Interview with Gavin Scott :: Part 2

Welcome to Part 2 of my interview with Gavin Scott, creator of The Adventures of Edward and Henrietta. Be sure to read Part 1 of the interview by clicking HERE.



TR: Do you shoot all the photographs in Edward and Henrietta and do all the set-up yourself?

GS: I do. A Fujifilm Finepix S1000 Digital SLR on an old metal tripod I got from a flea market and a two-lamp lighting kit. I put a wooden chest on the desk in my sculpture room so the surface is at eye-level as I shoot, and build the sets on that. Then I sit down on my daughter's old harp stool, put the figures in place and start shooting. I spruce up the pictures on Picassa and edit them into Final Cut pro with my friend and editor Michael Legge.


TR: I love seeing the non-commercial, generic toys ie plastic Cowboys and Indians and other dime store novelties, and I really loved the brilliant integration of the “factory second” cowboys into the story; but also got a deep chuckle when such toys as Juggernaut and an alien ship full of M.U.S.C.L.E. wrestlers made their appearances. Do you keep up with any modern toys or purchase anything directly from stores like Target or Toys R Us, or does all of your collection come from second-hand sources?


GS: I usually discipline myself to only buy new toys if they're on sales in stores like KB Toys, and nearly everything comes from flea markets and yard sales. The little metal Victorian figures I used to buy new from a store in England that went out of business: to my delight while driving through the back blocks of New Zealand last year I found a tiny store in Carterton that was making figures from the same moulds!


TR: To paraphrase Jack Nicholson, “Where do you get such wonderful toys?”

GS: I think I've answered that above, but I will add that part of the fun of the whole process is going to flea markets and coming across "finds". My wife collects art pottery from the 1930's (McCoy &c) so we can both have fun checking these places out together.


TR: How long have you been working on The Adventures of Edward and Henrietta? What is your creative process on it (Script, shoot, edit? Shoot, script, edit? Other?) and finally, when can we expect to see Episode 7 and beyond?

GS: I started about a year ago. I began because I've been making some smaller sculptures, cigar box size, which were like 3-D cartoons and I gave one to a friend as a wedding present and then regretted I wasn't able to use the figure for another joke I thought of. So I began shooting several different versions of a "cartoon" - and then thought of creating a story as a setting for the joke.

The Situation on Mars by Gavin Scott.

GS: As for the process - well, I rootle around among the toys and come up with an idea, then I write a script. I construct (or more accuraterly compile) the sets and shoot the episode, usually as a break from screenwriting over ten days or so. As I edit the photos I add the captions from the script, usually changing them to fit what I've actually shot, and when I've got them all done I record the soundtrack and send them to Michael Legge. He assembles the photos to fit the soundtrack and when we get together we spruce that up and add music and sound effects. and voila!

And episode 7 should be up before the end of March.


TR: Is there any chance of future volumes of The Adventures of Edward and Henrietta once this specific “adventure” has ended?

GS: Very probably. I'm having too much fun to stop any time soon.


Join us tomorrow for the finale of our interview with Gavin Scott - and watch Episode Two of The Adventures of Edward and Henrietta below!


The Adventures of Edward and Henrietta, Episode 2 from edandhen.com on Vimeo.

See you tomorrow folks!

The Adventures of Edward and Henrietta Part 1

A spectacular new web series has recently been brought to my attention. It is called The Adventures of Edward and Henrietta, and it is so much wonderful fun. Six episodes have thus far been released, and they can all be viewed at EdandHen.com.

From first click I was immediately taken by the intelligent charm and humor of The Adventures of Edward and Henrietta, to say nothing of the beautiful toys used as actors in the drama. I love the innocent and lighthearted nature of the story and the simplistic way it is presented. It reminds me so much of my own childhood, when a pile of random toys meant endless hours of back-yard adventures.


