HUGE thank you gift for Dan Clark since he helped me find the TS pilot among other things. This features every Team Smithereen character, including specialty puppets from the OG show and cut characters from the pilot!
I numbered all of them in the second image so I could more clearly tell you who’s who! It’s kind of a long list, so I’ll put it under the cut. This will be a numbered list of the characters and their names, as well as some info about them! To clarify things: the show bible was intended to be for a new incarnation of the show that was never approved, not for the 2009-2011 show that was actually aired. Likewise, the pilot is highly derived from the show bible, but is from 2013 so it’s not exactly the same.
1. Whoop. One of the main characters of course! He was designed first and filmed alone in the show’s 2008 pitch video. The whole idea for TS started with him! Whoop was originally described as “a non-verbal dude” in the show bible, and was intended to only speak in gibberish or 1-syllable words. Over the dev process of the pilot, they decided he should talk more and more, so in the final version of the pilot he speaks in complete sentences like Thrill Kat does.
2. Thrill Kat. Another main character, often regarded as the leader of the team. He was the second character to be designed, and is the main character of the pilot. In the show bible, Thrill Kat was supposed to be the only one of the 3 protagonists who could talk. According to Dan Clark, living for stunts is a traditional/generational thing for Thrill Kat! It’s unclear how exactly he lost his left eye, but it was most likely a stunt gone wrong.
3. Brave Little Francis. The third main character, completing the core trio (sorry Stunt Pig)! He was the third to be designed. He was initially designed as a hyper-stylized human character, but he takes on more amphibious traits in the show bible and pilot, being described as “moist” and “sticky” and being able to climb up walls and catch flies with his tongue. Also according to the show bible, he used to be known as “Handsome Little Francis” until he got into a horrible accident during one of his stunts.
4. Stunt Pig. The fourth main character in the show, though he is absent from the pilot and the show bible. According to Dave Pressler, the show was originally pitched without Stunt Pig, and he was added later as a sort of mascot character. For the pilot, Disney asked that he be removed from the core cast. I am not sure why. Dan Clark said Disney wanted the show and characters to be more “normal”, but they “ended up wrecking the things that made it fun”. So... Stunt Pig isn’t in the pilot’s universe because of studio meddling essentially. There are no references to him in the pilot, and they even took him out of the logo!
5. Jessy. Stunt Pig’s butterfly friend from the first episode/pilot, Loop de Loop stunt. None of the specialty puppets from the show have proper names, but Dan Clark suggested I refer to her as Jessy, so I’ll do that!
6. Spindle. The spider from Frozen Whoop Stunt. @foggymud came up with his name! He’s depicted much larger here than in the show, but smaller than the IRL puppet, funnily enough. Spindle is a very uniquely built puppet, his head and body are static (and his eyes are real) while his legs are controlled by the puppeteer’s fingers. Of course, he has 8 legs and the puppeteer only has 5 fingers, so the remaining legs are swept around by the others when he walks.
7. Kaesar. The alien from Space Pig Jump Stunt. I came up with his name! Much like Spindle, his eyes are real and do not move. His arms and legs are also static, though I don’t think his legs can even be seen in the actual episode.
8. Junior. Francis’ hand puppet and mascot character from Game Show Stunt 1 and 2. I came up with his name as well. Isn’t it meta how they made a puppet for one of the puppets?
9. Boris. The yeti from Icarus Wings Stunt. His name was also suggested by Dan Clark! He is perhaps the second most complex specialty puppet... next to the mutant from Thrill Kat’s Bad Science of course. I didn’t draw the mutant here since it can’t exist at the same time the main characters do, lol.
10. Beauregard. The main antagonist of the pilot, and planned recurring character (if the show was approved, that is). Speaks in a bit of a Boston accent, and spends a lot of time on his phone. It’s explained in the show bible that he is also a bit of a stuntman himself, but he fakes all his stunts. His original design had orange skin, and a red helmet with horns instead of his crown visor.
11. Marco Rat. Making a brief cameo in the pilot, Marco was intended to be part of the proposed show’s supporting cast. He is the self-appointed mayor of the junkyard (not Wassup Heights as a whole, just the junkyard), and he provides support and tries to help Team Smithereen. His original design had darker fur, pink hands, and purple eyes. On the actual puppet, Marco’s body is completely solid, so his entire face is animated rather than just his eyes. He has lots of small, sharp teeth.
