TRANSMISSION #19 // INSPIRED BY TOY ROBOTS

I’m quite fortunate to regularly collaborate with some truly talented individuals and teams.  Every chance I get I ask, where do you get your inspiration from?

The answers are always different and range from the expected to the surprising.  Movies, weed, art, travel, diving, booze, music, comics, games, motorcycles, reading, watching, playing …the list goes on.

And where do I get my inspiration from?

Many things.

But one of them has always been toys.

I got these back when I was around 8 years old from a place created to drive kids insane –  THE WHITE ELEPHANT in Spokane, Washington.

As perfect as the town where I grew up was for a kid with its forests, mountains, abandoned gold mines (what, you didn’t have those?) it was a town pretty much cut off from the rest of the world.

But then these giant robot toys showed up and completely blew my mind.

Check out the 1976 TV ad:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbjoI47ARUs

Who were they?

Were they good guys or bad?

Were they controlled by pilots or by their own mechanical minds?

I had no idea what universe they lived in. But I needed to know what their purpose was and from where they originated (I wanted to move there).

But what I did know was that that  hundreds of little green army men now had the ultimate enemy.

Countless hours were spent crafting mega scenarios where the robots arrived and threatened the relative peace and tranquility that exists in a boy’s bedroom.  Immediately Star Wars toys, Micronauts, a sizable comic collection and one particularly patient German Shepard were in danger.

Chaos ensued.

Everyday.

The battles were epic, the losses of brave green army men spectacular.

But, as these things tend to do, the military successfully fought back with ingenuity, gumption and  incredibly detailed acts of heroism.  Acts of heroism that demanded hours of deep thought and careful planning.

Storyboarding. World building.  Narrative design.  Character backstories.

All the steps I would  do for a living when I ‘grew up’.

The scenarios and characters may have changed, but the enjoyment and thrill from those days long ago is still front and center and continues to inspire me.

Don’t get me wrong, working in the game industry can be challenging on many levels…  But it’s an environment that allows me to continue doing what I have always loved to do.

Chaos ensues.

Everyday.

END TRANSMISSION.

– SEAN