We did it. Last week the final tapes for Planet Cosmo left the building, the completed series. Mission complete. Wow, what a journey.

It began early 2010 with just a wish and a doodle. That’s one of the very first images of Cosmo below, drawn with my finger on an iPod Touch using the old Brushes app. I didn’t know back then that it would be a cartoon show.

But I had more than just that doodle – I had an aim. A mission. I wanted to introduce the planets to children. Whole other worlds, real worlds, some of which can be seen by children just looking up at the sky at night. How amazing is that?

First, however, I had to entertain. I had to give children reasons to watch the show regardless of any prior interest in space. This would be a show for any and every child, boys and girls alike. And so slowly ideas became concepts, then characters, methods, structures and stories. Eventually, I knew I had it – a show that delivered what I felt children both wanted and needed (not always the same thing!).

Fun.

Humour. Lots of humour.

Songs.

Adventure.

Curiosity. I love to spark questions.

And finally, the core of the show’s direct educational goal – focused facts about our Solar System. Real amazing things that kids can share. If kids aren’t interested in that? No problem, the show has fun, humour, songs and adventure! It exists as entertainment and can sit on any preschool schedule, even without an educational remit. But soon, children may find themselves asking more questions, realising that beyond the fictional stories there are real planets out there (and we directly state what’s real in each episode). They may find that interest in space grows. And the more we feed that interest, the more likely it is that it will continue to grow. Wouldn’t that be something?

So here is the result of that long development. Planet Cosmo:

I knew production would be hard work. We were aiming high and our resources were limited. That just means you either find places to cut corners or everyone pushes that bit harder. Guess which one I went for? Yes, we pushed. We pushed hard.

Two things happened: Firstly, we had some problems early on. Secondly, the quality was pushed even higher (mainly due to some of our excellent animators exceeding our expectations – you guys rock!). So now we were dealing with even higher standards and were playing catch-up as we dealt with our early production difficulties. There were times our deadlines seemed impossible. Everyone on the show stepped up and put in their all. Some found their limit and the cracks began to appear. Others could have kept on going, showing a level of support I will always appreciate and never forget.

Amazing on such a tough production to have people who are an absolute joy to work with.

I am not going to name everyone because otherwise this would be a ridiculously long post but I want to mention some of those people with us in those hard, last days of production – Ciaran Lucas on backgrounds who did fantastic work and worked harder than just about anyone I have ever seen on any production, Léan Duffy who jumped into compositing like Han Solo returning to save Luke at the end of Star Wars, Roxy Lyon who worked long hours as she dealt with task after task ending up on her desk, Dale Robinson who stepped in just when we needed him even though he had so much else going on and Graham Scott for brightening up the studio and keeping us all going.

And a very special mention for Simon Crane. Simon and I have worked together for years. He’s a good friend and an exceptionally talented animator and director in his own right (Simon is directing Geronimo Productions’ Punky) and he was my directing animator on Planet Cosmo. Simon’s level of enthusiasm and support kept me going, gave me energy when I needed it. This show probably just wouldn’t have happened without him. Thank you, Simon.

Everyone did great work. You should check out the credits when Planet Cosmo launches because one of the things I am most proud of is that we were able to make this show with so few people. You’ll find a tiny crew list at the end of our show. No hidden credits, no outside studio. That was it. Just us right here in Dublin. And you’ll even find quite a few names repeated in different jobs – multitasking was an essential on this show! And even with such a small crew, the show is exactly what we wanted. I could never, ever use our lack of resources as an excuse for anything on this show. Planet Cosmo is actually a better show than the one I set out to make.

How often does one get to say that?

There are two other people I will mention here though. One is my script editor, Hilary Baverstock. These episodes only worked because the scripts were right to begin with. Without good scripts, we would have been working hard to make a show that looks pretty and does little else. So, as script editor, Hilary’s influence was felt throughout the entire production. And the other person is the producer of Geronimo Productions, Gerard O’Rourke. Gerard showed faith in this project from the second I showed it to him and he pulled the financing together to make it happen. The importance of that part is obvious but the immense work that goes into it is often never seen by those either making or watching the show. And Gerard now takes on phase three of what it is to make a show – going out there to sell it. Find him at Kidscreen in New York and ask him to show you some full episodes!

