With some help from pashka greaskin I have all Jymns awnsers so far for you all.
I'll be sure to update as I get more or steet your wemcome to post them to when your ready. theis is the First 6.
there alot of shocking revolations here some stuff we all had figured out to.
here they are as of now.
Jymn Magon's interview
as of now
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Date : July 22, 2009
Category : Default
Title : Position and involvement when making Talespin?
Question : steet :
In order to understand better the context, and because not everyone may know you, I would be interested to know more about your involvements on Talespin.
You're often credited as the creator of the series, as well as "Supervising Producer" and "Story editor" on some episodes.
So, what exactly consisted your job?
It seems Mark Zaslove did a lot of work to the series too, but how much exactly?
On a more personal matter, what are your occupations now? Any project currently? Wikipedia states that you're a freelancer, is that still true?
Best answer : Jymn Magon :
Thanks for your questions.
I had been developing a show for Disney called "The B Players" - and after weeks of working and pitching, Eisner finally shot it down. That left a big hole in the production schedule, because something had to go into the next syndication slot. After being pressured by management to get something together QUICKLY, I sat down with my pal Mark Zaslove, and we started kicking ideas around. We took Baloo (from the B Players show) and shoved him into the pilot role (once relegated to Launchpad McQuack) of an aborted Duck Tales series idea, and *voila*, we had Higher for Hire. Kit Cloudkicker was added as the Mowgli-orphan type character. After adding Rebeccas & the air pirates, we felt good enough to go to designer Bob Kline, who started visualizing our concept. In just 3 days, we had a new series pretty much figured out. We pitched it and... Homerun.
Mark and I pretty much ran the show, overseeing 4 production teams. After some rough waves and some political decisions, credits were doled out by management. For better or worse, Mark became "Producer" on the shows he personally story edited, and I was made "Supervising Producer" over the whole shebang. However, we both wrote, story edited, and created all along the way.
I left Disney (after 17 years) to become a freelance writer/story editor - which I still do. (More about my present projects another time.)
Jymn
Date : July 22, 2009
Category : Default
Title : Production information?
Question : steet :
Mmm, I'm going to add a lot of questions there, sorry by advance
When did you exactly had the idea about the series? I have heard that almost all the settings and characters were created in only 3 days - can you confirm that?
How long were the pre-production and the production phases?
What was the budget of the series? (if it's not confidential)
I have read an interview to Ed Ghertner :
www.mouseclubhouse.com/ [...] rtner/ed-ghertner-talespin.htm
, who says that there were basically four teams working on Talespin! It seems a lot uncommon, why was it like this? Wasn't it a pain to supervise and coordinate everything in such situation?
Best answer : Jymn Magon :
I've answered some of this in my previous posting.
It's been a long time - and some of this is a blur - plus a lot of the budgeting/scheduling/pre-productioning is done by number-crunchers and execs in different departments. Mark and I were focused on getting the show up & running creatively. So I'm afraid I can't answer your "production" questions accurately. But basically from "OK" to Final Cut was a year-and-a-half of non-stop work.
Like I said, I don't know the budget for the show, but I think at one point we realized that we were spending the same per episode as Star Trek:The Next Generation was spending. They were a million dollars per 1 hour episode, and we were about a half million per half-hour Tale Spin.
I haven't read Ed's interview yet, but, yes, it's true - we had 4 teams. There were 4 story editors (each with a group of writers) linked to 4 director/producers (each with a group of designers, board artists, & colorists). Ed was a director/producer until he left to go work at Features (Lion King, I think).
Each writer/artist team was responsible for getting out 1 script every two weeks (two teams delivering in tandem). That meant (with 4 teams on a rotating basis) we were churning out 2 half hour shows each and every week. It was fun, but grueling. And since Mark & I were story editing our own teams, we were even MORE swamped cuz we had to look over ALL the scripts & storyboards that were being created. We did that for 65 episodes.
Date : July 22, 2009
Category : Default
Title : Disney's opinion about Talespin?
Question : steet :
What was the opinion of the Disney executives on the series, back in 1990/1991?
How did Talespin do, when compared to the other Disney Afternoon series for example?
More important : what was the REAL reason behind the fact that it wasn't renewed for a new season? I have heard that there was this 65 episodes policy, but some other series got more episodes...So what is the truth?
Best answer : Jymn Magon :
Although Disney had shown Duck Tales and Rescue Rangers in after-school time slots, the concept of a 2-hour "cartoon block" (aka "The Disney Afternoon") didn't exist until Tale Spin premiered. (Tale Spin was the New Show of the first Diz Afternoon line-up.) As the linchpin, so to speak, everyone was tickled with the outcome. Our syndicated shows always performed well (#1 shows), and Tale Spin was no different. It had a great lead-in (Gummi Bears, Duck Tales, & Rescue Rangers), so TS did great! And the Disney kingpins were delighted.
