John Lemmon Films
Encyclopedia
John Lemmon Films is a traditional character animation
studio based in Charlotte, North Carolina
, United States, and is listed among five “prominent animation
houses”. The company was founded in 1984 by John Lemmon and Mike Rosinski. Initially the animation studio worked exclusively in clay animation
, but has since diversified into stop-motion
, 2D animation and Flash animation
, as well as web game
design. The company has produced clay animated TV commercials
for clients including: Disney
, Cartoon Network
and Dairy Queen
. The studio has created clay-animated versions of well-known products, including the Coleman lantern
, and has produced clay animated spots for Tandy Corporation
’s chain of stores called McDuff Electronics and for Cedar Point Amusement Park.
entitled ‘The Star Chasers in the Trontium Tusk’. The eight minute clay animated movie
began airing on the Disney Channel
and Showtime in 1984. After seeing the sci-fi
short in 1984, Tom Crabtree, the vice president of advertising at Food Lion
Supermarkets, hired the company to create two clay animated TV commercials featuring the supermarket’s lion mascot.
In 1986 the company used clay animation for an educational video describing how DNA
controls the process of protein synthesis inside a human cell. The movie, “DNA and the Protein Express” was produced for Discovery Place
, a science museum
in Charlotte, North Carolina. The video was part of an exhibit called ‘The Splice of Life’ that traveled worldwide. Currently the video is used by science teachers in schools throughout the US to teach students from middle school
through college about protein expression
.
In 1991 the studio began work on a series of clay animation television public service announcement
s on recycling
. The nine PSAs feature a character named HenryCycle and are part of a recycling public education
campaign that includes trading card
s and activity books. The campaign has been used by cities and counties in fifteen states and was adopted statewide in West Virginia
in 1994 and in Ohio in 1998. The company also created HenryCycle e-card
s for the America Recycles Day website.
The company began producing 2D animation with the ‘HenryCycle Special’, a 23 minute video featuring 2D animated characters over clay backgrounds. A car crash
led to more 2D animation work. While waiting in a claims adjuster
’s office after the wreck, Lemmon saw a magazine with drawings of characters representing the eegee's
restaurant chain
. Later the studio was hired to create a 2D animated spot for the chain.
John Lemmon Films created the cover art
for Interplay’s
hit video game
‘ClayFighter
’ which was released in mid 1994. Another milestone was doing clay animation of Mickey Mouse
for the opening shot of a 30 second clay spot for Walt Disney World Resort
. The spot premiered in Disney resort hotels in September 2000.
In 2001 the company started creating web games for clients including eegee’s restaurants, NAPA Filters, Raggs Kids Club Band
, the Junior League of Charlotte and the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County
. The studio also created games that appeared on the DVD of Hermie a Common Caterpillar. All of the studio’s games involve character animation
created using Adobe Flash
.
In 2004, the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County hired the company to create a turnkey
animation studio
for teenagers. Called Studio i, the facility was designed by John Lemmon Films for the library’s new building called ImaginOn. It opened in the fall of 2005. The company later created a portable version of the animation stands in Studio i. The product, called ReadyANIMATOR, is animation equipment that is used in schools and libraries to help students create their own animation.
In 2007 the company released a stormwater
education campaign used by government agencies to help fulfill the EPA’s MS4 stormwater education requirements. The campaign, starring a 2D animated character
named Sprink, is used by cities across the US to educate residents about preventing runoff pollution. The campaign consists of seven TV public service announcements plus interactive web page
s.
Another educational film
featuring 2D animation, "Plant Trees Sturdy for the Birdies" which was created for Kids Ecology Corps, premiered at the 22nd Annual Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival in 2007. The film explains how to plant trees that stand up to hurricanes.
The studio put a new twist on 'puppet animation' by creating stop-motion animation of hand and rod puppets
for an online game
about diet and exercise. The web game, completed in 2009, was based on the puppet show
"You Are What You Eat" created by Grey Seal Puppets for The Junior League of Charlotte.
won the top award in the animated commercials category at the 1986 Houston International Film Festival. ‘DNA and the Protein Express’ won the Gold Award at the 1986 New York Film & TV Festival of New York.