So there you have it. We have completed Planet Cosmo. Fifteen episodes of animated fun and adventure, bringing the planets to children. The show launches on RTE2 in Ireland on the 18^th of February and international broadcasts will follow. Find the show on Twitter at @PlanetCosmoTV for clips and images. I hope you all love the show.

Finally done. We made it.

And now I need a nap.

Filed under: General Posts by Jay
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Tags: animation, astronomy, Children, Cosmo, education, Geronimo Productions, Monster Animation, Planet Cosmo

As many of you will have seen, it was announced last week that Monster Animation & Design has changed its name to Geronimo Productions. Monster Animation, started by owner and producer Gerard O’Rourke, has been going for 17 years and I joined very early in its history, taking the position of Creative Director of the company more than ten years ago. From there, we took Monster Animation from advertising into broadcast television, starting with us producing Roobarb & Custard Too and then creating Fluffy Gardens and moving us through Ballybraddan, Punky and now our new show and my latest creation, Planet Cosmo. All the while, I have been overseeing the creative vision of the company, building the studio methods and systems and creating, moulding, nurturing and producing shows.

We have come a long way together.

The name change is something Gerard and I have discussed for many years (mostly because of international confusion with another Irish Monster) and, with a brand new show launching, the time finally seemed right to make the switch. So this week, we’re working hard as Geronimo Productions to finish Planet Cosmo and you’ll be hearing a lot about that very soon. The studio at Geronimo is gearing up for more Punky (I’m serving as script editor at the moment with Andrew Brenner writing) and everything is moving forward with a new name and a new identity.

Will it bring exciting things? I think it will. It’s going to be a big and rather interesting year for all of us.

Filed under: General Posts by Jay
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Tags: animation, business, Cosmo, Geronimo Productions, Monster Animation, Planet Cosmo, Punky

2013 is going to be an exciting year for me. Many of us at Monster Animation have been working hard over this little holiday season to get the last few episodes of our new show finished and 2013 is the year it gets released to the world.

For me, Planet Cosmo is more than a new cartoon show. This is the culmination of everything I have worked on and worked for since I began making children’s shows. It is the result of years of practical experience, years of research and so many intentions, goals and dreams. A preschool show full of laughs, smiles, songs and fun that introduces children, boys and girls, to whole other worlds, each one amazing in its own way. And not just fantasy – these worlds are real. A show to entertain and inform. And hopefully inspire.

All in just fifteen episodes. That’s almost three and a half hours, a Peter Jackson feature, so not that insubstantial.

I always count myself lucky that I get to form a show from nothing, a blank page, and take it all the way to the finished picture across every part of the process. Yes, it’s a heavy work load but it comes with so many advantages. A unified vision for one thing but also each step always has the other steps in mind. I don’t write without picturing how we in the studio actually make it happen on screen, for example. I don’t think a show of this type could be made on the budget we have without that. Our resources were tight and we aimed high.

Thanks to the amazing people we have working on the show right now, we reached even higher.

So, yes, I’m excited about letting Planet Cosmo out into the world in 2013 and, once we finish the show, I will be putting my faith in Monster Animation’s producer, Gerard O’Rourke, who should be shouting about about it from the rooftops, getting it to the right broadcasters and having it seen by as many young children as possible. Because I know from our testing already that children are going to love this animated series and it’s really good for them. So if you see him, or indeed me, at an event, ask to see some Planet Cosmo. And if you’re a parent, keep an eye out for it.

