mumbleboy

Mumbleboy aka Kinya Hanada has made a name for himself in the world of Flash animation, literally. Known all around the world simply as Mumbleboy, he picked up the pseudonym during a college-DJ stint. After acquiring his Bachelor's Degree from the University of California at Davis, he headed east to the Rhode Island School of Design where he studied painting and also computer graphics. While in school, Kinya not only disc jockeyed, but also made what he now calls Mumble Dolls and T-shirts emblazoned with his Mumble Doll image. He soon developed a website to showcase his whimsical animations during a time when dotcoms were just popping up and very few people even knew what the Flash software application was. Kinya's demeanor is subtle and unassuming, so it makes sense that he befriended other talents to collaborate with like his friend E*Rock, who composes/engineers the music for most of his work. He continued to work on developing his site, which these days, has become an a community of sorts where anyone can find fascinating links or find out what Mumbleboy has been up to in the "Days of mumble". His dolls started to sell at coveted boutiques like New York's Air market and LA's Plastica, so Kinya created an adoption program online where pictures and bios of the adopted dolls are sent in by owners and posted online. His small project, mumbleboy.com, caught the attention of many, and soon Mumbleboy began appearing in many high profile pop culture magazines including Dazed and Confused and Tokion (which ran simultaneous stories on the animator). Since then, his work has appeared in New York Magazine, The Face, and Rolling Stone...to name just a few. Invites to attend animation festivals also barrage Kinya. He has either attended or participated in the Sundance Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, and Bienale de Valencia. Kinya has also collaborated with musical artists such as Momus, Frou Frou, MC Paul Barman, Bettie Serveert and others. And occasionally, he VJs (video jockeys) at events in New York, incorporating music and fantasy. It's no surprise that everyone finds something to fancy in his work, whether it be alien-like worms or shamrock colored pandas or starry-eyed girls who take rocket ships into pseudo-drug-induced patterns, a staple of the Mumbleboy movie. Morphing, blinking, Kinya has collaborated on a CD Rom project with his friends, collectively known as Milky Elephant. Kinya's animated content continues to titillate the mind in one soothing ogle. For now, he will continue to work on his animation, T-shirts and Mumble dolls. (text by Mandana Towhidy)