Like all great artists and creative folk, cartoonist William Levin finds his inspiration from a series of ex-girlfriends who spark innovation and then eventually drift away in favor of a more suitable muse.

With each turn of the perpetual partner wheel, Levin learns more about his artistic process and churns out funny, irreverent, and often educational cartoons about Jewish Robots and oft-injured bike riders.

While his target demographic started out as a microcosm of the larger population (mostly Jews), his adaptability and chameleon-like penchant for recognizing trends have promised him a bright future in an animation industry that is still relatively new to the Brooklyn resident.

Levin was gracious enough to sit down with the Jailbreak for a hilarious interview in which he ponders a future in anime, reveals the actual location of Sesame Street, and explains why Futurama was an anomaly.

-Quincy

The Jailbreak: How did you initially get into cartooning? Are you moonlighting, or has it become a fulltime job for you?

William Levin: I’ve been a Macintosh computer consultant since 1996, but have always doodled as a hobby (and as a substitute for taking notes in class).  One day my neighbor, Bill Alger, a professional cartoon illustrator, happened to notice my doodles, and he encouraged me to post them online.  So I made a few comic strips about Macintosh culture, and quickly gained an audience of Mac fanatics.  Then, in 2000, while waiting eight hours in a courthouse for jury duty selection, I read a book about Flash animation from cover to cover.  When I got home I made my first Flash animation, and was instantly hooked. This year, while I still do some Macintosh consulting, cartooning is finally my main source of income.

JB: You seem to fill a fairly particular niche with your Jewish-oriented cartoons and animation. Can you explain how you found yourself making these types of shorts?

WL: Around the time I learned to animate with Flash, I was dating a girl, Tova, with an Orthodox-Jewish background.  Spending the holidays with her family inspired me to start a series of comics and animations about a rabbi and his irreverent Jewish robot named ShaBot. Those caught on quickly with the Jewish online community, and soon Jewish companies and organizations were contacting me to make viral cartoons for them.

JB: Are you making fun of—I don’t mean to say being Jewish, but sort of like an irreverent dissection of religion in an attempt to make it more fun than most people think is it?

WL: I started making the ShaBot cartoons as a way to vent my frustration with feeling like an outsider, and to poke fun at piety.  See, I grew up in a Conservative household with a proud Jewish heritage, but I felt self-conscious and “less Jewish” in the Orthodox world.  Once I published my cartoons online and gained an audience, I started incorporating more educational content, while also keeping them fun.  Since I did a lot of research about Jewish customs and traditions, it was a learning experience for me as well.

JB: Why do you think other religions aren’t—in an effort to connect with a younger generation—trying to do the same thing?

WL: That’s a good question.  Some artists tried having a little fun with irreverent Islamic cartoons, but that ended in riots and setting the Danish Embassy on fire.  Hinduism with its plentiful gods and goddesses is ripe for educational cartoons, but I only know of one such animation, Sita Sings the Blues, which was amazing.  And I’m sure there must be plenty of edgy-yet-educational cartoons dealing with Christianity, but I’m not familiar with them. They’re too goyish.  Moral Orel, a stop motion animated series on Adult Swim, came close, but is probably considered much too edgy to be educational.

JB: I mean you would never see a self-deprecating (for lack of a better word) Jesus detailing the uses for Communion cakes in a lyrically hip and comedic montage. Right?

WL: Have you seen Modern Day Jesus?  I love that guy; I wish they’d make more.

JB: I stand corrected. Okay, so tell the people what an autosemitic animator is.

WL: The idea behind my website, JewishRobot.com, is that I offer an affordable, dedicated service of turning around custom (mostly Jewish themed) animations quickly.  I figured I’d work like a robotic assembly line, so as I’d be finishing one project, I’d always be starting another. Also, I offer half price!  N.B. – That’s autosemitic animator, not to be confused with Hitler, who was an anti-Semitic dictator.

JB: Do you consider yourself and your work funny? (For the record I think it’s hilarious)

WL: Thank you. I tend to make friends and dates laugh, but my funny pales in comparison to inspirations like David Wain, Larry David, and Gary Larson.  I do think my uncensored work is much funnier than the client-approved final products you’ll find in my portfolio.  Boy I wish I could show you some of the stuff that didn’t fly.  It made me Laugh-Out Loud-Whilst-Rolling-On-The-Floor.

JB: We’ll have to set up a private viewing. Anyways, talk a little bit, if you would, about branching away from your comfort zone. Shorts like the Bike Safety PSA and the Wall-E in 15 seconds are just as clever as your other stuff, yet in a vastly different vein. Is it import to expand your repertoire?

WL: While creating Jewish content is very rewarding, and has become a wonderful career, I realize that it only appeals to about two percent of the population.  Since I’d eventually like to buy a house and support a family, maybe start smoking, I’d like to reach a bigger audience with more universal ideas, so it is very important for me to be less niche-y.  I figured I’d start with cartoons about other things I love, like biking, robots, animals and science.

