Phantom Mountain

September 21, 2007 · Filed Under Animation, Cartoons, Extras 

Update 3: Here’s a higher-quality version on Crackle.com

Update 2: Hey I won! Wow! Incredible. A big thank-you to Laura and the band for choosing my video. Thanks to all of you readers for the generous comments and kind words. Having never really done anything like this before, it’s very rewarding to me that it was a success - in the contest, and with all of you. Thanks! And be sure to visit Laura’s site to check out the 2nd, 3rd and 4th place videos!

Update: Fun facts about the making of the video.

The chickens make their animation debut today! This is my entry for the Laura Veirs music video contest. It’s for the song “Phantom Mountain” from the Saltbreakers album - a great album - go get yourself a copy!

Just click the video to start playing it. If you can’t see it for some reason, you can watch it on YouTube.

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Comments

122 Responses to “Phantom Mountain”

  1. country roads on September 21st, 2007 9:44 am

    amazing! Simply amazing!!

  2. Phil Burchill on September 21st, 2007 10:26 am

    Wow! That was just incredible! Most excellent!

  3. Gary on September 21st, 2007 10:54 am

    Very Cool!!

  4. Marauder on September 21st, 2007 11:10 am

    GORGEOUS!!!

  5. Eugen on September 21st, 2007 11:24 am

    stunning!!! congrats, it’s really beautiful!

  6. Jen on September 21st, 2007 11:27 am

    Now that’s fecking amazing. Fantastic work, Doug! Hope you win it. :D

  7. Ian Ellis on September 21st, 2007 11:40 am

    Awsome!

  8. Julie on September 21st, 2007 11:49 am

    Holy mother of chickens! That was awesome…both the song and the video.
    Go go Chicken power!

  9. William on September 21st, 2007 12:02 pm

    That was great! I got so into it that when the butterfly flew down, I tried to scroll the page to follow it!

    Great job!

  10. Alyxx on September 21st, 2007 12:10 pm

    WOW! Ok, I’ve always loved pixilation in its many forms - and this is a great example! I love the way the chickens work with the 3d environment, and I think it goes brilliantly with the song.

    Kudos!

  11. Anonymous on September 21st, 2007 12:15 pm

    Very cool!!!! Love your chickens. Congratulations.

  12. Owen on September 21st, 2007 12:26 pm

    Very well done! Cool song, too. Gotta check her out.

  13. Derek on September 21st, 2007 12:29 pm

    This video is so amazing!!! you mixed the fabulous chickens with origami an d godzilla!! im pretty sure you’re going to win the contest!!!

    Keep it coming Doug! your chickens are awesome!

  14. Marti on September 21st, 2007 12:29 pm

    OMG this was so Great!!!! Do you think maybe there will be more animations in your future? I would love to see savage chickens on TV

    Have an awesome weekend!

    Regards Marti

  15. Tom on September 21st, 2007 12:32 pm

    absolutely brilliant…
    very innovative and catchy…
    song and even more your animation ..

    so, i’m gona watch it a third and fourth time now ;-)

  16. Anonymous on September 21st, 2007 12:33 pm

    Fantástico, de verdad impresionante trabajo, muchas felicidades. Saludos desde México de parte de Krom.

  17. garricks on September 21st, 2007 12:38 pm

    Well done! Most excellent animatration!!

  18. Anonymous on September 21st, 2007 12:54 pm

    How much do you rock? That was SO cool. Nice work. I hope you win!

  19. Doris Sudduth on September 21st, 2007 12:57 pm

    That was great! I’ve read every single Savage Chickens comic and I really enjoyed the animation and the music. Thanks!

  20. Kat on September 21st, 2007 1:08 pm

    Wow, that was fantastic! :D I like them animated.

  21. Jim Pemberton on September 21st, 2007 1:10 pm

    Great job! Very creative. I love the idea where the medium becomes the art.

  22. Cooth on September 21st, 2007 1:10 pm

    AWESOME!!

