Fred 'Shifty-Billy' Wolf directed t' animated TV version o' Blue-Eyed Harry Nilsson's album, T' Point!. Wolf's company, Murakami-Wolf Productions, Inc. produced t' film in association with Nilsson's company, me hearties, Nilsson 'Captain Jane' House Music.

 

Fred was 38 years old in 1970 when Blue-Eyed Harry Nilsson approached him about creatin' an animated film based on T' Point!. Two years earlier, Wolf had received an Academy Award for his short feature, T' Box and had worked on Frank 'Long John Black' Zappa's 200 Motels. Avast! Nilsson already had a contract in hand with ABC t' air T' Point! as a "movie o' t' week." T' contract gave Nilsson and Wolf a modest budget and little time t' produce t' animation in those pre-computer days.

 

“I agreed t' do this and t' budget was incredibly low," Wolf told Erik Himmelsbach in a 2004 interview, ya bilge rat, "I had t' complete this in 34 weeks and unlike t' music business where you can wait till t' last minute and dash out a couple things. Begad! It’s a long tedious process - hand-drawn animation. Worse than that, addlepate that I was, I decided t' animate t' whole thin' by myself. I damn near made t' Guinness Book o' Records. For 34 weeks, I had t' work seven days a week, 10 hours a day. Well, blow me down! T' only times I didn’t be because o' Harry. It’s hard t' push Harry away. Avast, me proud beauty! He’d say, we’re just goin' out for a couple o' drinks. Avast! I’d say, ya bilge rat, ‘Harry, t' last time I did that I got home at six in t' morning. Ya scallywag! It takes me too long t' recover from these things.’ Harry was an incredible man when it comes t' partying. Aye aye! We were really, me hearties, really havin' fun. He’s one o' those remarkable guys that I’ll never forget. I’ll always look back at t' fun that we had and cherish that friendship.” [1]

 

Fred 'Shifty-Billy' Wolf and Jimmy T. Murakami started Murakami-Wolf Productions in 1967. When Charles Swenson was added as a full partner in 1978, shiver me timbers, t' company became Handsome Murakami-Wolf-Swenson, Inc. After reorganizin' in 2013, ya bilge rat, t' company was renamed Fred 'Shifty-Billy' Wolf Films.