Moshi Monsters Membership Card TV Spot, 'Discover and Play More' Submissions should come only from the actors themselves, their parent/legal guardian or casting agency. Please include at least one social/website link containing a recent photo of the actor. Submissions without photos may not be accepted. Dec 20, 2013 Since it began in 2007, Moshi Monsters has become one of the largest online communities and games for Children aged 6-14, spreading across 150 territories with over 80 million users. Moshi’s popularity has since been expanded to merchandising which now includes plush toys, trading cards, figurines and the Moshi Monsters Magazine. Emma Tate is a British voice actress, known for many roles including the voice of Perfect Peter in Horrid Henry, Harry in Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs, Raggles and Bluebird in Everything's Rosie, and Mowgli in The Jungle Book. She has also been the voices of Katsuma, Luvli in Moshi Monsters: The Movie and Kipper in The Magic Key.
Since it began in 2007, Moshi Monsters has become one of the largest online communities and games for Children aged 6-14, spreading across 150 territories with over 80 million users. Moshi’s popularity has since been expanded to merchandising which now includes plush toys, trading cards, figurines and the Moshi MonstersMagazine.
With a successful online game and well-established brand name, the six major characters of the Moshi world – Katsuma, Poppet, Luvli, Diavlo, Furi & Zommer – are now starring in their first 2D animated feature film! Mind Candy, the company behind Moshi Monsters, combined forces with Cornwall-based studio Spider Eye to create the latest addition to the franchise, Moshi Monsters The Movie. I spoke to the Director Wip Vernooij (Mind Candy), Art Director Cako Facioli (Mind Candy) and Co-Director Morgan Francis (Spider Eye) about the film’s production.
How did you begin your careers in animation?
Morgan: My parents started an animation company in the 1960s.
Cako: It was in 1999. I started an internship at a Brazilian studio called Terracota. They were a CGI company, most of the work they did was for advertisement. There was also a small 2D team in house, where I found my niche. That was my start.
Wip: As a kid I spent most of my time drawing and cartooning, looking up to the cartoon greats of the past, Chuck Jones, Disney and was inspired by more recent examples like Henson’s Muppets and John K‘s Ren & Stimpy. After studying everything to do with animation at HKU University of the Arts, Utrecht, I had an opportunity to intern at Amsterdam studio Lawson & Whatshisname, and felt there was no end to what there is to learn. So I moved to London to do a postgraduate in 2D character animation at Central St. Martins. London was a perfect place to dive deeper into the animation industry, I started freelancing as a character animator for various animation and interactive media studios working on commercials, short films and web games.
What projects have you worked on previously?
Morgan: I began my life in animation spending my summer holidays sitting under a desk (restrained) in the Ink & Paint department of the Halas & Batchelor Studios while my mother painted cells and my stepfather animated on popular TV shows such as The Addams Family, The Jackson 5 & The Osmonds. My first ‘hands on’ experience was painting rabbits on the movie Watership Down (1978 Goldcrest Films). This rapidly progressed onto painting hammers for the Pink Floyd film The Wall (1982 MGM). After that there was no stopping me, I spent a slightly hazy 10 years working in the animated commercials industry as a freelance background artist, layout artist, assistant animator, animator, checker and cameraman.
In 1998, I founded Spider Eye which quickly established its own reputation in commercials and short films. In 2000, I was technical director on Oscar and BAFTA award-winning Father & Daughter (Michael Dudok De Wit), a bittersweet tale which explored the deep bond between a father and daughter. My short film credits include the B.A.A and Annecy award-winning War Game, a 25min TV Special for Illuminated Films/C4, Dreams & Desires – Family Ties, a multi-award-winning short film by Joanna Quinn for Beryl Productions/S4C, A Small Miracle, a 25 minute TV special for Grasshopper Productions/ITV, and The Canterbury Tales – The Squire’s Tale for S4C.
I directed both series of Spider Eye’s own show, Jungle Junction for Playhouse Disney/Disney Junior. I went on to co-direct Moshi Monsters The Movie for Mind Candy, which has a full theatrical release with Universal this Christmas.
Cako: Over the past 2 years before the movie came up, I have been working as animator and co-director of several Moshi music videos with Wip Vernooij for Mind Candy. Before that I was working for various animation studios in London as a freelancer animator – mostly for advertisement, games and short films.
