Paul Germain @germainiacproductions - Tumblr Blog

My partner and me: scene from a buddy pic we should get around to producing.

Thanks to Hector and the NickAnimation Podcasts!

RECESS: School’s Out!!!

With my buddy at the El Capitan Theater for the premiere.

“Here's why Disney's 'Recess' was the best '90s cartoon https://t.co/peKxhsWcxY”

Hi Paul, I think recess was such an amazing show; I loved the message behind it and the depth of the characters and I still think about it all the time. I wanted to message you because the show has such a cult following, I was wondering if you would ever consider starting a Kickstarter or GoFund Me, or something of that nature, to fund some kind of reunion episode or movie? These things have been successful recently such as for the Veronica Mars movie and recently TLC funded their new album from a ‘Kickstarter.’ Please consider this as I think it would be popular and a lot of people really love the show and it was monumental in so many people’s childhoods. I remember in an interview recently you talked about how lucky you were to be able to work during the 'renaissance’, and I really don’t know that this time period has ended. With social media, a successful fundraising campaign would allow you to have complete and independent creative control. Every week episodes of recess are uploaded on youtube and get tens of thousands of views before being deleted for copyright and re - uploaded, so many people are still checking for that show and a campaign would very likely be successful! Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, I’m sorry to bother you about this and you probably get similar emails all the time, but I thought it was worth a try!

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Thank you! I am so proud of Recess and how much it means to people.

Problem is, I don’t own the rights to the show. They belong to Disney. So any new episodes or movies have to come through the house of mouse. Fortunately, we do have a lot of fans over there, and they’re noticing all the enthusiasm from young people who grew up with the show

Meanwhile, Joe and I have kicked around the idea of crowdfunding for one of our new original projects, which a lot of people have suggested. I’m curious: what do you think?

Will the new Rugrats be co produced by klasky Csupo and Germainoac Productions or just Klasky csupo?

Germainiac Productions is in!

You’re hands on with the third run of Rugrats. Will the reboot include Dil, Kimi and Kira.etc and continue from here Season 9 left off, or ignore everything that came after your tenure completely and go straight from after Season 3? I’m hoping the latter. The show was nowhere near as good without you in charge and the new characters defeated the purpose of what rugrats was.

Thank you! I share your view, and hope we can bring the show back better than ever. We’re still in early days, so stay tuned...

Was the character of Stu based on anyone any of the writers knew? There are a lot of times where he kind of reminds me of my own dad. One scene that stands out is from "Barbeque Story," when he is feeding the burnt hamburgers to Spike. "Here you go, boy. Burnt to a crisp, just the way you like 'em." The whole tone of that was exactly my dad with his dogs.

Many of the Rugrats characters are based on people I knew, but Stu wasn’t one of them (although some of the writers say he seems like me). I’m glad Stu reminds you of your father - THAT is a true compliment

Hello dear Paul, I hope I'm not bothering you but I may have been wondering something to be fair. In the Recess episode The Rules(that was a great episode btw) the kids find and use an old rulebook of King Morty, which turns out to not be so helpful..But I was wondering what exactly happened with that book at the end? Was there actually a canon ending on where that book went to or what they did with it? Also, a lot of people say that the episode was a reference to the bible, was this true?

I’m really glad you enjoyed that episode! to tell the truth, we pretty much left it open as to what was the ultimate fate of the book of rules. As far as being a reference to the bible - it was a reference to all kinds of rigid prescribed rules that people have to deal with.

So assuming the press releases are accurate, you're going to be involved in the production of new Rugrats episodes? If so, I'm curious as to how the show's parameters will work. Will it still be set in the 90s? From what I gather, you view the babies as forever babies, a la Maggie on The Simpsons. So I guess the possibilities are they either just magically wound up in the current culture/are in a different dimension from the original series, or you'll be doing a period piece.

Those reports are accurate, alright. And I am going to be involved. All your questions are just the kind of things we’re discussing. Stay tuned...

