An interview with a cartoon maniac

Eric Pigors is a California based artist with a twisted yet astounding talent. He animates his own "Toxic Toons", side-splitting dark humor accompanied by roaring monster toons. The subsequent is an interview with Eric Pigors himself, which he reveals the essence of his art, and how the concept of MEAT, in his toons derived...........

At what age did your artistic talent emerge?

My mom use to read me the Dr. Seuss book, " If I ran the circus ."I think I was probably
around 6 or 7. I use to love to stare at the artwork inside as my mom read Dr. Suess's
weird tale about about this make believe circus in the back of a dump. When I really
started to get excited about art was in 5th grade .We use to have a 7-11 store at the end of
our housing track where I use to buy Oddrod stickers for a nickel and Mad magazine for
50 cents cheap.The art from these artists I think heavily influenced what I draw like know
but with my own personal style and childhood inspirations.

How and when did your conception of "MEAT" start to become part of your animation sketches?

When I was young we use to go every summer to my grandparents house in Indiana. Well
one night we were having chicken for dinner and I asked my Grandpa Burger were he got
the chicken and he said he ran over it on the way home. I remember this really disturbing
me. Maybe until then I really didn't think about the fact that I'm eating something that is
dead to stay alive?

I also use to take a school bus to my Christian school in Sun valley, California. And at the
off ramp was a chicken plant we could see all the dead hanging chickens hung on the
conveyer belt from the freeway.

Also when I was in baseball around 4th grade our baseball park was
right next to a pig-
slaughtering house. We would be playing a game and it always smelled like beer and you
would all of a sudden hear whack!! oink oink oink...... plus I remember when we would go
to the local grocery store you could watch the butcher skinning big carcasses of meat in
the window. They don't do that anymore.

My wife is a vegetarian and i don't eat a lot of meat but i do like hot dogs which is probably the
worst meat to like.
She keeps telling me to stop eating hotdogs because they caught this farmer up in Canada who
killed I think 40 people and they think he slipped the body parts into the pig meat. Sounds like one
of my pictures, huh?

I'm working with a friend George Higham on possible doing a stop motion film with my
Stench And Meatboy character that is in my artbook Toxictoons.

Where does all this inspiration derive?

Well you can see a little just from my answers to the first 2 ?'s above. As far as my
designs I just get in little clicks about what I like to draw at the moment, skeletons,
monsters, clowns etc....I really like stuff from the 1940/s like the ideas they had about
what cars and science would be like in the future.
When I do a drawing I like to put my characters in old photos from 1940's magazines and

add cute captions from sappy old comics that when you look at the finished product it
gives you an uneasy feeling. Gross but funny and creepy at the same time.

When was "Toxic Toons" discovered by an audience aside from a personal origin?

I've been doing my Toxictoons now since 1987 when I did my first set of postcards. I needed
a name for what I thought my art looked like and seeing that I was using a lot of spray
paint for my backgrounds back then I thought that the word Toxic went well with the
harmful ozone spray from the cans .And at the
same time I thought my art seemed like the
characters look pretty poisonous themselves and then I just added toons at the end
because that's what they are is cartoons.

I self published my book of artwork called Toxictoons in 1999 and will have another art
book out in July called Toxictoons ,"Cobwebs And Vinegar."

What techniques are used in developing your work?

I do thumbnail drawings until I get a good idea of what I want to draw. Then I usually like
one of the thumbnails and blow it up and work over it until I 'm happy with the character
.Then I do a pen and ink clean drawing and color it in on photo paper or now on the
computer in Photoshop. Then I take a background I like from an old magazine or spray
paint on poster board and apply the character. I came across this because when I got into
animation I wanted to buy animation cells but could rarely find any I wanted or could
afford. So I thought why not make my own cels? So when you are looking at my art just
think that you are look in at a future animated cartoon piece.

Have you been offered to expose "Toxic Toons" in any big productions?

