Cerebus Film: An Epic Journey
2007 - 2012
Story written by Carma Chan*
Smashwords Ebook Edition, License Notes
This digital file is a short, non-fiction story about a comic book movie in progress, due for release in 2012. This ebook file is licensed for your personal library only. Share only the link, or suggest to others that they search Smashwords for Cerebus. If you are reading this ebook and you did not download it from Smashwords or their distribution channels (Apple, Barnes & Noble, Diesel, Kobo, Sony, and others listed at Smashwords); if you downloaded this file from an unauthorized web site, please report the piracy to carma.author@gmail.com or to the Cerebus film crew via their Facebook pate.
Share this URL: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/30179
*Copyright Notice: This author has undergone a legal name change in 2012, to forever honor the parents who raised her with unconditional love and kindness: Ruth Carrol Gagné and John Wang Leong Chan. Copyrights previously owned by Carma Yvonne Dillon (1958) are the now part of the estate that belongs to Carma Gagné Chan and her son Keath.
Cover Design: Lord Julius and Cerebus the Aardvark are characters created by Dave Sim, and are used here with permission from Dave Sim and the Cerebus film crew; details at the Production Blog of Cerebus3D.com and Facebook.com/CerebusFilm.
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Introduction
The purpose of this short, unusual non-fiction story is to inform the Arts & Entertainment community, movie lovers and especially fans of comic book movies, about an extraordinary bunch of dudes, mostly guys, all geeks; a self-made team of ‘indies’ who are making history.
Nothing quite like the Cerebus film project has ever tried, let alone conceived by sane entrepreneurs. The alpha male leading this pack on a personal quest to feast on Mount Everest summit gopher, an elusive glorified rat, is Oliver Simonsen, better known as “Captain Zap”. Simonsen’s individual life story is fascinating and inspirational in itself, however, the writer’s purpose for this ebook is to focus on one aspect of aardvarkian history: that a movie is coming out and there are reasons every movie lover should see it, regardless of genre.
Forget that you do not know who or what Cerebus is. Forget that he is an aardvark who became the Pope. Most of the people who saw the teasers for The Watchmen and wanted to see that movie did not know was once a comic book (some prefer ‘graphic novel series’, but that is twice as many syllables and harder for the mental tongue to pronounce). Cerebus is an aardvark, a barbarian warrior, a puppet, a pauper, a poet, a king, a lover, and a historical 300-issue comic book created and self-published by a masterful Canadian illustrator and storyteller, Dave Sim, who blazed the trail we have today for independent publishing and distribution of this pop art.
This non-fiction story is free to the public and dedicated to the coolest crew of geeks in the world. “Free to the public” does not imply that anyone can distribute it. Only Smashwords is authorized to distribute this digital file. If you offer this story in any unauthorized manner, your abusive, disrespectful behavior will be reported by the author to your domain host and to the FBI, and compensation for unauthorized use of others’ creativity to promote yourself, your site, or others will be publicly demanded. As stated in the license notes above, readers who want to share this should provide only the link or suggest to others a search at Smashwords.com. The reason for this is that our indie publisher and distributor, Smashwords, is paying to host a domain that provides valuable tools and services, and out of loyalty and respect, we believe Mark Coker and his team deserve to have visitors browse their site in exchange for the use of the ebook conversion tool and distribution arrangement to premium channels such as Apple, B&N, etc.
This ebook page is the easiest way for the Cerebus film crew to explain what on God’s Green Earth they are doing and why. No doubt they have had their ears chewed about working without pay or contract, on a crazy idea like this! Thank heaven for geeks. Without them, we would never have such choice, poignant, rich, deep, concise morsels as Spock saying, “Fascinating.”
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“Admit that your own private Mount Everest exists. That is half the battle.”
–Hugh MacLeod
Look for the Cerebus film crew at Comikaze Expo 2012 in Los Angeles! Rumor has it, Dave Sim may be there to personally interact with fans and offer photo opportunities and autographs. We need only 2,000 signatures to accomplish this. Please sign the petition and consider it a vote for creative freedom and equilibrium.
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Cerebus Film: An Epic Journey
2007 - 2012
At the time of this writing, a teaser featuring the animated aardvark barbarian is on its way to smash a few filmmakers' networking parties at the Cannes Film Festival.
'Cerebus the Aardvark' has distinguished comic book story arcs and appeared on glossy front pages alongside Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Spawn. Cerebus is listed repeatedly as a series and character treasured by readers and illustrators who enjoy the art found in comic book stores.