So what of the rest of the year? Well, we at Monster will be making series 2 of Punky, written by Andrew Brenner and directed by my very good friend and colleague, Simon Crane. I have an awesome little collaboration between a fantastic electro artist and my daughter, Daisy, to work on (more on that when Cosmo is finished). And I will of course be busy working to create the best, most fun and good children’s content that can possibly be made. And, on my little blog here, I will continue to write every Monday. So if you have any questions or topics you would like me to cover, feel free to let me know.

I hope that 2013 brings you exciting things, progress, fun, new projects, and all things good for children everywhere. Have a fantastic year and, as always, thank you for stopping by my little corner of the web.

Filed under: General Posts by Jay
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Tags: animation, Children, Cosmo, Monster Animation, New Year, Planet Cosmo

As I mentioned in last week’s post, Fluffy Gardens characters come with grey areas – they, like real people, aren’t just black and white and don’t always lend themselves to clear messages or absolutes. One character who posed a problem was Scoopy the Pink Rabbit. I set Scoopy up as a character who constantly asks questions. Every answer followed instantly by yet another question, often an inappropriate one.

We all know children like that, right?

But what’s the lesson? That a child shouldn’t ask questions? But then isn’t the best way of learning about things asking questions? We should be encouraging children to ask questions. Well that’s a lesson any parent with a three year-old on their 167^th ‘why’ of the day would likely take issue with.

So Scoopy the Pink Rabbit’s episode ended up with multiple messages to children: asking questions can lead to useful knowledge, but ask the right questions and don’t hurt anyone’s feelings. And, in a way, it had a message to adults too: your child asking questions can be a very good thing.

The result?

The episode is messy. It has some fun in it, no doubt, and children seem to really enjoy it (I suppose that’s the important thing) but across the whole series I feel it is one of the weaker episodes.

Life has its grey areas and sometimes there isn’t just one right answer but, man, that doesn’t half make it hard to write a good show about them. This is where I think co-viewing comes into play. It is a really good idea for parents to watch shows with their children and talk about them. That way, parents can expand on the ideas in the show or answer any questions the show brings up in a way that suits them right then and there.

Because poor ol’ children’s television can’t cover everything.

Filed under: Fluffy Gardens by Jay
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Tags: animation, Children, Fluffy Gardens, Messages, Monster Animation

Life isn’t simple. It isn’t black or white. There are many shades of grey and many points of view. 

Fluffy Gardens features what could be called morality tales, to a point. But some lessons conflict and others require interpretation because there are so many different ways of looking at things. For example, Mavis the Pony is very careful (a good thing for safety) and yet that sometimes completely inhibits her and she misses out on fun experiences (a bad thing). There’s a grey area that requires a unique decision whether or not to be careful in any given situation.

On top of that, most Fluffy Gardens characters are more well-rounded than they may initially appear. They don’t just embody a single trait.

This became problematic for certain characters and stories, especially for the distributor who (probably rightly) argued young children don’t like grey areas. For example, in Paolo the Cat’s episode I introduced Cornelius the Crab as a ‘naughty crab’. I came to regret that labelling, which would forever taint how we view that character’s actions, just as it would do if we label children. Later, I chose to revisit the label in Cornelius’ own episode in which, because he’s always pinching, he is branded as ‘naughty’ by most characters until they realise that his pinching can actually be useful in the right situation.

It was somewhat of a grey conclusion – he shouldn’t pinch people, but was I justifying the behaviour by also showing that others shouldn’t judge him so quickly? The ending is unsure. Really it comes down to this: disapprove of the behaviour, not the person. A very difficult message to get across to a child, especially when children themselves are so quick to label. I guess it is nature’s quick way of sorting out friend from foe in a child’s mind.

But life isn’t that simple. It isn’t black or white. There are many shades of grey and, personally, I think we would do children a disservice to pretend this were not the case.

On another topic, the Cartoon Forum is on this week. I won’t be there but our producer Gerard O’Rourke will be and he happens to have an episode or two of Cosmo with him. So if you’re going, hunt him down and check out the show!

Filed under: Fluffy Gardens, General Posts by Jay
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Tags: animation, Children, Fluffy Gardens, Monster Animation, writing