erikwiese

[erikwiese]

I Directed the new Peanuts Musical! Coming July 18!

So thrilled to finally share this! I directed the brand-new Peanuts musical special coming to Apple TV+ on July 18, 2025! The announcement came out through all major media outlets. Especially stoked to see it in The Hollywood Reporter, Animation Magazine, and Animation World Network. 

This is the first Peanuts musical in 35 years—and my directorial debut in the Peanuts universe. Truly a dream come true.

We had the amazing Ben Folds writing songs (yes, really!), with additional music by Alan Zachary & Michael Weiner, and a gorgeous score by Jeff Morrow. The script is by Craig and Bryan Schulz, and their longtime collaborator Cornelius Uliano—all of them brought so much heart to this.

Huge love to the entire team at WildBrain—what we’ve made is a celebration of everything people love about Peanuts, with a fresh new musical twist. I can’t wait for you all to see it. 

More to come—but mark your calendars for July 18!

#Peanuts #Snoopy #PeanutsSpecial #PeanutsMusical #Musical #AppleTVPlus #ErikWiese #BenFolds #AlanZachary #MichaelWeiner #BroadwayMusical  #AnimationDirector #MusicalSpecial #PeanutsGang #WildBrain #2Danimation #AnimationNews #CharlesSchulz #PeanutsForever #HollywoodReporter #AnimationMagazine #AnimationWorldNetwork

[erikwiese]

Hello everyone, I'd like to share some exciting news about my wife's project, Cynthia True, her documentary podcast called Blow-Up: "When Liz Tilberis Transformed Bazaar." Last Thursday, her podcast was featured in a 35-second segment on Extra, discussing the premiere of the podcast. It's starting to get some momentum and reaching some more news outlets. But I wanted to also spread the word here on Tumblr. I hope you listen to it on Apple Podcasts and leave a 5-star rating. It would be super helpful! Thank you!

[erikwiese]

Nominated for Best Direction, Sonic Prime

Well, this is cool. The Leo Awards has nominated me in the best directing category with Logan McPherson for Sonic Prime's “Avoid The Void.” Yeah, I’m stoked.

[erikwiese]

Grey DeLisle: Cartoon Cowgirl, AMA

Hey, look! My pal Grey DeLisle, the voice behind most of your favorite cartoon characters, has just launched a Patreon page, Cartoon Cowgirl, and she asked me to create her page! Aw, shucks. It was a rare opportunity for me, as I never get to do an illustration around a concept like this. I'm also a big fan of her music and can't stop listening to her latest, Driftless Girl. 

Please check it out at patreon.com/CartoonCowgirl. Grey's going to be hosting a monthly live AMA, Campfire Coffee, for anyone who wants to talk cartoons, comic cons, and country music. 

Her first AMA is on Wednesday, May 1 at 5:30p PT / 7:30p CT/ 8:30p ET!

Grey is a multitalented performer and artist. You've likely heard her voice in some of your favorite cartoons. She's voiced characters like Daphne in "Scooby Doo," Azula in "Avatar: The Last Airbender," Sam Manson in "Danny Phantom," Catwoman in "Batman: Arkham Series," Grandma Sanchez in "Book of Life," Lana, Lola, and Lily Loud in "The Loud House," "Vicky in "The Fairly Oddparents," Mandy in "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy," Bumblebee and Setsu Oiwa in Studio Ghibli's "When Marnie was There." I could go on, but you get it. 

I forgot how much I love to do this. The poster shows all my influences: old Disney, Hawley Pratt, Norman McGary (Hanna Barbera), Gil Elvgren (the pin-up god), Erich Sokol, and Edmond Kiraz from their Playboy illustrations, the opening of "Bewitched" and "I Dream of Jeannie," and, of course, "Ren & Stimpy." 

I wanted the poster to look textured and retro because it matches Grey's vintage country music vibe. Because of that, I used a lot of rough pencil lines for the drawing and painted with dry-brush techniques. It took me a few days because I was rusty, but I'm happy with the final (until I tool with it at 3 a.m.) I hope you like it and will visit Cartoon Cowgirl, which is now live.

Her first AMA is on Wednesday, May 1 at 5:30p PT / 7:30p CT/ 8:30p ET!

[erikwiese]

The Search For SpongeBob

Today at CinemaCon, we got the first look at the SpongeBob movie teaser poster/logo.

It's nice to be back in Bikini Bottom and working again with some good friends I haven't worked with in a long time—many of the original members. Although, lots of emotions too.

