Panel: Creating Animation History with The Last Unicorn, 3/16/2012

Panelists: Suren Seron, Peter S. Beagle, Terri Kempton, Connor Cochran

Trivia: In the credits, look for Nellie Bellflower. Her role was cut.

When it was made, everyone passed on the film. A small distribution company based out of Salt Lake City took it on, then went bankrupt after 17 days.

Ultimately, The Last Unicorn outsold Star Wars in Europe.

The entire life of the film happened AFTER it was released on video.

In 2001, the Hollywood Reporter posted a story about TLU. The creators, after seeing the story, sued for owed money and eventually won.

For the first time, the rights, which were previously scattered all over the place, have been collected by Connor.

-This means that for the first time ever, there will be licensed merchandise.

-Graphic novel by IDW

-Special edition graphic novel

-"Two Hearts" sequel novelette

-Won Eisner, Nebula awards

-Graphic novel being released

Now that rights have been dealt with:

-Big-screen re-release for 10-12 days starting in May/June

-Will have Q&A sessions with Peter S. Beagle

-Premiere at the Egyptian Theater

-Partnering with AMC

-Going to be released in higher-quality than Blu-Ray

-Merchandise

-3D Paper Art

-They showed an example...it's gorgeous.

-Requesting fan input on merchandise ideas.

-Soundtrack

-No official soundtrack has ever been released.

-Illegal version has been available in Germany only on vinyl.

-Full, official soundtrack will be released, possibly with a few extra surprise tracks.

Entire project is funded by Suren (and co.'s) new production company, "Sandbox."

-Spearheading the effort.

-Completely revamping, digitizing, removing duplicate frames from original print. Nothing like this has ever been done before.

-Re-animating things that were originally done wrong to save money.

-5-8 minutes of new animation

-Fixing the ENTIRE film

-3 versions of the original screenplay are being combined to create a single, "ultimate" version (with supervision from Peter S. Beagle and Terri)

-New version will be released in 2D and 3D

-May add a new song to the closing credits, because now there will be the original team and the restoration team.

"I wasn't thinking of it as a children's book or a children's story. Ever." -Peter S. Beagle

Beagle likes Tolkien's convention of incorporating songs and music to help tell the story.

Also in the works:

-Broadway musical?

-Beagle would like one. Also, he has an idetic memory.

-Live Action Version

-Rights for live-action version are not available until 2015.

-No one has actually signed on, contrary to rumors.

Do you worry about backlash from the fans because of the changes?

-This isn't intended to replace the original, but rather to complement it.

Dual release of the original and the revamped version is possible.

In the process of collecting interviews with all of the original artists in Japan. Documentary also may be in the works about the process of revamping.

Panel Notes: Spotlight on Mark Waid, 3/16/12

To finance foray into digital (NOT to replace print, but to compliment,) selling entire personal collection of comics at www.blastoffcomics.com.

Just announced (at previous panel) that he's doing Rocketeer.

Right now, for free, download Luther for free at www.markwaid.com. You can buy the comics from the website, but feel free to share them--it's much more important to get it out there.

"Digital comics should be $0.99. Period."

With digital, there are wins and losses:

-Lose: Full shots, huge page spreads

-Win: We are still learning about how to write and read digital comics; the industry is still developing; you have 2 pages; it's a chance to try new things out.

Things we are learning about digital:

How many screens is a visitor willing to look at? How quickly do you need to develop newer material? How much new material is too much? How much story gives a feeling of completion, similar to a paper book?

-About 8-10 screens per week seems to be the ideal

These are NOT motion comics.

On writing:

Why doesn't every issue of Daredevil start with Matt with a gun in his mouth?

Things have to go right sometimes for the characters, otherwise the audience no longer can relate.

"Your job is to make yourself happy, because no one else will."

Consequences for characters have to persist in the world. The characters don't get to wipe the slate clean with every new page or book. Actions have to have ramifications.

WonderCon 2012

Over the weekend, I had the great pleasure of (and resultant overwhelming exhaustion from) attending WonderCon.

Some highlights of the weekend:

-More than ten...count them...TEN encounters with the Cylon models known as "Fake Mel Caylos" or, alternately, "Frakkin' Melsters." Naturally, none of these sightings resulted in a single photograph.

-Quality time with the lovely "League of Extraordinary Ladies" and the equally hilarious Geekscape crew.

-Some truly remarkable panels. Topping the list were "Horror in Comics," which takes the cake for putting my favorite genres and my favorite creators together in one room, and the brilliant Amber Benson's first foray into moderating with Jane Espenson's spotlight panel.

-Having a convention that is small enough for creators to actually connect with the fans. Unlike Comic-Con, I never struggled to get a seat in a panel (granted, I avoided the Ballroom), and actually was able to see, meet, and even talk to, a number of the creators I really respect and admire, including Mark Waid, who somehow managed to juggle roughly 800 million panels with more wit, energy, and insight than I could imagine mustering. And was still incredibly gracious in person, even at the end of an impossibly long Saturday.

My panel notes are forthcoming. Keep in mind that they were taken in real-time, so any errors are a failure of trying to keep up and not quite managing. Also, the one panel that lacks any notes was "Comics on Comics." This is mostly because I am always too busy laughing to write anything down, a lesson I learned three years ago.

Enjoy, nerds.

The "Right" Way to Convention Prep (Part 1)

After showing a picture of my basic convention prepping setup, I was asked for a component explanation. So here is the way I prepare my convention schedule. Because I'm incredibly OCD about it.

Supplies:

-Highlighters in 3 or more colors

-A printer

-A notebook

-A plastic folder (for all materials, badges, etc.)

-A pen

-A computer

1.) Look over the schedule online, marking all of the panels that catch your eye.

2.) Search through the listed panels for friends' names. The same people tend to do roughly the same panels, so it gets easier to know where people will be, but the search function is definitely a big help.

3.) Look over the new list of panels, checking for conflicts and removing anything that doesn't look particularly important or conflicts with something friends are on.

4.) Print out or copy the schedule into a word processor.

5.) Color-code (with highlighters or on the computer) by "Friends," "Acquaintances," "Must-See," "Want to see," etc.

6.) Check one more time for conflicts. Pick and choose where necessary. Make notes (pen, notebook) where necessary.

7.) Print out, if you haven't already. Put schedule into folder.

8.) Completely disregard schedule once you see the lines for panels.

Next time: Hotel selection for San Diego Comic-Con. (Hint: it involves a spreadsheet.)