Paper Dinosaurs: July 2011

Paper Dinosaurs is an all-new video game and cartoon property we have been developing for over a year. Aimed squarely at the “Nick Jr.” crowd, Paper Dinosaurs is designed to appeal to the youngsters with bright, colorful and friendly characters, and is meant to entertain while reinforcing positive values and the importance of family and friends in the storylines. The idea first came up with my own kids, when they were about five. We were on an origami kick, making all sorts of animals, but all they wanted to do was build dinosaurs. They were fascinated with them, just as I was at their age. After we built a few, I looked down at the table, and I could just see them coming to life… walking and talking and singing and dancing. The boys and I acted out the parts, and we had a blast. Paper Dinosaurs was born at that very moment.

I wrote some notes, scribbled out a few sketches, and even modeled out some 3D dinos in an early version of Lightwave, but the software and tools to achieve the look I envisioned were a ways off. I knew that if we could achieve the look of stop-motion animation with advanced digital animation tools, we could create a unique look like no other cartoon. Using paper as the medium has a dual-purpose effect for me… I love the way it looks in the models and sets... but the fact that any kid with a scissors can cut out his or her own dinosaur and play along crosses the bridge from video games and cartoons into arts and crafts in a way I have never seen done before.

Over the years, Paper Dinosaurs percolated in my head. I knew it was a solid concept. Dinosaur properties are seemingly evergreen, with new dinosaur cartoons, shows, movies and video games coming out for every new generation of kids. The opportunity to put together quality storytelling that reinforces positive values in a vehicle that will captivate kids has become something of a quest for me… I really want Paper Dinosaurs to become a perennial favorite, much in the way the old Rankin-Bass Christmas shows have a spot in everyone’s heart.

So, exactly what is Paper Dinosaurs? It’s a cartoon and video game series with an Arts and Crafts component. It’s a website portal to their paper world, where kids can watch the cartoons, play the games, and build and share their own Paper Dinosaurs!

In the cartoon series, we meet all the Paper Dinosaurs… Spencer and Molly, Bart and Gert, Spikowski and Rajeesh and many more characters, as they sing, dance, and play with their friends and family down by the Big Lake. The entire set is made of paper… the water has paper animated ripples… the smoke off the volcano has paper animated smoke… everything down to the flowers are hand-built out of paper, and animated in the stop-motion style we call Papermation. At the beginning of each episode, we open the Paper Dinosaurs pop-up book, and as the first scene pops up, the Narrator sets up the story, and we transition into the cartoon. Each High-Def episode is 11 minutes in length. We are in production now on the pilot episode.

Our first Paper Dinosaurs video game is just a fun time waster… and a great way to introduce all the characters in the world. The second video game will be a virtual pet-style game, where you build your own Paper Dinos and have multi-player adventures with your friends. You can even print a pattern to cut out and fold your own Paper Dinosaur! We are in production now on the first game, which we hope to have completed by October.

On the website, you will find our video player and gamer’s lounge. You will also find the Paper Dinostore. Here, you can buy the real-world Paper Dinosaur products for purchase… Paper Dinosaur Cut and Fold Pattern Kits, Press and Fold Dino Paper Packs, Paper Dinosaur Pop-Up Storybooks, and, of course, Paper Dinosaur Teeshirts and Baby Clothes! We plan to launch the site in August.

Our team has been developing the brand for this last year… building the models, writing the scripts, developing the look, and basically having fun creating this world! Paper Dinosaurs is being directed and produced by me, Mark Butler (Emmy-winning animator, 3D artist and mad scientist), with the property being published by my Butler Digital Publishing imprint. As soon as I told him of the concept, Berny Herrera (formerly with Universal and CKA) joined the project to develop the business model, and then, finally, James Magon (longtime scribe for Disney and WB) came on to write the scripts and bring the Paper Dinosaurs world to life. Some of the other extremely talented artists who are now attached to the project include: Mychael Lederer-Morihisa (Emmy-winning animator for Disney and WB) on 3D and web dev, Adam “Mojo” Liebowitz (Emmy-winning animator on Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica) on 3D and rendering, Louie Paretta on Sound Design, and Alexandra Hughes on the full-size Dino Puppet Building and web dev. Definitely the Paper Dinosaurs dream team! We are looking to grow our team… over the next month we will be adding another animator, web developer and Unity 3D developer, so if you are interested in helping build Paper Dinosaurs, drop me a note!

Up to this point, the work put into Paper Dinosaurs has been self-financed by Berny, James and myself. The development has been completely part-time, as we all have day jobs. But, we all believe in it so much that we have continued to chip away at the stone, and we are very close to being ready to present the property to investors and studios, with the intention of finding the right financial and production partner that can help make Paper Dinosaurs a world-class children’s entertainment powerhouse brand.

Then, a few weeks ago, two things happened… the first was that I finished co-producing my first iPad game. I have worked on a number of games in the past, but the new Unity 3D game engine is amazing, and allowed us to complete the project in under 90 days.

The second thing was that a couple weeks ago, someone told me about Kickstarter.com. I knew instantly that this was the way to get Paper Dinosaurs funded, and build our fanbase! We need your help getting Paper Dinosaurs out to the world! Our plan is to bring two projects to Kickstarter.com, the first is:

Project #1: Paper Dinosaurs Crazy Dino Player v1
Category: Mindless Colorful Animated Entertainment
Platform: Website, Mac and PC, iPad & iPhone, Android
Appeals to Ages: 0-3

In this simple button masher, you select 1 of 4 Paper Dinosaurs and then simply click on them to make them burp, talk, sing, tell jokes, do silly tricks, or one of 50 other general amusements. Non-interface… any child can click anywhere and the Paper Dino does something cute, funny or adorable. Similar to the Spore Creature Creator.

The game is free, additional Dino Packs will be available for $tbd.

More to come when I get the Kickstarter page set up!