The Woman Behind the Bunnies - Jennifer Shiman Q & A

Q: How did you get started drawing cartoons?
A: I've been serious about drawing happy cartoon stuff since 1976! (I'm 35 now.) I have an undergraduate degree in International Business and a graduate degree in Media Studies. After grad school, I took a sabbatical while working part-time to make my first animated short. I started my sole proprietorship Angry Alien Productions in 1998 in order to earn income through more creative projects (digital design, electronic production, illustration and web graphics, e-greetings). The discovery of Flash software was a breakthrough for my cartoon workflow, as it provided an immediate means of distributing my creative work online to a huge global audience.

Q: How do you create your cartoons?
A: I use Flash for the coloring and animation. Prior to that, I usually draw everything by hand on paper using a lightbox. I scan the drawings in using Adobe Photoshop, then convert the bitmap art to vector art using Adobe Streamline. This system works nicely for me; I'm sure all Flash artists have their own preferred way of doing things. If you want to find out more about Flash, there are some great resources such as Flashkit.com and Moock.org. I belong to a local Flash usergroup here in Los Angeles which offers lots of support.

Q: Why bunnies?
A: One day as I sat in front of my computer checking email (what else is new), these bunnies approached my desk and pitched the idea of doing the re-enactments. Feeling mildly threatened, I agreed, and the collaboration began! That's the story they like to tell. What really happened is I sat there sketching all the possible creatures who could re-enact classic movies in 30 seconds, and out of all the candidates (kitties, beavers, mice, elves), the bunnies struck me as being just the critters to do such a thing.

Q: How do you get the bunnies' ears to stand up so straight?
A: Lots of hare-spray.