We may be a few weeks away from Halloween, but the fun new stop-motion special Mickey and Friends Trick or Treats has already begun sharing its spooky fun on Disney Channel, Disney Junior and Disney XD, Disney+ and Hulu. In this, musical special, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald and Daisy decide to trick or treat at the scariest mansion in the neighborhood. Things get a big complicated when a real witch answers the door in this musical haunt.
We had the chance to catch up with the short’s talented director-producer David H. Brooks, whose many credits include Mickey Saves Christmas, Ultra City Smiths, The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants and The Grand Slams. Here is what David told us about his new Disney project:
Animation Magazine: Congrats on this fun new stop-motion Halloween project. Can you tell us a bit about how you got involved with this Disney project?
David H. Brooks: Thank you. Sure, this came on the heels of our previous project Mickey Saves Christmas, which came out last year. I think there was some excitement around that project at Disney before we even finished. I think once they saw the animation, they decided to keep this train rolling, and of course, what better holiday to follow Christmas than Halloween, right?
When did you start working on the half-hour short and what did you love about it?
I believe it was November when we started looking at that concepts and scripts, we probably started in January, so it had a fairly quick turn-around time. Halloween is just such a great opportunity for stop-motion, and this project gave us an opportunity to tell a story that builds some tension, and we got to work with some practical special effects. Stop motion is always a blast. Just as was the case with the Christmas special, it’s so much fun to work with classic characters that you know and love and to create amazing content that we know will be evergreen and hopefully will be viewed for generations to come.
Did you work with the same team that made the Christmas special?
We mixed it up a little bit on this one at Stoopid Buddy Stoodios. We have a new director of photography, Helder Sun, who is a longtime collaborator of mine. He is great with the moody stuff that require darker lighting. We also have a couple of new animators on board. There’s such a wealth of talent right now in the stop-motion community. We also have a new production designer, Emily Nelson. They’re all just super talented and brought a really fun look to the project.
Of course, you also worked on the popular series Ultra City Smiths a couple of years ago.
Yes, we produced that in in Toronto, actually, in the middle of the pandemic. [Series creator] Steve Conrad called and said he wanted to do this project with AMC, so I got the opportunity to direct show. Things were so busy here in L.A. that we ended up popping up to the studio in Toronto, and ended up working on it there for nine months.
What are some of the things you love about this project?
I think whenever we talk about stop-motion outside of the community, people think Christmas and those beloved Rankin/Bass specials, like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. But I also think about Halloween because of The Nightmare Before Christmas. I think we were able to pull of this fun quirky look for this special. Stop-motion really has a has a way with these creepy little corners of Halloween. We used Dragonframe, which of is the standard tool for the industry, shooting DSLR straight into the computer. The puppets range from five inches tall all the way up to nine inches, which is the standard size for stop-motion on TV, and we had about 15 to 20 sets overall.
You also worked on the Doc McStuffins stop-motion shorts that premiered last month, right?
Yes, we did some fun The Doc and Bella Are In!, where we introduced a wonderful new character called Bella Bunnynose. It was such a privilege to be able to create something in stop motion with such an iconic character that has a huge following. It’s sweet and educational and there’s nothing cringy about. I sort of wish I had that kind of thing as a kid growing up. I would have been fascinated by a show that taught me about the medical profession. The new character Bella is voiced by Kate Micucci, who we know from so many shows, but I was in love with Garfunkel and Oates back in the day, but now she has become such a prolific voice actor, too. Here she learns how to step into Doc’s shoes.
Can you tell us how you got into stop-motion animation?
Well, I studied film in in college and my only animation experience was loving animation growing up. When I got my first video camera at the age of 12 I learned pretty quickly that I could hit start and stop on the camera within a three-second interval and create stop-motion. In college, I worked on live-action sets and feature films and television shows in the summer. Then, after school, I moved back to Chicago and knocked on Kelli Bixler’s [founder of the award-winning studio Bix Pix Entertainment] door on Belmont Ave. She took me in and I really grew up at her studio, working on some interstitials for Disney, on a project called Doh Doh Island and on the Christmas Time for the Jews short for SNL. Then we landed a special called Holidaze, and the rest is history.
What is your take on the animation business in 2023?
It’s a crazy time with the strikes, but animation seems to be doing OK, and I feel very lucky because we seem to have been insulated from the strikes. I’m really hopeful that our industry continues to thrive and at the same time, we stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters on the live-action side. Change is very important in our industry. We chant this mantra that ‘animation is film,’ right? I do feel that we’re part of this greater community, and I hope all the issues will get resolved because I want everybody to be able to get back to work.
Mickey and Friends Trick or Treats premiered Sunday across Disney TV channels as part of the broadcaster’s Halloween slate, and is now streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.
