If you have been keeping up with the movie buzz circles lately, you've probably heard mention of Sam Raimi picking up the rights to this Comic Book called "Monster Zoo", well coincidentally, the creator of said Comic Book is our old friend Doug TenNapel. Well I was lucky enough to catch up with Doug and talk about the sale, and ask him some questions about the up-coming project.

 

So here we go..

 

It’s not the size of the name, silly. It’s the technique. Raimi isn’t just a big name in Hollywood, Paris Hilton is a big name in Hollywood so big names can be inflated with vapor. Raimi has had a lot of attention with the Spiderman series but we knew him when. I’ll never forget what happened that night in the theater when I saw “A Simple Plan”, I said to myself, “He’s legit.”

So it gives me a sense of artistic and commercial security to see that I’m in such good hands. While every movie is a team effort, and therefore a crapshoot, it’s always good to have a wise betting man throwing the dice. Raimi knows what he’s doing. He’s smart enough to pick up my story after all. It doesn’t feel any different to me. Each of the announcements were accompanied by internet buzz and had generous coverage in the trades and in the industry. It’s really hard to take hype seriously anyways. I’m impressed by execution, skill and actual movement. Press buzz and excitement in Hollywood is like a sugar buzz after eating a candy bar.
I don’t know where we’re at with Tommysaurus Rex, though that’s the easiest adaptation I can think of. Tom Shadyac’s deal is up at Universal so he’s not longer on the lot. I read two scripts by Gustin Nash (Charlie Bartlett) and he’s an impressive writer but they were the wrong direction for the story. Again, I’m just a guy. We all want to tell this story. We’ll see. I still have high hopes for Shadyac and know he can pull this off. He’s a great talent.

Creature Tech was in a really bad place a couple of years ago then the Heders got involved and now we’re kicking ass. The script is ordered and being written even as we speak. I read the outline and it was amazing. There was a time when the production was getting pretty far away from the graphic novel—that’s not necessarily a bad thing but it happened to be bad in this case. We’re back on track and it’s looking good! Keep your fingers crossed, and keep your Symbiote’s claws crossed. I disagree with your characterization, Your Honor. It really would be accurate to compare me to “the bottom”. I don’t get special favors for anything, it’s still the story that gets me in the room. I consider Katzenberg someone I worked for from 1995-1998 and I had one pitch with him in that time and it lasted 20 minutes, just like all of his other pitch meetings. I brought his company probably five other stories in ten years and they didn’t make it up to Jeffrey’s office so I don’t see where the favors start kicking in. Last year, one of my stories made it up to him and I got to pitch after TEN YEARS of not seeing the man. The pitch lasted...20 minutes.

Now I have to ask every kid reading this if they think I’ll pitch to Katzenberg before they will. Do you know what’s going to decide that? It will be the story we choose to tell, not my position in this town. My position will buy me no meeting with Katzenberg for the rest of my life unless I have a story under my arm that earns my way up to him. It’s the same for you. If you write a kick ass story they will come. They want to meet with you.

There is this unspoken implication by up-and-coming story tellers that you’re not getting work because you don’t know anybody. To the youth, it’s always someone else’s fault. I have some bad news...it’s your fault. I have some good news too, you’re also the solution to getting that meeting with Katzenberg.
Tell good stories. Quit blaming other people, the industry, your religion-race-gender for your lack of success. Work harder on your craft than the next guy. Have fun! Do it with gusto! And if you’re willing to quit then do yourself a favor and quit now while you’re young. Every project ever purchased thinks it’s on the fast track. A pick up is like a wedding, nobody gets married thinking they’ll divorce. Only twenty percent of all story pick-ups are ever made. I always hope for a fast turn-around and perhaps Raimi can be the 800 pound gorilla that gets the script picked up quickly. But even the 800 pound gorilla can’t make that script be good. It has to be worthy to shoot. That’s the big stuff. These three teens are at the zoo when an ancient idol triggers a mass-mutation of animals. It’s pretty much survival mode after that point. The pagan idol mutates the animals in a way that is reflective of the monster spirit but the animals still retain a portion of their old selves which makes them kind of fun to watch!

