Cartoonist Berkeley Breathed Teams Up With Technicolor
Unlikely Duos Abound With ‘Pete And Pickles’ TV Series
Best known for the 1980s socio-political comic strip Bloom County, cartoonist Berkeley Breathed is no stranger to Hollywood. Boom County earned him the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning in 1987, and since then he has worked on several big projects, including the film version of his children’s book “Mars Needs Moms!”, which is being produced by Disney and Robert Zemeckis. Breathed is also no stranger to unlikely partnerships, as evidenced by his most recent book, “Pete & Pickles,” which pairs a free-spirited circus elephant and a no-nonsense pig in an unusual friendship. Now part of his own unlikely partnership, Berkeley Breathed is joining up with longtime film processing company Technicolor to produce an animated television series based on “Pete & Pickles.”
Breathed admits to being skeptical when he was approached by Tim Sarnoff, president of Technicolor’s newly formed digital production division and the former head of the visual effects house Sony Pictures Imageworks. Breathed said he just “never associated (Technicolor’s) name with production.” But Technicolor has been evolving from a provider of behind-the-scenes services like DVD production into creator of content, and Breathed was eventually charmed by Sarnoff’s enthusiasm. Breathed said, “there is nothing better than working for a company that is hungry and anxious to prove themselves.”
And as Breathed knows all too well, creative projects in Hollywood can be sparked from the unlikeliest of places. “Pete & Pickles” was itself inspired by a drawing (the evolution of which has been scanned to digital, see above) by Breathed’s 7-year-old daughter. Breathed and Technicolor understand that children’s animation is a risky business, because the likes and dislikes of young viewers are so difficult to predict, and more established companies like Nickelodeon and Disney completely dominate the industry.
But Technicolor and DreamWorks Animation partnered to create a computer animation studio in Bangalore, India, where most of “Pete & Pickles” will come to life. Breathed has been very impressed with the quality of animation coming from Technicolor India, as the studio is now called, is preparing a short treatment to present to networks this summer.
To stay up to date on this project, and to see more of Breathed’s art that has been scanned to digital, check out http://www.berkeleybreathed.com.
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