Taking A Jab At High-profile Political Satire – A History of JibJab
Julian Philips talks to co-creator of the Jib Jab Spoofs ‘This Land is Your Land’ and ‘Good to be in ‘Good to Be in D.C.’, Evan Spiridellis.
If you’re a young guy or gal with an interest in animation, some skills in Flash or similar programs, a decent computer and savvy creative instincts, you’d have to admire (and be wise to imitate) the sudden success and overnight acclaim of the two brothers at JibJab Media with their now well-known animated Bush-Kerry parody shorts. Like a snowball gaining momentum as it rolls down a steep hill, JibJab seemed to ride a wave of international popularity with these hilarious political satires over the past few months, a situation they admit happened in convergence with a red-hot American Presidential election, widely available Internet distribution outlets for their product, and their own ability as animators and artists. Preparation, talent and resources were ready when opportunity knocked, and JibJab passed through the gate with a unique and truly funny product, moving this small and relatively unknown creative team into the spotlight for future success.
The animated parodies, ‘This Land is Your Land’ (released on July 9, 2004) and the follow-up ‘Good to Be in D.C.’ (released Oct. 7, 2004), show how the Internet can skyrocket even a modest artistic effort to recognition with vast audiences in a very short time. Evan Spiridellis (age 30), of JibJab, called this phenomenon “a revolution in entertainment” in an interview with Skwigly on October 15. Surely he and Brother Gregg Spiridellis (age 33), with only one other JibJab employee hired recently to work at the Santa Monica, California-based company, have defined the meaning of the term ‘Internet blockbuster’ with these two shorts.
Perhaps because of the series’ good-natured and over-the-top humor, audiences have responded with between 50 million and 60 million on-line views or ‘hits’ of the ‘This Land’ short at JibJab.com and AtomFilms.com, since its initial release. It didn’t hurt that American TV picked up on the popularity of the shorts with spots on ‘The Today Show’ and ‘The Tonight Show With Jay Leno’. It was Leno’s show that aired the media premiere of the sequel short ‘Good to Be in D.C.’ on October 7, followed by an on-line debut. Yahoo Financial News reported in a recent press release that only 20.6 million people viewed the American Democratic National Convention, and 22.6 million watched the Republican National Convention, on television, giving JibJab bragging rights for their shorts in terms of sheer numbers. Comscore Media Metrix reports in the same Yahoo release that the JibJab parodies have received more than 3 times the audience visiting both Presidential candidates’ websites in July. On-line digital downloads at $2.99 each, and DVD sales of both shorts, are on sale at JibJab.com.
Now three years in Santa Monica after a start in Brooklyn, New York, JibJab couldn’t be more pleased. “They’re doing really well,” said Evan. “Right now we’re trying to find a retailer.”
So how did this happen? Evan Spiridellis said he has no formal training as an animator, but has been working professionally in the industry with his brother Gregg for as long as five years.
Advertising work for clients like Sony, Kraft Foods, Revlon and Disney were supplemented by a children’s book (‘Grumpy Santa’, widely available) and a line of toys based on characters from the book. As many as 12 toy products have been in stores for four years and are available from Spencer Gifts and Urban Outfitters. ‘Grumpy Santa’ products were also featured on MTV’s popular reality show with rocker Ozzy Osbourne’s family.
“What we normally do is take on ad work to make a little money to support our creative side,” Evan added.
Teaming with on-line distributor Atom Films, which offers on-line viewing of more than 1,000 shorts, provided unparalleled mass-market commercial distribution for the Bush-Kerry satires. And as any start-up media provider knows, distribution is always the key to success. Evan said JibJab has been in business with Atom Films for almost five years.
Development and production of the two Bush-Kerry animated parody shorts could be said to defy ordinary industry means in terms of simplicity. Writing, directing and animation credits go to Gregg and Evan Spiridellis (www.jibjab.com), although Evan said he was responsible for most of the art, while Gregg did most of the writing. Evan’s wife Adrienne Spiridellis (www.spellermusic.com) is credited with music arrangements and recordings, making the effort a family affair. Evan also said he was very pleased with his wife’s contribution of crisp, clear and up-beat song recordings. All voice-acting chores were provided by Jim Meskimen (www.appliedsilliness.com), and it must be noted that Jim’s range and dead-on interpretation of well-known voices was tremendous.