Missing you Steve.

[erikwiese]

Animatic vs. Final Picture:

Charlie Brown vs. Peppermint Patty

"Hey there Chuck, old boy. I thought I’d ride through and see if you’re ready to lose another pennant to the better half of the neighborhood tomorrow.”

Baseball season is here and I’m thinking about one of my favorite recent projects, “It’s the Small Things, Charlie Brown,” directed by my hugely talented friend, Raymond Persi. I’m very proud to have been its Head of Story.

When I joined the team, I jumped at the chance to board a scene where Peppermint Patty and her crew ride their bikes all over Charlie Brown’s baseball field, trying to psych him out before the big game. I had a great time drawing these two cartoon titans mad-dogging each other.

So here it is: a video comparing the storyboard to the final version. I hope you enjoy it! (P.S. Go Doyers!!!)

[erikwiese]

SONIC PRIME: MEGA MIX

Last Christmas, I made what some would call a Sonic Prime "fan edit." I didn't set out to make one, but it all began when I experimented with a few glitch apps on my iPhone while listening to my Spotify techno mix and using some Sonic footage stored on my phone. Before I knew it, I'd fallen down a rabbit hole, and it quickly developed into a full-on music video.

I've always listened to Techno, Industrial, EBM, or old-school gutter Punk whenever I would draw Sonic storyboards. It always sets the mood for drawing action scenes. One song in particular that always got the best drawings out of me was Expo 2000 by Kraftwerk (Orbital mix), so I set my edits to that one. The result is a Sonic Prime megamix music video encompassing all three seasons (just the highlights from episodes I got to direct/more or less) in under five minutes. It might be the best way to watch season three. 💣 😅

So here it is. I hope you enjoy the edit.

For more videos, check out my YouTube page: ErikWieseCreative

#SonicPrime #SonicPrimeMix #sonicprimeedit #SonicPrimeFanEdit #SonicTheHedgehog #ShadowTheHedgehog #RustyRose #TailsNine #ChaosCouncil #Techno #Electronica #ElectronicBodyMusic #ErikWiese #ErikWieseCreative

[erikwiese]

SONIC PRIME "AVOID THE VOID" STORYBOARD COMPARISON

Inspired by what some of my colleagues have posted to Tumblr and IG, I’ve put together this side-by-side comparison of my Sonic Prime storyboards and the final animation. This clip is the climactic ending to “Avoid The Void,” an episode I’m particularly proud of. It’s the first one of Season Two, where Sonic and Shadow finally meet in the Shatterverse. It’s the moment their storyline, which started in Season One, connects and leads to a vicious no-holds-barred punk rock brawl!

I wasn’t supposed to direct this episode, as I had already moved on to direct a Peanuts special for Apple+ (though continued as EP on season two, but not on season three), but this episode fell into my lap due to a glitch in the schedule. So it was Peanuts by day, Sonic by night, with three weeks to build the animatic with the storyboard team. Because we had half the time we usually have, we kept our boards rough, rarely tying down a drawing. Anyway, what’s the point of doing tight drawings when it’s going to be CG, right?

Below, a still from act three of Avoid the Void, when Sonic blasts out of the Ghost World/Ghost Green Hill.

From the early stages, when Man of Action was breaking out this episode, it was clear that this one had the potential to be something big and cinematic. Set in the surreal world of the Shatterspace, it combined weighty emotional drama with intense action. At long last, it was also the big Shadow episode that fans had been patiently waiting for!

The photo below is a screen-cap from a Zoom record of Sonic Prime's "Avoid The Void." All the voice actors are Canadian. While Duncan (one quarter of Man Of Action) and I are in Los Angeles. Seen here are (left to right) Devon Mack, Erik Wiese, Duncan Rouleau, Andrew Duncan, James Corrigall, and Ian "Shadow" Hanlin. 

Below are some storyboard panels I drew from the opening sequence from Avoid The Void. I had to add spot color because I wanted to give the feeling of the void and also because of the different colors of the gateways.

I hope you enjoy this behind-the-scenes look at Sonic Prime.

P.S. A shout-out to the hugely talented STORYBOARD TEAM and ANIMATION CREW! You guys rock!

[erikwiese]

I'm now on Instagram.

I've started a public account on Instagram so come and follow me @erik.wiese.creative I'll be posting a lot more in the coming weeks as we get closer to the Sonic Prime premiere. I'll post some of my storyboards and animation and even some behind the scenes photos. As well as some work from SpongeBob, Samurai Jack, Minions and many more. I hope you’ll also follow me there too.

