Max Steel: Mutant Menace, 2009
Do you remember what you were doing during the month of December 2008? I do, because I’ve got the time-stamped files to remind me. I spent the first half of that month drawing storyboards for the 6th Max Steel movie, titled Mutant Menace (or, if you’re a member of the audience it was made for, Amenaza Mutante).
The size and easy access of pop culture in the US market can occasionally blind us to the economic engines of other blocs, some of which are strong enough for American companies to create entertainment just for them. Such was the case with Mattel’s Max Steel toy line, which didn’t earn much in North American stores, but owned the shelves in Latin America to such a degree that Mattel decided to make an animated Max Steel movie for them every year. These were less than an hour in length, but played in theaters before going to home video, so the term qualifies.
I already shared the tale of how I got involved with this franchise in time to storyboard Bio Crisis, the 5th Max movie, released in 2008. I didn’t know at the time that it represented the end of a story arc, partly because of a subsequent shift in the toy catalog but also because it was the last time certain characters appeared. Mutant Menace was the start of a new arc (referred to as the “Battle for the Earth” series) that introduced new cast members and toys to go with them.
More specifically, Max got a new boss, the robot Cytro was now fully reprogrammed as an ally, and a villain named Toxzon was introduced. They would play regular roles from here on out, and I would continue my own role as the solo storyboard artist who performed the alchemy of turning their scripted adventures into pictures that could be animated.
It’s almost unheard of for a single artist to storyboard an entire movie, but there were extenuating circumstances that made this possible. First, it was only the length of a couple TV episodes. Second, I draw pretty fast. Third, it was entirely in CG, which meant I didn’t have to draw much detail. Why? I esplain.
When you’re storyboarding for 2D animation, your work needs to be as “on-model” as possible (within reason) because it will very likely be used as a rough layout by a Korean animator (who you will never meet). They have to work as fast as possible, so they will take as many shortcuts as they can. I would too, in their place. So the more you draw for them, the better the results will be.
On the other hand, when you’re boarding for CG, your work only serves as a position/movement guide for whatever is in a given shot. The CG model is already “on-model” so you don’t have to draw any detail. As long as the shape, proportions, and storytelling intentions are clear, all you have to deliver is a thumbnail. Click here to see a 10-page sample (the spider fight) from the first part of Mutant Menace.
It’s different for Disney and Pixar movies, since they’re all about texture and mood and nuance, and the artists have years to refine a project. With a Max Steel movie, I had less than a month to get through the whole thing, so nobody was looking for anything fancy. That suited me, since I vastly prefer short-term animation projects over long-term ones with endless revisions. That’s why I’m a TV guy.
My overseer on this was another TV guy, my first mentor Audu Paden, who had brought me in for the previous Max movie and was happy to have me back. He knew what I could produce and I knew what he was looking for, which made it easier for both of us. It didn’t mean there were no revisions (they’re as reliable as death and taxes), but it cut way down on the filmmaking 101 stuff and got us over the finish line on time. Knowing I could also design on demand, he asked me to contribute some sets, which made it easier for me to stage action in them.
The film was completed and released in Latin America (with a Spanish dub) in 2009. An English version was also prepared, which later boiled up on Youtube, but below you’ll find the whole thing in three parts for easy viewing.
RELATED LINKS:
Trailer | Highlight reel | IMDb page | The Movie Db page | Wikipedia page
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Production Gallery
My design for the N-Tek toxic waste facility (where the final fight happens) was reworked on the modeling side. Audu liked the idea of using this same compression technology to handle toxic waste and also give Max his power-up in the story, so he split it up to give them different visual impacts. The toxic waste mechanism was scaled down to be more conservative…
…while the more dynamic elements were repurposed for the power-up set (below). In other words, the ideas expressed in a single set design informed two instead.
