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 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 ...
, 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:
:* '']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 ...
'' (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