[erikwiese]

Danny Phantom "Mystery Meat"

As threatened, here’s an old Danny Phantom board I found. There may be more in the garage, but this is what I’ve got for now: the first episode, “Mystery Meat.”

I vividly remember boarding this pilot because I’d been over at Cartoon Network doing Samurai Jack, and this project brought me back to Nickelodeon where I met my wife, who was a writer on The Fairly OddParents. (She asked for one of my drawings, I gave her the one below, and then we went on a date.) 

My board process for this was very much like what I did on Samurai Jack—I drew small which kept me from getting too detailed while on a deadline.

*(PAPER, PENCIL AND SCOTCH TAPE.)

I would usually blow up my board on the Xerox (hey-o!),  and then pitch to Butch Hartman, the crew, and the network all at once. Based on the feedback, we’d tweak it before going to final. We didn’t do animatics on Phantom; instead we’d transcribe the dialogue to the exposure sheets and our timing directors would time out the animation. This is how it was done back in the day at Hanna-Barbera, which is where Butch started out. The breakout character Sam Manson was voiced by the brilliant Grey DeLisle. 

And here we have the "Mystery Meat" thumbnail boards. Enjoy!

Follow me on Twitter: @MrErik23

[erikwiese]

It's also the big things, Charlie Brown. (my failed Emmys submission)

Well, Emmys season happened and, in true Charlie Brown style, I didn't win. I didn't even get nominated. But I'm posting my submission because I'm proud of these boards for "It's the Small Things, Charlie Brown." By the way, if you haven't seen this special, directed by Raymond Persi (Extinct; Zootopia, voice of Flash) check it out on AppleTV+.

This sequence, which is the emotional peak of the episode, requires Charlie Brown to chase after Sally, apologize to her, and then reveal the transformation of the baseball field—which Sally learns she herself inspired with her protection of a single dandelion. 

The setting drove the staging. I was inspired by a real-life baseball field near my home. Standing on the hillside that surrounds it, I could imagine the grand reveal of the transformed baseball field with Charlie Brown having brought a dejected Sally back to the hilltop for the final scene.

Working back from that, when Charlie Brown accidentally kills the dandelion and a very hurt Sally walks away holding her dead flower, we stay with Sally as she walks down a street under a canopy of beautiful trees; however, as she walks further down, we lose the pleasing green and go darker to reflect her emotional state. 

As for Charlie Brown, when he chases after Sally, I shot it so that the audience always sees the light at the end of the tunnel behind him. I wanted to show that behind him is where happiness lies. It’s as if he’s going into the darkness to rescue Sally and return her to something happy and light.

While running for Sally, his hat falls off. He doesn’t stop to grab his hat because Sally is more important to him than baseball. His priorities have shifted. 

When Charlie Brown catches up to Sally, she refuses to face him. He has to apologize to her back. I deviated a little bit from classic Peanuts staging here and shot the conversation more like a drama—a two-shot where we’re looking at Charlie Brown over Sally’s shoulder as he tries to explain himself. I wanted the audience to clearly see his effort as well as her move toward understanding in this tense sibling moment. 

When they return to the hill looking over the baseball field, I wanted it to feel sort of magical. The sun is setting, the field looks idyllic, and Sally’s dead dandelion opens one more time, completing its transformation and releasing its seeds, the cycle of life up close.

This called for a wide-open shot to get a sense of something larger at stake and to suggest emotional growth for brother and sister as we wrapped up our story. 

If you haven’t seen it yet go check it out on AppleTVplus. It’s a beautiful special with a great musical number composed by Ben Folds. You’re gonna love it.

It's The Small Things, Charlie Brown, Directed by Raymon Persi, Written by Josh Saltzman, Bryan Schulz, Craig Schulz, Cornelius Uliano. Produced by WildBrain.

[erikwiese]

Getting closer. Our boy's gaining speed...

https://twitter.com/MrErik23

[erikwiese]

SPONGEBOB SEASON 9, "KENNY THE CAT"

My TV animation career pretty much started with the SpongeBob pilot, so now and again, I like to stop by Bikini Bottom to see what’s going on. On one of those visits, about ten years ago, I storyboarded an episode called Kenny The Cat, written by my pals Zeus Cervas and Casey Alexander and produced by Paul Tibbit and Vince Waller. Guest voice by Biz Markie (RIP).

