Alex Small-Butera (born January 29, 1986) and Lindsay Caroline Small-Butera (born September 16, 1985), sometimes collectively referred to as SMALLBÜ, are an American husband and wife animating duo. They are best known for creating the long-running web series Baman Piderman. They have also famously worked on Adventure Time and helped co-develop the video game Later Alligator.
Alex and Lindsay Small-Butera | |
|---|---|
| Born | Alex Butera January 29, 1986 Lindsay Caroline Small September 16, 1985 |
| Alma mater | Massachusetts College of Art and Design |
| Occupation(s) | Animators, writers, voice actors |
| Years active | 2009-present |
Biography
editAlex Butera and Lindsay Small met at Massachusetts College of Art and Design. They collaborated on a homework assignment to create a short film for the Ottawa International Animation Festival in Canada. The result was the surreal animated comedy Baman Piderman. The short was released online where it became a hit. Following this, they launched a Kickstarter campaign to have a full web series developed.[1] Mondo Media eventually bought the series for their YouTube channel. Initially, Alex was the sole person working on the shorts, but after showing the third episode to Lindsay, she stated that it was "the worst thing [she] had ever seen." Alex asked her to become the writer for the series. She had refused at first, but since then all of their work had been equally divided between the two. Alex started working on the series WordGirl while Lindsay worked as a designer for Converse before working at Hero4Hire Creative animation.[2]
They did guest work on the long running Cartoon Network series Adventure Time. Lindsay Small-Butera earned an Emmy Award for her work on the episode "Ketchup".[3] In 2019, they helped create the animation for the point-and-click indie game Later Alligator which took "80,000 cels" to animate.[4]
Influences
editAlex was influenced by popular anime such as Ghost in the Shell, Cowboy Bebop and FLCL, while Lindsay has cited UPA as her source of inspiration along with classic '50s animation.[2]
Filmography
edit| Year | Title | Alex | Lindsay | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009–2015 | Baman Piderman | Baman / Piderman | Wanda | Webseries |
| 2013 | Story War | Goblin / Skywhale | Fairy | Short film |
| 2017 | Here's the Plan | Doug | Kat | Short film |
| 2020–present | Bigtop Burger | Conrad | Penny | Webseries |
| 2022 | Happyland Incorporated | Additional voices | Pilot | |
| Year | Title | Alex | Lindsay | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009–2015 | Baman Piderman | Yes | Yes | Alex directed, wrote, composed and edited Lindsay wrote |
| 2009–2014 | WordGirl | Yes | No | Alex also storyboarded |
| 2013 | Mappy | Yes | Yes | |
| Dick Figures | Yes | Yes | Episode: "Snowjob" | |
| Dick Figures: The Movie | Yes | Yes | ||
| The Awesomes | Yes | No | Episode: "The Super-Hero Awards" | |
| Story War | Yes | Yes | Short film; Lindsay directed and wrote Alex storyboarded | |
| 2015 | Good Thinking! The Science of Teaching Science | Yes | Yes | |
| Clarence | Yes | Yes | Episode: "Tuckered Boys" | |
| 2016–2017 | Adventure Time | Yes | Yes | Episode: "Beyond the Grotto" Episode: "Ketchup" |
| 2019 | Later Alligator | Yes | Yes | Video game |
| 2020 | Stinkoman 20X6 | Yes | Yes | Video game, intro only |
| 2021 | Amphibia | Yes | Yes | Episode: "True Colors" |
| 2022 | Happyland Incorporated | Yes | Yes | Pilot; also co-wrote and sound designed Lindsay directed |
| 2023 | The Owl House | Yes | Yes | Episode: "Watching and Dreaming" |
| 2023 | Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake | Yes | Yes | Episode: "The Winter King" |
| 2024 | Smiling Friends | Yes | Yes | Episode: "A Allan Adventure" Episode: "Charlie, Pim, and Bill vs. the Alien" |
References
edit- ^ "Alex and Lindsay Small-Butera, Massachusetts College of Art and Design". My Majors. March 1, 2016. Archived from the original on April 7, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
- ^ a b Wood, Roy (February 22, 2011). "Baman and Piderman: They're Best Fwends". Wired. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
- ^ "Lindsay Small-Butera". Archived from the original on March 3, 2021. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
- ^ Jones, CS (September 22, 2019). "Later Alligator: A Q&A with the Small-Buteras". WACOM. Archived from the original on August 16, 2020. Retrieved April 9, 2020.