Working with only a standard Flash-MX animation program on an Apple Macintosh G-5 computer (“It’s all done with consumer equipment,” Evan said), the JibJab team worked 14 to 18-hour days for eight weeks to produce the original ‘This Land‘ piece, with only a few days off. The sequel took about five weeks to produce.
Images of political figures like U.S. President George Bush, Senator John Kerry, Vice-President Dick Cheney and many other D.C. regulars, were gleaned from approved government websites. Evan said JibJab was painfully aware of potential legal concerns with the production of these quirky and slightly wicked shorts. But under American libel and slander laws, public figures are generally fair game for commentary or parody.
“We figured if they’re government images, they’re pretty free and clear,” Evan added.
The well-known faces were then animated in Flash with a jaunty, high-energy style, singing humorous lyrics to well-known American standard tunes ‘This Land Is Your Land’ and ‘I Wish I was In Dixie’.
The songs were one area, however, where JibJab found themselves facing a potential lawsuit. Ludlow Music, who own the rights to Woody Guthrie’s timeless American classic ‘This Land Is Your Land’ (routinely sung at U.S. Middle School assemblies by thousands of American kids every year), filed a ‘cease-and-desist’ court order to JibJab requesting distribution of the short be stopped, because JibJab had never gotten rights to use the song. Attorneys for the company demanded an accounting of all income derived by JibJab from use of the song.
JibJab responded in statements that they had felt all along the song was used under what are called ‘fair use’ rules. These well-known rules allow limited use of copyrighted material for education, news, research, presentations or commentary, etc. Soon after Ludlow Music’s action, the Electronic Frontier Foundation or EFF (www.eff.org) filed suit on behalf of JibJab to defend the use of Guthrie’s song. Letters were also sent from Ludlow Music’s attorneys to Atom Films. The dispute was viewed in terms of fair use rules, censoring JibJab’s use of a very famous standard tune, and the rights of Ludlow Music to profit from their property.
Evan said things were eventually worked out. “It got resolved pretty favorably for us,” he said.
Despite the highly-charged content of the humor, Evans said there were very few other challenges or legal complaints about the material. “That was the amazing thing about this,” he said. “This overwhelming positive response just took us by surprise. Both sides understood this was just for a laugh.”
He added, “When we made these, we had no political intentions. We didn’t intend to prop up one side or the other. I guess if you’re asking about free speech, I’d have to say, God bless America.”
Numerous other video game and animation companies are hoping to be blessed the same way. On the Comedy Central website, you can play a game where you get to clobber Kerry campaign team members, and the Bush campaign website has a game called ‘Kerry’s Flip Flop Olympics’. ‘Bushgame’ from Emogame features celebrity figures who save the White House, and other games such as ‘Frontrunner’ from Lantern Games or ‘The Political Machine’ from Ubisoft are also out in time for the election season in the states.
Evan said there will probably be no more shorts in the Bush-Kerry satire series, despite the great success. JibJab will return to efforts with ‘Grumpy Santa’ for now, he added, although the status of the political satires has definitely raised the company’s profile, including contacts with advertising clients, and opportunities to pitch original programming ideas to major studios.
“A lot of opportunities have sprung up,” he said.
Whatever your political view or sense of the propriety of open mockery of public officials, JibJab’s winner is also a win for every other mom-and-pop animation company out there. Produced with consumer equipment on a budget, these two shorts demonstrate the effectiveness of the Internet as a vehicle for commercial art-work, and also how useful animation can be for political commentary. Is Flash MX the chosen format for a new generation of ‘political cartoonists’ whose work will be seen on-line, instead of in newspapers? Will every issue in the news, such as elections, U.N. actions, wars, natural disasters, business and corporate moves, celebrity scandals, space flights and humanitarian campaigns, now be met with a slew of animated shorts distributed to millions on-line? It’s a new era for animators and artists of all types, and your own creativity and resourcefulness are the only factors that will determine if your small company is the next JibJab.
The Jib Jab animations can be viewed on www.jibjab.com