If one was to think that The Weird Al Show was only a live action series, then you would have every right to slap them around with a large trout. In truth, the program also relied on a fair amount of animation, such as in the opening title sequence and the Fatman cartoons. Now, it would be really great to be able to say that Al animated all of these pieces himself, but alas it would be a big fat stinkin' lie. DNA Productions co-produced the theme sequence, while the company's co-head honcho Keith Alcorn directed the Fatman adventures. Earlier this year, the studio's Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius received a nomination for the first ever Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. DNA's crew has been unbelievably busy right now producing the series The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius for Nickelodeon, but Keith was nice enough to answer a few quick questions about his work on The Weird Al Show....

And he got himself a job on a tater tot farm... ATY: How did you come about working on The Weird Al Show?

KA: I heard about the series through a contact at the Spike and Mike's Festival of Animation. I gave 'em a call and well, the rest is history.

ATY: Which part of the opening title sequence was done by your studio? Some sources list contradictory claims....

KA: We only did the CGI portion of the opening theme...and what a terrific theme it was!

ATY: And of course, this wasn't your first foray into computer animation...

KA: No. Concurrently we were producing an ABC Christmas special entitled Santa vs. the Snowman. We were pretty busy for a small animation company. We started working in CGI around 1993.

The DNA-mic Duo! ATY: And that would be after how long working with traditional cel animation?

KA: DNA started as a company in 1987.

ATY: In addition to the CGI sequence, you also produced the Fatman series of cartoons for the show. How involved were you and your team with developing those segments before they were animated?

KA: Very. We had a tiny crew working on the episodes...five people. I designed all the characters and provided all the key drawings, Paul Claerhout fashioned all the storyboards and did all the in-betweening, and Nick Gibbons did all the digital painting along with Tim Hatcher. We all worked in the inking department. John Roman did all the sound design and I wrapped it up with the final posting.

ATY: Only five people?? That's pretty impressive for a series of animated shorts.

KA: For the fifth episode we farmed out some work to an outside animator, but we did almost everything ourselves.

ATY: Well, we'll let you go now so you can keep earning award nominations. Thank you so much for taking some time out to chat with us and to help our little cause!

KA: Hope this helps!

Images courtesy of DNA Productions.
Be sure to check out their official web site!

Want even more...ahem, DNA?
Here are a few of the studio's other works available on home video!
(click the format links if you'd like to buy them from Amazon)

Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius
The Academy Award-nominated film that spawned the latest Nickelodeon sensation this side of a sea sponge!
DVD or VHS

Olive the Other Reindeer
Drew Barrymore and Matt Groening co-produce this Emmy Award-nominated holiday special featuring the voices of Tim Meadows, Ed Asner, Jay Mohr, and Michael Stipe!
DVD or VHS

General Chaos: Uncensored Animation
A compilation including Keith's 1996 greatest-hits album commercial spoof Beat the Meatles!
DVD or VHS

The Weird Al Show ©1997 Dick Clark Productions, Inc.