  23. Joseph on September 21st, 2007 1:18 pm

    That was really impressive. I would love to see some stats on it, like how many frames you shot, how long it took you, etc. Stop motion animation has always fascinated me.

  24. Anonymous on September 21st, 2007 1:21 pm

    Darn Firewall at work. Can’t see the comic today. Must skip work and rush home to see Savage Chickens. The power of the chicken compels me!

    C.

  25. grigorisgirl on September 21st, 2007 1:21 pm

    Superb! Glad to see Frued and the choocks getting animated:)

  26. hypnobee on September 21st, 2007 1:24 pm

    Awesome…excellent job!

  27. Hanako on September 21st, 2007 1:29 pm

    Doug, you have outdone yourself!! Post-it animation?? I love the little office supplies that move around the animation, like the cards to make waves. How long did it take you?

  28. Janice in GA on September 21st, 2007 1:35 pm

    Well done! I like stop-motion animation anyway, but you did a great job with this.

  29. Robert Williams on September 21st, 2007 1:37 pm

    Surreal!

  30. Anonymous on September 21st, 2007 1:37 pm

    Wow!! You did a great job, loved the music. Turning all my friends on to your site.

  31. jesirose on September 21st, 2007 1:42 pm

    That was absolutely brilliant.

  32. Daniela Berger on September 21st, 2007 1:46 pm

    That was absolutely beautiful.

    And I can’t begin to imagine how many hours you put into this work.

    Just plain awesome!

  33. Anonymous on September 21st, 2007 1:59 pm

    doug, you are the only person i feel safe recommending this to… Quit your day job!

  34. Hillary on September 21st, 2007 2:00 pm

    VERY cool! You just may have found your new niche! Wow! :)

  35. SeriousCat on September 21st, 2007 2:07 pm

    THAT is so cool.. love the animation muchly!

  36. coneja on September 21st, 2007 2:07 pm

    That was awesome! ^^

  37. Julie D on September 21st, 2007 2:17 pm

    Absolutely awesome! Great job!

  38. Anonymous on September 21st, 2007 2:21 pm

    omg, doug that is awesome, how long did that take to shoot and make?

  39. Kath on September 21st, 2007 2:27 pm

    It’s incredibly awesome, but you know that. You will totally win.

  40. Spring Dew on September 21st, 2007 2:36 pm

    Awesome!! Completely made of win.

  41. Jason on September 21st, 2007 2:42 pm

    Well done! How long did it take to film all that stop frame animation?

  42. aly on September 21st, 2007 2:48 pm

    Loooove the animated chickens, especially the one that “flew the coop”! And the butterfly and office supply montage was way fun! You must have spent weeks on this, if not months. Go Savage Chickens!!

  43. Sarah on September 21st, 2007 2:49 pm

    Not only did the chickens make their video debut, but Dead Dog and Godzilla, too! Very esoteric video and well put together.

  44. Goodness Gracie on September 21st, 2007 3:07 pm

    That was brilliant!

  45. Mike on September 21st, 2007 3:10 pm

    That was amazing. Hopefully you’ll do some more of these animations again.

  46. Tyler on September 21st, 2007 3:17 pm

    Did I see Dead Dog Bob make an appearance?

    Fantastic video! Be sure to let us know if you win.

  47. Doug Savage on September 21st, 2007 3:21 pm

    Wow thanks everybody! I’m really glad you like it!

    It took 2 weeks to make, with about 500 sticky notes, and 1500 photos. I’ve put up some other fun facts about the making of the video here on the behind the scenes page.

  48. Jeff on September 21st, 2007 3:22 pm

    Bravo! You’ve taken chicken art to a whole new level!

    How did you manage to suspend the butterfly in air while you took the shots?

  49. PodSquadHQ on September 21st, 2007 3:22 pm

    Amazing - great work!

  50. Jenny on September 21st, 2007 3:26 pm

    Hands down, best chicken cartoon EVER!

