Plymptoonsdoc

ADVENTURES IN PLYMPTOONS! – A Documentary on Oscar nominated animator, Bill Plympton - Now in Post Production

The curly red locks of Alexia Anastasio make her easy to spot in a crowd. Recently, this has come in handy as she tours conventions and festivals across the country to promote her upcoming independent feature film, Adventures in Plymptoons!, a documentary on twice Oscar-nominated independent animator, Bill Plympton.

Adventures in Plymptoons! is a year and a half in the making. The journey began when Anastasio first met Plympton in 2000 at the Golden Trailer Awards in New York City. The encounter was brief but it left the kind of impression only Bill Plympton can. "I remember he wore this tie, and when he lifted the top part up it revealed a naked woman. I was like, ‘My virgin eyes!’" she recalls.

Later, at Sundance, Anastasio got a glimpse of a trailer for Mutant Aliens, Plympton's third full length animated feature. "I thought it was so bizarre and fun. Then I ended up running into Bill everywhere because we cover the same convention and festival circuits, but it wasn't until I saw one of his lectures at the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington, Long Island that it occurred to me that a documentary absolutely needed to be made about this man's life. I was so inspired by his spirit. He has really paved the way for independent animators." A week after the event she told Plympton about the idea, and to her surprise he agreed.

Anastasio spent the next year and half following Plympton around New York City, the San Diego Comic Con, his hometown of Portland, Oregon, and various film festivals and universities where he would perform his master class. Interviews in the documentary include Terry Gilliam, Keith Carradine, Matthew Modine, Michael Showalter, Ed Begely Jr., "Weird Al” Yankovic and Moby.

When it comes to independent animators, Bill Plympton is the undisputed king. He was already an acclaimed syndicated illustrator and cartoonist when he decided to give animation a try over 25 years ago. Since then Plympton has earned two Academy Award nominations, and brings hundreds of loyal fans to each convention and film festival he attends worldwide.

It seems only natural for a documentary on an independent animator like Bill Plympton to be directed by an independent film maker like Alexia Anastasio. Anastasio is no novice to film making herself, with a number of directorial and production credits already under her belt. Her many projects include the feature documentary, Vampira: The Movie, The Wild World of Ted V. Mikels, and the mockumentary, 7 Deadly Sins: Inside the Ecomm Cult, hosted by Herschell Gordon Lewis. As an actress, Anastasio has been featured in HBO's Bored to Death and Boardwalk Empire, and recently finished starring in the campy ghost thriller, Supernaturalz.

Anastasio has embarked on an all or nothing campaign through Kickstarter.com to raise money for post-production costs and festival expenses. Adventures in Plymptoons! will be taken on a world tour to encourage other young, independent artists to pursue their dreams. "This film is meant to say to other artists, 'Yes! You can be independent AND make a career of doing this!' I envision it to be not only for them, but everyone ranging from the die hard Plympton fan to someone who simply enjoys cartoons," says Anastasio.

What people have said about Bill Plympton:

"Bill is an extraordinary animator. He has an extraordinary mind....He seems to get right to the depth of the human condition." -Terry Gilliam

"Bill Plympton's imagination, and the way that he was able to deconstruct animation....was something I'd never seen before." -Matthew Modine

"I think he's one of the few guys who does what I say people should do, which is your own films....Bill's a great animator." -Ralph Bakshi

"You don't want to meddle with genius...Bill's just amazing." -Weird Al

“Bill has an impossible ability to carelessly marry the absurd with the profound. I’ve always just loved his stuff.” -
Seth Green

"Bill Plympton just keeps on creating his amazing cartoons, a true american artist." - John Landis

For more information on Adventures in Plymptoons!:

Kickstarter:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/alexiaanastasio/adventures-in-plymptoons-a-documentary-on-oscar-no

http://www.plymptoons.com
http://www.alexiaanastasio.com
http://twitter.com/alexiaanastasio
http://www.myspace.com/adventuresinplymptoons

Facebook:
Alexia: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/alexiaanastasio?ref=ts
Bill: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bill-Plympton/269976082181?ref=ts

Adventures in Plymptoons! on imdb.com
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1691448/