Animator Just Doesn’t Have the Energy to Sneak Phallic Imagery into Cartoon Anymore
Petered out.
From a bush outside of West Hollywood, I can now confirm that legendary animator, Jeffrey Campbell, has stopped placing phallic imagery into his cartoons. I caught up with Campbell to discuss the current landscape of animation and why he’s stopped adding his own personal touches into his work.
“My heart just isn’t in it anymore,’ Campbell said as he erased a suggestive nose on one of his character drawings and replaced it with a smaller nose. “Do you know what kind of hours I put in on this computer? I’m here from sunrise to sunset some days. The phallic stuff comes out during great moments of inspiration. With so much overtime, I just can’t do it anymore.”
Campbell spoke on the “good old days” of animation and how he yearns for the past.
“I miss having the energy to sneak penises into the background,” Campbell said, before sharing that the penis on The Little Mermaid VHS box inspired him to sneak a penis into every frame of a cartoon episode back in 1996. “Me and other animators used to make a game out of it. Who could sneak the most penises on air? Those were the days. No one to play with now. They’re all either dead or looking for work. Here’s hoping the next generation picks up the torch where we left off.
We spoke to an up-and-coming animator who has seen some recent success on YouTube.
“I can’t sneak penises into my YouTube videos,” said Franken Peter, an animator who blew up last year after his video Frankenstein but Normal went viral. “I appreciate what Jeff and others have done for the art form. But I’ve got the algorithm to think about. I can’t say suicide or fuck. If I draw a secret penis, I’m going to get struck down. YouTube’s algorithm is trained to sniff out phallic imagery.”
At press time, Campbell quit animation and planned to pursue a career in writing fan fiction. The bush I hid in for this piece was a Slong Arborvitae.
Petered out.