Skip to main content

Ironman, Mt. Rushmore, GoAnimate Quick Apps

What used to be called 'Type a Video' animations is now known as 'Quick Apps' on GoAnimate. The apps have been upgraded to include a limited range of facial expressions and, if you're a GoPlus user, some apps will even let you use your own custom Lil' Peepz or Comedy World Custom Characters.

That's how I came to make Ironman Vs Metal Detector...

Ironman Vs Metal Detector by etourist

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

If you've seen my previous post, Cleaning Out my GoAnimate Account - Unused and Unfinished, you'll recognise this sketch as a kind of sequel to the Super Charge/Superman metal detector sketch in my Unused and Unfinished animation. In fact that particular scene is directly referenced in the Ironman sketch.

You may also recognise my Ironman character (well as close as you can get to Ironman with GoAnimate's Comedy World Character Creator) from my Charlie Sheen animation, Charlie Sheen agrees to Rehab. I've been looking for a reason to use him again since Comedy World characters cost real money to buy and he only had a cameo role in the Charlie animation.

Ironman Vs Metal Detector has been received remarkably well (55 recommendations in 5 days) for a Quick App animation. Typically Quick Apps struggle to get views due to their visual similarity. Except for the script people have generally seen all the animation many times over.

I like to think it's the script writing that has been the major player but I'm sure it didn't hurt that both characters are custom Comedy World Characters and therefore haven't been seen many times over. Also Ironman's popularity with two kick ass movies may be something of a draw card too.

Long Time Waiting...

Another of GoAnimate's Quick Apps takes popular culture and familiar icons/items and gives them a voice with Talking Picz. I first used this theme in Smart Phones - Lost. This time I take an alternative look at Mount Rushmore with its Presidential sculptures. They're not really a tourist attraction, they've just been waiting for so long they've become one...

Long Time Waiting... by etourist

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

Mt. Rushmore from the Canadian Side.
This animation was inspired by an image that's been doing the rounds of social media for a while now called 'Mt Rushmore from the Canadian side' which forces you to think differently about the monument in a very humorous idea.

I happened to be looking at the Mt Rushmore image on GoAnimate and suddenly thought the arrangement of the heads look remarkably like people queuing.

I did a bit of research on Mt. Rushmore and discovered that each head was dedicated in a different year (those are the years mentioned in the animation) with Lincoln's head being dedicated before Roosevelt's. Giving a bit of factual credence to Theo's queue jumping.

From there I did a bit more research on each President to see if I could incorporate more historic references relating to each one such as Theodore's catch phrase 'speak softly but carry a big stick' and linking Jefferson to his authorship of the Declaration of Independence.

It's always risky linking humor to historical references because it can kill the joke flat if people don't know what you're referring to. Hopefully my references aren't too obscure or there's still enough there to find funny if you aren't familiar with the history.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Eight 2D Animation Apps For Your Phone or Tablet Mobile Device

M obile productivity apps have become so capable that they can be great alternatives to their PC/MAC equivalents or serve as great tools in their own right when you're away from your desk. While some apps simply mimic their desktop counterparts, others offer well thought out, touch-friendly interfaces that are easier and more fun to use. Every so often I check out what's available for 2D animation for Android devices, since that's what I use, that can complement my workflow with Reallusion's Cartoon Animator 5. Some may be available for Apple devices as well. Below I've listed six free (F) apps (with optional paid (P) upgrades) on the Google Play Store that you might want to explore. Some are just fun apps on their own while others may be useful as part of your workflow on bigger animation projects. Not all are exclusively animation apps and could be used on any production. JotterPad (F/P) The name JotterPad makes this sound like a notepad application but it's ...

Inochi2D - Free Open Source 2D VTuber Avatar Rigging and Puppeteering Software (Part 2 - Inochi2D Session)

In part one of my deep dive into the free VTuber software, Inochi2D , I focused mainly on Inochi2D Creator, which is used for rigging your character avatar in the correct file format for use with Inochi2D Session, the puppeteering part of the software. The two sides of the software are still very much in development and the documentation, particularly for Session, is very thin on the ground. To the point where I don't think I could even do a comprehensive tutorial because I'm not sure I'm even doing things right, and the software could change significantly in a single update. As a result, in this part of my Inochi2D deep dive I'm changing tact from presenting my finished Cartoon Animator TET Avatar, and will be summarizing my experience of getting Session up and running using OpenSeeFace as the recommended webcam motion capture software. To do this I will be using  the TET avatar I created in my review of Mannequin , since that can be exported as a full, ready to go r...

