Edward Seeman (pseudonym Eduardo Cemano) is an American artist whose works have spanned disparate fields, from award-winning animated television commercials for children to films of artistic nudity and hardcore pornography. He is also known for his cinemaphotography and for his work with

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...

in the 1960s.

Career

Seeman was born in New York in 1931, and attended both the

High School of Music & Art The High School of Music & Art, informally known as "Music & Art" (or "M&A"), was a public specialized high school located at 443-465 West 135th Street in the borough of Manhattan, New York, from 1936 until 1984. In 1961, Music & Art and the High ...

and the

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was ...

. He began his animation career at

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

, making animation

cel A cel, short for celluloid, is a transparent sheet on which objects are drawn or painted for traditional, hand-drawn animation. Actual celluloid (consisting of cellulose nitrate and camphor) was used during the first half of the 20th century, but ...

s for shows such as '' Popeye the Sailorman'' and '' Casper the Friendly Ghost''. He won several awards for his work, including Clios and ADDYs. Seeman's career was interrupted when he was drafted into the U.S. Army. He served in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

with the 4th Infantry Division from 1952 to 1954. Seeman produced cartoons for Army's internal information program. After returning from military service, Seeman and his partner Ray Favata began the media company Gryphon Productions, which ran from about 1960 to 1969. They produced commercials using cartoon characters, including the

Trix rabbit Trix is an American brand of breakfast cereal made by General Mills in Minneapolis, Minnesota, for the North American market and by Cereal Partners (using the Nestlé brand) elsewhere in the world. The cereal consists of fruit-flavored, sweetened, ...

, Sugar Bear and

My Little Pony ''My Little Pony'' (''MLP'') is a toy line and media franchise developed by American toy company Hasbro. The first toys were developed by Bonnie Zacherle, Charles Muenchinger, and Steve D'Aguanno, and were produced in 1981. The ponies feature c ...

. Seeman worked closely with

, producing films for Zappa such as the 14-hour montage ''

Uncle Meat ''Uncle Meat'' is the fifth studio album by the Mothers of Invention, released as a double album in 1969. ''Uncle Meat'' was originally developed as a part of ''No Commercial Potential'', a project which spawned three other albums sharing a conce ...

'', for which he won a Cine Golden Eagle Award. In 1981 Seeman and Favata won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for their work on the intro to the children's television show ''The Great Space Coaster''. Seeman also produced and directed a number of

pornographic film Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, sex films, and 18+ films are films that present sexually explicit subject matter in order to arouse and satisfy the viewer. Pornographic films present sexual fantasies and usually include eroticall ...

s, such as ''The Healers'', ''Fongaluli'', and ''Madame Zenobia'', which were marketed outside the US.

Films

Film festival

* ''Frekoba'', 1968, dancer Frances Alenikoff * ''Dana and Clay'', 1969, dancers Dana Wolfe and Clay Taliaferro * ''High Contrast'', 1969 * ''Space Oddities'', 1970 * ''Incubus'' c. 1971, dancer Frances Alenikoff

Frank Zappa

* ''Electric Circus'', c. 1967 * ''Rehearsal'', c. 1967 * ''Sex, Paint and Sound'', c. 1967 * ''Mothers of Invention'',1968 :Also known as: :* ''

'' (40-minute version) :* ''Frank Zappa and the Original Mothers of Invention'',video cassette version of film, 1987 :* ''The Real Uncle Meat'' :* ''Raw Meat'' :* ''Suzy Creamcheese What's Got Into You?'' Seeman contributed motion picture photography for Frank Zappa's: * ''The Burnt Weeny Sandwich'' (unpublished) * ''Uncle Meat'' 14 hrs version (the footage of the Mothers of Invention) (parts of it were shown publicly, but the whole was unpublished)

As Eduardo Cemano, sex industry films

* ''Millie's Homecoming'', 1971 * ''The Weirdos and the Oddballs'' (aka ''Zora Knows Best''), 1971 * ''The Healers'', 1972 * ''Fongaluli'', 1972, also named ''Aphrodisiac'' and ''The Love Potion'' * ''Madame Zenobia'', 1973

Eduardo Cemano short films

* ''Blushing Nude'' * ''Cucumber'' * ''Floating Nudes''

Gallery

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seeman, Ed People from the Bronx Artists from the Bronx People from Ocala, Florida American animators American animated film directors American television directors American animated film producers American erotic photographers American erotic artists American abstract artists 1931 births Living people American comic strip cartoonists American comics artists American illustrators United States Army soldiers American pornographic film directors American pornographic film producers American cinematographers Photographers from the Bronx Frank Zappa Television producers from Florida