Wip: I animated on a variety of projects, to list a few: an Adidas ‘Impossible is Nothing’ advert with Passion Pictures. Calciyum ‘Cat’ commercial for Tandem Films. Many interactive websites with Unit9: ‘Adobe Creative Mind’, ‘Toshiba – The Journey of Innovation’. I animated BBC3’s ‘Disability Bitch’ for online behind the scenes videos. And with ‘Made In Me’ we created a ground breaking early learning interactive storybook app called ‘The Land of Me’. I had the pleasure of being part of the first team that created the Moshi Monsters game at Mind Candy where I animated the in-game characters Katsuma and Zommer and a few years down the line directed and composited on a number of Moshi music videos such as Big Bad Bill, Blingo ‘Diggin’ the Lingo’ and Dr Strangeglove.
Can you give us a run-down of your jobs in the studio?
Morgan: Co-Director overseeing all areas of production from setting up the pipeline, approving animation, additional storyboarding, etc. Really just whatever needs doing on a day to day basis.
Cako: My role as art director was to work closely with the director overseeing all the artwork (characters, props, backgrounds) produced for the movie, making sure they were all coming together consistently and to a high standard, also making sure they fitted the Moshi style. Additionally to this, I was in charge of nearly all of the animation that were made in Flash (the majority of the film was animated in CelAction).
Wip: Directing on the movie meant I was involved with every aspect of the production. I worked directly with the producers, writers, voice actors, the story artists and the editor on the animatic. At the same time we were conceptualising with the Mind Candy artists on the background art and updating the original game-character designs to work for animation. Over at Spider-Eye my day to day job was firstly to infuse all spider-eyes with the Moshi Monsters know-how and worked together with the 3D artists, scene planners, character riggers, animators and compositors. At some point of the production Morgan and I split the responsibilities where he’d focus on the character animation and I guided the post production.
What led to Mind Candy’s decision to make a Moshi feature film?
Cako: I think they just thought it was about time to do it. Mind Candy is a big company, Moshi Monsters web game is a great success and kids really love it. There are loads and loads of loveable and interesting characters in the game, just waiting for a chance to jump to the big screen. I see it as a natural process in the Moshi history, where the feature film was the next step.
Wip: Over the years we found that the Moshi Monsters world had slowly expanded beyond the in-game monster room. New characters were introduced all the time, special game missions explored the game with new locations and story lines and we made music videos with a more cinematic look on the Moshi universe. So secretly we started to fantasise about what it would be like to put all these elements together in a movie. Ultimately we felt it would be an amazing opportunity to make the game monsters believable living breathing characters for the many Moshi fans out there to enjoy and give others a first introduction. Luckily, the time was right, so we went for it!
What were your initial thoughts/ideas when seeing the script/storyboards for the first time?
Morgan: “I need to get my head round the Moshi Monster world!”
Cako: The first thing we got to see was a treatment of the movie, which is a pre-stage before the the script. As soon as I read it, I thought: “that’s gonna be fun”.
Wip: “Crikey, this movie is going to be epic!” Although I had a big hand in shaping the storyboard, along with the writers I felt this movie would not be worth making if it wasn’t ambitious and full of Moshi.
Was it easy or difficult make a feature film?
Morgan: It’s always difficult.
Cako: It wasn’t easy at all, since the very beginning we knew it wouldn’t be. However I have never heard or met anyone who was involved in making a feature film who said it was easy. It’s hard work which really pays off when you see the final results. It’s such a rewarding felling that we’ve managed to make it in the nicest possible way it could have been done.
Wip: A lot of us, including myself, were new to a production of this size. So there was a lot of learning on the job. In a way it probably helped us stay on our toes and we tackled every stage of the production as they came. What was also tough, was figuring out how we could give all the six plus characters enough screen time to make sure no Moshi fan felt left out. Those six, along with over a hundred other characters featured in the film.
3D has become increasingly popular in the animation industry and with Disney closing its doors on their 2D department, would you like to see a rise in 2D feature films?
Morgan: Yep, but it’s not about technique it’s always about story.
Cako: Definitely yes. I like to believe it will rise up again, maybe not as glorious as it was was on the old days. The cinema industry is always reinventing itself, sometimes it works in cycles. We saw the same happening to stop frame animation – that’s why I don’t see why it wouldn’t return.
Wip: Personally I have no preference over any D to be honest. The fact that we ended up making a mostly 2D movie was to do with the style of the designs being more true to the game and how people know the characters.There are pros and cons to both 2D and 3D, but it all comes down to what story you’d like to tell and how. The charm of drawn animation or 2D is always an attraction, I’m not convinced 2D features will be a thing of the past.