Character animation
Character animation is a specialized area of the animation process concerning the animation of one or more characters featured in an animated work. It is usually as one aspect of a larger production and often made to enhance voice acting. The primary role of a Character Animator is to be the...
studio based in Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
, United States, and is listed among five “prominent animation
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
houses”. The company was founded in 1984 by John Lemmon and Mike Rosinski. Initially the animation studio worked exclusively in clay animation
Clay animation
Clay animation or claymation is one of many forms of stop motion animation. Each animated piece, either character or background, is "deformable"—made of a malleable substance, usually Plasticine clay....
, but has since diversified into stop-motion
Stop motion
Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence...
, 2D animation and Flash animation
Flash cartoon
A Flash animation or Flash cartoon is an animated film which is created using Adobe Flash or similar animation software and often distributed in the .swf file format. The term Flash animation not only refers to the file format but to a certain kind of movement and visual style which, in many...
, as well as web game
Browser game
A browser game is a computer game that is played over the Internet using a web browser. Browser games can be created and run using standard web technologies or browser plug-ins. Browser games include all video game genres and can be single-player or multiplayer...
design. The company has produced clay animated TV commercials
Television advertisement
A television advertisement or television commercial, often just commercial, advert, ad, or ad-film – is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization that conveys a message, typically one intended to market a product...
for clients including: Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
, Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
and Dairy Queen
Dairy Queen
Dairy Queen, often abbreviated DQ, is a chain of soft serve and fast food restaurants owned by International Dairy Queen, Inc, who also owns Orange Julius and Karmelkorn. The name "Dairy Queen" is taken from the name of their soft serve product, which the company refers to as "Dairy Queen" or...
. The studio has created clay-animated versions of well-known products, including the Coleman lantern
Coleman Lantern
The Coleman Lantern is a line of pressure lamps first introduced by the Coleman Company in 1914. This led to a series of lamps that were originally made to burn kerosene or gasoline. Current models use Coleman fuel or propane and use one or two mantles to produce an intense white light...
, and has produced clay animated spots for Tandy Corporation
Tandy Corporation
Tandy Corporation was a family-owned leather goods company based in Fort Worth, Texas. Tandy was founded in 1919 as a leather supply store, and acquired RadioShack in 1963. The Tandy name was dropped in May 2000, when RadioShack Corporation was made the official name.-History:Tandy began in 1919...
’s chain of stores called McDuff Electronics and for Cedar Point Amusement Park.
History
Prior to launching the company, Rosinski and Lemmon collaborated on a science fiction filmScience fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
entitled ‘The Star Chasers in the Trontium Tusk’. The eight minute clay animated movie
Animated cartoon
An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...
began airing on the Disney Channel
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...
and Showtime in 1984. After seeing the sci-fi
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
short in 1984, Tom Crabtree, the vice president of advertising at Food Lion
Food Lion
Food Lion LLC is an American grocery store company headquartered in Salisbury, North Carolina that operates approximately 1,300 supermarkets in 11 Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states as well as Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia under the Food Lion, Harveys Supermarket, Bloom, Bottom Dollar...
Supermarkets, hired the company to create two clay animated TV commercials featuring the supermarket’s lion mascot.
In 1986 the company used clay animation for an educational video describing how DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
controls the process of protein synthesis inside a human cell. The movie, “DNA and the Protein Express” was produced for Discovery Place
Discovery Place
Discovery Place is a science and technology museum for visitors of all ages located in the Uptown area of Charlotte, North Carolina. Discovery Place brings science to life through hands-on interactive exhibits, thrilling activities and experiments, a larger-than-life IMAX Dome Theatre, and...
