Anyone else excited for Gerry Anderson's Firestorm?

[MadeIndescribable]

For those of you who don't know, there's a new Gerry Anderson TV series being produced. Anderson is best known for creating series such as Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Space: 1999, etc, and now there's a new puppet series being produced based on one of his later ideas, Firestorm.

They've produced a mini-pilot episode and currently going into pre-production to start filming an entire season next year!!

Check out firestormhq.com or gerryanderson.co.uk if you wanna find out more.

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[Christopher]

Odd... They've gone for much more realistic puppets with flexible skin and more elaborate expressions and mouth movements, yet they're still using the caricatured, big-headed style of most of Anderson's shows (which was done in the original shows because they couldn't miniaturize the servos enough for realistically proportioned heads) rather than the more naturalistic proportions of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons (where they put the servo motors in the puppets' torsos). It gives them kind of a weird, slightly Muppety look.

 

[Redfern]

Maybe the younger Anderson just prefers the caricatured proportions. After all, the majority of Gerry's series had "toon" styled scaling. Only Captain Scarlet had the "realistic" proportions. After that, Gerry went "live action".

Or Maybe Gerry's son possibly likes the "realistic" shapes but reasoned more viewers would wax nostalgic for those earlier designs.

 

[Christopher]

Yeah, I'm sure it's out of nostalgia for the more famous Supermarionation look. I just find it ironic that something that was originally done due to technical limitations is now being done as a choice by a production with far more advanced technology. Plus I find it kind of off-putting to see the more caricatured features combined with the more flexible, realistic skin textures -- there's kind of an Uncanny Valley thing going on there. I might find the realistic textures more palatable if they were combined with realistic, Captain Scarlet-style proportions.

 

[Redfern]

Yeah, you gotta' point there. They did seem just a tad off putting. I wasn't sure if's due to the new more "realistic" skin, or just the fact I'm seeing this new material through the eyes of a middle aged adult. Probably a combination of the two.

 

[Christopher]

Yeah, you gotta' point there. They did seem just a tad off putting. I wasn't sure if's due to the new more "realistic" skin, or just the fact I'm seeing this new material through the eyes of a middle aged adult. Probably a combination of the two.

I watched Captain Scarlet on ShoutFactory TV's streaming site just recently, so the Anderson aesthetic (albeit the smaller-headed version) is fresh in my mind. So it's not the latter in my case. Honestly, these designs seem like a caricature of the original caricatures, even bigger-eyed than the usual Anderson characters.

 

[MadeIndescribable]

Odd... They've gone for much more realistic puppets with flexible skin and more elaborate expressions and mouth movements, yet they're still using the caricatured, big-headed style of most of Anderson's shows (which was done in the original shows because they couldn't miniaturize the servos enough for realistically proportioned heads) rather than the more naturalistic proportions of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons (where they put the servo motors in the puppets' torsos). It gives them kind of a weird, slightly Muppety look.

Actually, it's exactly the same reason, the heads are so big because of all the servos. Modern technology has just allowed them to have a lot more, so rather than just "mouth open/close", they can make different mouth shapes, as well as blinking, eyebrow moves etc.

But yeah, they're definitely going for a nostalgic feel too.

 

[Tom Hendricks]

Flying Sub and the main dude looks like Chris Pine...I'm in.

 

[Orac]

Ultramarionation! That's what I'm talkin 'bout!

 

[Christopher]

Flying Sub and the main dude looks like Chris Pine...I'm in.

I was thinking Ryan Reynolds.

And the female lead is voiced by Torchwood's Naoko Mori.

 

[Tom Hendricks]

Thats looking like Chris Pines chin and scruff but okay, we'll throw a dash of Ryan Reynolds in to boot.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I love the visual style.

Nick Tate!

 

[MadeIndescribable]

Thats looking like Chris Pines chin and scruff but okay, we'll throw a dash of Ryan Reynolds in to boot.

There's a report from the premiere on the latest Gerry Anderson podcast, and Naoko keeps going on about his chiseled chin