FAIR CITY – Who knew crime fighting, dictionaries and meat would taste so well together? That’s the recipe for an episode of the animated WordGirl.
The PBS show is a hit with the younger set. Who can’t resist the charms of a WordGirl and Captain Huggyface? They pose as an elementary school student who loves libraries and her pet chimp to look normal to humans. But when trouble comes, they reveal their alien superpowers from the planet Lexicon. They have to protect citizens from evil villains like Kid Potato, The Butcher, Chuck the Evil Sandwich Making Guy and The Masked Meat Marauder. It’s a food court of sinister elements. The show has more real action than an episode of classic Super Friends even with educational elements. Plenty of cool actors lend their voices including Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants), Chris Parnell (fellow NCSA graduate), Patton Oswalt, Fred Stoller, Pamela Adlon (Californication), Tim Conway, Elliot Gould, Brian Posehn, Ed Asner, Kristen Schaal, Amy Sedaris and the late Peter Graves.
WordGirl is now being released as original adventure graphic novels from Boom! Studios. My internet pal Anita Serwacki wrote the story “The Ham Van Makes the Man” in WordGirl: Word Up. Steve Young created the artwork. The story centers around WordGirl’s dad winning a Ham Van that the Butcher covets. If you want a peek at the first few pages, visit: http://www.comicbookresources.com/prev_img.php?pid=11154&pg=1
Serwacki’s no stranger to WordGirl. She’s already written a few episodes of the TV show. She’s also familiar to bookstores. Serwacki along with others including her husband Joe Garden have written The Devious Book for Cats, The Dangerous Book for Dogs and The New Vampire’s Handbook: A Guide for the Recently Turned Creature of the Night. While she contributes to The Onion, she’s most recognized as a survivor of the Yo La Tengo Concert Disaster coverage. She’s been a DJ on Luxuriamusic.com as The Meat Mistress and runs a website exposing meat related crimes.
The Party Favors had a chance to swap some questions with Serwacki about her work with WordGirl. We had to find out the secrets of Lexicon Living.
Party Favors: When you pitch to WordGirl, do you give them the big words to be explained in the episode or are they provided in advance?
Serwacki: The pitch phase is focused on villain-specific story ideas. After a pitch is selected, the writer incorporates two vocabulary words that work organically within the script. However, Scholastic, which owns the WordGirl property, has ultimate approval. I did have to change a word in my first comic script, “Fondue, Fondon’t,” when it was flagged for having been used in the television show. That involved a bit of rewriting. I now have a handy list of words that have been previously defined!
Party Favors: Did you originally write “The Ham Van” for the animated series or was written specifically for the comic book?
Serwacki: “The Ham Van Makes The Man” was only pitched for the comic book, but it wouldn’t have been viable for the show. One of Boom’s goals for the comic is to publish stories that are bigger than what could be produced for the television series. For example, multiple villains, which the show’s voice talent budget may not be able to support, can be incorporated, and elaborate set pieces that would be too difficult and time-consuming to animate (like the Ham Van parade that appears in my story), can be included.
Party Favors: Was this a dream job for you since you were able to combine your passion for meat and words in one juicy story?
Serwacki: Boy, when my husband and I began writing for the TV show and were introduced to the characters, it seemed like someone emptied the contents of our brains into a children’s program. I, of course, have a slightly unhealthy obsession with meat (e.g. my longtime DJ moniker “Meat Mistress” and the Meat Crimes blog – meatcrimes.tumblr.com). My husband has a similar obsession with monkeys and had been a long time moderator for a monkey news email list. It was no coincidence that our two Season One episodes featured The Butcher.
Party Favors: What’s the major difference between writing a TV script and a comic book?
Serwacki: With the show, you just wait for it to air and see what magic the production company coaxed from the page! Comics have rigid parameters and it’s a bit more of a writer’s burden. For WordGirl there are 28 printed pages per story. Within those pages there can be, with few exceptions, no more than 4 panels. The writer specifies the contents of each panel in the script. Every physical action, or even nuance, such as a sideways glance, must to be represented in its own panel. You also need to open up the story for art and allow for at least one, maybe two, one-panel pages, so that limits how much space you have to tell the story. Figuring how three acts are going to unfold within those limitations can sometimes feel like playing a strategy board game.
Party Favors: Does it feel bad that the Butcher is a villain? Do you think he’s merely misunderstood?
