Thankful

Usually I work on this blog at home but every so often I squeeze in a chance to upload something from the office.  Unfortunately that means that sometimes the picture files I want to include are one place and I am at another.  Yes, I know we live in the 21st Century where everything is virtual and there are a half dozen ways I could access files from either location but I didn't so quit "tsking" and shaking  your head.  So this brings a change in the topic.

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving to all who are celebrating.  And whether you are or not, it's always good to take a moment to think about the positive things in your life.  If you can do that while consuming mass quantities of delicious food, so much the better.  Save a roll for me.

I am certainly thankful for the great people at Film Roman Studios, IDT, Revolution Studios, Anchor Bay, Quattro Media, Guillermo del Toro and, most of all, Mike Mignola who all conspired in some fashion to put me in charge of my dream project.  I think I can also say with a degree of certitude that every member of the crew is happy to be on the project.  And I'm thankful to have their talents.  But there is one guy who is really thankful, super died-and-gone-to-heaven thankful.  That would be Sean "Cheeks" Galloway who was chosen by Mike Mignola to set the character design look for the show.  Sean was picked from several artists who tried their hand at Hellboy.  (You'd be looking at their work now if I had the files).

Cheeks went from having a following on the Net and doing covers for the Teen Titans Go! comic to sitting in the kitchen of Casa Mignola while Mike gushed over his portfolio.  I snapped a few pics for posterity.  Then they sat down and started sketching side by side.  We loved Cheeks fresh style but we weren't quite willing to go with the slender, suspenders-clad Hellboy he did as a sample.  I still like his first version of Liz a lot.  It opened up discussions that affected her final, and completely different, design.

Mike talked to Cheeks about the way he normally draws Hellboy and how the proportions could be exaggerated.  This led to him sketching his "favorite drawing of Hellboy ever."  It's too bad he didn't finish the head; it might have led to a whole new line of comics.  Cheeks later said he was blushing and in a state of disbelief.  He couldn't believe he was sitting next to the creator of Hellboy talking about what gun design he should carry and how to draw the Right Hand of Doom.  The proportions that Mike drew that day are largely those that Cheeks used in his design.  So if you wonder how much Mike is involved with Hellboy, wonder no more.  The answer is very, very involved.

And for that, I am thankful.    -- Tad

Comments

[Mistersh0w]

Amazing, amazing, AMAZING stuff!! This is all so exciting! Though, I do have one question, sorry if it's been asked before, but is this series going to be adult oriented, or is it for kids? I guess either way it will be cool. But I defy you to not cream the jeans at the thought of an animated hellboy bashing the crap out of some monsters' face with gore and drool everywhere!

[Tad Stones]

It's for Hellboy fans, written like a 10 o'clock primetime show but I don't think it will exclude kids any more than the X Files did. But more importantly, it's written to be as close to the feel of the comic which does not feature violent gore. Monster bashing and drool yes, gore no.

[Mistersh0w]

Well I guess that's not so bad! The comic didn't have that much gore anyway... Ok now i'm even more excited! I can't wait....So now I just need to brainwash all the non-comic-reading TV viewers into worshiping the Hellboy animated series and we should see at least 7 seasons! WOO! Action figures anyone?

[Lucas Haeser]

I sincerely hope your guys met the work of an artist called Rune Spaans. He did an AMAZING 3d version of Mignola´s Hellboy, wich you can see on his site: http://film.toxic.no/superrune/hellboy_divx.avi
I know you are still working on a final version of the "new hellboy" but why not consider the original?

[Tad Stones]

I know fans are used to Hollywood types saying that they are big fans of "fill in the blank" comics and then proceed to produce movies that have none of the spirit of the original. But I really am a fan for over ten years now (and have never been accused of being a "Hollywood type"). There's probably nothing Hellboy on the web that I haven't seen from animation of the Big Blast Hellboy action figure in "The Cave" to gorey Flash animated Hellboy adventures to Jake Parker's fantastic animated gifs and of course, Rune's cel shaded Hellboy.

As I remember, Rune's piece took him over a year to produce and involved much labor intensive tweaking that would be beyond the reach of all but the most expensive productions. I was one of early people to congratulate him on it when it first appeared a couple of years ago. It's gorgeous but not right for our project for reasons, both artistic and practical.

[David Server]

Another sweet update, Tad. Good to see HB will retain his epic proportions, and that Mike is overseeing things with as much excitement as he is. I'm still eagerly awaiting when we get some Abe Sapien design tidbits! Hope we get to see the work of those other artists' designs later on, would love to see the alternate possibilities. And to all at the Hellboy: Animated production offices, keep up the good work, and Happy Thanksgiving!

[James]

My god, this series is going to be incredible! Thanks to everyone working on the project for doing what seems to be a stand-up job. And I second the request for some Abe design info ;)

Thanks again. Keep up the great work, all.

[justin sirois]

It’s refreshing (and relieving) to see the Hellboy franchise expanding and developing in such a diverse way; how the comic, film(s), and animated series will all have their own unique feel while honoring the true, creepy sprit of the original. Mignola is a visionary and he continually surrounds himself with likeminded artists who care as much about these projects as he does, a rare and special phenomenon that demands careful study. This blog is the perfect forum for such.

[Tony 'Stark']

I'm a big fan (though not as big as many). The concept of the series and the character simply amaze me. I read a few of the graphic novels, even managed to catch some of the gifs online, and of course the film, which Guillermo (my hero! do more comic movies dude!) Del Toro did an amazing job on. And so i still think i'm in a position to congratulate, and hope with all my heart and soul that this series comes out the way it looks like it might. I love the designs, the genre, and how you managed to keep 'that Mignola feel'. This is very informative, so please keep up. Hey, don't forget those image files from the other artists! would like to see what was in the running.
One question though if i may: Would the colouring be exactly/similar/different to the designs/drawings up done by Cheeks? I know it sounds silly, but i just want to be sure.

[Jérôme]

I didn't really understand if the versions of Hellboy and Liz shown here were the final ones or not... I presume they aren't, 'cause the Hellboy is very different from the "favorite of Hellboy drawing ever" but I'd want to be sure... And if they arent the final versions, do you have final versions of the characters or are you still searching ?

Another thing : is Dave Stewart involved in the project ? To my mind his colors do a lot to create the Hellboy universe...

[Jérôme]

Actually I just understand the Sean galloway drawings weren't final versions at all... Don't blame me, I'm french.

[Kat]

o.o.......I love you.

Well, the movie, anyhow. :D I'm sure you're a lovely individual, but a girl just can't say no to Hellboy. I LOVE everything I've seen (ever since catching Cheek's one, now absent drawing on DevArt) and I'm glad that someone who has much love for HB is in charge of making this.

This looks..... awesome. Seriously. As someone who was frightening people with her giddiness at the movie, I can't wait to get overly giddy again. I will be forcibly having my friends join me in watching this. May you find that gold-crapping goose.

[Saxton Moore]

This project looks very promising. I really dig Sean's designs. As for the other Hellboy submissions files, I've posted the one I did for the project on my blog... http://sacks10.blogspot.com/
I was told to steer away from the original Hellboy look, thus the style I chose to do was way left field.
------SACKS