JB: Awesome. So what comes next, and what are you currently working on?

WL: I’d like to produce more bike safety PSAs soon, as I’ve really been doing a lot of urban biking and commuting here in NYC, since my now ex-girlfriend got me into it.  Hmm, I just realized how much my relationships with girlfriends seem to influence the direction my cartoons go in.  I wonder what the next girlfriend will inspire?  Hopefully anime.

And I’m currently writing scripts for Sesame Workshop!  I’m working with a team of writers to develop content for a new DVD series geared toward Jewish-American children, called Shalom Sesame, based on the Israeli version of Sesame Street.  So far I’ve written two studio scripts for Muppet’s, and a bunch of animation scripts.  I hope it leads to more writing opportunities, possibly even for the main Sesame Street series.  And, yes, I can tell you how to get to Sesame Street:  The main office is located at One Lincoln Plaza in Manhattan.

JB: I think it’s important for people to understand that you make cartoons, not animations in the traditional sense. Can you talk about the difference and explain what you think a cartoon is?

WL: Well, if you consider Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI), the “new traditional” method of animation, while I do use a computer, my use of Flash is not representative of “computer generated imagery”, as with the well-known 3-D Pixar animations.  I make traditional 2-D illustrations with a digital pen and tablet, and use Adobe Flash to “tween” movement, which means the computer calculates much of the motion.  So my work is kind of a hybrid form of animation.  But I think it’s all cartoons.  Did I give the impression that I didn’t think that?  Sorry if I did.

JB: Who are your idols or inspirations when it comes to the cartoon world? It seems like innovative shows like Ren and Stimpy and the Simpsons have been replaced by edgier TV (South Park, Family Guy, etc.) Why do you think that is? What cartoons do you watch?

WL: For comic strips, my absolute favorite is Gary Larson’s Far Side.  My favorite animated cartoon on TV was Futurama (making a return to network soon!), and the short-lived Mission Hill was really nice, too.  In my personal life, I’ve been inspired by fellow online cartoonists Threebrain and Dan Meth.  Meth, my talented Brooklyn neighbor and friend, actually used to be the other go-to guy for Jewish stuff, but he hit it big and now does excellent cartoons for companies like College Humor and Playboy. So he has been kind enough to refer any straggling Jewish business to me. I think Ren and Stimpy, besides being innovative, is still among the edgiest cartoons out there.  I guess the older cartoons have been replaced by edgier stuff because, like any show, cartoons have a shelf-life, and if you’re going to do something new, you might as well step it up.  Also, most of the new edgy cartoons incorporate an excess of pop cultural references, and this is very indicative of the YouTube generation, which is big business, so it makes sense to base network cartoons on the same principle.  I think Futurama was an exception to the “new edgy” trend.  It was much tamer than most new cartoons, but very well written and extremely funny.

JB: Your alter ego, if you will, is the Jewish Robot. Can you tell the readers how he became to be?

WL: My ex-girlfriend, Tova, the girl who inspired my Shabot comic strips, told me it was hard to remember my website address “ShaBot6000.com”.  She suggested I get a simpler domain name, “JewishRobot.com”, to make it easier to tell people about my work.  Boy was she ever right.  Now, depending on whom I’m dealing with, they either call me Macboy or Jewish Robot.

JB: And any plans for the Vinyl toy?

WL: I’d love to make designer vinyl versions of Shabot and the rabbi.  In fact, the prospect of working with a toy designer is how I came to meet Jason “Obama Doll” Feinberg. Besides the fact that I had gone on a JDate with his now fiancée, Alyssa, who suggested we meet.  You win this round, Jason!

[Editors Note] First, that’s a hilarious bit of information! Second, congratulations to J*Rock and his beautiful bride-to-be Alyssa, who have recently become engaged.

But first I’ll have to make a comic strip comeback to rebuild my audience. I kind of lost inspiration and stopped producing the weekly comic strip for the last year.  Yes, it’s because I was with a girl who inspired me in other ways.

JB: What is art to you: either abstractly or in the most rudimentary sense?

WL: I can answer this question best with a recent story:  Upon seeing the controversial “Obama Terrorist” cartoon cover of The New Yorker, my latest ex-girlfriend (why is it always about an ex-girlfriend?) asked me, indignantly, “What is the point of this depiction of Obama?  What good can come from it?”  The fact that she asked me that.. that is the point. That’s art.

JB: Lastly, assuming you’re listening to your ipod while responding to this interview, what are you rocking out to at the moment?

WL: I’m turning it on now, and I’m listening to Brad Sucks.  He doesn’t suck at all, really.  He’s quite good; a one-man operation, like myself.

JB: Thanks very much, William!

WL: Bevakasha … HEY!

For more information on William Levin check out his YouTube page.