The series was created (and narrated) by Gavin Scott, whose large body of work is not easily summed up but toy-loving geeks will most easily recognize him as the writer of the action-figures come-to-life film Small Soldiers, as well as writer for a number of episodes of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (read Gavin Scott's IMDB entry by clicking HERE.)

Not only is he a creative, talented and intelligent guy, but he's also a very nice person, so when I asked Mr. Scott if he would be willing to do an interview for Toyriffic he graciously agreed.

Wow, what a guy!

I have broken the interview up into three parts, and will embed episodes of the series in each part. You can also go to EdandHen.com and watch all six currently available episodes. If you are like me, you won't be able to stop at just one!


So without further ado, here is Part 1 of my interview with Gavin Scott…

TR: The Adventures of Edward and Henrietta is presented in a deceivingly simple, yet deeply witty and intelligent manner. What compelled you to tell a story in such a way?

GS: The narrative style of Edward and Henrietta comes from children's radio programmes I used to listen to as a child in England, where the storytellers always sounded wise and comforting and reasonable. I liked the idea of a very measured approach, combined with increasingly wild and crazy storylines. A bedtime story told by a slightly crazed uncle!


TR: Which came first, the toys in Edward and Henrietta or their adventure? For instance, did you think of Edward, Henrietta, William etc. first, then seek out toys to match their characters? Or did the toys you had come across as you randomly collected them together, in a manner, tell their stories to you?

GS: The toys came first. When I put Edward against the backdrop of model Victorian houses (from a tourist shop near the British Museum) I had no idea who he was or what he was doing: and that's what the story-teller says about him! Then I put the small-girl figure down beside him and decided she was his sister and her name came to me - so that's in the narration too. Queen Victoria appeared because I happened to have this terrific little figurine of her - and she went off in a balloon because I had one. I'd had the figure I call Yellow Nose William for years and he always made me laugh because he looked so goofy, so I made up a story around him. I've built up a large toy collection as raw material for my sculptures and the stories are inspired by rootling around in it.



TR: Your bio reads like the back cover of an adventure novel. From England to New Zealand to the jungles of Borneo and back again. Did any of your early life experiences influence The Adventures of Edward and Henrietta or any of your other work?

GS: I think it did. Being uprooted from your home and sailing off 12,000 miles around the world at age ten definitely gives you a taste for adventure (if you happen to have fun doing it, which I did). And I found myself, at the same age as my parents were when they left England, bringing my family to America. So extraordinary things have happened to me in my life and I guess they happen to Ed and Hen too.


TR:Did your love for toys begin in childhood, or was it something that developed later in life? If it began early, was there ever a time where you set toys aside as, for lack of a better word, childish; only to return to their wonder in later adulthood? If you had a relatively toy-free childhood, what drew you to them as an adult?

GS: I always loved toys as a kid but we were fairly poor and I never had many. There were plenty I lusted after, though! My first toy phase was probably over by age 10, and then in my 30's I came across a wonderful sculpture by British pop artist Peter Blake (who did the cover for Sergeant Pepper) called Toy Shop II, which he filled with junk toys from the 50's. I loved it and began to make my own versions, which led to collecting toys for new sculptures, and I've been accumulating them ever since.

(an example of one of Gavin's sculptures - Bat themed of course!)

TR: Everyone from Jules Verne to Davy Crockett to Queen Victoria appear as characters in Edward and Henrietta. When did you discover your passion for history and literature? When did you decide that you not only wanted to read these stories, but you wanted to tell them as well?

GS: I began reading Jules Verne at about ten, after seeing Walt Disney's wonderful 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and then went on to Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. Next came P.G. Wodehouse and the Jeeves books, and I was away.


My passion for history began with an excellent high school teacher in New Zealand called Ken Shadbolt, who brought Oliver Cromwell and the 17th century to life, and later the French Revolution, and my fascination with the past grew from there and spread into archeology and the study of evolution. Being conscious of the past gives life a whole extra dimension for me.

