Who says animation doesn’t play on the radio? This Saturday, August 16, from 9 to 10am Pacific Time (12noon to 1pm Eastern), Joe of Sikotronic will be a guest on The Norman Bates Memorial Soundtrack Show. As a guest DJ, Joe will be programming the first hour with cartoon soundtracks, featuring the world radio premiere of the Major Mars March!

Written by Steve Sikoryak and performed by the Diablo Sandwich Band, this theme song is in the grand tradition of kids' cartoon shows like Roger Ramjet and Astro Boy---a delightful ditty that is guaranteed to replay in your head for days on end. You can also check out the sing-a-long version on YouTube.

Joe will also be playing wild and wacky background music sans sound effects and dialogue, from Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry, Teen Titans, Jonny Quest and so much more. The Norman Bates Memorial Soundtrack Show is hosted by Robert Emmett every Saturday from 9-12noon. Robert plays scores from movies, TV shows, radio and theater every Saturday morning—all the music you’ve come to trust over the course of several generations. Tune in at 89.7 FM, catch the simulcast on the web or go thru iTunes radio (under eclectic).

As they say, be careful what you wish for... We've posted three of our shorts on You Tube (just search for Sikotronic). There's the primordial After Effects effort Bus Stop Blues, which is interesting mainly because of how many other similarly-titled shorts are already posted; then there's Igor's Secret, another exercise in comic timing and recontextualizing existing characters to make a satirical point.

And finally, there's The Major Mars Sing-A-Long, the "music video" for The Cartoon Adventures... Since we've just begun entering competitions and have had very few public screenings to date, we don't want to give it all away just yet. But if you'd like to see the whole thing, there are copies for sale on our projects page...

Joe and Steve are heading to Wonderfest in Louisville, Kentucky on July 19-20, 2008 for the World Premiere of the Cartoon Adventures of Major Mars!  Bob Burns, the original Major Mars himself, will be an honored guest of the convention so come and join in the fun!

Steve meets with members of The Diablo Sandwich Band  (Chris, Paul, Rob) to thank them for their inspired recording of the Major Mars March, which plays over the cartoon's end credits. He presented the band with a gold (painted) record, in recognition of their singular achievement.

The Cartoon Adventures of Major Mars (Episode 13: Lightning Strikes Out!) premiered to great fanfare in Burbank, California on Sunday May 11, 2008! Specifically, Joe and Steve presented Bob Burns with the cartoon as a tribute to his own homage to Republic Serials entitled The Further Adventures of Major Mars which he created---GAD!---several decades ago. Bob had no idea the cartoon was in the works, and he was, to put it mildly, delighted with the result.

Tee Bosustow's name might ring familiar to animation fans—his dad and brother worked at the legendary UPA studio. But Tee (pictured below with his daughter Sylvie) has found his own calling, interviewing surviving members of the United Productions of America, as well as many other players in the animation scene. His site, Toon In… is a fantastic resource for animators, fans and students, particularly if you’re chained to a desk or drawing board anyway. (You can also subscribe via iTunes). He interviewed Joe in April during a swing thru the Bay Area.

Working with illustrator Ric Carrasquillo (who also designed the logo), Joe launched the CableCartoon, the official blog of ASIFA-SF, dedicated to covering the rich animation scene (and history) of the San Francisco Bay Area. Joe has been a member on and off since graduating from the animation program at S.F. State University in 1980, but he is a full-fledged volunteer today.

Inside UPA is a photographic celebration of one of animation history's most innovative and experimental animation studios, UPA Pictures. The book is designed and written by historian Amid Amidi, whose recent Cartoon Modern: Style and Design in Fifties Animation won the Theatre Library Association Award for best film book of 2006. Amid has personally selected the photos from the collections of UPA artists including Robert Cannon, Stephen Bosustow, and others. And Joe acted as photo editor, retouching and restoring these fragile mementos of animation history. You can still order the book here.

Gene Deitch (the legendary cartoonist, animator and all-around mensch) came to San Francisco to carry his message concerning motion-capture (it ain't animation, he says!), speaking to an enthusiastic crowd of ASIFA-SF members. Joe enjoyed the presentation and a pleasant conversation with Gene and other animators over dinner. 

Sikotronic has joined the ASIFA (the 46-year old international animation society) on both coasts---Joe as a member of ASIFA-SF (San Francisco) and Steve as a member of ASIFA-East (New York City). Now if we can just remember that ASIFA, in its native France, stands for Association International du Film d'Animation...

The maiden flight of the Major Mars Cruiser (below) was one of the early signs that The Cartoon Adventures was on a positive trajectory. We'd also like to think that George and Jane would have been proud to take a spin. 

After viewing Bob Burns' hilarious adventure serial spoof, The Further Adventures Of Major Mars, the Sikotronic team was inspired to begin their first complete project, which would bring Bob's "heroic" character to new animated life. Best of all, the cartoon would be a surprise for Bob, in appreciation for his generosity towards sci-fi fans everywhere. 

       

Working their way north from the San Diego Comic Con, the Sikoryak boys' trip wouldn't have been complete without taking in the sights and experiences of sc-fi historian/archivist Bob Burns' legendary basement...filled with an amazing collection of props, masks and models from 75 years of fantasy filmmaking.

The Sikoryak Bros converged from points north and east to take in the big show in San Diego...There were lots of people to see (Hey there's Ray Harryhausen---and Kyle Baker---and Isabel Samaras!) and neat stuff to buy...but not as many comics as you might expect. Rob did his bit moderating a panel for Nickelodeon magazine with his editor and pal Chris.

In anticipation of their debut at the San Diego Comic Con, the brothers launched their website, sikotronic.com, as the platform for animation and future fun projects. Initially dubbed "Space-Age Animation" (Space Age? When was that, like, 50 years ago?) Sikotronic would eventually find that tagline too limiting. But it made for an affectionate homage to our childhoods (and would not be the last...).

The Sikotronic team had a lot of crazy ideas, and eventually decided to place them all into an animated comic anthology series, entitled Interstate 6 7/8. It was intended to mix the best elements of The Twilight Zone and Fractured Fairy Tales, with a decidedly contemporary sensibility.

With some basic training in After Effects under their belts, the brothers tackled Bus Stop Blues. A modest effort, it combined crude drawings and rough animation techniques with a weekend's worth of effort to become the first sikotronic short. "Whaddya know---it woiks!"

During the first quarter of 2006, the Sikotronic team began to earn their chops "retracing" the traditional animation steps -- pencil sketches, storyboards, and brief animated sequences... many of which would later provide the basis for an as-yet-untitled series.

In November 2005, the Sikoryak Bros. decided to put their years of creative experience (to say nothing of their considerable cathode ray exposure) to a new purpose: They established Sikotronic, linking their studios on the east coast and west coast to create animated entertainment...