  51. Hunter on September 21st, 2007 3:48 pm

    That was…really cool.

  52. chikzrkul on September 21st, 2007 4:05 pm

    AWESOME! I’m beyond impressed!!! You have just made my depressing morning a whole lot brighter!

  53. the erudite baboon on September 21st, 2007 4:12 pm

    Hey! That’s awesome!

  54. StrangeRover on September 21st, 2007 4:40 pm

    …What’s th’ punch line?

  55. Hekateris on September 21st, 2007 4:43 pm

    That was awesome! Great tune, too.

  56. belphebe on September 21st, 2007 4:49 pm

    Wow, Doug. That was fantastic! I definitely need to check out the behind the scenes information.

    I loved how the animation worked with the song, especially the butterfly.

  57. Rayni on September 21st, 2007 5:16 pm

    Oh my goodness! You must have spent so much time on it! And it was amazing! Amazing! Amazing!!

  58. newsong on September 21st, 2007 5:46 pm

    I quite like it :D

  59. WhizGidget on September 21st, 2007 5:51 pm

    Doug, what a fabulous job you did! That was incredible!

    I showed it to my youngest daughter and she loved the part where the chicken was “roasted” by lightning. I have to say, that *was* pretty cool.

  60. Anonymous on September 21st, 2007 6:24 pm

    i read the behind the scenes stats. your film is both creative and entertaining. you spent more time planning it than a lot of shows that are on tv today. the fact that you storyboarded puts you above many kids shows i’ve worked on. best to you

  61. Samantha on September 21st, 2007 6:26 pm

    Brilliant! Made my day :-)

  62. jenmoocat on September 21st, 2007 6:45 pm

    That was wonderful and very creative. I, too, am interested in how you suspended the butterfly in the air while filming.

  63. S.Castor on September 21st, 2007 7:06 pm

    Superb.

  64. Gafguru on September 21st, 2007 7:06 pm

    that was amazing..
    do you still have a day job ???

  65. Anonymous on September 21st, 2007 7:06 pm

    Don’t like the song, but the visuals were awesome. I must say, the multi-color papclip was my favorite character :)

  66. Raquel on September 21st, 2007 7:07 pm

    That was awsome!!! You did a fantastic job. :)

  67. Katie on September 21st, 2007 8:10 pm

    WOW. I know you’ve heard it already but WOW!

  68. Amy on September 21st, 2007 8:15 pm

    Wow, that’s absolutely amazing!

  69. Ian Castruita on September 21st, 2007 8:26 pm

    Great song, and awesome work!

  70. andy on September 21st, 2007 8:28 pm

    i agree with everyone else. this was simply fantastic! i was really getting excited to see it, and the hype you created was worth it! great job!!

  71. Dev_chieftain on September 21st, 2007 9:12 pm

    That was so amazing! I’m completely in love! <3!!

  72. Pedro Villalobos on September 21st, 2007 9:48 pm

    Really amazing! One of the best stop-motions i have ever seen :)

  73. Girion on September 21st, 2007 10:07 pm

    That was awsome!!!

    It was great all the way through but it really got me smiling when the dog tackles the lighter to save the butterfly.

  74. jag on September 21st, 2007 10:32 pm

    I don’t think I realized you were left-handed?! Doesn’t matter - this is frickin’ amazing. And thanks for the related Fun Facts. You always bring a smile to my day!!

  75. Anonymous on September 22nd, 2007 12:29 am

    Wow! Excellent, really! That’s the best thing I’ve seen on the internet in a long time. I freaking love those chickens!

  76. awestruck by doug's amazing amazingnessocity on September 22nd, 2007 12:31 am

    wow. Wow. WOW.
    a steaming pile of awesome!!!!
    [:
    you have lots of time on your hands, don’t you?

    ps: lefty’s rule!

  77. Sami Koivu on September 22nd, 2007 2:39 am

    Wow, Doug. Superb. First animation? Two weeks? Incredible.

