Pencilmation
Flash-animated web series about doodles tormenting their creator.
Pencilmation is a YouTube web series that blends comedy and flash animation, created by Ross Bollinger. It centers on the ongoing conflict between an animator and his drawings, where stick figures and doodles come to life on a ruled paper background and struggle against the pencil and other tools used to torment them. The series is known for its traditional frame-by-frame animation, simple character designs, energetic music, classic cartoon sound effects, and humor that ranges from slapstick and situational comedy to meta and doodle-based gags. As of December 2021, it ranks as the 260th most subscribed channel on YouTube, the 225th most viewed, the 104th most subscribed from the US, and the 15th most subscribed in the Film category. It is also the largest 2D animation-focused original creator channel on the platform in terms of both subscribers and views.
Ross Bollinger was born on November 15, 1987, in Charlottesville, Virginia. He has three siblings: sisters Ama (born 1996) and Kate (born 1997), a musician, and a younger brother, Will (born 1993), who inspired the character Wolly from Bollinger’s series *Gil Next Door*. Bollinger’s favorite shows growing up were *Rocko’s Modern Life* and *SpongeBob SquarePants*, which also influenced *Gil Next Door*. He first encountered animation through claymation in school. At age 10, he began making stop-motion animations with a home video camera, creating clay creatures that fought, ate each other, and destroyed the world. At 12, he started experimenting with Macromedia Flash without formal instruction. At 16, inspired by the Daffy Duck cartoon *Duck Amuck*, he made the first Pencilmation cartoon and uploaded it to Newgrounds.com. For the early episodes, Bollinger handled all aspects of production alone—writing, drawing, animating, sound design, composing, and voice acting.
The first Pencilmation cartoon was uploaded to Newgrounds on June 4, 2004, earning a Daily Feature award. The second installment, “Pencilmation #2,” followed on October 31, 2005, and won a Frontpaged award. From 2006 to 2008, Bollinger paused the series to work on other projects, including the short-lived series *Generic Brand Cartoons* (2006) and the short film *The Mosquito Who Gave Up Blood* (2008). His work gained national exposure when it appeared on The CW series *Online Nation*.
After a three-year hiatus, Bollinger returned to Pencilmatio
- born
- Ross Bollinger, November 15, 1987, Charlottesville, Virginia
- field
- Web animation, YouTube content creation
- nationality
- American
- known_for
- Creating the Pencilmation web series
- subscribers_rank
- 260th most subscribed channel on YouTube as of December 2021
- views_rank
- 225th most viewed channel on YouTube as of December 2021
Lore & Background
Ross Bollinger was born in Charlottesville, Virginia on November 15, 1987. He has three siblings: sisters Ama Bollinger (born 1996) and Kate Bollinger (born 1997), a musician, and younger brother Will Bollinger (born 1993). Two of Bollinger's favorite shows were Rocko's Modern Life and SpongeBob SquarePants, which served as inspirations for his series Gil Next Door. Bollinger was introduced to animation via claymation in school. At age 10, he started doing stop-motion animation with clay creatures. At age 12, he began experimenting with Macromedia Flash. At age 16, inspired by the Daffy Duck cartoon Duck Amuck, he created the first Pencilmation cartoon and uploaded it to Newgrounds.com. Bollinger worked alone on every aspect of the early episodes, including writing, drawing, animating, sound designing, composing, and voice acting.
Reader's Guide
Pencilmation began on June 4, 2004, when Bollinger uploaded the first episode to Newgrounds, where it received a Daily Feature. A second installment followed on October 31, 2005, winning a Frontpaged award. After a hiatus from 2006 to 2008, Bollinger returned to the series for a college project at the School of Visual Arts, uploading all previous episodes to YouTube and producing ten new episodes in 2009. In April 2010, 'Pencilmation #10' won 1st Place in Animation at the 31st College Television Awards. The series underwent a period emphasizing the character Hank Hanky from 2011 to 2012, then returned to its original format in mid-2012. From episode #37 onward, Bollinger began delegating responsibilities to other creatives, eventually serving as executive producer. By 2017–2018, the series employed a global remote team. In 2019, Pencilmation was featured in YouTube Rewind as the third most viewed creator channel with 2.8 billion views. Between 2018 and 2020, subscribers grew from over 1 million to over 18 million, and views from tens of millions to over 9 billion, aided by YouTube's algorithm and the 2019 Rewind. By the end of 2020, the 500th episode had been produced. The series is recognized by its ruled paper backdrop, frame-by-frame animation, energetic music, classic cartoonish sound effects, and mix of slapstick, situational, meta, and doodle-based humor.
Did You Know?
- The first Pencilmation cartoon was uploaded to Newgrounds.com on June 4, 2004, when creator Ross Bollinger was 16 years old.
- Pencilmation #10, titled 'Hook, Line and Stinker', won 1st Place in Animation at the 31st College Television Awards in April 2010.
- As of December 2021, Pencilmation was the 15th most subscribed channel in the Film category on YouTube.
- The character Hank Hanky once hosted a segment called 'The Hank Hanky Show' where viewers called a toll-free number to leave voice messages.
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