Got Myth?

Things are so busy right now I can barely keep my head facing forward. The AMBERSONS getting extended is huge, really huge, but actually, that's just one of FOUR exciting projects that are currently being done under the Red Hatchet Films banner. I'm going to need some sort of numbering system to keep myself and you, my tens of readers, from getting confused. Let's call AMBERSONS "Project A".

Now, on to "Project B"...

Several months ago I answered an ad on Craigslist (YAY, CRAIGSLIST!) looking for 2D and 3D animators to assist with the production of a documentary on the Mythic Imagination Institute, an organization devoted to enlivening the imagination thru the study of mythology and its relevance to contemporary living. I wrote to the director, Steven Boe, and asked if he'd considered using stop motion. He said he hadn't but was a fan, so we talked sporadically in the ensuing months about how to use stop motion to tell one of the key stories in the film, an ancient fable called "The King and the Corpse." At one point, Steve told me that Brian ("The Dark Crystal", "Labyrinth", all those "Faerie" books) Froud and his wife Wendy (Henson puppet designer and builder of "Yoda" and the Gelflings from "Dark Crystal") Froud were connected to MII and suggested we ask THEM to create our three main puppet characters for the film. My thought: "Good luck..."

He asked them.

They said yes...

Wendy Froud undertook the design and construction of our three main characters: one king, one corpse, and one sorcerer. She'd never built stop motion puppets before, and had a few questions, which we answered over emails as she and Brian are based in London. After a couple months we got an email that the puppets were on their way, along with an almost apologetic explanation that she'd run out of time and couldn't work on them any more. The box arrived, and this is what was inside:





Could you just freakin' die?? Steve took the pics and added the groovy backgrounds but these are the actual puppets, and they look alive...suffice to say I cannot WAIT to start animating with them! It's going to be awhile as we still have sets to build along with other puppets, storyboards, etc., but to have such a gift from such a talented artist for our film is a breathtaking thing. Thank you so much, Wendy Froud, you are magic!!!

There is much more to tell about this exciting project--as well as projects "C" and "D"--but it will have to wait for now...stay tuned!