12. Splat McKat. Thrill Kat’s grandfather, and a main character in the pilot. He is not featured in the show bible, but according to Dan Clark, he would’ve returned for the proposed show. In the pilot, his jar leaks and he starts to dry out because he’s running out of head water, and that’s the conflict or the stakes of the pilot I guess? The water tower is broken so they can’t refill the jar, but Beauregard won’t pay for repairs unless the team does him a favor--they have to paint his entire mansion in 1 hour. Splat almost dries out, but fortunately the water tower is back to working condition in the end (since Beauregard’s chariot was flung into the hole, and it was the perfect shape to block it apparently!) so the jar is fixed and refilled. In an earlier draft of the pilot, Splat dries out completely and becomes a skull... but he still survives in the end.
13. Killer Cats. Beauregard’s henchmen from the pilot. They aren’t mentioned in the show bible at all, so they were likely also later additions. Beauregard seems particularly fond of the cats, with statues and paintings of them all over his mansion.
14. Skully. Once again, Foggymud came up with his name, this character goes unnamed in the early pilot script and is not directly mentioned anywhere else. Skully is an interesting case, as he was made for the pilot but the sequence featuring him was completely cut, even though the puppet for him had already been made. So the only evidence of Skully’s existence, other than the early script, is this video uploaded by Brandon Minton on vimeo. The only issue is, since it’s his physical puppet, that version of Skully is missing his eyes and only has tracking dots. So... I did have to ask Dan Clark if he remembered how the character’s eyes looked & tried to restore him as best I could.
15. Polly Pop. The leader of a rival team called Team Shampoo, all 3 team members are only mentioned in the show bible. Team Shampoo as a whole are described as perfect, clean, and they never fail when they do their stunts. So... polar opposites to Team Smithereen. Polly is super friendly and optimistic, though she’s also pretty oblivious. She is prone to making bad jokes only she laughs at, and likes to speak in rhyme when she thinks it’d be funny. She’s good friends with Whoop, and Thrill Kat has a crush on her (she has no idea he does, and just thinks he’s awkward and clumsy normally)
16. June Bug Jenny. Another member of Team Shampoo, Jenny is quite a bit less friendly towards Team Smithereen than Polly, describing them as “unclean”. She speaks in a tiny voice, but she’s super strong. She likes to be seen as tough and mean. She has a crush on Brave Little Francis, but she’s avoidant of him for that reason.
17. Super Goat Bob. The third member of Team Shampoo. He is described as sassy, rude, and egotistical. Much like Jenny, he doesn’t really get along with Team Smithereen either-- he and Whoop are especially unfriendly towards each other, but Bob and Thrill Kat can at least bond over liking the same type of cookie (yes, really).
18. Needy Paul. He lives inside Team Smithereen’s submarine hideout, and was actually the previous owner of the sub before they set up camp there... so they can’t kick him out. As his name would suggest, he’s super insecure and needy, clinging to Thrill Kat in particular. He likes helping Thrill Kat by answering calls for him, and making him tea. He is a spider, but quite a bit more stylized than Spindle is.
19. Weenie. He is BLF’s friend, the two like to study bugs together. He is a worrywart, and a lot less eager to go on adventures or do stunts with the others... though they usually bring him along anyways. I drew him based on concept art in the show bible, but the text actually describes him differently, with 3 curly head hairs, thick glasses, and a sweater. Also, he’s described as being “worm shaped”... so that implies he’s not actually a worm, but just looks like one.
Thrill Kat sketches! I think I’ve finally figured out what I want for his timeskip design. Also, after showing my last sketches of him to a certain concept artist, I have decided to go with the X mark since he said it fit best. Though, it doesn’t require much inspection to notice the erased remnants of the tracking dots I was originally going to draw him with, lol.
Also it looks like I forgot to post Kaesar on here. whoops. basically he’s the alien from the space jump episode, he’s rlly just an incidental but I want him to have a larger role in my story. And so, he will. Thrill Kat is visiting his weird icy lair (in the middle of California)(Kat isn’t really sure how it works either). Kaesar told him he could help him learn about puppet first aid, which Thrill Kat is sure he needs to know as an aspiring pharmacist. Turns out he’ll have to learn this lesson through direct experience, though...
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