Oddsburg, the setting for the in-production-and-soon-to-be-on-the-telly
Frankenstein's Cat. The artwork you see here is early development work for when we were working on the initial pitch document and bible, two years ago now. This particular painting was reinterpreted by the rather splendidly clever Ian Culbard for the original teaser trailer we did for the Cat, which went on to be screened at MIPcom and was well received. Previous to that it was used at Kidscreen Summit in New York where we first revealed the stinky moggie. That event really got the ball rolling, helped in no small part by the stunning maquette that Mackinnon & Saunders made as well.
Jackie Edwards, series producer, has been a star throughout development and now production. It's a pleasure to find a likeminded creative soul when working on a project and in Jackie I'm working with a producer who is 100% behind the project. Added to that she's the cow's udders at her job, as they say in the northeast...
Talking of the North East, the RTS Awards night was very enjoyable, and my handing out of a gong on the stage went through as smoothly as an eel through a jar of pickles. Accidentally brushed my hand against Robson Greene's buttocks but if he did notice I don't think he'd complain. My hands are very sensual lumps of flesh, if slightly hairy...
I'm going to be attending the launch of the Jeanette Crizzle Trust on Monday next week. Those of you who are regular readers of the blog will now about Jeanette as the lady who has been an inspiration to my work over the last few years. Our paths crossed when I did talks at her school in Bedford and we stayed in touch from thereon. Sadly she passed away last year to leaukemia, having been unable to find a suitable bone marrow donor. The Trust is set up to monitor and promote more blood, organ and bone donations across the UK, with implications for overseas as well. I've agreed to be patron of the Trust, which is really the least I could do after knowing Jeanette and her family. The launch was even mentioned in Prime Ministers Questions this week when Phillip Hollobone MP directed a question to Mr Blair, asking if an awareness campaign might be launched. Wish us luck for Monday!
To close this post, with visiting schools up an down the country I get to see quite a mixed range of artistic abilities in children. This can be prevalent in any one school and any one class. As the following illustrations from two children in a reception class prove:
Charles here has clearly drawn a, yes, you guessed it, it's a pig isn't it? Note the curly tale and alluring eyelashes, plus the striking and instantly recognisable round nose. I reckon Charles might have a future in illustration, he's one to watch.
And this is Adam's picture of a Cow. As you can see, the differences in ability are pretty wide-ranging. That said, I have no reference as to how good Adam's drawings of cows were before I visited so this might be better than his previous efforts. That's the most enjoyable thing about visiting the schools - you don't know what's going to happen each day!
:-)
In order to make FRANKENSTEIN'S CAT appeal to as wide a demographic as possible, we cleverly (at least I think we cleverly) introduced a female lead into the show, Lottie, the only girl in the village. If that sounds a little Little Britain then thats just fine, if a little parochial! So, while Nine doesn't fit in with the other Frankenpets (pictured below) because they're female, Lottie doesn't fit in with all the other kids at school because they're boys. It just so happens that she's better at all "boy activities" than the boys, but lack of that pesky all important "Y" chromosome means she's never going to be accepted.