Serwacki: One of the many reasons I love The Butcher is that, deep down, he’s a real softy. I co-wrote the TV episode “Meat With A Side Of Cute” where he finds a kitten, names it “Meat Hook,” and tries to make it his sidekick. When The Butcher is hauled off to jail, the only thing he cares about is the kitten’s welfare. Same thing with the Ham Van, actually. The Butcher doesn’t care about getting locked up so long as he knows the vehicle he loves is safe.
I do enjoy him as a villain, though. He throws meat at people! C’mon!
Party Favors: Is the Butcher irritated by Sandwich Guy since the butcher has to cut his meat while Sandwich guy gets pre-cut lunch meats?
Serwacki: Chuck does battle with condiments, so there’s no conflict. Plus, cutting meat is The Butcher’s life-passion, followed closely by crime.
Party Favors: Did the Spiral Ham Van concept come from a childhood wish?
Serwacki: The Wienermobile was the launching point for the idea. As many do, I sat down and considered what other meat products could be fashioned into a motor vehicle. There’s just something about ham that has a higher comedic value than other meat.
Party Favors: What would be cooler to own: The Spiral Ham Van or the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile?
Serwacki: Speaking of…! Since you are talking to someone without a driver’s license, I would choose to be a Ham Van passenger, for sure. If you look closely at the art, the illustrator, Steve Young, made the bumpers out of bones…
Party Favors: Are you hoping this comic book inspires a future George Barris to make a Spiral Ham Van?
Serwacki: Yes, and it should be driven exclusively by Paula Deen.
Party Favors: Is it nice to be able to have at least a hint of physical violence when WordGirl takes out Dr. Two-Brains and Sandwich Guy?
Serwacki: WordGirl actually has a fairly congenial relationship with most of the villains, particularly Two-Brains with whom she was pals before he had a mouse brain fused to his head. She’s not so much interested in retribution ala The Bride from Kill Bill as she is in just stopping the crime-nonsense so she can get back to school work and Pretty Princess.
Party Favors: Are there rules for what WordGirl can do during a battle?
Serwacki: She has her established super hero traits: speed, strength, flight, and extensive vocabulary. But there must be a bit of vulnerability. A hundred pounds of meat needs to incapacitate her for at least a few minutes. In the end, she usually ties up the villain with Huggy’s assistance.
Party Favors: Who would win in a fight between WordGirl and Yo Gabba Gabba‘s Super Martian Robot Girl?
Serwacki: Neither! They’d have a sleepover, drink hot chocolate with little marshmallows, and watch a “Pretty Princess and Magic Pony Power Hour” marathon.
Party Favors: How come if Captain Huggyface can fight crime, he isn’t toilet trained?
Serwacki: I think the diaper is more of a disguise akin to Clark Kent’s spectacles. Who’d ever suspect an incontinent monkey of being a superhero sidekick?
Party Favors: Is WordGirl one word or two since the title has the star between the words?
Serwacki: One! You have written it correctly. Bravo, sir!
Party Favors: What female superheroes inspired you as a kid?
Serwacki: It wasn’t a particularly great show, but I did love “Electra Woman and Dyna Girl.” How can you not appreciate female superheroes who fight evil deeds while writing for a magazine? Since I was the little sister, I always had to play Dyna Girl though.
Party Favors: Do you see little girls dressing up as WordGirl for Halloween?
Serwacki: While I have not witnessed it first hand, I have seen pictures of girls in WordGirl costumes accompanied by their dads dressed as The Butcher. That is adorable.
Party Favors: Have you framed the WordGirl panels to hang around the apartment?
Serwacki: I have not, but I should get on that. The art is owned by Boom!, of course, however I should ask the illustrators to send me some high res images. A Ham Van parade print would be nice in the bathroom.
Party Favors: If they make a live action WordGirl, who would Nic Cage play?
Serwacki: The safe, most obvious choice is Dr. Two-Brains, but I think Chuck The Evil Sandwich Making Guy would be more inspired. What could be more terrifying than Nic Cage hosing people down with mayonnaise while encased in sandwich-head creature make-up?
?Remember to pick up WordGirl: Word Up for the young readers in your life. It’s also great for people who love stories about driving around in a Spiral Ham Van.