, a science museum
Science museum
A science museum or a science centre is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in museology have broadened the range of...
in Charlotte, North Carolina. The video was part of an exhibit called ‘The Splice of Life’ that traveled worldwide. Currently the video is used by science teachers in schools throughout the US to teach students from middle school
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
through college about protein expression
Protein expression
Protein expression is a subcomponent of gene expression. It consists of the stages after DNA has been translated into polypeptide chains, which are ultimately folded into proteins...
.
In 1991 the studio began work on a series of clay animation television public service announcement
Public service announcement
A public service announcement or public service ad is a type of advertisement featured on television, radio, print or other media...
s on recycling
Recycling
Recycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...
. The nine PSAs feature a character named HenryCycle and are part of a recycling public education
Public education
State schools, also known in the United States and Canada as public schools,In much of the Commonwealth, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, the terms 'public education', 'public school' and 'independent school' are used for private schools, that is, schools...
campaign that includes trading card
Trading card
A trading card is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing and a short description of the picture, along with other text...
s and activity books. The campaign has been used by cities and counties in fifteen states and was adopted statewide in West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
in 1994 and in Ohio in 1998. The company also created HenryCycle e-card
E-card
An e-card is similar to a postcard or greeting card, with the primary difference being that it is created using digital media instead of paper or other traditional materials. E-cards are made available by publishers usually on various Internet sites, where they can be sent to a recipient, usually...
s for the America Recycles Day website.
The company began producing 2D animation with the ‘HenryCycle Special’, a 23 minute video featuring 2D animated characters over clay backgrounds. A car crash
Car accident
A traffic collision, also known as a traffic accident, motor vehicle collision, motor vehicle accident, car accident, automobile accident, Road Traffic Collision or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other stationary obstruction,...
led to more 2D animation work. While waiting in a claims adjuster
Claims adjuster
Claims adjusters investigate insurance claims by interviewing the claimant and witnesses, consulting police and hospital records, and inspecting property damage to determine the extent of the company’s liability. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, South Africa, the Caribbean and New Zealand...
’s office after the wreck, Lemmon saw a magazine with drawings of characters representing the eegee's
Eegee's
eegee's is a chain of 23 fast food restaurants in the greater areas of Tucson, Arizona, as well as 1 in Casa Grande. It specializes in submarine sandwiches known as grinders, but it is most famous for its frozen slush drinks, officially called "eegee's drinks" but colloquially known simply as...
restaurant chain
Chain store
Chain stores are retail outlets that share a brand and central management, and usually have standardized business methods and practices. These characteristics also apply to chain restaurants and some service-oriented chain businesses. In retail, dining and many service categories, chain businesses...
. Later the studio was hired to create a 2D animated spot for the chain.
John Lemmon Films created the cover art
Cover art
Cover art is the illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book , magazine, comic book, video game , DVD, CD, videotape, or music album. The art has a primarily commercial function, i.e...
for Interplay’s
Interplay Entertainment
Interplay Entertainment Corporation is an American video game developer and publisher, founded in 1983 as Interplay Productions by Brian Fargo. The company had been a quality developer until they started publishing their own games in 1988, like Neuromancer and Battle Chess. The company was renamed...
hit video game
Computer and video games
A video game is an electronic game that involves human interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. The word video in video game traditionally referred to a raster display device, but following popularization of the term "video game", it now implies any type of...
‘ClayFighter
ClayFighter
ClayFighter is a fighting game released for the Super NES in 1993, and later ported to Mega Drive/Genesis in 1994. It has been re-released on Nintendo's Virtual Console along with the two Earthworm Jim games and Boogerman, which are also by Interplay....
’ which was released in mid 1994. Another milestone was doing clay animation of Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...
for the opening shot of a 30 second clay spot for Walt Disney World Resort
Walt Disney World Resort
Walt Disney World Resort , is the world's most-visited entertaimental resort. Located in Lake Buena Vista, Florida ; approximately southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States, the resort covers an area of and includes four theme parks, two water parks, 23 on-site themed resort hotels Walt...
