Ten years ago, Matthew Inman posted a little comic on the internet that got… some popularity. You might have seen it shared by your Auntie Irma on Facebook.
Since then, Inman’s webcomic The Oatmeal has gone from strength to strength. If a decade of internet presence isn’t enough, The Oatmeal also has ten books in print and set crowdfunding records in 2015 for the card game Exploding Kittens. Inman also won the Eisner for Best Digital Comic in 2014 for his unique style which blurs the line between cartoon and infographic.
And now, it looks like Inman has scored himself… a movie deal!
In his comic/blog post published last week, Inman gave an account of how his work as a creative consultant for the Illumination Animation Studio (The same studio that brought us those damn yellow minions: on behalf of parents everywhere I say thank you for that) led to a short comic idea of his making it into the latest Illumination Studios blockbuster — The Secret Life of Pets 2
What’s really interesting, though, is the note that he puts at the end of the blog post:
I am happy to announce that I am in development on my own animated feature for Illumination.
Matthew Inman, The Oatmeal
In short: I got a movie deal.
The good news: I’m making a movie and it’s going to be very funny.
The bad news: these things take years to make and it is an all-consuming task. This means I will no longer be working on The Oatmeal full time.
It really is a bit of a good news/bad news situation for fans of the Oatmeal! The dreaded ‘H’ for hiatus descending upon a webcomic rarely brings good long-term prospects with it (although we’ve recently discussed several prominent exceptions), but at the same time who doesn’t want to see what a full-blown animated movie could be under the creative direction that brought us ‘Why Nicola Tesla was the greatest geek who ever lived — a webcomic post that not only became one of Inman’s most popular, but also directed readers towards a IndieGoGo campaign which actually raised enough money to buy out the site of Tesla’s old laboratory (for a museum).
Inman has vowed not to step away from the comic completely (well, they all do), stating that sporadic updates will continue as he works on the movie going forward.
Whatever ends up happening to the comic, I think we can all agree that it’ll be exciting to see how this next step in the Oatmeal’s storied development plays out!
What do you think the odds are of the Oatmeal returning once Inman’s movie is done? Do you like the chances, or do you think we’re looking at the start of its descent into that swirling morass of abandoned webcomic projects like so many others? Let us know in the comments below, or chat with us directly on Facebook or Twitter. And until next time, always remember — don’t eat the clickbait!