After a few inquires on Twitter, I figured I’d upload it for anyone who wants to check it out. Keep in mind that it’s an old-school storyboard that’s transitioning to digital. The panel BGs are a desaturated yellow because we used to draw on Post-It notes and I found it comforting.  

You’ll see on the boards some animation and timing notes, which is a little unusual—that’s usually done during charactor layout—but because I started out as an animator I can’t help myself. Does this sometimes alienate people? Oh yes. 

Although this particular episode was my first digital storyboard, I drew it traditionally: three panels to a page as we had always done on paper. It had only been a few years since Storyboard Pro came out but I didn’t have the time to learn it and also meet my deadline. Fortunately, the show hadn’t changed over to STBpro yet either, so I did the whole thing in Alias Sketchbook Pro. I really liked how simple and easy the application was to use, and I still use it a lot today. 

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ENTIRE BOARD.

[erikwiese]

It's over 90 degrees here in Southern California this weekend, the perfect moment to post some refreshing beach scenes from a few of the promotional 2D shorts I directed for Minions: The Rise of Gru, out July 1!

I got to do a range of really cool projects at Illumination, between co-directing a theme park ride (something I'd never imagined), directing international commercials and doing a ton of these 2D Minions shorts, where you're executing one central gag, a 'classic' format I love. I think we made close to 25 of these--I lost count!

The shorts that were released here in the US didn't include the title cards, so I wanted to share of few of them here. For many of these, I drew the layout with Tidawan and Sophie Crowley, both hugely talented, doing the final color.

Most of them were made back in 2018 in preparation for the Minions: the Rise of Gru release, originally slated for...2020. They were mostly for the Chinese territories, specifically their Migu Internet Cafes, but were later repurposed for the Illumination YouTube channel, where you can watch almost all of the shorts. Some are still to be released.

And because many of the shorts don't have credits, I want to list them here.

BEACH BALL, Written and storyboarded by Tom King. Backgrounds by Sophie Crowley and me. Title-card by Sophie Crowley and me

CASTAWAY 1, Written by Derek Drymon and me. Storyboard by Jay Lender and me. Backgrounds by Tidawan T. Title-card by Tidawan T and me.

CASTAWAY 2, Written by Derek Drymon. Storyboard by Tom King and me. Backgrounds by Tidawan T. Title-card by Tidawan.

[erikwiese]

Samurai Jack Thumbnails

I was cleaning out my dungeon this weekend and I found a small stack of my Samurai Jack thumbnails for the episode "Birth of Aku." What you see here is old technology: pencil on paper. That's how we used to make cartoons, kid.

I drew these in 2002. I believe this was my last board before leaving CN to head back to Nickelodeon. It's a first pass at a sequence when Jack's father, The Emperor, is held captive in Aku's dead forest, forced to hear his village being destroyed. His primal scream is heard by the gods, who free him and then extract his spirit to forge the sword that will defeat Aku and later belong to Samurai Jack.

The thumbnails here are not what's in the final version. What you see here was an idea where the monks from the opening title sequence are gods who can take different forms.

Because the thumbnails are small, I made a quick animatic for you to see. It doesn't have audio and the timing is rough.

[erikwiese]

OFO featuring Les Minions

July is right around the corner, which means we're starting to see the second phase of marketing for the premiere of Minions: The Rise of Gru. So I thought I'd post a short commercial I did in 2017 for the Despicable Me 3 marketing campaign. This one is for the OFO public bikes that used to be in several major cities. This commercial was for a campaign in China; you can see the Beijing skyline in the background.

It was important to the client that we see the skyline, but we didn't have time to generate Beijing CG environments. Instead, I combined stylized 2D environments with the CG character animation, and I think it came out pretty well. Six Point Harness (6PH) did all the 2D and final comp while MacGuff in Paris did all the CG.

As part of this marketing campaign, thousands of Minions bikes were made and distributed all over China.

Ofo has since gone out of business.

[erikwiese]

KICK BUTTOWSKI - THUMBNAIL BOARD “SNOW PROBLEM” (PART 1)

Here’s another sample board from Kick Buttowski. This time, it’s the first act of “Snow Problem,” (Written by Derick Dressler & Eric Rivera, Directed by Clay Morrow. Created and Produced by Sandro Corsaro.)

I had such a blast working on Kick Buttowski. It’s not often that you get to work on an action show that has a cartoony look to it with really high standards for animation. Plus you get to draw things like Kick getting chased by an avalanche or riding a flying jacuzzi through a forest! Things like that are usually relegated to anime or feature animation.