“Book publishers send me out to schools all the time. And the kids there always ask me how they can get a job like mine. And my answer is: Put your stuff up on the Web. Because you never know who’s going to see it.”
Trust me, folks. Noah Z. Jones knows of what he speaks. You see, this illustrator of terrific children’s books like “Those Shoes” and “Not Norman: A Goldfish Story” was enjoying a relatively quiet life in Camden, Maine back in 2007. When – one day – The Walt Disney Company came calling.
“I had set up a few websites online where I was showcasing my art. Then one day, I get this e-mail from Mike Moon, who’s the VP of Animated Series at the Disney Channel,” Jones explained. “And Mike says ‘I love your artwork. Have you ever thought of doing anything in television?’ And the next thing I know, I’m being asked to pitch six ideas for a brand-new animated TV series.”
Noah Z. Jones at a 2008 book signing for
“Not Norman: A Goldfish Story”
So Noah sends Mike six premises for TV shows. And among those ideas is “Fish Hooks,” the inventive animated series that premieres on the Disney Channel tonight at 9 p.m. ET / PT.
Mind you, it took three-and-a-half years for “Fish Hooks” to go from being that rough idea that Jones quickly sketched out for Disney executives to becoming this sweet, silly yet sophisticated show (which uses an innovative mix of digital animation and photo collage to give this new Disney Channel series a very distinctive look). But you won’t hear Noah complaining about the glacial pace of television animation production.
“You have to understand that I come from the world of children’s book publishing. Where you send all of your artwork off to the publisher and – one year later – they then send you back a complimentary copy of the finished book,” Jones said. “So to now work in a world where you send storyboards off to be animated and – three to four months later -a fully animated cartoon comes back, that seems positively zippy to me.”
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So how did Jones celebrate when – earlier this month – “Fish Hooks” was previewed right after “Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam” aired? To be honest, all of Noah’s ambitious plans for that night got derailed by the flu.
“I had such big plans for that night. But then I got sick,” Noah laughed. “So instead of partying with my friends and family, I wound up sitting on the couch as I watched this episode with my wife and drank Theraflu .”
Speaking of episodes, I asked Jones which “Fish Hooks” episode he thought might appeal most to Disney fans. And he immediately talked about the upcoming show where Oscar hits his head & then dreams that he’s traveled back in time to a medieval fish tank.
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“That one should really appeal to Disney fans. Given that ‘Fish Hooks’ art director studied “Sleeping Beauty” – especially Eyvind Earle’s backgrounds for that animated feature – to get that medieval look just right,” Noah continued. “Mind you, the reason that I myself ike this particular episode is that – in order to rescue the princess – Oscar has to battle a dragon fish. Which, you have to admit, is a pretty funny idea.
There are lots of other fun episodes of “Fish Hooks” in the pipeline. Like the one where Clamantha falls in love with a laptop. Speaking of Clamantha: Jones is quick to praise people like Alex Hirsch (who not only voices this crazy clam but also directed the pilot for this new Disney Channel series) who helped make this animated show look so polished and professional.
“I work with so many talented people on ‘Fish Hooks.’ People who have years & years of experience when it comes to animation,” Noah said. “Which is why I feel so fortunate as to have landed a gig like this. Where artists, animators and writers take the characters & settings that I created and then use those to produce this great looking animated series.”
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But that’s just Jones being modest. After all, if Mike Moon hadn’t seen something special in all that artwork that Noah was displaying on those websites back in 2007, he’d have never thought to ask Jones to propose some premises for a new Disney Channel series.
But to Jones’ way of thinking, it wasn’t his artistry that made his relocation to Southern California (which – thanks to all the palm trees – looks a little too much for “Jurassic Park” for Noah’s liking. “I keep expecting dinosaurs to come stomping out of the underbrush,” Jones smiled) possible. It was the magic of the Internet that made this move from Maine to Hollywood happen.
“Normally, as an artist, I would have had to pound on hundreds of doors before I ever got an opportunity like this. But – instead – thanks to those websites, it was Disney that sought me out. This opportunity came to me. All because of the Internet,” Noah concluded. “I totally lucked out.”
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Well, you can judge for yourself whether it was luck or artistic skill that ultimately led Disney Channel executives to greenlight “Fish Hooks.” Which is set inside of a giant fish tank at Bud’s Pet Shop. Where BFFs Bea, Milo and Oscar deal with all the typical triumphs & traumas that tweens encounter when they enter high school.
And if you like what you see with “Fish Hooks” … Well, you have the Internet, rather than a fishing net, to thank. Or says Noah Z. Jones.
Your thoughts?