What was the most challenging part of the production?
Morgan: The schedule…oh and the 150+ cast!
Moshi Monsters Adopt A Monster
Cako: For me it certainly was to get it done on time, given that we had set up a quite ambitious deadline. As Morgan said once “if we had stopped to think about it for a sec we wouldn’t have made it” and I think he was right.
Wip: Hands-down, the most challenging part of the production was the time we had to do it in. When the movie comes out we literally had a little over a year to make it.
Do you hope with the release of Moshi Monsters it will inspire a new generation of children and even adults to take up animation as a hobby or future career?
Morgan: Difficult one this, as much as I’d like to inspire anyone into animation I’m not sure we could absorb the additional numbers, there’s barely enough work to go round as it is.
Cako: Well that’s how the magic happens. It clicked to me as a kid watching cartoons on TV, that’s why I’m here doing what I do now and almost every animator I know the story is the same. I do believe it will happen again to a few kids (or even grown ups) after watching this movie, that’s how it works.
Wip: That would be nice, given that the movie was completely produced in the UK. But there are many, many great films out there that would do the same. It’s not easy to find a job in animation these days, it’s hard work, takes a lot of patience and it’s getting tougher to stand out amongst the crowd.
Do you have a favourite Moshi Monster or Moshling?
Morgan: Zommer is my in game monster although apparently I don’t feed him enough.
Cako: Furi. He is a nice guy, I like him.
Wip: My favourite Moshling has always been ‘Mini Ben’, a mini version of his big brother. I suppose for me he symbolises my move to the UK and I love his version of the bell tower tune.
What do you think is the future for Katsuma and Co? (Is there a sequel in the works maybe?)
Cako: Hopefully there will be loads more adventures to come. But I really don’t know yet if there will be a sequel, I think is too early to say anything.
Wip: Who knows? I’m sure there are many more Moshi Monsters stories to tell…
Moshi Monsters the Movie will be released on the 20th of December.
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Posted on November 27, 2012 in Moshlings. - Comments [89]
In a move that took a lot of people by surprise, the Daily Growl! announced the arrival of a new Moshling – Baby Rox and the departure of fan favourite Lady GooGoo.
If you’ve already completed the first Super-Moshi mission you’ll know that you get Lady GooGoo. However, if you check your Moshling Zoo you’ll see that Lady GooGoo has been replaced by Baby Rox. (She’s also taken Lady GooGoo’s number too – #102).
History re-written
If you re-play the first Super-Moshi mission now, you’ll find that it’s not Lady GooGoo who hatches from the Moshling Egg but Baby Rox – complete with all new music!
It get’s worse than that though, becuase Mission 5, previously known as “Pop goes the GooGoo” is now called “Pop goes the Boo Boo!” and it’s not Lady GooGoo who’s lost her voice it’s Baby Rox!
It’s not just the Super-Moshi missions that have been changed. Down in the Underground Disco, you’ll find that the Lady GooGoo sone “Peppy-razzi” is now by Baby Rox!
It seems that Lady GooGoo has been totally erased from Monstro City!
Why was Lady GooGoo Replaced?
Cast your mind back to October 2011.. At the time Mind Candy, the people behind Moshi Monsters were preparing to lauch their Music Rox album.
It was widely expected that the first single from this album would be the Moshi Dance by Lady GooGoo.
(You can see see the video they put together for this release on YouTube below)
Moshi Monsters Voice Actors List
However, this didn’t go down well with the real-life popstar Lady GaGa who complained that people would be confused between the Lady GooGoo song and her music.
Lady GaGa went to court and as a result, the court stopped Mind Candy from making any music by the character of Lady GooGoo.
In the words of the court ruling Mind Candy are “prohibited from “promoting, advertising, selling, distributing, or otherwise making available to the public The Moshi Dance or any musical work or video which purports to be performed by a character by the name of Lady Goo Goo, or which otherwise uses the name Lady Goo Goo or any variant thereon.”
The only good news for Mind Candy was that the character of Lady GooGoo was still allowed to appear in the game (just as long as there wasn’t any of the music!)
So, this effectively left Lady GooGoo as a pop-star who could no longer make music or sing.
So you can see why Lady Goo Goo abandoned her singing career and why Mind Candy, in the end, had little choice than to replace her with Baby Rox.
Now we just need to see how long it take before a Baby Rox single/music video is released!