Mark Greene, owner of Peco Designs, a Web design, video and animation production company based in Kingston, hopes to raise awareness of global warming through a nerdy cartoon character named Stinky with buck teeth, a balding pate and black tie. That wish got a big boost when Greene”™s cartoon, “Big Fun with Global Warming,” won the 2007 Emmy Award in the National Public Service Announcement/Broadband category at a National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ceremony Nov. 9 in New York City.
The cartoon is one of two Stinky animations Greene has licensed to the Sierra Club Web site. A few years ago, after winning an animation contest in California for his cartoon about big box stores and making some contacts in the animation world, Greene submitted the Stinky cartoons to Climate Cartoons, a nonprofit organization of successful animators, producers and distribution experts dedicated to promoting earth-friendly behavior.
That organization made the connection with the Sierra Club, and Greene said that Climate Cartoons is currently leveraging the Emmy designation to try to get the animation shown in additional venues, such as movie theaters and on airline flights. Meanwhile, Greene said the “viral” nature of the Internet could result in “Big Fun,” which is posted on MySpace, reaching an audience of hundreds of thousands of people. “It”™s the nature of the new media that there aren”™t any gatekeepers to determine what people see,” he said.
Stinky”™s whinny dismissal of global warming statistics as he tools around in a fumes-emitting SUV, oversized lawn tractor and four-wheeler is as hilarious as it is recognizable. “It”™s a bunch of hooey. I mean this is America, right?” Stinky rants, while dodging 10 Steinway pianos ”“ equivalent in weight to the five tons of carbon pollution each American emits annually on average ”“ falling from the sky. In the second cartoon, “Stinky Gets Gas,” he complains about the small car he has to buy ”“ it”™s the only one he can afford ”“ but becomes a convert to the idea of driving a low-gas-mileage vehicle when he realizes how little gas he has to buy, a fact that he lords obnoxiously over two disgruntled gas pumps.
“Like most of us, Stinky is extremely self-absorbed and has a difficult time looking at anything without determining what”™s in it for him,” said Greene. Comedy, he added, is an effective force for change because it takes an abstract notion and makes it direct and physical, thereby becoming something people can relate to. “A gas pump represents the oil companies without being them. To get annoyed at your gas pump is a personal moment. With comedy, people are more open to the message. Once it achieves a certain level, it helps people learn and change the way they think,” said Greene, alluding to “The Daily Show,” “The Simpsons” and “The Colbert Report.”
Greene also made a film starring his wife, Sharron Bower, as Florida U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris. Titled “The Rejected Katherine Harris Campaign Video,” the spoof on Harris”™ 2006 run for the U.S. Senate won the People”™s Choice and Jury Prize awards at Contagious Festival of The Huffington Post, Arianna Huffington”™s left-wing blog. Greene said he drew from his experience volunteering on political campaigns to make the film. Of the e-mails sent in response, “half (of the correspondents) thought it was really her.”
Greene, who works out of his home and shares the parenting responsibilities for his 2-year-old son equally with Sharron, an actress and graphic designer, said he did all the work on the cartoons himself, with the exception of licensing the music. The cost of equipment was about $2,500. The film also was made on a shoestring, utilizing a video camera and some editing software.
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The Internet, Greene noted, is creating new opportunities for creative expression. “It”™s a transformative moment when a person stops consuming a video and starts making one. When people get tired of lip synching, they”™ll do something more interesting. The level of accountability and dialog is unprecedented.” A core issue is maintaining Internet neutrality, which is currently threatened by broadband carriers”™ attempt to get Congress to pass laws that would enable them to determine what content gets to users first and fastest. “It”™s the quintessential issue for our democracy and the global flow of information,” said Greene.
Greene said making politically themed animations and films is a kind of catharsis. “Everything I do in video or animation is about things that really stick in my craw,” he said. “Letters to the editor and postings on blogs isn”™t enough. I want to encapsulate the core beliefs I have about an issue and put it out there where it will continue to play over and over again.”
To access the cartoon, go to www.stinkytoons.com.
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