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Stephen Duignan

@stephenduignan.bsky.social

1.4K followers 970 following 180 posts

🏳️‍🌈 story artist @CartoonSaloon

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Stephen Duignan @stephenduignan.bsky.social · Nov 11

Hello new followers, I’m an Irish story artist and writer who’s mostly worked in animation development on a lot of unreleased projects, also worked on some actual films (currently JULIÁN at Cartoon Saloon), but probably got most of my followers tweeting about Star Trek

Development art for Giant Animation’s CREEPERS, designed and drawn by me, background painted by Sophie Ryan

(A hand-drawn cartoon image of a terrified young girl cycling down a tree-lined road at dusk, with her long black hair whipping around beneath an old army helmet, glancing back at the hulking creature giving chase on all fours: a gelatinous beast with spidery eyes, rows of teeth and long twin tongues grabbing for the girl, or maybe the chocolate breakfast cereal spilling out of the box strapped to the back of her bike)

ZOG AND THE FLYING DOCTORS

(A still from a 3D-animated film styled after Axel Scheffler’s illustrations for the books of Julia Donaldson showing a friendly orange dragon flying by sunset-pink clouds, carrying two much smaller human passengers, a moustached man and a young woman wearing white doctors’ coats)

Previously released development art for JULIÁN

(A hand-drawn cartoon image of magical watery forms shaped like different animals swirling above the rooftop of a New York apartment building, where a little Afro-Latino boy is running arms-raised to the glittering apparitions, while the shocked face of white-haired woman, small in the background, is just visible behind the roof ledge as she reaches the top of a fire escape ladder)

765874 - REGENERATION, which was the subject of a surprisingly popular Twitter thread

(A close-up of the Star Trek character Spock as he appeared in STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE looking directly into camera, his long face framed by the warm hues of an out of-focus background)

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Stephen Duignan @stephenduignan.bsky.social · 1d

my gay moms

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Stephen Duignan @stephenduignan.bsky.social · Aug 29

vistaprint vs moo

Jörg Hillebrand @gaghyogi49.bsky.social · Aug 28

The serial number and name of the Starfleet officers who wears the insignia can be seen on the back of it in #StarTrekDiscovery's "Into the Forest I Go"⬇️ and #StarTrekSNW's "What is Starfleet?"⬆️. Notice how the name is listed changes between the two episodes.

Stephen Duignan @stephenduignan.bsky.social · Aug 18

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

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Reposted by Stephen Duignan

DJ Boozy Brunch @griph.bsky.social · Aug 18

breaking into the exhibit and putting this thing on to gain the Power of Free Speech but the first thing that comes out of my mouth is “Barry Lyndon is too long” and the crowd immediately turns on me

Rachel Holliday Smith @rachelholliday.bsky.social · Aug 18

guys I’m off this week … went to the norman rockwell museum. found the meme in real life — and his jacket

norman rockwell’s famous “freedom of speech” oil painting

an old jacket in a glass case, which belonged to the model in the painting

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Stephen Duignan @stephenduignan.bsky.social · Aug 18

spiritual opposites

Reposted by Stephen Duignan

Vulture @vulture.com · Jul 3

"It isn’t that people don’t believe in what happened to Angelina Jolie on that plane — they just don’t care." www.vulture.com/article/brad...

Brad Pitt Is Fooling You

The F1 press tour has been a carefully attuned charm offensive meant to obscure Pitt’s alleged violent behavior toward ex-wife Angelina Jolie.

www.vulture.com

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Reposted by Stephen Duignan

Denise Breen @denisebreen.bsky.social · May 22

"They could have used their power to grant equal rights, but shirked that responsibility. Instead they made a community plead for equality on the doorsteps of their neighbours. Then they wrapped themselves in the rainbow flag, claimed the victory, and ignored the damage their decision had caused" 👇

Dr Mary McAuliffe @drmarymcauliffe.bsky.social · May 22

This is a necessary read - yes #marref was a great result, it showed the resilience, solidarity & fabulousness of LGBTIQ+ ireland but it also left a lot of hurt & trauma in its wake- having to ask your neighbour for what they took for granted was hard #speirgorm www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...

Marriage equality 10 years on: 'I lost count of how many times I was called a pervert in my home town'

Forcing a community to plead on doorsteps for their rights has had long-term impacts on many LGBT+ people, argues Maria Ní Fhlatharta

www.irishexaminer.com

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Stephen Duignan @stephenduignan.bsky.social · May 19

Cartoon Saloon is hosting a 2-day training course in Kilkenny for 13 clean up artists who want to pick up TV Paint. If that’s you, you should apply because Kevin’s great: www.nationaltalentacademies.ie/courses-acti...

TV Paint Training for Clean Animation Professionals | National Talent AcademyNational Talent Academies whiteNational Talent Academies white

www.nationaltalentacademies.ie

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Reposted by Stephen Duignan

Animated Antic @animatedantic.bsky.social · Apr 17

A new look at Cartoon Saloon's upcoming film Julián has just been released ahead of Annecy Animation Showcase with the film due to be released in 2026. I am so hyped to see this knowing it's Cartoon Saloon and it looks as gorgeous as their previous works. Cannot wait to see it!

