A few months ago, the animation veterans at Stoopid Buddy Stoodios (Robot Chicken, Crossing Swords, Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K.) launched a crowdfunding campaign to introduce the world to their new creation, an action-comedy project about sentient eggs on the loose.
The Von Dingles seeks to answer the burning question we all have asked ourselves through the years: What happens to Easter eggs that aren’t found by kids after an egg hunt? Well, they come alive and move away from the scary outside world to the magical Valley of the Von Dingles, of course! We recently had the chance speak with the creator of this new egg-citing project — creator, director and studio co-owner John Harvatine IV and partner in crime Matthew Senreich — to find out more about The Von Dingles and the upcoming graphic novel featuring their hard-boiled adventures.
Animation Magazine: So, congrats on your recent creation, John. Can you tell us a bit about the origins of the venture, and the graphic novel which is set to launch in the summer of 2024?
John Harvatine IV: Well, honestly ever since I was a kid I’ve kind of been obsessed with eggs and liked them for some weird reason. When I was a kid, we would go on these Easter egg hunts, and I’d sometimes just wonder what would happen to those eggs if we didn’t find them. Would they grow arms and legs and walk off? So, every once in a while, I find a way express my love for eggs in some comic or a little short project. About a year ago, we finally put all the plans together to make this wonderful stop-motion short featuring the eggs, and we all had a great time, but I continued to think about them. So, after the short, we decided to roll more ideas into a graphic novel, which is currently set for a July release.
So, the idea is that this is going to be the whole story of the characters: What we saw in the short, which was called Halloween Massacre, was just a sliver of that world. In the graphic novel, we get to find out the full story of who these characters are we follow the characters on this journey outside of their little Hidden Valley of Von Dingles into our world, and all the ups and downs that happen along the way. It’s kind of taking this little idea and blowing it up which is one reason we chose the graphic novel because what we want to do is is so big you know at this point to put a budget around that for stop motion could be a little bit exciting to say the least so this is a way for us to kind of express our big story and then we can kind of keep wading through the water.
Who are your partners in crime on this venture?
John: We got a big team working with us. So first of all, at Stoopid Buddy, I have the love and support of Matt, Seth [Green] and [Eric] Towner, who are my partners in all of my hopes and dreams and always help kind of bringing things in. Then, we have the talented people at Macro Verse who are helping shape everything with the graphic novel, so it’s kind of like these two big parties that are kind of dancing together. We’re assembling the artists and the team as we try to figure this out which all kind of came together a little bit on the quicker side. As I mentioned, we’ve had this idea for a while, but the timing worked out well for us this past fall.
Matt Senreich: I like to see your excitement. It makes me happy. The short was a testing ground for us and we got a lot of positive reaction from fans. It made us realize that there’s more to be done with this for sure, and that excitement got us into thinking about how we could do this with a budget that we could actually maintain. Because I come from a comic-book background myself, for me it was a very exciting direction to take. that I have yeah it was exciting to go into that direction especially to see.
John: Exactly. It’s really cool that Matt and Seth have such a strong book background. When we started the studio that was always this thing that they would go on and on about. Robot Chicken started from the strip Twisted ToyFare Theatre (In ToyFare magazine) and Wizard magazine. The background of the studio has always had this comic-book feel and vibe, but we really haven’t had a chance to express that. So it’s kind of fun and new to take the history that they’ve had together and make new stories in this format.
Matt: I think we took this Kickstarter and graphic novel route because we’ve never done something like that before, and you have a community forming around the crowdfunding campaign. It’s been really exciting to see people who’ve enjoyed the stop-motion short turn out and say they want to see it in another medium as well.
John: The Kickstarter method is really exciting for us, because it’s the first time we’ve gone out directly to the fans, the people that love and support us.
So, first you made the stop-motion short, then next up is the graphic novel. Are we going to see the eggs in a series of other formats?
John: We’ll stop at the theme park! Well, we definitely want to continue exploring the story through comics, because I feel like it really fits that world I think we’re also assembling the idea of what a TV show could look like, as our background is also in stop motion. It’s something that is very near and dear to me and the studio. So we hope to continue exploring these characters and their world. Plus, there are so many talented artists here down here that would love to work on something like that so we just would love to feed that beast!
How long did it take you all to make the first short?
John: That was a two or three month process. We worked with a tight little schedule. We did the stop-motion animation in about two weeks, and it took a little bit of ramping up and writing it and making the characters. Then, we did the cleaning up and the post part, so overall it was about three months for a two minute short.
Can you give us more of an idea of where the graphic novel is going to take us?
John: It’s really the story of Clark, who is a misfit egg that doesn’t have arms and legs: He’s just different from the rest all the other eggs. He really wants to go out and see the world outside their little hidden valley. So his friends reluctantly let him out and he starts to explore the world, and of course, he’s got some issues and there are some troubles, so his best friends come to his aid. Together, they start exploring. Our main bad guy in this is Pecker Egg, which is a little bit of a wink and a kiss emoji to Matt and Robot Chicken. He wants this Dingleberry Bush all for himself, so we have this epic battle between the two of them, and yes, it does ultimately offer a nice “Hero’s Journey” for our egg hero.
Matt: It has similar vibes as The Smurfs and Fraggle Rock (with Uncle Travelling Matt going out to into the world). The big difference is that those two other shows are more kid-oriented while the Von Dingles are kind of PG-14.
So, you’ve been working on this while juggling all the other regular projects at the studio?
John: Well, we were working on a tightrope, because of the strikes last year, but we’re back now. Over on our main stages, we were working on several Disney project (Mickey and Friends: Trick or Treat, Doc & Bella Are In!, Mickey’s Christmas Tales). We have also done some great commercials and continue to work on our live-action projects.
Matt: Without saying too much, we’re working on a project that also allows us to go back to our roots, so hopefully we can talk more about that soon.
And one final question: What’s your take on the state of animation in 2024?
Matt: We all have our fingers crossed that everyone will still be investing in animation, as many were cutting budgets across the board. But I think that if you have a good project that stands out, they’re still going to invest in it. It’s just really about making sure that what you are pitching is solid and unique. I also do believe that there are other nontraditional ways to make things. So. I’m hopeful, but you just have to be cautious.
John: As you know, the industry always goes in wave. You go up and you go down. That’s entertainment, so I think obviously this past year was a pretty down period, but just like Matt, I am hopeful that in 2024, everyone will start ramping up production because are so many great artists that are looking for work and ready to create. We’re just excited to have everyone get back together and start making great stuff in this new year.
To find out more about the upcoming graphic novel and to support the project, visit The Von Dingles Kickstarter campaign page.
