Alternate Visions

Things are really busy right now and we haven't even started color!  All the characters have been designed but now need cleaning up and special poses.  Props are almost done and the artists are now moving into special effects and props that were added at the board stage.  Most of the key backgrounds have been designed.  Now the layout artists are going through the rough storyboards. They look for tricky camera positions or new locations that the overseas studios will need.  The storyboard artists are roughing out their last sections before going back in to clean things up.  Not only are they making their drawings "prettier," they will be adjusting the boards according to my notes and co-director, Phil Weinstein.  All the board artists are doing a terrific job in general but we're trying to do all that Mignola composition stuff.  That means taking a sequence that works and making the effort to make it work in that Mignola way.  Is it worth it?  You guys will have to tell me when you see it.

But in the meantime, I've got the files I wanted last week, so here's a glimpse of might-have-beens.  I didn't scan all the submissions but I've got enough to show the range.  First up is Greg Guler who is  one of the chief character designers at Disney TV. He came up with a really nice Hellboy but it was hard for him; to Greg, Hellboy is Mike Mignola's artwork.  He worked with Mignola designs on what became Atlantis II: Milo's Return and would've loved to create something really close to Mike's.  Greg is supposed to be drawing the new Gargoyles comic based on the Disney series.

Next is Liz Sherman and a Japanese monster known as a tengu drawn by comic artist,  Mike Wieringo.  I'm not sure we could've pulled off his style in animation.  Look at that beautiful Liz!  Would've been neat to try. Check out what else he draws on his site, Ringo!

Check out the website of Craig Rousseau , he has a bunch of color Hellboys there and and Abe.  Craig's got a new comic out written by Todd Dezago called The Perhapsanauts , sort of a comical version of the BPRD but still filled with plenty of twists and adventures.  Here's a version of Roger that he did in addition to his Hellboys and a glimpse of his new gang.  His style would've adapted well to animation but, as we know now, Mike was looking for something farther away from his own stuff.

Tom Nelson is a character designer here at Film Roman. His Hellboy feels like a boxer to me.  Definitely not a guy to mess with.  It's a great drawing, really communicating a sense of solidity and weight.

Finally, Saxton Moore has posted in the comments section but if you didn't click on his link you'll see that he took the mandate, "Don't do it in Mike's style" seriously.  My producer might have stressed that a little too much. But his Hellboy-as-teen-troublemaker still could've led to a workable design just like Cheek's suspenders/noire Hellboy led to our current design.  So check out his website.  Meanwhile, it's back to work for me!    -- Tad

HELLBOY is trademarked (TM) and copyrighted (©) by Mike Mignola. All rights reserved

Comments

[heavy water]

awesome stuff, but mike definitely made the better choice with cheeks... i'm expecting it to look phenominal.

any word on the voice casting? or did i miss that post?

thanks for keeping us in the loop.

-h2o

http://www.myspace.com/aimsatellite
http://www.aimsatellite.blogspot.com

[David Server]

Sweeeeet. All very cool, but I'd have chosen Cheeks, too. Again, tho, it'd have been tough. I don't see the Nelson design...was it taken down? Also, Heavy; Ron Perlman and Selma Blair are both confirmed as voice actors, I believe. Dunno about Hyde-Pierce, Tambor, or anyone else yet.

[David Server]

Oop, there it is :)

[David Petersen]

Some really Nice designs there. It hink o fthe unused, Gregs is my favorite, but I really like the Cheeks direction. Thanks for the glimpse of the process Tad!!

[heavy water]

thanks david and Tad, my ability to navigate the internet successfully is hindered by my fulltime occupation as an idiot, so thanks for answering the casting question. hehe...

(tad, thanks for putting up with all of us who are just really excited about this).

-h2o

http://www.myspace.com/aimsatellite
http://www.aimsatellite.blogspot.com

[David Server]

Sure thing, Heavy. BTW, that shot of movieverse HB, Abe, and Liz on your MySpace page is pretty sweet, dude.

[heavy water]

thanks. i really appreciate that. when i get some time, i'm gonna try and do some pages like that just to see how it goes.

-h2o

http://www.myspace.com/aimsatellite
http://www.aimsatellite.blogspot.com