Hannah Banana: All new CEI Show Project

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Hi Folks!

Well i'm sitting here in Aaron Fechters' kitchen here...and it's 3am here in mild Florida. Tonight i am starting what i hope to be a "daily journel" of the work-in-progress i am currently inolved in.

For those that may not know, i was asked by Aaron to come down to Fl and work for Creative Engineering for an all new venture. This project will be the design, creation, execution, and presentation of a ALL NEW animatronic show. This particular show is a special custom job and will star a female monkey character named "Hannah Banana". Think of a trendy, teen minded hip girl character and you will get an idea of what she looks like. I have some photos that i will post ( with Air's help) here so you can have a sneak peek.

This will be the first new animatronic show to come out of CEI since the New "Danceatronics" Rock-aFire was envieled in 1992...15 long years ago! This new project is history in the making i think....

Hannah will star in her our animatronic show that will incorporate Billy Bob and Looney Bird The stage setup with be similar to a Mini Show. Aaron already has some great ideas in mind for show ideas....as i am happy to report it will feature ALL NEW material. The shows will follow a smilar style to the Classic RAE, in that the characters will open the show with some interaction and conversation among themselves, which in turn will lead into a song. A lot of material from the past that was performed by Billy and Looney will be incorporated into the Hannah shows..BUT we will also be seeing NEW material surface. This new material will feature Hannah vocalizing, as the voice performer for Hannah sings great and Aaron is really looking forward to utilizing this. We will also be seeing some new remixes of some of the older material, adding Hannah's vocals into the previous work done by Billy Bob and Looney Bird. There is also ideas to have Billy and Looney perform some new material as well. Anyway you look at it, if you are a RAE Fan, or a animatronics fan, this is exciting stuff!

So where do i fit into all of this you are probably wondering. Well, Aaron has commissioned me to come down and create the Hannah mask sculpture out of clay. This in turn will be turned into a mold to create the new Hanna characters mask. The basis of the new mask is being sculpted with the help of a modified Mitzi mask. I will add clay to this modified version, and using the photos below, create a three dimentional sculpt. It's pretty exciting for a longtime animatronics fan to have this chance to work a project like this. There is a lot of excitement in the air here...we all can feel it.

I'm not alone on this project by any means. Along with Aaron,longtime robotics fan Steve Morris is helping out tremendously. He will be making casting the clay sculpt to do into a mold that will enable us to create Hanna's mask. I was first introduced to Steves awesome animatronics mask work this past September when i last visited CEI. I was very impressed with the recreations of the classic RAE characters, authentic down to the last detail. Original molds are used and Steve does a fantastic job painting and finishing them. I had a hard time telling the difference in all honesty...his work is incredible.

If ANYONE out there is in need of a new mask for there RAE Show check out his website: www.cosmicbazaar.com (http://www.cosmicbazaar.com)
I HIGHLY recommend his work, as this guy definately knows what he is doing.

Getting back to Hannah now.....let me go and post those photos now that i have introduced her to you. This will give you all a first look at whats to come!

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/plush.jpg

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/hannahtoon-1.jpg

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/hannahtoon-2.jpg

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Big thanks to Aaron for helping me figure out how to post those images! As regular readers know, i am not usually able to do this on my own!

So..there you have it...your first look at Hannah! These darwing, and the plush doll, were not made by me...these were provided by the person who has purchased this custom show. Hannah will be featured in a resturant over in Great Britian.

So this is where i will begin my "Journel"...with these pictures as this is my starting point for beginning this job. I was sent these back in October to give me a idea of what type of character this would be. Also, these reference photos would be nessesary to help me visualize how she will look as a dimentional character. Periodically i would sketch out some multiple views of her from all angles so that when i was on sight for the job now, i would know better how to tackle the challange. I have many years expereince turning drawings into animated figures, wether it be my puppet creations or other figural work. This is my first foray into creating a animatronic character from the ground up....so it's new but familair all at once.

Tonight we offically started on the project when we all met after i arrived in town from Boston. Steve met us over at CEI with all the suppiles Aaron had requested: A Mitzi mask mounted so we can use it as the base for the new mask sculpt, 25 pounds of professional molding clay, a bag full of sculpting tools, and loads of enthusiasim...perhaps the most important tool of all!

We started off by examining the Mitzi mask that was firmed up with spay foam inside to give it a nice hard sculpting surface. The nose and end of the lower jaw was then sawed off in the workshop as Hannah's features are not as prominent as Mitzi's. The mask was in turn mounted to a square peice of wood and attached in prep for the later mold making process. After dinner, we went our seperate ways and the mounted mask came back home with us for the night.

Tomorrow i will spend most the day putting clay on the face and starting work on the sculpting. I am not expecting it to take long, but sometimes simple designs can be deceiving. The plan at the moment if that if i get along and things are going good, Steve will immediately cast the mold right then and there. This will be a crucial turning point, as everyone is hoping we are able to pull a clean mask for the new mold in the first try.....thus avoiding the possible re-do of the entire sculpture process.

