Yes, Will Vinton Productions animates more than just raisins. (They've since gone onto CGI and foam puppet animation) Here is a small sample of some of the many projects I worked on. All of the photo's are mine, but since the work was done while employed with W.V.P., all characters are copyrighted by them, the California Raisin Board, Alpo,Fuji...etc.,etc....yadda, yadda, yadda.

Alpo

This was for a commercial for Alpo's dog treats. The spokesdog was Alpo's Dan the Dog. The studio had to take a 2D graphic off of their package and turn it into a 3D clay character. Several people did Dan the Dog character studies to find the right look. The design that was approved was sculpted by Sheila Bailey.( a very talented illustrator, by the way) Once she finished it, I made the molds so we could cast as many Dan's as we needed. Above are a series of photo's showing the exciting animation process.

Here's what's typical of what you don't see on a clay animated character. Since this guy was never seen from behind in these shots, I could leave his back open to access all of the set screws that held his arms and legs to the armature. Aliesa Bloom and Tom Gurney also animated Dan shots. With the tight deadlines on your typical commercial, even a seemingly simple spot featuring one character will often have a team of many people animating the same character.

Fuji Videotape:

This was the Pitchman for Fuji's newest videotape (new in 1990). Chuck Duke was the primary animator of this character and I did the guys final tag line(dialogue). Chuck also designed this particular character. By some odd coincidence the Fuji man bore a resemblance to Chuck.

This is the last frame of the "oh no!' take. This shot cut to a 2D animated explosion effect. If I remember right, Doug Williams and/or Ray Nelson or Si D. Tran animated this.

Corn and Potato

This was a singing corn character who sang with a potato for short music video display at the Smithsonian Museum. Yes, really. It was part of an exhibit on the history of corn and potatoes in American agricultural history. Frankly, it sounded kind of dumb, but it turned out to be hilarious. The voice talent was great, and it was easy to animate him based on the actors reference film. Si D. Tran animated the potato character, and John Logue directed and animated additional shots. If you saw this at the Smithsonian, let me know what you thought.

If you look closely at this photo you will see all of the typical animators junk that is sitting just out of frame. First and foremost is the large bottomless cup of coffee. Yes, it's sad but true... many of your favorite animated moments were probably created by an animator hopped up on caffeine. Other items in the picture are all the sculpting tools I would use on this shot, as well as extra clay and replacement hands or other parts.

For those about to rock, we salute you.

(The sculpted clay curtain in the background is actually a large photo of the original set.  A picture is taken, then blown up and mounted on a piece of  styrofoam foamcore. This is an economical way to duplicate parts of sets without actually sculpting or casting them twice.)

Dole Fruit and Juice Bars:

The Cherry character from "Dole Fruit and Juice Bar" spot. This was one of a series of spots we did for a new product called interestingly enough, "Dole Fruit & Juice Bars". Christina Selles designed the character. Click here for more.