  78. Anonymous on September 22nd, 2007 5:42 am

    It was ok- maybe i missed some deep meaning.

  79. Katherine on September 22nd, 2007 1:21 pm

    That was simply amazing!

    Love love love the butterfly. :) That’s my favorite origami diagram!

  80. Justice~! on September 22nd, 2007 3:20 pm

    I feel bad leaving nothing but a “me too” comment, but I pretty much had to
    CHANGE
    MY
    PANTS

    after seeing this! It was absolutely nuts. I’m so glad other people felt the same way because this definitely deserves animation!!

  81. LeAnna on September 22nd, 2007 5:49 pm

    I see no reason why you wouldn’t win this competition. That was completely mesmerizing!

  82. Dawn on September 22nd, 2007 6:35 pm

    This is a big leap in your work. I didn’t realize you were an artist of so many mediums! I’m very impressed =)

  83. Edric Hsu on September 22nd, 2007 9:53 pm

    WOWOWOWOWOWOW!!! I love this super duper special animated edition! Well done, Doug!!! :P

  84. Anonymous on September 23rd, 2007 12:18 am

    Good God you’re talented!

  85. Anonymous on September 23rd, 2007 1:47 am

    THAT. IS. AWESOME.

  86. Claudia on September 23rd, 2007 1:58 pm

    that was unbelievable!!!!! you’re awesome. -highfive- it HAS to win that contest.

  87. UWYO on September 23rd, 2007 7:32 pm

    Amazing work! I enjoy the day to day escapades of the chickens, but this was just wonderful! What software did you use? Camera? Good luck!f1r35T0rm

  88. jean on September 23rd, 2007 11:45 pm

    Great job Doug! I love it!! I hope you win!

  89. Warren Criswell on September 24th, 2007 12:10 am

    Truly amazing, Doug, especially if this is really your first animation!!? But listen– Do you know about Xuangzi, the monk who dreamed he was a butterfly, then woke up and wondered if he was a butterfly dreaming he was Xuangzi? Your interplay of drawings with reality reminded me of that Taoist story. Way cool.

  90. Anonymous on September 24th, 2007 9:37 am

    Out of the videos I could find that were done for the contest I think yours is the best, you’re so gonna win this.

  91. el jefe on September 24th, 2007 10:07 am

    beautiful!

  92. lioness on September 24th, 2007 2:57 pm

    Fabulous! GO CHICKEN GO! Great work. Really nice flow.

  93. Sbyllek on September 24th, 2007 3:41 pm

    FANTASTIC!

    Ever since I discovered your chickens a year ago they have been a part of my morning routine.

    I’ve always been impressed with your talent…your video just blew me away!!

    Awesome work!

  94. CaySedai on September 24th, 2007 5:28 pm

    And it’s Doug Savage for a first-place win! Yay Savage Chickens!

  95. Doug on September 24th, 2007 6:04 pm

    very first thing I’ve seen of yours was the blank page cartoon.. I love it. I just emailed it to several other writers…
    now this great video! I turned off the sound because it was breaking up, but still was riveted by the story.
    really Doug you’re doing me a great service….
    people googling me will find your cartoons and think they’re mine. good thing they’re great! haha
    btw I’ve been a writer director on & off for 30 years. great animation.great story.
    I found you googling myself. a lost friend found me a couple of weeks ago through google. so curious I followed through. and here you are.
    I’ve just signed up for your cartoons. best of luck.
    Doug Savage

  96. Doug on September 24th, 2007 6:14 pm

    second comment
    just watched it again. too awesome, no three awesome.
    and I agree, quit your day job.
    Doug S

  97. Habi on September 24th, 2007 7:33 pm

    wow! brilliant!
    can’t wait to see more of those.

  98. Skaoot on September 24th, 2007 8:51 pm

    froudo9
    Wow, so very wow. I did some animationshorts myself, and I know it’s an awful lot of work to get. Respect for getting it done in two weeks. It looks amazing. No wonder you won the contest :)
    And I love your chickens, I’ve been visiting them for over a year now, and won’t stop any day soon.