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Stephen Duignan @stephenduignan.bsky.social · Apr 17

in the papers

Cannes’ Annecy Animation Showcase Lineup Features New Films From Cartoon Saloon, GKIDS, La Cachette and More (EXCLUSIVE)

Five of the most exciting international animated features will participate in this year's Annecy Animation Showcase at Cannes' Marché du Film.

variety.com

Stephen Duignan @stephenduignan.bsky.social · Apr 15

Reposted by Stephen Duignan

HaukeTreks @hauketreks.bsky.social · Mar 28

It makes Star Trek III better as well.
Oh sure, you’re only going to use the Genesis Device to make dead world habitable…
Of course Kruge would be suspicious after the Federation installed someone many in the Empire would see as a puppet by planting a bomb at the core of Quo’Nos.

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Reposted by Stephen Duignan

Ghost Pirate Captain Revo @captainrevo.bsky.social · Mar 28

And I always see Chang’s baldness as a deliberate choice, a rebellious streak against attempts at peace and diplomacy we see in earlier films. As the Klingon empire moves into a reformed state under L’Rell & Gorkon, he clings to the past. He wants the war, he craves it. He must ‘remain Klingon’. 2/2

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Ghost Pirate Captain Revo @captainrevo.bsky.social · Mar 28

I’ve said this before but I love how the Klingon war in Discovery makes Star Trek VI better. The heads of Starfleet would have been young officers during the brutality of the Klingon war. That trauma, those scars, would linger even in an enlightened age, & really cements their hawkish behaviour. 1/2

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Stephen Duignan @stephenduignan.bsky.social · Feb 1

For all its faults, Star Trek: Picard at least redressed the balance a bit and gave us the most Romulan mythology we’d gotten in years

Stephen Duignan @stephenduignan.bsky.social · Jan 26

love this - was curious if we’d see any pre-existing, era-appropriate designs

Reposted by Stephen Duignan

Discontinued FOoOoOoOods! 🎃🍫👻🍬 @discontinuedfoods.bsky.social · Jan 17

Disney's Chips and Sith (2015-2015): In anticipation of the "Galaxy's Edge" attraction, both Disneyland and Disney World released this dish: Chickpea and lemon hummus, topped with roasted red pepper coulis, Bugles, and black sesame dust, to replicate the face of Darth Maul.

A red dip made to look like Darth Maul's face, complete with Bugle "horns"

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Stephen Duignan @stephenduignan.bsky.social · Jan 10

why is Goosebumps like Scream now

Stephen Duignan @stephenduignan.bsky.social · Dec 23

people really wringing as many likes as possible out of the TNG Irish Unification of 2024 before new year’s, huh

Stephen Duignan @stephenduignan.bsky.social · Dec 17

proud to be working on a film that would get pulled by Disney but despair at the media landscape it’s going to be released into

Disney Pulls Transgender Storyline from Pixar’s ‘Win or Lose’ Streaming Series (Exclusive)

The original animated show about a co-ed high school team debuts on Disney+ in February.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

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Reposted by Stephen Duignan

LittleKuriboh @littlekuriboh.bsky.social · Dec 17

Begging you to understand that trans people existing is not a thing you need to take your children aside to explain like it’s a cautionary tale

Culture Crave 🍿 @culturecrave.co · Dec 17

Pixar has removed a transgender character’s storyline from their new series #WinOrLose

A Disney rep says, “When it comes to animated content for a younger audience, we recognize that many parents would prefer to discuss certain subjects with their children on their own terms and timeline”

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Stephen Duignan @stephenduignan.bsky.social · Dec 17

Julián is looking for a rough animator www.cartoonsaloon.ie/positions/

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Stephen Duignan @stephenduignan.bsky.social · Dec 17

Missed this coming out - I worked with Rachel to design the title treatment for Ishango. The illustrations were partly inspired by tarot cards, so I thought it would be fun to carry that reference through to the title, which was based on Pamela Colman Smith’s lettering on the Rider-Waite deck.

A photo of a square, red booklet bearing an inky black line drawing of leafy forms framing the white lettering of the title, “ISHANGO”. The squarish composition is enclosed by a snake eating its own tail, beneath which reads the book credits in small black text: “Written by Tara Marie Brady - Illustrated by Rachel Feury”.

The lettering for ISHANGO in black, isolated on a white background. The letters are widely spaced capitals with rough, irregular shapes that come from scaling up small ink lettering.

A set of eight cards from the Rider-Waite tarot deck, lots of yellow, red and green filling in detailed black-lined drawings of various symbolic characters. Smith’s distinctive hand lettering appears at the bottom of four of the cards: “THE FOOL”, “THE MAGICIAN”, “THE LOVERS”, and “THE SUN”.

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conner fawcett @badbucket.bsky.social · Dec 10

Kickstarter is now live! The Beasts and Blessings of the Hallow’d Hall: a deck of 45 bestiary cards along with a companion compendium of folk prose cowritten by myself and writer/composer @notquitereal.bsky.social

kickstarter.com/projects/badbucket/the-beasts-and-blessings-of-the-hallowd-hall

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Reposted by Stephen Duignan

Claire 🐝 @isolinearchip.bsky.social · Dec 2

Lwaxana Troi has some of the best character development in all of Star Trek. Someone who seems silly and frivolous but is revealed to actually be smart, capable, complex, and aware of how she's perceived by others. What seems like vapidity is actually a conscious choice of joy in the face of tragedy

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