It’s Halloween and appropriately enough, I just finished watching It was a Dark and Silly Night, a new animated short by bestselling author Neil Gaiman and Playboy cartoonist Gahan Wilson. The film had its world premiere at the Hamptons International Film Festival earlier this month and is the latest project from director Steven-Charles Jaffe , best known for his work on the blockbusters Ghost and Star Trek VI. Jaffe also produced the extraordinary documentary about Gahan last year.

The movie is based on the adorable strip that appeared in Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly’s compilation Big Fat Little Lit and follows a group of children who end up throwing one hell of a party at their local graveyard after befriending the resident ghouls.

Steven tells us a little more about the film:

I've always loved Neil's writing, Anansi Boys, American Gods, and of course The Sandman: Book of Dreams. When I flew to a mysterious castle in the mid-northwest to meet and interview Neil for the documentary, Gahan Wilson: Born Dead, Still Weird, I brought up It Was a Dark and Silly Night, asking how the collaboration between he and Gahan came about. Neil wrote it specifically for Gahan, saying, "It's full-on Gahan Wilson, but for five year olds!" I then received everyone’s permission to animate it. There's a great animation house in New Zealand that I worked with called Flux Animation (they did the Polar bear and the frog animation for Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth) and they did a wonderful job.

My favorite aspect of the film is the scene in the graveyard when the corpses come to life and party with the kids. Working in animation really pushes your imagination, as you are creating from scratch, and every frame has to be carefully thought out, or it gets costly (painfully so), but it's so satisfying when the characters come to life.

I’m hoping to include it as a special DVD extra on Gahan Wilson: Born Dead, Still Weird, so both films will be available to everyone soon!  

I'd like to be skulking around a graveyard with Gahan for Halloween tonight, but instead I’m off to work on my next film: A thriller set in San Francisco, called I’ll See You Again.

Hauntingly Hysterical

"You can be a king or a street sweeper, but everyone dances with the Grim Reaper."

Those were the final words spoken by convicted murderer Robert Alton Harris the day he was executed in California's gas chamber more than 15 years ago. Death by Laughter, the latest book by cartoonist Harry Bliss, captures that sentiment with more than 100 of his best and most irreverent single-panel cartoons collected from his daily strip "Bliss."

You'll undoubtedly find yourself identifying with many of the other disturbing problems that Harry parodies in this hilarious little gem: Infidelity, pollution, breaking-up, therapist visits and computer breakdowns are all turned upside-down and inside-out exposing truths no one wants to talk about. 

Harry emailed us from his home in Vermont in response to a few questions we had for him, including how he got to know actor Christopher Guest, who wrote the introduction to Death by Laughter, and his favorite cartoon that he's drawn for Playboy to date.

PLAYBOY: Not only did Christopher Guest write the introduction to Death by Laughter, he owns some of your original artwork. What was your first encounter like with him?

BLISS: It was great meeting Chris and his wife, Jamie Lee Curtis -- two wonderful people; smart, funny, and very, very kind. My girlfriend and I met them for lunch in LA and we talked about all sorts of topics: cartoons, films, yoga, kids, and hybrid cars! Jamie has bought Chris a few of my cartoons and Chris and I have traded cartoons (he draws too).

PLAYBOY: Is there a different artistic process involved when you create illustrations for the various mediums (books, magazines, websites) your work appears?

BLISS: These days, all I seem to be doing is black and white cartoons, like the cartoons in syndication, on my Web site and in The New Yorker, so the process is the same. My work for kid's books is always in color and each book takes six to ten months, whereas I kick out the single-panel cartoons daily. With books, I'm the artist illustrating an author's words, so I guess there's a certain limitation in that, but it's a limitation I'm quite comfortable with, in fact, and I've grown to enjoy the collaboration. As far as the panels go, I generally begin by drawing a scene, say, a couple in bed talking, and once the drawing is finished I begin to imagine a narrative or back story for the people in the drawing -- what are they all about? Imagining the characters' motivations will often inspire a caption. Working this way, I feel, injects a certain sense of humanity in the work, and this is an important aspect I try to achieve in the panels. And sometimes the panels are immature, like me, and that's okay too.

PLAYBOY: Many of the dogs in your cartoons are personified exhibiting just as much angst and strife as the humans in your cartoons. Do you own a dog?

BLISS: I do have a dog. Well, it's my girlfriend's puppy, named Penny, and she's a terrific animal. I have a deep affection for animals and anthropomorphizing them is my way of bringing empathy to their existence.

PLAYBOY: In 2000 you illustrated the cover of the book Madam President in which the authors predicted there would be a female president of the United States within the next decade. When Hillary almost won the democratic nomination this year, you must have felt that your illustration was prophetic. What did you think eight years ago when you drew it?