The stuff you see on my web site "http://www.toxictoons.com/" was going to be an interactive animated show but when the internet business fell so do my project. But at least you can see what it could have been on my website. I really want to turn my stuff into the ultimate Halloween special and possible video games. Something where you can see these things move or interact with them.

Have you ever considered, or maybe presented the chance to make "Toxic Toons" an animated series?

"Toxic Toons" an animated series? I 've tried selling it but to no luck yet most places in Hollywood are just lookin for a copy of whats the popular thing at the moment instead of trying to break new ground. I should know I've worked for Walt Disney Feature animation for the past 15 years and will be now thrown out of a job to be replaced by a computer. It seems our company has lost the fact the Walt Disney was a visionary and now are just following the latest fades.
But know it will be time for Toxictoons to do what I'm talking about and create something new and exciting for animation.

Have you shown your work in Galleries?

Only a few, I think most galleries are put off by my medium I work in.

Being of a controversial nature, Has a negative experience, of people that might have found your work offensive ever occur?

Well let me tell you I had one art show at Walt Disney's my first year and they said I couldn't have anymore after that because people thought my work was to negative. But luckily some of the people there like my work like one of the directors of the Little mermaid,Alladin and Hercules, John Musker .He gave me the opportunity to do some character designs on Treasure Planet which comes out this November. And they used one of my characters as the crew of alien pirates .So look for the alien with his tongue hanging out and lots of gnarled teeth and 6 arms.
Also when I showed my 7 minute cartoon ,"LET'S CHOP SOO-E" at a cartoon festival a woman asked what all the crucifix's and other stuff she found insulting in my cartoon where about. The crowd began to boo her and I answered that they were shadows of tombstones that she misinterputed as her stuff she found insulting. I know not everybody is going to like my art and some will find stuff about it that bothers them but I do this for my own gratification and if some people like it great and if some don't like it they don't have to look at it!

What does the future hold for Eric Pigors's fascinating Art?

Well at the ned of 2002 I will be unemployed from Disney's so hopefully my time will come before my savings is gone. Hopefully I will have my Meatboy film and a Halloween special in the works, but for know I will be selling my 2 self published Toxictoons art books and stickers and t-shirts. A company called Chasers just licensed my t-shirt designs to help get my work out around the world. So maybe 2003 will be the year Toxictoons infests the world!!!

What is your all time favorite cartoon / character?

I love a bunch of different ones for different reasons. I love Betty Boop for the surealness of the cartoons these are what cartoons should be. A good cartoon should take you into a place you could never see. I love Rat Fink for his gnarl ness and fact that Edd Big Daddy Roth took this image and created a whole new art movement with it. I love Woody woodpecker because these were the cartoons I got to see at the drive in theatre before the main picture started when I was a kid. I love old Warner brothers cartoons because they have the greatest stories and charaters.Tex Avery because his cartoons are F#@*king funniest!! I really love KAZ's art he has a lot of the quality's I've mentioned in the cartoons I like above and his humor is dark like mine. I love Charles Addams stuff also and Gary Larson's Farside.Dr.Suess for his art and stories. It is very hard to just pick one.

Would you reveal some of your musical aspirations?

I really like anything with loud guitars my favorite bands are Ministry,Amen,OZZY,Marilyn Manson, Alice Cooper,KISS,Bauhaus,Rob ZOMBIE, Motley Crue,AC/DC,Thrill Kill KULT,Cheap Trick,Motorhead,N.I.N.,16VOLT,KMFDM,KORN,LED ZEPPELIN ....50'S MUSIC,60'S
I wish mtv would have kept MTVX but I guess they think we need to see rap music on every one of their channels all the fucking time!!!!!!

What compulsions might you possess?

Eating cookies, nose picking and drawing what else do you need!! I must go take another pain pill for my 5 fractured ribs from being in a car accident 2 weeks ago.uughhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!

If you'd like a taste or a colossal bite of Eric Pigors amazing work, Give him a visit @ http://www.toxictoons.com