Any hip animators out there?

EXACTLY. I think those of us who grew up on the stuff expected music to continue in that direction, but it went hard the other way, back to simple 3 1/2 min love songs. But the late 70s was full of epic stuff that almost put rock music on the level with classical opera in its theatrics & drama.

I kept hoping music would cycle back around to that sort of stuff--and I think there have been a few worthy attempts by nu-prog bands like Dream Theater--but overall the stuff is relegated to a niche audience. Whereas back in the day, you could turn on any commercial radio station and hear Ziggy Stardust or Tommy or The Wall.

Well there's my crusty old guy rant for the day

Definitely give Billy Thorpe Children of the Sun a listen if you get a chance. It spans 3 albums: Children of the Sun (Side 2), 21st Century Man, East of Eden's Gate, but there are a bunch of radio friendly filler songs that break it up, so it was never really organized into a focused experience. Someone took the 1st song and made an animation for it (not official), but this is exactly the kind of thing I'd love to do one day...

 

Dude I can't wait to see & hear more. Are you documenting your progress anywhere? Sorta behind the scenes kinda stuff? I have a million questions about the process, mostly the basics like what's your workflow (do you start with paper sketches, storyboards, etc) and how you put it all together (software, etc). I imagine it's a huge undertaking that'll probably take years for just 1 person. I'm sure commercial anime requires a team of people working round the clock.

 

I'll send you more. It will take some time but this is mostly because I want to offer quality over quantity.

 

Yes, I think it's a good time to reintroduce the concept of cinematic musical storytelling in a connected way. The industry likes formula songs but many people are seeking other ways to experience music.

 

this is the trailer. Got a feature (1 hour) too.

A short clip featuring Luke Steppenwolf,Obi Wan McKenna and Yo Dass

here's Hippy Star Wars, the full movie...

 

This is a musical version of "Dark Shadows" a plaguerism, thinly valed as a(not humorous) parody because I changed the names. I had a dress rehearsal we filmed, there was no surviving soundtrack, so I had the brilliant idea of re-doing the soundtrack, presenting the rehearsal footage as a silent film, and adding more to the plot and adding depictions of other characters WITH ANIMATION!!!!! and it is some of my better work. Filmed in 1992, rebooted by me and my wife Phyllis in 2012!

 

And the grand finale...
Best, most incomrehensable, stoner science fiction animation /SLASH/ album length music video...
First... the trailer:

Then the feature...