FULL FRAME COMING
The next column shall have a complete preview of the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival that’s running in Durham, North Carolina from April 13 – 16th. The big highlights to report will be Samsara from Ron Fricke. He’s the man behind Baraka. Kevin Macdonald’s Marley is about Bob Marley and not the dog that dies. Bones Brigade: An Autobiography is the second installment in Stacy Peralta’s life of a skateboard legend. His Dogtown and Z-Boys explored how he and his pals revolutionized the sport in the mid-70s. Bones Brigade was Tony Hawk’s big break. We’re waiting on news if Stacy will be in attendance so he can show me how to skate the water fountain. That’s going to be highlight video.
If you want to know anything about tickets or hotel reservations visit www.fullframefest.org. It’s nearly 70 movies that don’t star Channing Tatum. How can you resist?
KRAUTROCK OVERDRIVE
I made a big mistake. Instead of landing tickets to see Kraftwerk at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, I’m going to a reunion of the Baader-Meinhof Gang at the Guggenheim. The good news is the show is also an eight day event although it might end early if their demands are met.
DARTH MAUL RETURNS
Turns out they’ve upped the Star Wars online game. Darth Maul is back and he’s ready to party with you. And by party, I mean cut your head off and use it as a beer mug for his Big Boss Beer. Here’s the info about the new part of the game:
A fallen enemy rises! The evil Darth Maul, long thought dead since his defeat by Obi-Wan Kenobi at the Battle of Naboo, has returned to wreak havoc during the Clone Wars! As Maul returns to menace the galaxy in the season four finale of “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” he also appears in Sony Online Entertainment’s (SOE) Star Wars(r): Clone Wars Adventures(tm).
In addition to seeing the vicious Sith Lord in action tonight on the Cartoon Network, Star Wars players can see him appear in-game in three different missions including:
• A new stage in the ‘Dark Side Duel’ mini-game
• A holoprojector that allows players to disguise themselves and turn their character into his image
• An ultimate boss fight in the Ancient Sith Academy on the surface of Umbara
In order to experience the ultimate boss fight with Darth Maul, players must complete the Sinister Holocron collection to gain access into the ruined Academy where Maul has hidden and retreated to recover his strength, alongside his long-lost brother, Savage Opress. Once there, players should approach with caution as they must first battle Ancient Sith Training Droids and mad Dark Acolytes with dangerous Force mind tricks in order to confront Darth Maul himself in his lava-strewn lair. Gamers be warned: Opress will be close at hand throughout the entire mission!
Players who complete these missions will be given in-game rewards and can earn the new player title, “The Unyielding.”
If you want to play, visit www.clonewarsadventures.com.
DVD Shelf
Mystery Science Theater 3000 XXIII packs four more episodes of talking back to the screen excitement to enhance painfully bad films. The episodes are split between Joel and Mike as the hosts. King Dinosaur brings astronauts to a new planet called Nova. Bert I. Gordon made his own version of Avatar. This is cheap and cheesy sci-fi using stock footage and reptiles in costumes to cover up the budget shortfalls. Prepare yourself for the joy of “Joey the Lemur” song. The Castle of Fu Manchu might be the major reason why Christopher Lee can’t get a lifetime achievement Oscar. This is truly horrible and plot jumpy as Lee terrorizes the world and cinema while made up to be Chinese. Crow gets so upset he writes a letter to complain about non-Asian actors getting Asian roles. Code Name: Diamond Head was a failed pilot from when Quinn Martin stepped on Jack Lord’s turf. Roy Thinnes (The Invaders() is teamed with Zulu (Hawaii Five-O‘s Kono) to hunt down Ian McShane (Deadwood). This should have been a sure fire hit, but it looks like Jack Lord placed a taboo tiki curse on the production for stepping on his turf. At the time Ian McShane was best known in America for Lovejoy so Mike and the Bots don’t make any jokes about McShane cussing up a storm. At least Zulu’s near primetime return can be seen here. Last of the Wild Horses is a real Western from Robert L. Lippert. This is the saga of a man who sells wild horses being told to lay off and let the herd build up. The real joy of this episode is a tribute to the “Mirror, Mirror” episode of Star Trek. Evil Mike looks like Evil Spock. The Mad Scientists get to riff in the theater. It’s insane. They’ve packed plenty of bonus features into the boxset. “Code Name: Quinn Martin” gives a rundown on the successful TV producer who gave us Cannon and The Fugitive. “The Incredible Mr. Lippert” is an involving biography about how a theater owner turned movie mogul. “Life After MST3K: Kevin Murphy” lets us know about his career. He’s still making fun of the movies. “Vintage MST3K Promos” are the ads from Comedy Central. “Darkstar: Robots Don’t Need SAG Cards” reunites cast members for a video game. While the four titles in MST3K: XXIII is a few great nights of weirdness. You might feel guilty eating Chinese food while watching Fu Manchu.