Inochi2D - Free Open Source 2D VTuber Avatar Rigging and Puppeteering Software (Part 1)

Inochi2D Creator - Free Open Source VTuber Software. If you've been looking for a way to live perform as a 2D cartoon avatar on camera, whether it be for a live stream or for pre-recorded content like educational videos, then VTuber software is a low cost (or even no cost) option worth looking into. In my previous post, How to Become a VTuber - 2D and 3D Software for Creating and Controlling Your Avatar , I took a brief look at the relatively new but completely free and open source Inochi2D  which I thought showed great potential for my own needs of creating a live performance character rig for my own TET Avatar that I use for all my promotional materials. While it is possible to live perform my character using Cartoon Animator itself, Reallusion's MotionLive2D capture system isn't great - with lip sync in particular. More importantly though, I can't exactly teach people how to use Cartoon Animator if I'm using Cartoon Animator to control my Avatar. What is Inochi2D...

KIT Scenarist - Free, Open Source, Screenwriting Software that Helps Research Your Ideas Too

KIT Scenarist Script Writing Software's Mascot, Alexander Cat. While you can write a script in any word processing app, if you're writing stories (screenplays) that feature characters and dialogue, a dedicated script writing app can save a lot of time formatting, letting you focus more on the actual story. Script writing apps are also very useful if you plan to send your screenplays out to production companies, or if you're collaborating with actors and other production people, who are used to scripts being in a particular standard format.  [Note: In case you're wondering there are reasons scripts follow a standard format and are always written in Courier (typewriter) font, including but not limited to; being easy to read by actors, plenty of space for notes, and the general rule that one page of a script (in this format) equals approximately one minute of screen time.] KIT Scenarist , in my opinion, is one of the best script writing apps out there for ease of use, simp...

The Ultimate Independent Animator's App and Resource List - Animation and Video Life

Image created with Cartoon Animator 4. Being an independent animator is not like a studio animation job. There's so much more to do that is indirectly related to the actual task of animating. Over the years I've sought out many apps, tools, and services that can help me achieve that one single task, expressing myself through animation. Below is my Ultimate Independent Animator's Resource List for 2024 (last updated Oct 2024). It started out as a list of free or low cost apps that could help you in every stage of producing either 2D or 3D animation, and then just kind of grew from there. You may not have been looking for a Time Management App as much as you needed something to get you started in 3D animation but when those commissioned projects start coming in you'll have a head start on maximizing your time. All the apps and services on this list had to meet two main criteria: They had to be useful and relevant to an Indy Animator/artist. The base app/se...

Harry Chalk - Secret Agent on GoAnimate

Harry Chalk - Secret Agent is my latest animated short on GoAnimate and, although it looks fairly straight forward to regular GoAnimaters, there's a lot of behind the scenes tricks that newer GoA members might find useful in their own productions. So sit back and settle in. This article is probably going to be a long one! The Premise Mathew is your typical student who finds school boring and passes his time in class with an over active imagination. However sometimes the line between imagination and reality gets a little fuzzy - especially where Secret Agent, Harry Chalk is concerned. Inspiration Believe it or not Harry Chalk started out as a planned GoAnimate tutorial on script writing/story development - hence the classroom setting. Whilst animating chalk stick figures on a blackboard is certainly not a new idea - I'm sure Warner Brother's and Disney have both done something similar at some point in their cartoons - it occurred to me that GoAnimate's stick...

Wonder Unit Storyboarder - Free Storyboarding Software for People Who Can (or Can't) Draw

Wonder Unit Storyboarder.  As an independent and solo animator I'm always tempted to try and skip storyboarding my animated shorts because they're usually only single scene sketch comedy type jokes. As a result I have many unfinished projects that kind of petered out due to having no clear finishing line. Storyboarding your productions, no matter how small, gives you a step by step guide of every shot that needs to be completed (no planning shots as you animate). It also allows you to create an animatic that gives you a rough preview of the finished production. In short, you shouldn't skip storyboards as they, generally, increase the chance of the project being completed. Disclaimer - I'm Not a Fan of Storyboarder Upfront, Wonder Unit's Storyboarder  is not my preferred storyboarding software. However it's completely free, has a number of very compelling featu...