However, in answer to your REAL question, I sense there were some execs who weren't 100% behind the series. The merchandising stunk, and what little was done in the way of promotion (especially at the theme parks) was lackluster. So, yes, I've heard rumors that TS did not get the support of other shows.
As for the 65-episode question - yes, that was the norm. Do 65... then stop. (5 shows a week times 13 weeks = 65.) That was true for Rescue Rangers, Darkwing Duck, etc. etc. As far as I know, Duck Tales is the only exception. We originally DID do only 65 DT's, but it was so popular, more were made. So, no, Tale Spin was never "cancelled" or anything like that.
Best,
Jymn
Date : July 22, 2009
Category : Default
Title : Does Baloo have feelings for Rebecca?
Question : steet :
I'll admit that I'm more of a "Baloo & Becky" fan (even if I like ALL the characters pretty much - you did an amazing job on them and they're the best part of the series to me!), so I can't resist asking this.
In the series, there are numerous times when we see Becky breaking her "rough shell" and showing her feelings to Baloo (she cries for him in "Bearly Alive", she admits loving him in "Last horizons", she's jealous in "A Star is torn" etc...)
So I believe it's pretty obvious that Becky consider Baloo as "more than a friend". (even though she most often would want to strangle him instead )
But so far (I still have a few episodes left to watch), I haven't spotted a single time where Baloo shows some feelings to her. Sure, he saves her several times, but he does the same for all of his friends. In fact, he always reacts pretty roughly when Becky does open her heart.
So, is the opposite true, does he hide it or is she "just a friend"?
Best answer : Jymn Magon :
No revelation here... Baloo & Becky were fashioned after Sam & Rebecca from the (then) popular sitcom "Cheers." Baloo loses his business and winds up working for a woman who lacks his knowledge and experience, but who (as his boss) harps on his careless ways. Sound familiar? It was a good dynamic - plus we had the added bonus of the two of them watching over Kit... one the caring Mom and one the careless Dad.
So, yes, there was supposed to be a love/hate relationship with Baloo & Becky. I thought there was pretty much equal evidence that they secretly cared for each other, but maybe it wound up lopsided in Becky's favor. (Like I said, it was hard to oversee so many scripts.) Baloo was a fairly careless character in Jungle Book, so we kept that quality in TS.
Of course, we could never let that relationship come to fruition. (It's a series, folks!) It's what destroyed the Sam/Diane relationship.
Jymn
Date : July 22, 2009
Category : Default
Title : Does Kit have feelings for Molly?
Question : Alpha Aleu :
And also is it this way,does Molly have feelings for Kit?,or don't they have feelings for one another,another way of what I'm asking is,will they fall in love,when they become adults,like Rebecca,and Baloo?
Best answer : Jymn Magon :
Jymn here.
As we all know, age differences don't matter so much when you're an adult, but Kit is several years older than Molly. He honestly sees her as no more than a "kid sister."
I know a lot of fan fiction & fan art depicts them as a couple, in the future - and who knows? Maybe they might. But since Disney is not planning more episodes... nor a summer blockbuster remake of a cartoon show (like Transformers or G.I. Joe), we'll never know, will we? (But I would tend to fall on the side of "not.")
Date : July 23, 2009
Category : Default
Title : Home is where the heart is
Question : Talespin12345 :
Dear Jymn magon what was the real reason that Disney cut Home is where the heart is from the TV Syndication version of Plunder and Lighting?? and might we be geting a volume 3??
I Really love you're work on DuckTales and TaleSpin.
Best answer : Jymn Magon :
Thanks for your kind words.
As many of you have figured out, we usually launched our animated series with a "prime time" movie. These Premiere Movies were actually made from a mini-series (usually 4 or 5 episodes long) that was cut together. As writers, we were charged with coming up with a story line that could function both as a mini-series AND as a movie. It was hard work but a lot of fun to do. (I still love "The Treasure of the Golden Suns" series we did for Duck Tales.) Usually, there was MORE material in the mini-series than the movie could use, so things often got cut as it was turned into a "movie." However, for some reason, something from the Plunder & Lightning movie got cut - as it went back to regular episodes. I can't tell you WHY that happened after all these years, but it did.
As for questions about "Volume 3" of the DVD's - you'll have to bug the Disney Company about that. I have no control over their decisions. Sure, I co-created, story edited, wrote, and poured my soul into Tale Spin - but all the decisions, fate, fame and DVD sales money belong to Disney... cuz, after all, they know what's best.
Steet I some what edit this but is as Jym and the questions went
Sincerly
Kit Lee
Christopher
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