July
23 Hellboy and back

"Hellboy: Sword of Storms" made its bow to Comic-Con auds with a seven-minute clip that included finished reels, raw animatic scenes and rough cuts. On hand to talk about Big Red and his right hand of doom was "Hellboy" feature film helmer and toon producer Guillermo Del Toro, writer/director/producer Tad Stones, "Hellboy" creator Mike Mignola, screenplay writer Matt Wayne and character designer Sean "Cheeks" Galloway.

"Guillermo has pushed for this since the 'Hellboy' movie. He pushed and pushed and pushed and kept the idea alive," said Stones.

"I knew Mike wanted to do a Hellboy animated series since way back when. He pitched it to Disney. Man, I would have liked to have been in that room," said Mignola.

"Lucky for us, there are Hellboy fans in high levels fields of animation," continued Mignola.

The style of the cartoon, while sleek and modern, doesn't exactly capture the classic pamcake-eater Mignola originally created.

"Guillermo always assumed that the cartoon would be in the style of Mike's artwork. I always assumed it would be in the style of Mike's artwork," said Stones. "It turned out that part of the production deal is that each new incarnation of 'Hellboy' would have a new look. It makes sense from a licensing point of view, I guess."

"Also, Mike's style is extremely well crafted on the page, but it needs to be more flexible for the animation," explained Del Toro.

Because of the need for a new look, Mignola began to explore young animators on the Web. In his eyes, Sean "Cheeks" Galloway pushed the characters the most in terms of style while maintaining the original concept set by Mignola.

"I thought his email was a spam. I was going to delete it. But then I opened it and realized it was a legitimate offer," Galloway admits. "After that, I would sit in Border's for hours and study Mike's style."

"That was because he was too cheap to buy the book," quips Mignola.

The creative team all understand that while the look of "Hellboy" might change, it is essential that the character of remains the true to form.

"He is a blue collar every day guy. That's why people like him," says Stones.

"Keeping the spirit of the character is important. He is like a plumber. You tell him there is a leak and he says 'Where is the leak?' He's just not excited about it," comments Del Toro.

The character is key to the Hellboy fanbase. One issue with the creators is that because Hellboy has humor, studio execs were constantly trying to change him to make him more marketable.

"It's good we had Ron (Perlman), because he could say, 'Hellboy' wouldn't say that," said Mignola. "But I was the only one who could tell Ron, 'Yes, he would.'"

And as for "Hellboy 2"?

"If I had $80.5 million, I would put $80.1 million into this fucking movie. I would love to make the second one happen," exclaimed Del Toro. "But Revolution collapsed and they now only produce a few films. It's been hard to find Hellboy a new home."

"I hope it gets made," continues the helmer. "Everyday I get reports from the trenches."

Coming soon: Part two -- Interview with Tad Stones