Bob: The Complete Series was Bob Newhart’s last big sitcom. After playing a psychologist and an innkeeper, he evolved into a comic book artist. He’s the creator of Mad Dog, a superhero that’s a vet defending animals around the world. Decades before the comic was a major flop. But during the comic book boom of the early ’90s, Mad-Dog gets revived by a publisher that wants Bob to quit his greeting card gig. You might not remember Bob since it only lasted a season and a half. Newhart didn’t count on his show ending up in the graveyard of Friday night. The first season had Bob discovering all the major changes in the comic book world since his last encounter. He deals at home with his wife and adult daughter. The producers completely retooled the show for the second season. He’s back at making greeting cards for a company run by Betty White. Even with the Betty White magic, the show didn’t even get a complete half season. It was canceled with three episodes in the can. All is on this boxset. They even include interviews from Entertainment Tonight with Bob reuniting with his previous co-stars from his early hits for a Poker game. Strange to think that Bob Newhart’s less successful show would be the only one to be complete on DVD.
Transformers Prime: The Complete First Season is the new CGI entry into the series. It airs on the Hub cable channel. This is so much better than the Michael Bay movies.
The Adventures of Tintin: Season Two brings another seven of Herge’s comics. Tintin is a young reporter who roams the globe with a formerly drunk Captain Haddock, the brainy Calculus and his dog Snowy. I’m still not sure why he’s considered a reporter since he rarely writes down notes or argues with an editor during his adventures. This boxset features the animated TV series that brings the artwork to life. “The Shooting Star” puts a giant meteor on a collision course with the Earth. “The Broken Ear” features a museum heist and cover up that leads to South America. “King Ottokar’s Sceptre” is another royal artifact theft. “Tintin in Tibet” pits Snowy against the Yeti. “Tintin and the Picaros” is a Latin American coup led by Tintin. This was the final comicbook completed by Herge. “Land of Black Gold” scares us with exploding gasoline. “Flight 714” flies them to Indonesia for a kidnapping. If you’re eager for more Tintin after the Spielberg film, this will more than make you happy.
Neverland is SyFy’s latest entry into their classy revisionist classics after Tin Man and Alice. These aren’t the cheap Corman CGI mutant monster movies. This time it’s Peter Pan who gets reworked. Peter and the Lost Boys are a pack of Dickens-esque characters pulling scams around London. They work for Jimmy Hook (Rhys Ifans). They group get sucked into an alternate world when they steal a globe. Turns out it’s Neverland. Hook hooks up with a female pirate (Anna Friel) and her crew including Bob Hoskins. Peter and the kids hook up with the Indians and fairies. We learn how Peter got the ability to fly as he fights against the Pirates to save the secrets of Neverland. Rhys Ifans is perfect in his role. I finally understand why this guy deserves to have a name above the credits. He’s got that wicked gleam working on full blast. New World‘s Q’orianka Kilcher returns as Tigerlily.
Kojak: Season Three reminds us that bald isn’t merely beautiful, it’s beacon for justice in the Big Apple. Telly Savalas continues his reign as the greatest police detective on TV with his brother George and Kevin Dobson as his main men. The season opens with “A Question of Answers” with the trio of Eli Wallach, Jerry Orbach and F. Murray Abraham. This gets topped with “My Brother, My Enemy” with Sylvester Stallone (Cobra) and Charles Napier (Squidbillies). The duo would reunite years later for Rambo: First Blood Part II. “Life, Liberation and the Pursuit of Death” brings us more William Katt (Greatest American Hero). Forrest Tucker (F Troop) is willing to break all the rules to close one final case. Football legend Rosey Grier is a private detective with a hitman on his trail in “Bad Dude.” Rosey reads his lines like a hostage carefully reading his kidnapper’s demands. Future bad dude Bill Duke (Predator) gets a small role. This is the middle time of the five season run so all the actors are making things click effectively. Season 4 comes out on May 1.
