TODD JAMES presents... the SECRET ORIGIN of
MINORITEAM ™ & ©2006 CARTOON NETWORK
Interviewed by Mike Manley Transcribed by Steven Tice What would a smash-up between those old limited animation Marvel cartoons, Jack Kirby, racist stereotypes, Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, and part of the team behind Comedy Central’s Crank Yankers look like? The result is the disturbingly funny and un-PC Minoriteam. DRAW! Editor Mike Manley was asked early on to contribute to the look of the show by inking the storyboard art to look very “Kirbyesque.” So sit back and enjoy this look behind the scenes on one of Adult Swim’s newest hits—Minoriteam!
DRAW!: Where did you grow up?
DRAW!: You dropped out of art school and high school both?
TODD JAMES: New York City.
TJ: It was an art high school.
DRAW!: Did you go to art school?
DRAW!: While you were there did you have any teachers of note? Any famous cartoonists?
TJ: I went to the High School of Art and Design, which is not the same as Art Music and Art, the school Fame was based on. Art and Design was more for commercial art and had some cartooning classes. By the time I was in 11th grade they had cut all that stuff and I dropped out. Art and Design was a huge training ground for graffiti writers and comic book kids. So in that way it was great and like nowhere else.
TJ: The one teacher I can remember was a guy named Mr. Pacter; he’d talk with a microphone. He’d tell everyone to stop watching TV and practice drawing or they’d end up as garbage men. I remember stopping for a week. I might have actually ended up doing something I didn’t like if it wasn’t for TV. Thanks, G-Force. DRAW! • WINTER 2006
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