![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii7MkPNGnToqzL6IGxlf8j7Nmup8lQgoJTxgudv2yHcQVZjo4idkg39HE_ULiW-G4fdFKj6liPelTimDpKxs_O_LpL1q-nVFWcYuvV3UQLHW1knYe07XsaVpUn6BWXpGhXwrhbXIjwxQU/s320/fester_early1_oct8_2009.png)
Above: This is where it started-- after watching hours of 20s and 30s cartoons in my History of Animation class, I was inspired to make a parody/homage. I quickly decided that the character should be a fish because it seemed like the most illogical choice. These are the very first doodles of Fester, dated October 8 2009. Early story ideas, seen here if you can read my primitive scrawls, include a nutty professor ripoff, and what would eventually become "Fester's Nephew."
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKUkBKm9t_b64C1qLv0zgzroZ3LouqMOp2JMHszOSNcq6bO0u-4k82Ey-WN2ceDMrx24a0wOIU-_2xXNGGkX_kXxYDwGWaushtO2KZ-90LxKvBqF14uI7N0GzPz5V0AFtprYvXacK0H5s/s320/fester_early2_oct8_2009.png)
Here's another really early sketch from Oct 8 2009, with the first real drawing of Slightly Smaller Fish.
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It took me a while to decide whether or not Fester should have a bowtie. I decided not to include it because he was already too similar to Flip the Frog, and a bowtie would've meant another thing I had to draw in every frame. Fester doesn't seem classy enough for a bowtie anyway.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8KtFvNWetbqdxnmVfsur6ggkq3IDN4gtl2s-aVlG5-dj-nzuXnadWMbjZY3dSopZ5heLaNYxqFPiBGo1GrYABrj1I2i81Rogk8v0aen_rBl2p2TebDDS3wOCHlQpOOyP6r4l4ZdWWKr8/s320/fester_early4_oct25_2009.png)
^From October 25 2009. Wow, these are terrible. Fester looks completely deformed. I was really struggling with the concept of doing expressions on him. An early version of the title card is also seen here, as well as some bizarre "fin-leg" things that would've made posing the character way harder.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyNhc6AI3vMDOr98VRCAWVC3D8MThzIOvbB5HmwjhHPZ6mBdDLMBUoy6FADtyctBlG2fmMdt-mGl2gfM2G7Ep-CcQo-TzP0j95oqVX01BGBdyUEPFqXpyGmqQzEqN6uOJHfw0QYstQNlM/s320/fester_early5_oct27_2009.png)
Oct 27 2009... This is probably the first drawing of "Fester's Goil," eventually named Blottie. All the elements of Fester's design were pretty much set by this point, I just needed to get better at drawing them. I planned to have Joe Rabbit (from my Space Goose series) appear as a friend of Fester's, along with the classy robot from the "Banquet Bust-Up" episode of that cartoon. They may still appear in future episodes.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgijJnztG4075yXQexG6G0daoBtKKMphScfYz2M_rRfI-VewhX7kZhX27rQkMR3vAdfFwmStrDpjYyM1VZZPmNs_NtPhO7q-8kLgUp7k8-Z4IKz6019yFtKrkXltDGYyLkzF56L0tPJTFo/s320/fester_early6_oct29_2009.png)
October 29 2009-- More experimenting with Fester in different poses. I have no idea what the moustachioed Fester in the trench-coat was for, but it makes me giggle. As does the word "moustachioed."
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This is another early design of Fester and his girlfriend Blottie, from November 2009. At the time, I was in the middle of making the third Space Goose episode, so if you spot them as background characters in it, this is what they look like.
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More early misshapen Festers! In "Fester's Nephew," Fester has a pet man-fish (the opposite of him being a fish-man, I guess). This drawing is the genesis of that gag, although here it's supposed to be Cary Grant. In the final cartoon, it looks more like Jimmy Stewart.
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By this point, the design was pretty much set. Fester looks basically like he did in some of the first scenes I animated in "Fester's Nephew." I still had to get better at drawing him though.