SWENSON: Bobe Cannon was a teacher and mentor for me, he introduced me to the Charles Eames Office where I got my first job and to Jimmy Murakami who became a business partner and a life-long friend.

JXP: You were business partners with the late Jimmy Murakami and Fred Wolf, both known for ThunderCats and the 80s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, forming Murakami/Fred/Swenson. Did you know both of them in the past before the business started and how much were you involved in the Turtles show.?

SWENSON: Jimmy and Fred were business partners. Neither worked on ThunderCats. Fred worked on the Turtles series, he was the principal force behind getting it done.

I met Jimmy while I was still attending the Chouinard Art Institute (which late became Cal Arts). Bobe had brought sample reels for several animation companies, the one that interested me most was TVC in London, Jimmy had worked there so Bobe introduced us. WHile I was working at the Eames Office, Jimmy was working at a commercial company called FilmFair here in LA. He wanted to make, The Insects, a short film but FilmFair would not finance the production so he went back to TVC. When he left, he set me up to work for FIlmFair, taking his job. After making The Insects in London, he came back and started Murakami Wolf Films with Fred. They hired me a year or two later when they both went to the Annecy Film Festival. Jimmy left the company to move to Ireland and a couple years later I became Fred's partner and we added my name, making Murakami Wolf Swenson. I left a few years after that to direct the feature film, Twice Upon a TIme up in Mill Valley, outside San Francisco. The Turtles came along at that time. I had very little to do with them.

JXP: Was managing an animation corporation difficult?

SWENSON: No.

JXP: You claimed you worked with Atari. What was your position in the company?

SWENSON: I supervised all of the animation in the games.

JXP: How did you get booked for Rugrats on Nickelodeon?

SWENSON: A friend that I had met in San Francisco, Geraldine Frerks, was line producer on Rugrats. They were having a very difficult time meeting deadlines for shipment and such, so she called me to help out.

JXP: You created, written and developed Mike, Lu and Og for Cartoon Network. How did you get the greenlit?

SWENSON: Linda Simensky was newly installed as a development exec for Cartoon Network. I knew her from her previous job at Nickelodeon. I knew Mischa Aldashin through the set of Russain guys that worked at Klasky Csupo. Mischa showed me the art for a show, I liked it, wrote some material for it and presented it to Linda at one of the Annecy film festivals. She liked it and greenlit the show there.

JXP: How did it feel working on your own show for a change?

SWENSON: Much the same as before.

JXP: The designs looked very Rugrats-ish. Is it because you worked on Rugrats yourself?

SWENSON: No, the design came from Misha Aldashin.

JXP: What was it like working with Nika Futterman, Nancy Cartwright and Dee Baker a.k.a. Mike, Lu and Og themselves?

SWENSON: Great.

JXP: What is KINO-FILMS and did you do any more projects with said company?

SWENSON: It was a small animation company in LA. I didn't do anything more with them.

JXP: How did Mike end up on the island? We all know she's a foreign exchange student, but how did it all go? Was there a program at her school and is there an island-native student taking her place at her school? And where are her parents?

SWENSON: Never thought about it. Why don't you make that series?

JXP: Favorite episode of Mike, Lu and Og you worked on?

SWENSON: I loved the pirates.

JXP: Who did the music anyway because the theme song is catchy?!

SWENSON: Music credits are listed on the show, title song was by The Red Elvises, three Russian guys who lived in Venice, CA

JXP: To your perspective, why did Mike, Lu and Og end or got cancelled?

SWENSON: It was on the wrong network, should have been Nickelodeon, too sweet/nice for Cartoon Network

JXP: Where did the cast record their lines?

SWENSON: In Santa Monica at a small recording studio

JXP: Besides painting, any other projects your working on now?

SWENSON: Nope

JXP: What is your preffered medium on paintings?

SWENSON: Oil on canvus

JXP: Do you have any footage of Mike, Lu and Og?

SWENSON: No, but I have some cel set ups. Would you like one?

JXP: Can I have your autograph?

SWENSON: Sure. I'll sign the cels.

Charles G. Swenson is the man behind "Mike, Lu and Og" on CARTOON NETWORK. He is currently painting now and I emailed him and he's gonna send me cels from the show as well. Here's our chat.