As far as writing is concerned, I've always written plays and stories, and began getting them on the air on local radio in Hawkes Bay when I was 12. And even as a journalist, which I was for the first part of my career, the pleasure was not so much "scoops" as "writing stories". One way or another I've been writing novels, movies and stories all my life.


TR: Join us tomorrow for Part 2 of Toyriffic's interview with Gavin, watch Episode 1 of The Adventures of Edward and Henrietta below, and click HERE to see more!


The Adventures of Edward and Henrietta, Episode 1 from edandhen.com on Vimeo.

Time After Time

The most recent episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold teamed Batman with Etrigan the Demon in Victorian London, in a story highlighting the origins of The Gentleman Ghost and also teaming Bats with the greatest detective of all time, Sherlock Holmes.

In a moment of unbridled and totally unexpected awesomeness, Batman's tattered costume is fixed by the magics of Etrigan, altered to better reflect the time period and - here's where comic nerds the world over screamed a squee of delight - exactly duplicated the costume worn by Batman in the Elseworlds tale Batman: Gotham by Gaslight.

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight is my favorite Batman "what if" (or as DC calls them, Elseworlds) story and if I recall it is the first story under the Elseworlds banner. It places Batman in the Victorian era on the trail of Jack the Ripper and is illustrated with amazing art by Mike Mignola.

So I have my DC Direct Gotham by Gaslight Batman and my DC Universe Classics Etrigan, and I decided to team them up as an homage to one of the coolest episodes of Brave and the Bold yet!

G by G Batman has limited articulation in the manner expected from DC Direct, but he's a beautiful replication of the art of Mike Mignola.

Etrigan has all the articulation of the DCUC figures, and is a beautifully rendered comic version sculpted by the amazing Four Horsemen for Mattel.


What an awesome and unexpected team-up! Thank you Batman: The Brave and the Bold for being so freaking cool.

Gecko Sits And Watches All

We come to the end of TMNT week and the end of my small TMNT collection with Mondo Gecko!

Dig those crazy braces!

Mondo Gecko came with this radical jet powered skateboard for major shreddage.

He reminds me of a cross between Bill and Ted and the Geico Gecko. Excellent!

"Later, skaters!"

Thanks for joining me for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles week. It was fun, and although my TMNT collection is pretty humble, I've grown to appreciate them so much more over this past week.

Tune in next week when Toyriffic brings you our very first super special celebrity interview!

Let Me Be Your Panda Bear

Panda Khaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnn!!!!!!!!

This here fuzzy dude is Panda Khan.

TMNT Week continues with the Turtle ally with a Samurai theme and a soft, cuddly, lovable mug.

"Who you callin' cuddly?!?!"

His name is Panda Khan. Like Kubla Khan, or Ghengis Khan, or Kobra Khan, or Shaka Khan, or Ricardo Montalban aka Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnn!!!!!!!!


News Flash:
Toyriffic has a wonderful surprise in store for our readers next week - Our first ever toy related celebrity interview! Stay tuned for details.

She Bop, He Bop - a - We Bop!

TMNT Week continues with a rather Boar-ing post.

Bebop-a-Buggly, this guy is UGLY!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Week has already covered Rocksteady, so I figured it's high time I covered his Boar buddy Bebop!

My TMNT toon history is a bit fuzzy, but I think Bebop and Rocksteady started life as street thugs and were mutated with a boar and a rhino. Obviously Bebop was a punk rocker type, with his purple mohawk and his totally tubular eighties plastic shades!

Not to mention that face that not even a mother could love! SNORT!

It's Alright To Be Little Bitty

TMNT week continues! What's that...you didn't know it was TMNT week?

Well, neither did I. But I'm on a roll, and the TMNT figures I've been posting have been pretty well received. With about three more to go, I figured "What the shell!"

But Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles week has thus far been lacking one essential component...

Turtles!

And what's a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles week without a turtle? I don't know, but I do know what a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle is when he's not a teenager...

