Justin Weber/MAKE: “Juiced and Jazzed”

Justin Weber makes his directorial debut with “Juiced and Jazzed,” accompanied by the forces of Minnesota’s MAKE Visual, as they blast us back to a 1930’s-esque drunken rubber hose cartoon. The adventure follows Lulu, a seemingly innocent girl who happens upon a flask during the depths of the Prohibition Era. One drink is all it takes to get things fired up and out of control.

Justin began “Juiced and Jazzed” as his senior film at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Around the time he graduated in 2008, He had finished about 90% of the animation on paper. After being hired at MAKE, he opted to finished the cartoon there with the help of animation artists Andrew Chesworth, Aaron Quist, and Joe Kim.

The cartoon screams with the energy of 1930’s jazz, with beautifully lit environments, highly expressive characters and memorably exaggerated movement. I was able to catch up with Justin for a little more info on his film:

We wanted to make a cartoon inspired by 1930s rubber-hose animation in the fashion of Max Fleicher’s Betty Boop, as well as having the polish and excitement of 1940s cartoons, à la Bob Clampett and Tex Avery.

I wanted fun, lively music to drive the story and the characters’ actions. As a result, “Juiced and Jazzed” begins with a bouncy, jazzy piece by Joe Venuti and moves into the wild and fast paced music of Spike Jones. 

Each artist really helped add a richness to the cartoon that made it even more fun to watch.

We firmly agree. For more info on “Juiced and Jazzed,” have a look at the official site and be sure to check out some of the process work above provided by Justin and the MAKE team.