  99. Derek on September 24th, 2007 10:10 pm

    congratulations Doug!! well deserved!! enjoy your super prize :D

  100. Warren on September 24th, 2007 10:49 pm

    Congratulation on the win! You deserve it.
    Warren

  101. Ellie T on September 25th, 2007 10:37 am

    congratulations on the win, doug! you definitely deserved it. the video is amazing.

  102. belphebe on September 25th, 2007 3:19 pm

    Congratulations on winning, Doug. I am so happy for you.

    However, unlike other commenters, I don’t want you to quit your day job, but that is because of purely selfish reasons. :-)

  103. grigorisgirl on September 25th, 2007 4:41 pm

    Many congratulations Doug!! We knew you’d win!!!

  104. Anonymous on September 26th, 2007 12:56 am

    That was wonderful!! I was most impressed!

  105. MedStudentWife on September 26th, 2007 11:27 am

    Congratulations !!!

    Its a truly awesome video !!!

  106. tangled on September 26th, 2007 12:51 pm

    CONGRATULATIONS!!!

  107. Tofu Ali on September 28th, 2007 4:01 pm

    Love the stop-motion vid and congrats on the competition!

  108. Paula on September 28th, 2007 10:13 pm

    Doug! ! viewed this when you posted it and thought it was great and wonderful! I’m so glad you won!!! :)
    And yes…this is Paula H.

  109. snacktime on October 1st, 2007 9:23 am

    All Kinds Of Awesome.

  110. bluecat on October 3rd, 2007 9:51 am

    That was a totally awesome video! It’s no wonder that you won. Love the chickens!

  111. funspirit on October 3rd, 2007 2:39 pm

    The first time I’ve left a comment when over a hundred were already there - but man was that a blast! I LOOOOVVVEEEEDDD IT!

    When are you going to do another?

  112. Michael on October 6th, 2007 1:23 am

    Congrats on winning, that was an awesome video.

    Here via someone’s blog, and now cannot remember who as I have been checking out the chicken cartoons.

  113. Ashurii on October 6th, 2007 10:40 pm

    Congrats on winning, Doug! That was awesome! Nice Origami, too!

    Savage Chickens are a good joke in our family. Especially the irrational fears.

  114. Nick on October 8th, 2007 1:09 pm

    Wow! That was excellent. Really cool animation :) I heard ‘Galaxies’ from Laura Veirs a while back and love this song as well…

  115. Aviatrix on October 12th, 2007 7:54 pm

    Very creative.

    I definitely want to see more chickens on rollers coasters.

  116. Gail on December 8th, 2007 7:43 pm

    that is pretty darn amazing! congrats

  117. Anonymous on January 31st, 2008 1:36 am

    I’m just back from seeing Laura Veirs play in Edinburgh (30/01/08). Great gig. She was full of praise for the videos and for the enormous effort you and the other winners put into the competition. She urged us all to check out the vids. So I did. I’m impressed. Congratulations.

  118. Polysmack on February 11th, 2008 10:33 pm

    Wow, cool stuff!

  119. Axxle on March 12th, 2008 4:40 am

    Just wow! That was amazing. such an outstanding style to it!

  120. Anonymous on April 10th, 2008 6:59 pm

    I had the best time watching this! As a matter of fact, I watched it twice. Couldn’t view it when you released it last Sept due to bandwidth issues, but tried again today and it WORKED! Amazing job. Bravo!
    Now I’m going over to Itunes to pick up Laura’s cd.

  121. jean on October 20th, 2008 5:38 am

    have loved the chickens since we were first introduced - but the animation just brings them to life - perhaps that’s the point - loved song props dimension jumps - entire production just brilliant

  122. kile on May 21st, 2009 9:01 pm

    yeah awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome dude you rule!!!!!!!!!

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