Hi huge fan of your seasons of Rugrats! As no one else has asked about music, what was your involvement with regards to the music Mark Mothersbaugh did? How was he brought on board? I loved the music in your 65 episodes, how it would sound different and compliment the scenes be it in space, the desolate alternate realilty of Chuckies Wonderful Life or just everyday situations but after you left, the newer episodes had a much more basic plinky-plonky generic sound despite still being Mothersbaugh

Gabor was a fan of Devo, and had been following Mothersbaugh’s post-Devo work for years. Mark had made an album using digital “instruments” that sounded like children’s toys, Gabor played it for me, and I loved the sound. So we approached Mark to score the pilot, and he was into it, which is how Mark came to be our composer.

When we went to series, Mark stayed on as our composer, though many of the cues were written and/or performed by Denis Hannigan (a very talented musician who later became my composer on “Recess.”)

There were several reasons the cues fit the shows so well. To begin with, each episode got a unique original score (as opposed to a generic score based on a library of cues recorded ahead of time - which was still the way most TV shows were scored in those days.)

Another reason for the tailored quality of the music was me. I am, and always have been, a very hands-on producer. (Ask anybody.) After a show was locked visually, I made a detailed list of music cues to score, based on the mood I wanted for every scene. Then I reviewed the locked cut of every episode with Mark and Denis to explain my choices. Mark and Denis would then make a rough score for the episode and I would review it with them, either approving cues, or asking that they be changed or replaced, depending on what I felt. By the time we got to the sound mix, the score carefully supported the story we were telling.

I wasn’t there after the initial 65 half hours, so i don’t know exactly why the newer episodes had “a much more basic plinky-plonky generic sound;” but I have a hunch. I believe that, after I left the show, there was no one central show-runner with a vision for the entire series and for each episode, someone who was intimately familiar with each script and had a vision for the final product, and who followed each episode through recording, boarding, animatic and editing. I suspect the production process had become more of a corporate machine by those days....

I noticed in the credits that there was a woman who wrote two stories as a freelance writer while you ran the show - Barbara Slade - who later co-wrote one episode after you had left. She's the only writer to have written episodes for both writing regimes. Was this because she was somebody Arlene and/or Gabor brought in?

I can’t remember how Barbara got the gig with us originally, and I don’t know why G & A were comfortable with her later.

7500 Magazine: L.A. Writer: Mike Sonksen

Dunno why the text is wrong, but this article was written by Brandon Swofford. Thanks Brandon! or should I say BSwoff? It was great speaking with you.

Hello dear Paul I've always been a fan of yours and loved your show Recess school's out. For that matter as an aspiring writer I wanted to know how did you get to pitch to Disney did they call you to pitch? How does it work? And what advices can you give me. Thanks PS: can't the recess be released again.

It was a long time ago, and my partner Joe and I had just come off Rugrats, Hey Arnold, and Beethoven - so w were known quantities in the animation world. We were approached by Disney, who had just taken over ABC, to create an original show for them, and Recess is what we came up with. It was a very simple pitch: the story of a group of 9-year-old kids, and their adventures on the playground at recess (well, it was more detailed and complicated than that, but you get the idea).

It doesn’t always go that easily - in fact, it rarely does. But it was the 90′s - in my opinion, a more fertile time for creativity in animation - and we had a reputation for success in that world.

The problem for aspiring writers is, the networks aren’t simply ideas - they’re buying the people who make them; and for that, they need to know you and feel comfortable with you. I believe my partner and I are good at what we do, but I also believe we were lucky to be at the right place at the right time.

My advice to aspiring writers is to write spec scripts, and get on an existing show. Establish yourself in that world, and get to know executives in the business - that way you become a known quantity, and get them to listen to your ideas.

As for Recess coming back, please see my other posts above...

Do you remember working on an episode of Lloyd in Space called "Picture Perfect"? I'm not sure if the episode is real or not because no copies of the episode have surfaced.

Honestly, I don’t remember the particular episode, but I’ve seen it in series collections. I believe it’s real.

Hey, huge Recess fan here. Do you if it would be strange if people would have really minor characters from the show as their favourites or are all characters still so unique that this doesn't matter?

Heck no, not strange at all! We worked hard on every character. Writers, artists, actors, and all of us wanted to make each character interesting. One reason the stories and characters themselves are interesting is that the process of film making involves contributions from so many people. It takes a big team to put together an animated show. Collaboration is the plan, man - and I feel great about it that people out in the world respond to the world we created.

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