Cerebus began as a barbarian and progressed to politician and Pope over the years that Sim, his creator, persevered to fulfill a promise of 300 issues on time. Although the percentage of people who have heard of Cerebus is relatively small, this graphic novel series is as well regarded in the world of indie comics as The Watchmen--most people had not heard of them either until a movie made them aware--which brings us to the subject of movies adapted from graphic novels.
George Lucas, DreamWorks, and other famous filmmakers have contacted Sim to inquire about buying the rights to Cerebus. Since these reports have reached mythic proportions, Sim described the experiences and showed evidence on CerebusTV. Sim has watched others get rich and their characters get famous, but resisted the temptation to sell the rights entirely, and studios are fearful of sharing creative control with artists who can (and usually do) drive up the costs of production in order to stay true to a vision. Anyone who has studied Sim knows that he is a die-hard supporter of 'indies'. He spent a lifetime breaking ground and paving the way, and earned the utmost respect of those who walk the path more easily because of his passion and drive. Most indie comic artists respect Sim as the godfather of independent comic books.
It should come as no surprise to anyone who understands the values and integrity of the creator of Cerebus, that when Oliver Simonsen, an independent comic book creator with experience in animation directing and production, asked Sim's permission to produce a feature-length film based on Cerebus, Sim was willing, since it did not require him selling any rights. Simonsen has read every issue of Cerebus and has the deepest respect for Sim's perseverance and achievements. Still, Sim was reluctant and Simonsen politely hounded him for two years to get the green light.
The journey of this film project epitomizes the word 'epic'. The existence of this animation team is nothing less than miraculous. Their saga is branded with a heroism that perfectly demonstrates why this strange little creature (the only talking animal in a world of humans that is generally unkind to misfits) inspires greatness. Sim should be proud of what he has added to his list of achievements through allowing this great group of Cerebus fans, who are 3D modelers, illustrators, riggers, animators, and voice actors, to make a full-length film.
This film is based on Issue #1, with juicy bits for later, relevant issues mixed in and expanded upon, in order to make it a movie that can be shown at the box office. The project is going on four years now and has had over 200 artistic hands involved. That is typical for an animated feature project. What is extremely atypical--what is, in fact, a first in the history of comic book movies, and possibly in the history of animated feature films, is that the Cerebus Film team (What Comics Entertainment, headed by Simonsen) is well past the halfway point and no one has received a single cent of pay. We are talking about thousands of hours of work. These riggers, modelers, animators, etc., are working on faith. That fact alone does more than speak volumes--it sings the high note of the Hallelujah Chorus about Sim's reputation as someone who can be trusted to honor his word, and of the fans' admiration for this massive body of work known merely as 'Cerebus'.
If you never watch behind-the-scenes footage of the raw animation process, you cannot possibly estimate the enormity of this phenomenal project. Many people presume that animated films are easier and less expensive to produce than live action. The opposite is true. It takes more hours of painstaking attention to detail than the average artist can bear, and monumental patience to produce a mere 10 seconds of a moving objects. As Simonsen puts it, "Animation is like watching paint dry."
Rendering is what they do after they have drawn and rigged each and every scene, prop, and performer. During rendering, camera angles are selected and lighting is added. Rendering 10 seconds can take all night! A rendering farm and sound editing studio have committed to pitch in their resources when it comes time for the final pieces of this movie puzzle to be stitched together.
If anyone interprets that these artists and technicians are working for free, that is a misconception. There is no doubt in their minds that Cerebus will be a future film star. They count themselves as lucky to be the groundbreakers, to be a part of Cerebus history--to indeed, be making Cerebus bigger than ever as Sim allows Simonsen to orchestrate this part of the next generation's Cerebus encounter. When their film is finished, a distribution deal will be negotiated and every artist and technician will get a fair share. Simonsen has committed to a transparent process, where everyone who has contributed will be included in a public forum (online) discussing the amounts and terms in the negotiation process--another bold move! Cerebus fans are able to see everything these artists are doing now via the Production Blog, and can comment publicly or privately. Feedback has been enthusiastically embraced by this team.
This truly is an epic journey. Nothing like this has been attempted previously by an independent film producer, and as of April 2011, this crew is well past the halfway point and intent on a 2012 release. They are going gangbusters to create a polished trailer that can be shown to distributors, with the hope that funding will make the final passage of this journey much easier and faster.