There’s other elements to the story that give the hero a point of view and a bigger statement about the hope of youth but I’ll let you check that out in the graphic novel. We haven’t discussed anything yet but I assume that the nature of the business would be to make a better fit for the big screen. Comics are not movies. I assume there would be significant changes in all categories to make this the proper kind of movie, even to make a faithful adaptation. Well, not to sell out my comic creating comrades but they really have no need to stay close to the book. The book is like a proof or pre-visualization that the story will work, that it has some staying power in the human mind. It’s the basic structure and that’s about it. I never understood the shot-for-shot matching of some comic book movies just to turn on a few thousand fans. I think if the comic panel works and is iconic then it’s great material to use! But if a director has a different vision then I think the director has to go with his gut.

It’s like when I go to the movies and see something that was adapted from a novel I didn’t read or a TV show I didn’t watch. I don’t care how faithful they are to the original material, that’s not their job. I want to be entertained by professional story-tellers when I pay them my money and staying close to source material for the wrong reasons ranks low on my list of priorities. Staying faithful to the direction of a book because it would work well in a film is a great idea, though.

My books have a cinematic quality as a happy accident. I was raised on movies, not comics. When I tell a story I see a movie in my head then I illustrate what I see. The compositions I choose are pretty much the two shots and medium shots we see on TV and in movies. That’s automatic and I don’t have to think a lot about camera placement for the same reasons my readers probably don’t have to think about it when they read my work. An Exec Producer title can mean anything. In my case it’s going to mean that I’m going to be Mr. Raimi’s driver. Actually, it just means that I’m one of the core people who got the project going. I get to wear a tie when I visit the set and that’s about all I’m entitled to. I expect to be heard at the table, but I’m just another Exec Producer’s voice among a panel of Exec Producers who will have other opinions of what Monster Zoo the Movie should be.

I’ve directed TV and film before and I can tell you what I thought of the creative notes given to me by Exec Producers. They are to be submitted in a portable furnace for starters. My vision is for it to look like a fricken’ Sam Raimi film! Lots of effects, hopefully a little more practical work involved than his more recent work and a lot of youthful slapstick mixed with intense monster moments. I can’t really imagine the movie being too much different than that. It’s the comic book. I’m open to Raimi’s ideas if he intends to make it into a romantic opera, but I hope we stick to the source material nonetheless. It’s really up to Raimi and Paramount, I’m just a servant. A brilliant servant. A genius of a directorial talent relegated to the sidelines of even the craft services industry but for now, being a servant will do just fine. I rarely see my stuff as animated and I hope they don’t make that mistake. The whole fun of monster movies is that we’re convinced they are actually showing up in our real world. All of my feature deals are for live action movies so far. I’d be open to animation, but it wouldn’t be my first pick for Monster Zoo. Nope. But there’s a security guard working in the zoo who has a really long chin...a chin that some say could kill. I would never force Mr. Raimi’s hand on this casting, especially when he might have to cast a more famous star than Mr. Campbell to get the movie made...someone more famous like Carrot Top, Dean Jones or Fred Savage. I have no secrets. I have no idea who would crew the film or act in the roles. The stars of the story are the monsters themselves and any number of effects houses have in house designers that could make these monsters sing. May 21 is the official in-store date. Fans of mine or of good story-telling will pre-order from Amazon or your local brick and mortar! Get with the first printing! Come on, people.

 
Do you have any other projects coming up that you can talk about?

I have a pilot at Cartoon Network and that’s about all I can say about that one.

We’re shooting Sockbaby 4 next month and that’s about all I can say about that one.

I’m writing my next graphic novel to come out at the end of this year or the beginning of the next and that’s about all I can say about that one.

Thank you again!

Any time, Wes.

And there you have it.