Michael Cavna interviewed Berkeley Breathed at last week’s Comic-Con regarding his animated series based on Pete & Pickle’s children’s book.
MC: What’s your own role in the TV project? Are you the guiding “hand”? And are you providing your own “static” drawings for the Technicolor team to animate?
BB: It’ll be “Created by” me. Like everything, it’s all a hugely joint creative effort. But it will all start with my drawings, my characters, my show “bible” and my ideas. I will get the baby up and walking and then hope it doesn’t cross the freeway.
Not to criticize Breathed’s creative talents, but I can’t help but snarkily wonder if the show won’t play out something like this: After about 6 weeks into the series, Opus makes a cameo. Then Opus joins the regular “cast.” Then along comes Steve Dallas. Binkley shows up. Next Bill the Cat. Before you know it, the old Bloom County gang are the show’s stars. The show is then moved to either the Fox Sunday night animation lineup or to Adult Swim. There Breathed demands that all three segments of each episode only be shown together in complete form, and only in HD, because the show will not be formatted for Standard Definition sets.
Jeff,
I hope so. I’m a living, breathing Breathed nut (a ‘Breathee’? a ‘Breather’?) and really dig his work, but as good as it is, ‘Bloom County’ at it’s peak was the best thing he ever did.
As good as his other stuff is, Breathed ain’t famous if BC hadn’t happened. The other stuff is kind of coattailish, so if it the show does veer off into familiar territory, so be it. It could be very promising.
Seeing Bill the Cat in high def 3D free basing Tender Vittles and bazooka barfing is must-see TV!
After the initial development phase of the series and perhaps the first season, I doubt Breathed will have much creative input in the series if any at all. His name will probably be included in the title of the series to attract ratings, “Berkeley Breathed’s Pete & Pickles.” So I doubt any of his other creations will creep into the show.
However, Opus on the small screen might not be a bad idea since his Opus feature film project was nixed a while back. Maybe the title of the show could be, A Wish for An Opus Vehicle That Works.