Hey Arnold: Season 2, Part 1 is 10 more episodes of one of the finest animated urban kid shows since Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. “Save The Tree” has Arnold, Helga and their pals doing their best to save the neighborhood tree from being chopped down. Why? Because Helga’s dad wants to build a new Big Bob’s Beeper store. She going to let her dad do this? “Helga’s Love” drives her to buy a potion to stop caring about the football shaped head boy. “Ransom” puts Arnold and his pal Gerald on the trail of a stolen doll. “Operation: Arnold’s Halloween” plays off of Orson Welle’s “The War of the Worlds” broadcast. The kids’ pumpkin night stunt turns the enter city into a warzone. They think the aliens really are coming this time. Hey Arnold is one of the essential Nickelodeon shows from the ’90s worth rediscovering as an adult.
Roadie had me at Blue Oyster Cult. Unfortunately it’s a sad story about what happens when BOC fires their roadie after two decades. Ron Eldard (Super 8) isn’t sure what to do with his life after spending so much of his time on a tour bus with the guys behind “Don’t Fear the Reaper.” How is he going to get more cowbell in his life? He hooks up with an old friend, Jill Hennessy (Crossing Jordan). She has musical talent and might be able to make it with his odd connections. The one thing that doesn’t connect is Jill’s husband, Bobby Carnnavale (Snakes on a Plane). He’s the jealous type. Ron seems destined to eat pavement again. Eldard does a fine job making sure this film doesn’t get confused with Meatloaf’s Roadie. He gives the appearance of a man in a hard career crisis yet with killer facial hair. He could always roadie for a Blue Oyster Cult cover band, but that’s just faking it.
Melancholia is a bride’s worst nightmare when after a beautiful ceremony, the reception is marred by the end of the world. Turns out the Earth had hidden twin planet that wants to reunite in the worst of ways. But why must it ruin Kirsten Dunst’s wedding to Alexander Skarsgard (True Blood)? They look so perfect together. The festivities are hosted by Kiefer Sutherland and Charlotte Gainsbourg (daughter of the legendary Serge Gainsbourg) at a lavish country estate. This is Lars von Trier’s first truly fulfilling movie since Breaking the Waves. The production design is more than chalk on a black floor. The science fiction joining of a wedding flick works here. It even brings back the always creepy Udo Kier.
The Tribe Season One Part 1 is a captivating mix of The Lord of the Flies and BBC’s Survivors series with a touch of Lost In Space‘s planet of the teenagers. A virus has wiped out all the adults in the world. Kids and teens now rule the world. This would sound great except it turns into complete tribalism with massive power struggles. The kids form tribes for protection as they survive mainly by rooting out the remains of society. The Locos are the more powerful groups in the New Zealand locations. The stars of the show are the Mall Rats since they hide inside an old shopping mall. The boxset contains the first 26 half-hour episodes. It’s a compelling youth soap opera with the Post-Apocalyptic Sweet Valley High feel. The show lasted five years.
Adventures in Lalaloopsy Land: The Search for Pillow is really 75 minutes long movie featuring the doll line. I mention this fact so any parent won’t hit the play button thinking it’s only 40 minutes long like other kiddie “movies.” Don’t start this right before your preschooler’s bedtime. The movie is based off the popular line of dolls that mix Raggedy Ann button eyes with more athletic bodies. Their pal Pillow gets lost so her friends track her down. It’s low impact so not to startled little ones. This shouldn’t be viewed by a grown up after the kids go to bed.
Alien Opponent grabbed my attention with Rowdy Roddy Piper dressed as a priest. The fact that the gets to battle an alien is pure icing. Why this man’s acting career isn’t given marathons on Spike is an injustice. An alien’s space ship lands at a rural junkyard. He gets used as the excuse for a local guy being murdered by his relatives. To sell the story even harder, they turn the tables on the predator by offering a large reward for the head of ET. The locals head on over to try to take down the alien like they would a prized deer or hog. Nobody truly seems packed for intergalactic game. This includes TMZ trainwreck Jeremy London who enhances the thespian skills of Roddy Piper. This movie however belongs to Roddy like They Live and Hell Comes to Frogtown. The film has just enough cheese with the cracker action to be a fine late night snack.
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