Letter from Rob Travalino to DB Fans- 2022
Hey y’all! So we managed to get in touch with Rob recently, and he was extremely kind to write a note to us! We’ll be updating the zine with this section soon-ish, but thought you might enjoy reading it here first! Enjoy :)
(Also hehe, there might be more news to come! Rob’s kindly taken some fan questions from the organising team! We’ll share answers when we get them.)
Dragon Booster remains one of my favorite life moments, and there have been so many since the show. It was a fantastic journey to be sure, and it often seemed the dragon was in control from the beginning, and the show was meant to be.
Our Canadian partner Alliance Atlantis (Ken Faier and Jennifer Bennett) came on board the very first time they saw the presentation. They learned about the show because Kidscreen Editor Jocelyn Christie loved it so much that she did a feature about it and put us on the magazine cover. We sold the show to CBC (Martin Markle) and Disney (Gary Marsh) with just one meeting.
We already knew Ace Fipke from another company called Mainframe, and NerdCorps in Vancouver was actually custom-built just for Dragon Booster. Our original sales video/animation test was made in a rented apartment that we filled with computer workstations, passionate artists, and animators. That apartment crew became the seeds of NerdCorps Entertainment.
Then, even more, amazing things happened:
Everybody found something different to love about the show and message, which was so rewarding. My co-creator Kevin Mowrer and I lived in the world for years. It began with a feature film prequel idea that takes place years before the series and focuses on Tannis Bllayrr. The world took years to plan and create. It was meant to function as a real place, and we’d hoped to make it into a sprawling online game.
I carefully scripted the show and story for you, the fans, and was thinking about what the story and each detail might mean and hopefully inspire. I wanted Dragon Booster to reflect the world and finding our place in it. Kevin Mowrer shared this vision and carefully put story, emotional content, and personality into every but of art and design he did. The NerdCorps crew picked up the vibe and expanded from there, taking the look and feel of the show and world to even new levels. As a result, the show itself is full of cool double and hidden meanings about culture and our world. Like Mortis might suggest, like Dragon City, and each of us, it all depends on how deep we’re willing to look.
Obviously, I’m still a fan myself, and sometimes I look back, and wonder, wow, was I really part of all that? That for me is the best aspect of the creative process, when the community comes together, and when the characters and world take on lives of their own and begin to guide everybody together.
All of you are part of this world now, you have lived in and helped build it. You are part of a long chain of crews, dragon powers, Dragon Priests, and approaches to life that, like the history of Dragon City, have led here. It’s a fantastic honor that you continue to explore and expand the history and world of Dragon Booster.
While much of the show still holds up today, one of the things I’m most happy about is the basic message that we can all be superheroes as long as we realize that true superpowers only work for moments, and that they only come out when we’re genuinely balanced with ourselves and those around us. I’m super honored how the show has kept so many fans for so long.
Thank you and of course, thanks Beau!
dededos
romaincrisis
yousharknotpass
theartofmadeline
titsay
stormborns
kaledo-art