...he's short!

Actually he's a Toddler Turtle! Toddler Raphael, to be exact.

Toddler Raphael actually came with his brothers in a set of four in 2004. They also had "training weapons" that looked like they were made of padded wood and each matched the turtles' adult weapon counterpart. I got them new, but my daughters loved these guys so I gave them over and I only held onto Raphael (my favorite turtle.) The other three brothers, along with their weapons, are lost forever. They were all the exact same sculpt, with only their bandanas being of different colors.

A cute and fun concept, I hope I can someday track down the other Toddler TMNT...maybe on eBay or something. Until then, Raphael shall roam the earth alone, like a baby Caine from Kung-Fu.

Pretty Fly For a White Guy

Keeping with our recent TMNT theme, Baxter Stockman is another of the early villains from the Ninja Turtles toy and cartoon line.

An obvious hmage to the classic horror film about science gone awry - "The Fly" - Baxter Stockman is a scientist whose experiments went awry, and who turned himself into a fly like mutant creature.

Baxter is cool on a lot of levels. His classic B-Movie horror schtick, his early Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles connections...

...and he's pretty FLY for a white guy!

Turn On Your Light, And Stay With Me A While...

...and Rocksteady!

Along with the Mutagen Man figure I posted about earlier I was able to acquire a couple more original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle figures, including Rocksteady!

It has been a long time since I've seen an original TMNT cartoon so I'm not sure of the exact storyline, but as I recall the Rhinoceros Rocksteady, along with the Boar Bebop were the first two mutated villains in the TMNT cartoon.

All heck broke loose after that with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles battling mutated villains from all level of flora and fauna, but Rocksteady is one of the first and holds a fond place in my heart. It's a shame he and Bebop haven't been given their respect in any of the number of TMNT films that have been made. Here's the meeting I would have loved to have been a part of, to punch the movie executive in the face: "Vanilla Ice, yes...Rocksteady, no. OUCH! He bwoke my node!"

Because "Mentally Unbalanced Bouncy Spherical Toys" was just too long...

Check out this crazy disgusting MadBall!

His name is Skull Face, natch. I got him for free, yes FREE!!! from Justin Gammon who, aside from being the only other living Mixed-up Zoo Animal fan on record besides myself, runs the awesome toy blog Weirdo Toys! Justin posted a Madball giveaway and since I have no life outside the internet I was all over it like ugly on a Madball, and was one of the lucky recipients of an ugly gross lovely free toy!

Skull Face here is actually a MadBall Sick. Which means he has a special disgusting feature besides his ugly mug...

There's a clear pocket on his head and just like Charmin, when you squeeze him you get a special surprise!

Squeeze it and the blister bulges with slimey spiders and a little red goo for good measure. YECH!

The spiders squeeze out nice and slow like, so it's almost like they're real. Real gross!!!!!

Thanks Justin for sharing your balls with your fans. You rock and Weirdo Toys is the bomb-diggity!

(P.S. - you can follow Weirdo Toys on Twitter too! DO IT!)

I'm Looking Through You, You're Not The Same!

This ugly cuss is called Mutagen Man.

He's a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles villain character and was originally released in 1990.

The gimmick for this guy is that his innards are free floating inside his "glass" body. You can even fill him up with water (which I did) in order to enhance the effect. I considered filling him with slime, but the slime I have is not transparent enough and would make seeing his innards impossible. I also considered adding some food coloring to the water but decided, for now, to stick with regular old clear cool delicious H2O.

There's a lot of detail on his insides and his outsides too. He even has some little plastic bits floating inside (like a wrench and a little turtle!)

He's like a monstrous snow globe!

I got this TMNT character second-hand recently, so I don't know anything more about him. I do know he's missing an accessory or two (there's a space on his back for what looks like a scuba-tank apparatus) so if anyone has spare Mutagen Man accessories laying around, I'll take 'em!