. The spot premiered in Disney resort hotels in September 2000.
In 2001 the company started creating web games for clients including eegee’s restaurants, NAPA Filters, Raggs Kids Club Band
RAGGS Kids Club Band
The Raggs Band is a US-based musical troupe of five canine characters who have played over 2,000 live performances on four continents since 2002.-Creation:...
, the Junior League of Charlotte and the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County
Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County
The Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County , is the public library system of the city of Charlotte and County of Mecklenburg in North Carolina- About :...
. The studio also created games that appeared on the DVD of Hermie a Common Caterpillar. All of the studio’s games involve character animation
Character animation
Character animation is a specialized area of the animation process concerning the animation of one or more characters featured in an animated work. It is usually as one aspect of a larger production and often made to enhance voice acting. The primary role of a Character Animator is to be the...
created using Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
.
In 2004, the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County hired the company to create a turnkey
Turnkey
A turn-key or a turn-key project is a type of project that is constructed by a developer and sold or turned over to a buyer in a ready-to-use condition.-Common usage:...
animation studio
Animation studio
An animation studio is a company producing animated media. The broadest such companies conceive of products to produce, own the physical equipment for production, employ operators for that equipment, and hold a major stake in the sales or rentals of the media produced...
for teenagers. Called Studio i, the facility was designed by John Lemmon Films for the library’s new building called ImaginOn. It opened in the fall of 2005. The company later created a portable version of the animation stands in Studio i. The product, called ReadyANIMATOR, is animation equipment that is used in schools and libraries to help students create their own animation.
In 2007 the company released a stormwater
Stormwater
Stormwater is water that originates during precipitation events. It may also be used to apply to water that originates with snowmelt that enters the stormwater system...
education campaign used by government agencies to help fulfill the EPA’s MS4 stormwater education requirements. The campaign, starring a 2D animated character
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
named Sprink, is used by cities across the US to educate residents about preventing runoff pollution. The campaign consists of seven TV public service announcements plus interactive web page
Web page
A web page or webpage is a document or information resource that is suitable for the World Wide Web and can be accessed through a web browser and displayed on a monitor or mobile device. This information is usually in HTML or XHTML format, and may provide navigation to other web pages via hypertext...
s.
Another educational film
Educational film
An educational film is a film or movie whose primary purpose is to educate. Educational films have been used in classrooms as an alternative to other teaching methods.-Cultural significance:...
featuring 2D animation, "Plant Trees Sturdy for the Birdies" which was created for Kids Ecology Corps, premiered at the 22nd Annual Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival in 2007. The film explains how to plant trees that stand up to hurricanes.
The studio put a new twist on 'puppet animation' by creating stop-motion animation of hand and rod puppets
Hand puppet
A hand puppet is a type of puppet that is controlled by the leg or face that occupies the interior of the puppet. Glove puppets are a variation of hand puppets...
for an online game
Online game
An online game is a game played over some form of computer network. This almost always means the Internet or equivalent technology, but games have always used whatever technology was current: modems before the Internet, and hard wired terminals before modems...
about diet and exercise. The web game, completed in 2009, was based on the puppet show
Puppet
A puppet is an inanimate object or representational figure animated or manipulated by an entertainer, who is called a puppeteer. It is used in puppetry, a play or a presentation that is a very ancient form of theatre....
"You Are What You Eat" created by Grey Seal Puppets for The Junior League of Charlotte.
Awards
A clay animation TV spot by John Lemmon Films for Carolina TelephoneCarolina Telephone & Telegraph
Carolina Telephone and Telegraph Company is a local telephone operating company, part of CenturyLink.The company was originally an independent company, but was purchased by United Telecom and merged with the United Telephone System of North Carolina, becoming a local operating company of Sprint...
won the top award in the animated commercials category at the 1986 Houston International Film Festival. ‘DNA and the Protein Express’ won the Gold Award at the 1986 New York Film & TV Festival of New York.
External links
- Official site
- ReadyANIMATOR (Animation equipment)