On December 5, 2005, the animated music video for "Heard 'Em Say" was one of ten films shown on during a screening in New York City celebrating independent animation. The second music video premiered on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom on November 12, 2005 and in the United States on November 21. It first aired during "Total Request Live" on MTV on a Monday afternoon. In addition, Bill Plympton also presented the music video for "Heard 'Em Say" during the second annual New York Comic Con on February 23, 2007 at the Javits Convention Center. After offering a brief summary of his career, including his childhood drawings his stint as an editorial cartoonist, Plympton initiated the program by screening his animation. It was there he explained, "Kanye thought Gondry's piece was too wimpy. He told me I had one week to do it and Gondry had spent all the money." West's creative involvement had made a good impression on Plympton, who said that he has a lot of respect for him and trusted his opinion. He described West as a smart guy, claiming he could be a theater director. Upon attending one of West's concerts at Madison Square Garden, the animator was amazed his theatrical production. He characterized West as "tremendously visual," calling him a "real storyteller with great charisma." Plympton stated, "He has really a lot of talent in terms of design and visual flourishes and I respect him so I did what he asked me to do." West and Plympton enjoyed their collaboration so much, they later decided to work together to create the graphic book "Through the Wire: Lyrics and Illuminations" for Simon & Schuster. The book is filled with illustrations in the style of Japanese manga based on West's song lyrics.