A nice online interview just posted about my thoughts on the Fraggle movie and beyond, courtesty of Ryan Dosier at The Muppet Mindset.
This entry was posted on Monday, May 10th, 2010 at 8:45 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Great interview. I'm 24 and I've been a Fraggle fan since I was pretty much a baby. REALLY hope the movie gets going and sees the light of day! Can't wait to see how big the Gorgs look on the big screen! :O Good luck!
Well done. I think you really conveyed your respect for the Fraggles history and fans while showing the excitement of taking those core values in a fresh direction.
"I’d love to know what is most important to Fraggle Rock fans; what they consider the “essentials” of a Fraggle movie. I’ve got my own list, but I’m listening to the chatter out there. Drop by my blog and let me know!"
OK. Here's part of my list –
1). What makes a lot of Fraggle Rock timeless is the lack of human/muppet interaction. The "Fraggle Rock" segments of Fraggle Rock look as though they could've been filmed last week (OK, some of the minor "green screen" effects haven't aged perfectly, but…), never mind over 25 years ago. Now look at the "Traveling Matt" and "Doc" segments – The Traveling Matt segments are time machine relics… The fashions are dated, the hairstyles… Regardless of whether the comedic timing of the segment works or not, the contemporary nature of the environment around the segment draws you out of the illusion of the storyline. The "Doc" segments fare a bit better but the (now very aged) Apple computer in the background dilutes the timeless nature of those segments as well. Net result – Avoid using humans or contemporary environments as much as possible.
2). Do not extend the cast of core characters (aka "The Scrappy Doo" rule). There is no need for it – The core cast of characters ARE the appeal. I understand the psychological reason for adding such characters in contemporary projects (that small children want a disposable surrogate that acts as a "safe" barrier between themselves and the characters) but this only applies to situations where the core cast of characters does not appeal to small children. Since the Fraggle Rock characters were designed to entertain this demographic as well as others, a desire to include additional core characters need not apply. Net results – Leave Scrappy Doo, Elmo, Jar Jar, R2D2, C3P0 and the rest of these type of characters on the cutting room floor. Not necessary.
3). There is no fundamental reason to change the core Fraggle Rock mythos (aka re-boots such as "Battlestar Galactica," "Star Trek" and the like), either for the sake of a movie or for franchise expansion. For instance, the actual rock itself need not be destroyed, moved or otherwise altered. Since the periphery mythos generated by the series itself was not generated with any serious intent (a lot of characters were created for creative convenience related to a particular episode), there does not seem to be a significant need for radical adaptation of the franchise to "contemporary standards."
Those are 3 aspects that would be highly appealing for me in a Fraggle Rock movie. When I have time, I'll write more. Good luck with the movie and I hope that it is greenlit soon.
A nice online interview just posted about my thoughts on the Fraggle movie and beyond, courtesty of Ryan Dosier at The Muppet Mindset.
May 11th, 2010 at 7:20 pm
Great interview. I'm 24 and I've been a Fraggle fan since I was pretty much a baby. REALLY hope the movie gets going and sees the light of day! Can't wait to see how big the Gorgs look on the big screen! :O Good luck!
May 13th, 2010 at 12:23 am
Well done. I think you really conveyed your respect for the Fraggles history and fans while showing the excitement of taking those core values in a fresh direction.
Can't wait to see it!
-Tam
May 22nd, 2010 at 9:12 am
"I’d love to know what is most important to Fraggle Rock fans; what they consider the “essentials” of a Fraggle movie. I’ve got my own list, but I’m listening to the chatter out there. Drop by my blog and let me know!"
OK. Here's part of my list –
1). What makes a lot of Fraggle Rock timeless is the lack of human/muppet interaction. The "Fraggle Rock" segments of Fraggle Rock look as though they could've been filmed last week (OK, some of the minor "green screen" effects haven't aged perfectly, but…), never mind over 25 years ago. Now look at the "Traveling Matt" and "Doc" segments – The Traveling Matt segments are time machine relics… The fashions are dated, the hairstyles… Regardless of whether the comedic timing of the segment works or not, the contemporary nature of the environment around the segment draws you out of the illusion of the storyline. The "Doc" segments fare a bit better but the (now very aged) Apple computer in the background dilutes the timeless nature of those segments as well. Net result – Avoid using humans or contemporary environments as much as possible.
2). Do not extend the cast of core characters (aka "The Scrappy Doo" rule). There is no need for it – The core cast of characters ARE the appeal. I understand the psychological reason for adding such characters in contemporary projects (that small children want a disposable surrogate that acts as a "safe" barrier between themselves and the characters) but this only applies to situations where the core cast of characters does not appeal to small children. Since the Fraggle Rock characters were designed to entertain this demographic as well as others, a desire to include additional core characters need not apply. Net results – Leave Scrappy Doo, Elmo, Jar Jar, R2D2, C3P0 and the rest of these type of characters on the cutting room floor. Not necessary.
3). There is no fundamental reason to change the core Fraggle Rock mythos (aka re-boots such as "Battlestar Galactica," "Star Trek" and the like), either for the sake of a movie or for franchise expansion. For instance, the actual rock itself need not be destroyed, moved or otherwise altered. Since the periphery mythos generated by the series itself was not generated with any serious intent (a lot of characters were created for creative convenience related to a particular episode), there does not seem to be a significant need for radical adaptation of the franchise to "contemporary standards."
Those are 3 aspects that would be highly appealing for me in a Fraggle Rock movie. When I have time, I'll write more. Good luck with the movie and I hope that it is greenlit soon.