For almost a century, the art of the cartoon title card has not been disparaged, disregarded or dismissed. Rather, “It has been completely ignored,” writes Fred Seibert in the introduction to Original Title Cards. “And by the 1970s it had almost completely disappeared.”
He continues: “I’m no art historian, so there won’t be any scintillating examinations here. Just let me point out that it might be worth checking out the dozens of talented artists and creators who have shared their work with us. All sorts of styles are represented, from homage to the one- and two-color cards seen in the silents, to sumptuous, nuanced illustrations that are hard to appreciate in the 10 seconds they’re usually displayed on television. Breadth of craft is also demonstrated here, from simple typography, pencil on paper, computer-generated images, even paper cutouts.”
Seibert, who in addition to many bona fides in the animated cartoon industry, founded Frederator Studios in 1997, left in 2020 to found FredFilms, which produced series including The Fairly Odd Parents, Adventure Time (and its spinoffs), the Castlevania franchise, among others, is passionate about the graphic branding and typography of his animation universe.
He orchestrates cartoons for TV in the way that Stan Lee, referring to his role at Marvel comics, called himself “the instigator.”
“I do my best to develop first-time filmmakers who’ve proven their creative and production abilities. And their burning desire to create characters in their cartoon that audiences will love,” Seibert explains. “Once they’re in place, other than basics of budget and schedule, I feel the creators should be given space to make their films. They don’t deserve creative interference from me.”
Since the early ’90s when Seibert started producing cartoon shorts, and then the series that came from them, he insisted on having title cards. Those below are among the most visually exciting collected in the fourth edition of Original Title Cards.
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