This film already has made a distinctive mark in the history of Cerebus. Simonsen and his crew have honored Sim's vision. This film will not look like anything made by Disney, Pixar, or any other big name animation studio. True to his roots, the animated version of Cerebus will look, feel, and sound much more like the 'Earth Pigt' who inspired it. There is no guarantee this film will be distributed in theaters, but it stands as much chance as The Watchmen, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and other films based on popular graphic novel series. The difference is that this movie was made by fans on faith--that has to mean a lot to someone like Sim, who appreciates authenticity and daring. An independent filmmaker cannot guarantee that a film will get distributed through the usual channels that feed movie theaters. The Cerebus Film team hopes and aims for movie theater release. Regardless of the outcome of their efforts to achieve that pinnacle, one thing is certain: What Comics Entertainment will finish this project and their movie will be seen all over the world. Sim's series has an extensive fan base already, and they are being made aware of this film's progress via Cerebus.TV, a web channel he launched in 2009.
When all is said and done, there will only be one thing left for Simonsen and his crew to say as they raise their glasses in a toast: Therebus wanths a buggid o' scodge!
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References
Popularity of Cerebus
http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-comics-reporter-makes-a-good-list,27211/ - "Cerebus should be in the Top 5."
http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/cr_sunday_feature_the_top_ten_all_time_best_comics_series/ - Cerebus listed in Top 10 by one of the premiere comic book journalists.
http://omglists.blogfaction.com/article/102380/9-comic-series-almost-as-awesome-as-watchmen/ - Cerebus #8, right behind Pulitzer-winning Maus.
http://techland.time.com/2011/04/01/emanata-the-funniest-comics-ever/ - Time Magazine, April 2011: "For most of the 1980s, Dave Sim's Cerebus was the funniest comic book around."
http://www.overglued.com/11-most-iconic-indie-comic-creators/ - Sim mentioned 2 spots behind Frank Miller (the most well-known name in the industry).
http://comic-book-geeks.tribe.net/thread/82e9f5f7-550c-414d-8e84-079ab3d08c34 - Cerebus #1 "...inspired a whole generation of artists to create and distribute their own comics. As for what this comic is about, you could say it’s about everything: from morality to brutality, from sorcery to spiritually, from drunken debauchery to strategic warfare: Cerebus is an epic that has it all." Top 23 Comic Book Storylines from ‘The Age of Freedom’.
http://www.empireonline.com/50greatestcomiccharacters/default.asp?c=38 - "Canadian artist Dave Sim, an outspoken proponent for the creative rights of comic book creators... and the man responsible for creating the longest-running, single-creative-team-driven series in comic-book history, is the person to thank for giving us one of pop culture's strangest and most complex characters." (Cerebus #38, listed immediately after Daredevil, adapted to a film starring Ben Affleck. At #38, Cerebus is only 6 spots behind Lex Luthor, Superman's famous nemesis (and fan favorite), and 3 spots behind Hellboy, adapted to a very popular series of films.
http://www.watchmencomicmovie.com/forum - Cerebus series listed among the 100 Greatest Graphic Novels.
http://www.ugo.com/the-goods/11-essential-indie-comics-cerberus Cerebus at #8 is followed by The Extraordinary League of Gentlemen, adapted to a film starring Sean Connery.
http://www.sodahead.com/entertainment/best-non-superhero-comic-series-of-all-time/question-1663109/ - Cerebus, only one spot below Scott Pilgrim, adapted to a film starring Michael Cera.
https://scrimbrown.wordpress.com/tag/cerebus/ - Cerebus included among favorite super-heroes (though the misanthropic aardvaark is not a superhero, comic book fans treat him as an equal).
http://www.coverbrowser.com/top/rare - Superman, Spider-Man, Detectives, Cerebus (the only animal character, and having no super powers, is regarded as worthy in the halls of fame with comic book superstars...) at #4 in this list of Top 10 Rare Comics.
http://www.listgorilla.com/list/Best-Comic-Book-Superhero - Cerebus, the only one on the list that is not a superhero, and ranked only two spots below Superman.
http://www.pulpanddagger.com/maskedbookwyrm/saga/best.html - "Cerebus was a staggeringly audacious independent comic that ran 300 issues." Listed here before Hulk and Superman.
http://www.top100comics.de/list_international.php - Cerebus #58 on an international list of the 100 Best Comics, voted by editorial team of Comic Speedline (Germany).
http://www.avclub.com/articles/in-the-wake-of-watchmen-24-more-graphic-novels-wed,24492/ - Cerebus named among comic book movies fans want to see.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/mubi.com/topics/1658-cerebus - Fans discuss adaptations they want to see. (Sorry, Ben, you're two years too late. Someone dared before you suggested it. Cerebus is already being adapted to film with Sim's permission.)
http://www.mania.com/15-awesome-creative-dynamic-duos-comics_article_125202.html - Sim and Gerhard listed #9, five spots ahead of the creators of The Walking Dead (adapted to a very popular television series in 2010 on AMC).
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