fugitive, a runaway sex droid, and a surly robotic engineer try to eke out a living in the universe by running their own smuggling service.

Tripping The Rift

Easier said than done, since their sordid pasts keep coming back to haunt them, chief among them being Chode's falling out with the dreaded Dark Clowns.

We finished the short in Spring of '98 and I grabbed the domain name trippingtherift.com, since I had a hunch this whole internet thing would be a good way to get the word out about our little creation. Hey, it worked for South Park.

The response was incredible. I'll never forget the huge volume of emails we got praising the short, and we kept our fingers crossed that the short would be the basis for a series some day.

Well, that day took 4 years, but it finally happened. In early 2002, Sci Fi Channel picked it up for a series, but it was a bittersweet victory. Chuck and I were deemed expendable and the production went ahead without us. But despite this, we're happy that our little idea was liked by so many people, and we look back on that amazing day when we first saw the short, complete with finished soundtrack, with great fondness.