http://www.jibjab.com/ Brothers Gregg and Evan Spiridellis founded Jibjab in 1998 and since then have been among the foremost purveyors of web-based satirical animation. They reached the height of their fame in 2004 with an inspired 2-minute spoof of the U.S. presidential campaign titled "This Land. Set to the tune of the celebrated Woody Guthrie song, it shows John Kerry and George Bush trading some spirited invective (Bush: You have more waffles/Than a house of pancakes/You offer flip-flops/I offer tax breaks; Kerry: You can't say 'nuclear'/That really scares me/Sometimes a brain can/Come in quite handy.) The visuals are based on photographic images of Kerry and Bush and their entourage, and the end result is far more hilarious than if everything had been drawn or computer-generated. Older brother Gregg writes the words while Evan does most of the animation. The music is handled by Evan's wife Adrienne, who is a busy and versatile composer in her own right. If you're in need of a jingle, here is a link to her personal Web site, which features over 20 musical samples in several genres: (http://www.spellermusic.com/). "This Land turned the Spiridellis brothers from Internet cult favorites to mainstream celebrities practically overnight. Clips were featured on ABC News, The Tonight Show, CNN, FOX, CNBC and the Today Show. The cartoon is scrupulously nonpartisan: Bush and Kerry are both derided with equal glee and sing together in the last chorus: "From the liberal wieners to the right-wing nut jobs/This land belongs to you and me. As you might expect, the notoriety did not come without a price. A music publishing company claiming to own the copyright for the Woody Guthrie promptly came out of the woodwork and served the Spiridellis brothers with a cease-and-desist letter asking them to remove their cartoon from the Web. The brothers turned over the matter to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a non-profit organization whose slogan is: "Defending freedom in the digital world. EFF staff attorney Fred Von Lohman took on the case and found evidence that the copyright on the song had expired in 1973. Ludlow Music backed down and Von Lohman quipped in a press conference, paraphrasing Guthrie's lyrics: "This song belongs to you and me. Shortly after "This Land aired, Gregg and Evan's father Nicholas told the St. Petersburg Times that his sons "aren't political in the sense of going to rallies and stuff, but they're very knowledgeable. And, he might have added, they're wary of all politicians. The host of the Tonight Show, Jay Leno, commissioned a sequel to "This Land, and the brothers obliged with "Nice to be in DC. Set to another American standard ("Dixie ), it starred Bush and Kerry and a whole chorus line of senators and congressmen from both sides of the aisle, all gloating about their ties to big money and kicking up their heels as they sing in unison: "It's good to be in DC/Hooray, hooray! They followed this up with "Second Term, in which George Bush outlines his program to the strains of a peppy bluegrass tune ("I'll eliminate the taxes/That are breaking all our backses. ) And it's safe to bet that there will be more of the same before Dubya leaves the White House. If you have no interest whatsoever in U.S. politics, there's still much to enjoy at Jibjab. You have to register in order to access early Jibjab productions, and that includes supplying your e-mail address (and potentially finding your inbox filled with spam) but there's no gain without pain, and somehow I can't imagine the Spiridellis brothers peddling the personal information of their fans to the highest bidder. Gregg and Evan's earliest cartoon creation, "Nasty Santa, was a response to the tide of corporate-sponsored sentimentality that seems to submerge America around Christmas time. Nasty Santa is a foul-mouthed curmudgeon who does his job with great reluctance. In "Miracle on 234th Street, he's trying to get into an inner city apartment when a neighbor spots him on the fire escape and calls the police. An entire SWAT team arrives and then, with a click of the mouse, you can get Nasty Santa maced, zapped with a Taser gun, or clobbered in various ways. Silly, but hilarious. And if you saw dollar signs the moment I mentioned Nasty Santa, let me reassure you: the Spiridellis brothers also noticed the merchandising opportunity and franchised a whole line of Nasty Santa toys - which you can't order online, unfortunately, although you can get the whole range of Jibjab cartoons for a mere $11.99 on DVD. There are several other recurring characters, many of them interactive. The most primitive is the fart waffle, which poots in a different tone as you move your cursor across it and click. And there's Hoola Boy, who gets battered by his schoolmates in gym class before becoming a dodgeball target for anyone who cares to log in. You can also take out your frustration on a pair of long-haired losers called Nookie and Wheels, with the help of a squadron of attack vultures. Let's hope the Spiridellis brothers never grow up.
