Akadot: From images of your animation weve seen, the story seems to have a mecha look. How different is your animation from other mecha stories such as Gundam?
George: When people see the pilot, theyll know it is a lot different from Gundam. Its closer to Gundam than Dexters Lab. I think its somewhere maybe in the middle of the two because its more accessible to younger kids than Gundam. Gundam isnt that funny and even sad sometimes. We are definitely more of an action-comedy. Its funny and there are gags. Its kind of like when you are watching Gundam and you think, "That would be cool if that Gundam did an elbow drop." Youll never see that in Gundam, but youll see it here.
Akadot: So its an extended version of funnier gags, more cultural jokes, and a down to earth style. Youll see the American culture that you may have wanted to see when watching Japanese animation.
George: Absolutely. Since were kids weve been in love with robots. Macross, Robotech, Battle of the Planets, Voltron, just name it. Weve watched every episode and weve lived it. We really loved that style and love to have fun with it.
Akadot: Influenced by Robotech and Macross, Im sure you guys love the Gundam toys. Is that something you are expecting to do with Low Brow? Are toys already in the works?
George: Well, because we love toys so much, we made sure this show would be "toy-etic." We are thinking about all these things, but in the end its not our decision, but the decision of the network if they want to do a toy line. Id love for them to do a toy line just to go to Toys REUs and buy my toy. It doesnt get better than that. We are definitely thinking about it, but its not something we can make a decision on.
Akadot: What are some other projects you are working on? Or something you havent worked on that you really wish you could work on.
George: We have a bunch of projects were working on now. The one thats the hottest right now is a pilot we are working on for Disney and we dont know what it will be called. But, its another robot show and right now we are working on the CG (computer graphics), which is a new route for us. Weve never done a CG show, its always been 2D shows. So thats the thing that is taking up most of our time right now.
We are also developing a bunch of new ideas. Chris has an idea and I think it is really promising. Its in development with a couple of companies right now and is called Motorcity. It is kind of like Akira meets Dukes of Hazard. Its like the hot roding of the future. No one owns cars because its been banned. Its kind of like outlaw status to have a car. So, these kids have drive around cars in this futuristic city. We have a bunch of crazy ideas.
Akadot: Do you have a favorite manga or anime?
George: Thats a tough question because we love a lot of stuff. Its hard to pin down one, and Im sure after I say it, two days later Ill change my mind. [Laughs] What Ill say is that I really, really like Macross. Macross really inspired me and gave me direction in the kind of things I like to make. I like the robots in Macross. Also, I like Battle of the Planets because of the teamwork. If you fuse that (Battle of the Planets and Macross), you got Low Brow. [Laughs]
I have to admit I havent read that much Japanese manga. But I grew up on comic books. The one that I love that everyone in the world hates is Rom. I dont know if you guys know or remember Rom, but it was a robot toy. I thought the comic book was just genius. It was about this hero who gives up his humanity and becomes a cyborg to save his planet. So its the old hero story where you are forced to become a hero, but you lose part of yourself to become a hero. I know everyone hates that comic.
Akadot: Do you have any message for fans?
George: I dont have a message. Usually when I try to give a message it sounds dorky. I wont say anything.
Akadot: Is there anything you would like fans to do after they watch the Low Brow pilot on Cartoon Network?
George: I would love for them to call and e-mail Cartoon Network and say you dug it (Low Brow pilot). That would help us and I think it would help the culture itself and anime fans in general. Even if we dont go to series, let Cartoon Network know you like anime. Let them know what you like about anime or about our show so they can put more on. They do listen. As you know, they do listen to fans and put anime on. Where else can you see Pilot Candidate, Big O, or Gundam 08? Nowhere, man. The other networks dont even know what that means; it doesnt even show up on their radar. I think they (Cartoon Network) are doing a good job and they need to know that.
Don't forget to check out the Part I of our interview with Low Brow's George and Chris.
Check out Low Brow's pilot episode on Cartoon Network airing on the follwing dates and times:
Friday, August 23rd at 8pm
Saturday, August 24th at 3am, 11am, 4pm, 11pm
Sunday, August 25th at 7am, 1pm, 8pm
Or you can watch a clip here from Cartoon Network's website! Just click on Low Brow.
If you like what you see, drop Cartoon Network a line and let them know you want to watch more Low Brow! Go to Cartoon Network's voting page and click on Low Brow!
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