IsaaMation Interviews - Jim Schumann

Welcome to "IsaaMation Interviews" This is the multi-wiki show where i Interview various people involved with Creativity.

Today's guest is Jim Schumann. He was involved in a couple episodes of Twisted Tales of Felix. along with working on SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, King of the Hill, and many others!

How did you get started?

I actually started as an intern. There was the the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has a competition every year to bring interns out to Los Angeles to work at studios. And that was the first year that they offered traditional animation. So I applied for it.  I'm originally from Pennsylvania, right outside the Philadelphia area. And yeah, so I started as an intern. At that time there was no Internet, so you had to mail your application in.

So you would apply for it first and send copies of your work. And then the next stage was you had to do a video tape interview, you know, questions, pre set up questions.  And then they from there they would decide who based on that and your work, they would decide if you got the internship or not. And then you would go out. Yeah, it was for two months in the summer.  And the whole idea was to, you know, make connections, then do and work at a studio. I got a job at the same place, Film Roman.

What's your favorite thing to do at Film Roman?

I got a chance to do a lot at Film Roman and I would I think the favorite thing I got to do was directing, which was fun, but also I would have to say my favorite project, I did a lot of storyboarding with, like I said, directing project wise. Man, that's a great question. There was a lot of them. There was a lot of fun ones. Bobby's world was a was a blast to work. That was a lot of fun to work on. But it overall working at that studio was a was a great experience.

How was it like working on the Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat? cause I'm sure it was a lot of trouble production wise.

Yeah, it had it's issues. it was a fun idea. It was a great idea. But it did, it had a lot of issues in terms of how it was being produced. There was a lot of, a lot of talented people on it, you know, a lot of, a lot of really good folks that have gone on, you know, to really find careers. but it was challenging because at the time they were trying to find, you know, a lot of different studios to be able to produce it. And sometimes when that happens, things get spread out 'cause things get spread out a little too thin, you know, of course. So, but it was again, it was a really, really fun experience to do that.

My favorite episode was one that you directed, wrote, and storyboarded for. From what I heard it was called The Maltese Milkshake.

Thank you. I like working on that episode. Like where he was a detective. That was a lot of fun to to do that, To do something that was that different, you know, and to have it in black and white and the style that it was done in. It was fun to record the characters in that old film noir kind of feel to their voices and everything. and it had some funny jokes. I mean, you know, really, really fun jokes. And yeah, that was really a fun one. I enjoyed the whole thing, but probably the look of it, the fact it was in, you know, black and white.

Next up, we head to Nickelodeon. What was it like there?

I was there for a while. It was a blast. it had just, it had, it had been around, you know, Nickelodeon had been around, but they just opened this new studio in Burbank. It had a miniature golf course in the courtyard, a basketball court inside. it was really fun. If you had been inside, the colors were bright, you know, lots of Nickelodeon themed stuff. There was a a small Nickelodeon store inside the Studio. It was small, but it was fun. So usually like one day a week they would open the store, you know, and you could go in and buy stuff that wasn't, you know, available, you know, to the public. Everything from clocks to like that's where I got my 2 Angry Beaver plushies.

What was your favorite project when you were working at Nickelodeon?

I would say Angry Beavers, Yeah, that was a blast...No actually, you know what? I I have to take that back. I would say my first time being at Nickelodeon, I'd say Angry Beavers. The second time I was there was it has to be Robot And Monster. that was really fun. The folks that worked on it really enjoyed it.

As for Cartoon Network?

It was cool. I went over there to work on a couple. Johnny Bravo and then The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. It was a different, it was, it was kind of a it was, it was interesting because Nickelodeon was was two floors, you know, but it felt like a a single Story. The CN building was like really tall. And it was funny, 'cause the way they built it, you could go up to like, you know, the 4th or 5th floor or the second floor and look down, you know, there was like this kind of spiral thing. So, it was fun. It was really a, you know, fun place to work. A lot of talented people there as well.

A real darn shame they had to close it down, honestly.

Yeah, Yeah, it is. You know, it's a crazy business and who knows, you never know, you know, if something gets popular, they may they may bring it back. So fingers crossed.

I heard about your time at Dreamworks. What was it like there?

I had a great time. I was there for almost 10 years and it was when there was a big boom in animation for the last 9-10 years, you know, and I really enjoyed my time there again and a lot of the animation community, a lot of great people.

What do you like to do in your Spare time?

That's a great question. I really enjoy playing video games. I play a lot of sports games. I don't have, I don't have the finger dexterity to play some of the shooters and first person things. And I just, you know, meet up with friends and see what folks are doing. Try to take walks, try to stay active and, you know, try to catch up on anything I've missed working on a show or something like that. So yeah.

What was your favorite Felix episode to work on?

I mean, The Maltese Milkshake was really a lot of fun and then there was "Felix in Nightdrop Land". it was a lot of fun 'cause it had some live action footage in it. It was fun trying to find old footage from films, you know, to use. Back then we had VHS tapes that we would want to try to find. And then, yeah. So that was I think that was that was one of the most fun things about that one was going through those old films to find footage to use for it. And then, you know, kind of merging them together.

Thank you for your time, Jim. We really appreciate it.

THIS INTERVIEW WAS CONDUCTED BY ISAAC NELSON. All opinions expressed in the interview belong solely to the crew or cast member interviewed, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Wiki.