BLISS: I've always felt that a woman could be president -- even when I'd done that book jacket. Other countries have elected women as leaders, so it has always seemed odd that the United States might be wary of this prospect. I suppose that being a cartoonist and a solipsist I kind of live in a bit of a bubble in that I tend to reject racism and sexism. I know they exist, but I just can't get my mind to admit it. Hillary would have made a great leader. Sarah Palin is another story. I respect her accomplishments, but she's not ready to be president, and McCain really underestimated women in this country by thinking Palin could ease their Hillary pain.

PLAYBOY: Nearly 30 cartoons of yours have appeared in the pages of Playboy in the last decade. Do you have a favorite?

BLISS:My favorite Playboy cartoon is Dude Descending a Staircase, No. 1, which is a spin on Marcel Duchamp's Nude Descending a Staircase. It's not a typical Playboy cartoon and I give Hef a lot of credit in giving me the OK for that one. Duchamp has always been one of my artistic heroes, even as a kid, so that cartoon stands out. It was difficult to do and when I do speaking gigs and that image shows up, it always gets a big laugh, which makes me happy. Penny is biting my toes, so I have to go now.

Molly's Box

Molly Crabapple ’s been very busy hosting Dr. Sketchy drawing sessions in her hometown of Brooklyn and abroad, but last week she unveiled her latest project - an impressive body of work inspired by Manhattan’s vaudevillian hotspot, The Box. 

Six illustrations (one of them pictured here) are on display as part of an all-female exhibition called 5 Identities 5 Destinations at Ad Hoc Art in Brooklyn, NY. Molly’s pieces take up the entire back wall and as you walk towards them, it seems as if the characters will jump off of the canvas and into the room. With the variegated costumes of the dancers and the lively kinetic energy of her line, she seems to have captured the essence of what’s made The Box such an alluring party-spot.   

We should know. Playboy partied at The Box with Duran Duran in November to celebrate their new album, and for the December 2007 issue, legendary photographer Harry Benson photographed some of The Box’s entertainers with models for a fashion spread.

It was particularly interesting to see Molly’s interpretation of a club that’s become a notorious hangout for celebrities looking to ogle scantily-clad dancers, cross-dressing midgets, fire-breathers, and contortionists. 

Molly’s illustrations will be on display at Ad Hoc Art until August 24, 2008.

Pinups and Tattoos

Tattoo artist Samuel Perez, who works out of Alley Kat Tattoo in New York City, recently inked Olivia De Berardinis’ illustration of Kendra from the September 2006 issue on a client’s leg and sent over a photo. It came just as an article about Olivia was published in the Los Angeles Times. Olivia discusses how she drew inspiration from Playboy as a young girl, and the work she does for the magazine today.

Cartoonist Edmond Kiraz recently unveiled a show of his original art, including eleven of his Playboy cartoons, at the prestigious Musée Carnavalet in Paris. 

Visitors to the exhibition are greeted with an enlarged copy of the words I wrote for the exhibition catalogue:
 
It was in 1970 when Kiraz’s first cartoon appeared in Playboy magazine, and since then his artwork has become a recognizable constant amongst its pages for good reason. His doe-eyed, lithe, lingerie-clad females painted in opulent settings add sophisticated sensibility with a Parisian flair. Highly adept at portraying eroticism with indifference, his mademoiselles are completely distinct. His roster of male characters include randy psychiatrists, piano teachers, cuckolds, boyfriends, libidinous executives, sassy swingers and historical figures, especially one Toulouse-Lautrec who has made numerous appearances in Kiraz’s cartoons. His unique style and timeless sense of humor have entertained Playboy’s readers for the past 37 years and continue to enhance the magazine to this day.

Born in Egypt, Kiraz has lived in Paris for most of his life. Along with Playboy, his work can be seen in numerous French magazines, and he’s published fourteen collections of his work. He is the archetype of the sophisticated Frenchman: a gourmet diner, bon vivant and raconteur. He travels a great deal and luckily for us, loves drawing beautiful women.

The exhibit runs until September 21, 2008.

Why We Love Duff's

Nestled a block from the East River in Williamsburg, Brooklyn is the infamous Duff’s bar. With cheap drinks, beautiful bartenders (that’s Tracy pictured here), a jukebox filled with heavy metal and hard rock classics and benches plastered with Playboy centerfolds, need we say more?

Playboy Store London, Cheers!

During my recent trip to London, I visited Playboy's largest retail store in the world, located in the shopping mecca on Oxford Street.
 
Open since September, this is the newest of all eight retail stores (the others are located in Las Vegas, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, and Auckland) and features 4,000 square feet and three levels of pure Playboy-product bliss, including rabbit ear-shaped hangers for the clothing and lingerie. 

With camcorder in hand, I sashayed all over the store and up and down the 39-step spiraling staircase with Natalie, who gave me a grand tour. Click here to watch the video I shot to meet her and see this impressive retail outlet.

This story was highlighted on playboy.com's homepage. Click to enlarge image: