| Submission declined on 20 December 2023 by Theroadislong (talk). This draft's references do not show that the subject qualifies for a Wikipedia article. In summary, the draft needs multiple published sources that are:
Where to get help
How to improve a draft
You can also browse Wikipedia:Featured articles and Wikipedia:Good articles to find examples of Wikipedia's best writing on topics similar to your proposed article. Improving your odds of a speedy review To improve your odds of a faster review, tag your draft with relevant WikiProject tags using the button below. This will let reviewers know a new draft has been submitted in their area of interest. For instance, if you wrote about a female astronomer, you would want to add the Biography, Astronomy, and Women scientists tags. Editor resources
|  |
| Utica Cartoon | |
|---|---|
 The title card of the film | |
| Directed by | Fran Krause |
| Story by | Fran Krause, Will Krause |
| Music by | Fran Krause, Tony Astone, Will Krause |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Cartoon Network |
Release date | 13 July 2001 |
Running time | 7 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Utica Cartoon is an animated short film created by Fran and Will Krause. They created the film as a pilot which aired as part of the Cartoon Network competition, The Big Pick II; viewers could vote for their favourite pilot online, and the film with the most votes would receive a full series.[1][2] Utica Cartoon did not win, but rather another pilot, Codename: Kids Next Door.[3][4]
Plot edit
In the city of Utica, Dan (a bear), Micah (a monkey), Johnny (a cat) and Marty (a turtle) live together in an apartment. The film begins when Dan and Micah are playing a board game, where one has to guess which character the other has chosen (it is a pastiche of Guess Who?). Micah then suggests to Dan, "Would your character like to get some breakfast right now?" They eagerly go out.
Dan and Micah find a restaurant. Micah, for one dollar, buys a hot dog, but Dan shows a strange 17-dollar bill. The cashier notices, that his order has more hot dogs than the ones before, and thus he does not need to pay today.
To keep getting free breakfast, Dan buys more and more hot dogs every day. Gradually, this becomes an addiction; one day, Dan even orders, although reluctantly, 174 hot dogs.
Micah notices Dan's problem, and conducts a plan to help him. Micah hides in Dan's mouth, so that Dan seems like he is eating the sausages, when really Micah is eating. The cashier immediately notices this, and pushes Micah from Dan's mouth.
Johnny and Marty conduct another plan: one wears a disguise of Mike while eating, while the other entertains the employees. The cashier sees Marty in the disguise, and thinks that someone has entered Dan's mouth again. The cashier is so disgusted, that he strongly kicks Marty out of the restaurant while he is still wearing the disguise.
Finally, Micah tries to use a blender to make a milkshake out of the hot dogs, but Dan finds this even more disgusting.
Suddenly, two police officers arrest Dan, and claim that he brought a monkey against the policy of the restaurant. They also take away the hot dogs as "evidence". Both Dan and Micah enter their car. After a short while, the police officers remove their costumes to reveal that they are really Johnny and Marty. The friends then escape to Canada, which a welcome sign describes as "The Donutland of America".
Production of the film edit
Utica Cartoon was the Krause brothers' first professional animation project. Its production was relatively quick: around the (North Hemisphere) spring of 2000, they sent the idea to Cartoon Network, and they started working on the film in the winter of the same year.
The brothers moved from New York to an old cottage in Providence to create the film. Mike Overbeck and Jesse Schmal, who then were "fresh out of school", also helped in the production.
There were a few problems: firstly, the film was traditionally animated in a time when most studios were transitioning to digital animation. Most Xerox businesses for animators were not available, so Will himself rented a Xerox machine and constructed other tools, such as stands for the cameras. According to him, "[my] Furniture Design degree finally came in handy". Secondly, Will had not animated before Utica Cartoon, so he had to join a crash course on animation.
The two brothers were finally satisfied with the result, and they even went to a film festival in Turku, Finland to show it. However, Fran remarked that the reason that the film did not win was because it was not made for the usual child audience of Cartoon Network, but "four 22-year-old recent art-school grads working out of Providence" (so, the creators themselves).
The premise was inspired by a friend of Will's. As in the film, he knew a restaurant where the largest orders were free. He jokingly recommended that the easier way to not pay was to use "a blender and a can of Sprite".[5][6]
References edit
- ^ "Utica Cartoon". The Timeline Machine. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
- ^ Advertisement for the film at Cartoon Network
- ^ Rick DeMott (28 August 2001). "Kids Next Door Wins The Big Pick On Cartoon Network". Animation World Network. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
- ^ Leigh Godfrey (14 March 2002). "Two New Series To Debut On Cartoon Network In 2002". Animation World Network.
- ^ "Utica Cartoon". Personal website of Will Krause. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
- ^ Amid Amidi (9 April 2009). "The Upstate Four: An Interview with Fran and Will Krause". Cartoon Brew.