Animation Alum Screens Student Film That Inspired 'Billy & Mandy' Series

May 4, 2016

Lost short by Adam Burton BFA ’96 (Animation), aka Maxwell Atoms, featured at Tromanimation Film Festival

 

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Eight years before the Emmy Award-winning series “The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy” debuted on the Cartoon Network, Adam Maxwell Burton BFA ’96 (Animation), aka Maxwell Atoms, created a short during his junior year at UArts. That student film, titled “Billy and Mandy in Trepanation of the Skull and You,” was the inspiration for the dark animated comedy and was screened for the very first time on April 30 at the 1st Tromanimation Film Festival held in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Watch “Billy and Mandy in Trepanation of the Skull and You” >>

Read an article on Cartoon Brew >>

“Billy & Mandy,” which ran for six seasons from 2003 to 2007, is one of two spin-offs from Burton’s first Cartoon Network series “Grim & Evil”; the other is “Evil Con Carne.” He also created a spin-off film titled “Underfist: Halloween Bash,” which aired in 2008. “The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy” has spawned three movies, two special episodes, 19 shorts, a video game and various licensed merchandise. In addition to two Emmy Award wins in 2006, the show won an Annie Award in 2005 and has been nominated a total of nine times for various awards.

The animator, screenwriter and voice actor got his first job out of school as an intern at Film Roman. Burton has also held various positions at Warner Bros., WildBrain and Hanna-Barbera, and has worked on such animated series as “The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat,” “Cow and Chicken,” “I Am Weasel,” “Chowder” and “Fish Hooks.” He is currently co-producing the new Cartoon Network/Boomerang black comedy series “Bunnicula.”