The Squirrel King: Title Sequence!!

Dear Reader,

We've been very busy here at Squirrel King headquarters working out production of acorns. In the meantime though, the squirrels themselves were building a title card. Here's what we caught of the action :)


Hope you enjoy this as much as we did making it!

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

The Carrot Monster

Dear Reader,

Life has a habit of offering up many magnificent tangents and new ideas, the trick - it seems to me - is to be open to them and see how they can connect. The other day Alien Two gave me this gem:


I simply love the hairy feet and in fact the whole wonderful playfulness of the carrot monster. I'm not sure exactly how or what her role will be, but you can rest assured she will make an appearance in the World of Dream when the dust settles around the kits and we get back to our story :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Inspiration for The World of Dreams

Dear Reader,

In life it's often useful to percolate something important in the background. Work on The Squirrel King is quite like life :) While we've been very focused on our squirrel kits, I wanted to let you know we have not forgotten our work on the series that inspired them. Indeed here's a clip we came across recently that has inspired our vision for the World of Dreams!


I simply love the feeling of scope this clip has. Of course we'll be quite a bit more colorful! ... except maybe when the black void that's blotting out humanity's dreams starts enveloping the World of Dreams.

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

PS To read about all the latest on the kits, check out yesterday's Kickstarter update :)

Inspiration: Rotting Fruit

Dear Reader,

I came across this image the other day and suddenly I'm inspired to try incorporating some rotting fruit figures into the world of dreams!

Kind of reminds me of Peter Greenaway's film ZOO ... except family friendly :) Still thinking a lot about the series!

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Thanks!

Dear Reader,

A virtual posy of flowers for everyone!

Thank you so much for the amazing support you've shown us during our Kickstarter campaign over the last couple of weeks! It has been truly inspiring to see how many people have come aboard and helped to spread the word about this wonderful project :)

And a special thanks to Scott Thill for his wonderfully fantastic article about The Squirrel King, in case you haven't seen it already, check it out on the Huffington Post!

As an extra thank you from the team here, rest assured that we're going to include the game with the instructions! And we're still looking into local manufacturing to see if we can find a way to swing it anyway :) So now ... now we're getting right into putting these kits together ... Christmas is coming really soon :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Inspiration: Non Newtonian Fluid

Dear Reader,

Lately we've been thinking a lot about the World of Dreams (that place we all go when we sleep). A large part of The Squirrel King story that's yet to be written takes place there, specifically, the second half of the first season. A lot of that is now well fleshed out, but there are plentiful places for interesting details.

Anyway, the other day Justus came across this wonderful piece of visual physics. We're not sure how it will fit in, but as you can see it's calling out to be put in a movie like The Squirrel King :)


Now that's a naturally beautiful monster of some sort!

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

New Improved Title Card

Dear Reader,

As promised, following the insightful creative input of our good friend Kylie Matulick and the hard work of the mini-construction squirrel we finally arrived at our new, improved title card!

Stickers to be made soon :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Cat Shelter Insert

Dear Reader,

Quietly in the background we've started editing the first five minute episode of The Squirrel King ...

And so the time has come to finally shoot the last shot of that episode. The reverse of the shot I'm lining up in this production still from last year. ... This little squirrel's view inside the cat shelter!

Wish us luck today :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Title Sequence - Part II

Dear Reader,

Continuing work on our title sequence, it has been important to whip together a construction crew of mini-squirrels.

With this in mind we've started making the requisite tools our mini-squirrels are going to need for the job! By all means shout out anything you can think of; so far we have a jackhammer, a suspended platform, a chainsaw, hammers, spanners and megaphones to name just a few of the elements. Oh, and a sling shot :)

More on this super awesome piece of our puzzle soon!

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Behind the Scenes Cucumber Post

Dear Reader,

As promised some behind the scenes footage of yours truly prepping Tony Doupe, our Catburglar, for the all important cucumber spa day.


What at first seems like a frivilous luxury the Catburglar indulges in, turns out later to have significance ...

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

The Power of Cucumbers

Dear Reader,

You've seen Tony Doupe, our amazing Catburglar, covered in cucumbers.

Here's a shot of the Aliens enjoying the same fruit :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

PS. Speaking of Tony, check out the wonderful little indie film Safety Not Guaranteed that he has a small role in.

PPS. On the story side of The Squirrel King, cucumbers also turn out to be significant in the context of the world of dreams :)

PPPS. Monday, I'll upload a short behind the scenes video from the Catburglar cucumber shoot.

Who is The Squirrel King? ... part II

Dear Reader,

Time for another clue about the elusive title character of our series. Take a closer look at Vlad's portrait, there's a clue there.

What exactly it means ... and where we're going ... well all in good time :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Elusive Catburglars

Dear Reader,

The Catburglar and his sidekick, Bob, are a wonderful story thread that runs through The Squirrel King. They appear with fish pedicurists, a sleek sportscar and here mysteriously peering out of the forest in this old production still I just came across. I love their airs :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Who is The Squirrel King? ... Part I

Dear Reader,

People often ask: "who is the Squirrel King?"

Unfortunately, given that this is a chief plot point not revealed until the first season's finale, I'm not at liberty to to divulge the full answer.

What I can say however, is that despite the brave heroic quests of the mini stunt squirrels, they are not him.

Beyond that we shall reveal more hints in time :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Two Facts about Vlad

Dear Reader,

His mysterious portrait has been with us for over a year now, and as some of you have already noted it possesses significant qualities that offer insights into his heritage.

For the rest of you, here are two observations:

1) Vlad shares the likeness of Ed.
2) He likes to roast squirrels on a spit.

What does it mean? Time will tell.

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

PS. And no, in spite of the picture here, we didn't buy him from the trunk of some fine lass' car.

The Catburglars

Dear Reader,

The Cat burglars in The Squirrel King are not your average such characters. In fact only one is referred to as the Catburglar, the shorter, less coordinated one is simply called Bob.

Their dynamic is nicely underscored by Bob's patently wishful hope of one day inheriting the business.

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims

Who is This all About?

Dear Reader,

With principal photography winding down on the series, it seems like an appropriate time to start talking a little more about the characters and the world we are bringing to life.

At the heart of the series is Robin, a woman in search of meaning. And at her side is Justus, her well-meaning boyfriend. This serendipitous production still kind of captures both characters nicely: Robin, invariably trying to piece something together, and Justus, happily helping her out, a grin from ear to ear.

Over the next few months we look forward to sharing more insights about the series :)

Chin chin
Ruthless Whims