The good news is J has let me borrow his video camera and i have begun documenting the steps we are taking. I plan on shooting the main steps plus any interesting highlight as time allows. So far so good...as all of us are really excited to be taking part in this.

Aaron is excited as not only does he get to produce a new show, he gets to relive a part of his past. This project is reminding him a lot of the glory days of Showbiz and the time when CEI was at the top of there game. Back when QUALITY Animatronics were still THE thing to have in your resturant.

Steve is pumped as he is a huge robotics/AA fan. He is thrilled to be able to have the opportunity to bring something like Hannah to fruitation as it's like a dream come true for him.

I'm thrilled as this is indeed a dream come true in a sense...and it's amazing to me to see this all coming together. Being able to interact with creative people like myself is also very rewarding....and being able to help bring this character to life is a real treat for me.

Well it's almost 4am now here in FL...so i had best get some shuteye. I'll post more tomorrow with all we did and how progress is going.

:D

[VegaNova]

Hey Jenn,

Sounds like you're all having a great time! Thanks for the post and sharing the drawings. Do report back when you can, as this is pretty sweet. :D

-VegaNova

[pizzacam]

:lol

[puppetdude]

Jenn! Get off the computer and back to work! I didn't get my reputation as a "slave driver" by letting people goof off all night! If you're gonna stay up to 4 in the morning, I want to see clay under those fingernails!

Aaron
=====================

[kaittttt]

Oh my GOSH! XD Hannah is SOOO adorable! I love her character design. It's really going to be interesting to see how you turn her into a 3-D sculpture, let alone how you animate her! :] Character design is my thing, so I'm totally psyched about this whole project! I wish you all luck!

[anastaciacominatcha]

Cuuuuuute! So will this be used in a new resteraunt concept or what? Or is that unknown/secret still LOL?

[kaittttt]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v710/ambereyedhanyou/hannahbanana1.jpg

Argh. XD I couldn't help it! She's just TOOO cute!

I can't wait to hear more about this! :] I'm really excited! Haha.

[chuckrules]

Eh? >D She's not as cute as Helen Henny.:rollin

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Hi folks...

Well here it is 4am again and i'm pretty pooped...so this will be a short entry tonight.

Today was a full day as i spent the entire time creating the clay sculpture of Hannah. It took about 7 hours, and it went very smoothly thanks to the excellent prep work by Steve. He provided all i needed, from the Mitzi mask base and mount, to the perfect clay and useful shaping tools....without his experimentation and previous experiences i am certain it would have taken me much longer to finish the final sculpt. This morning she had on her forehead, and looked like a martian from "Mars Attacks". This afternoon she looked like a cross between Beach Bear and Fatz. Earlier this evening she looked like a certain US President ( it's her HUGE ears...). Yeah, just the sort of thing you want to have in the same room you are sleeping in!

Tomorrow we will be bringing the sculpture to Steves' place and help him create a mold casting. Once this is done, we will be ready to pour our first mask of Hannah. Everyone is hoping that things go well, and that we will be able to score a perfect first casting so the project can move forward. If the first casting does not some out quite right, i will have to create a replacement sculpture, as the original is usually destroyed in the mold creation process. So keep your fingers crossed!

Aaron and I talked more today about Hannah and where she will be appearing. Turns out she will be the star mascot of her own family resturant called "Hannah Banana's". It is scheduled to open later this year somewhere in London, England. It will be a similar concept to the other entertainment resturants we are all so familiar with...but totally new in the UK.

Tomorrow i will post the lated progress.....in the meantime enjoy these fab photos from Aaron!

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/starting.jpg


This is a pic at the beginning before any clay has been applied. This is a new latex Mitzi mask from Steve that was filled with hardening spray foam to make it firm for sculpting on. This was in turn mounted on brackets attached to the wide board you see below the mask setup.

You will notice how this Mitzi mask has been "customized" and her nose and end jaw area has been cut off. This was done so a pre-exsisting mask could be used as a base, this meaning it would not take nearly as long to create the finished sculpture. It also means i would not have to worry about the problems i was warned about with trying to get the eye holes and mouth joint perfectly lined up. Aaron had advised this method to insure a speedy progress and also to avoid these common mask issues.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/forehead.jpg


This pic shows the progress of the early stages i was in of shaping Hannah's large forehead. In this shot, it is still very square looking. Her head has more of a bulbous shape, and the later pix will show this.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/jennatwork.jpg

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/finished.jpg

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Well here is the final version of the sculpture.....i know it may not look very "cute" and "girly" at this stage ( exspecially with those ears!) but trust me, when the final mask is painted and furred it will look a lot better. Also, her upper forehead is covered in large bananas and a large floppy newboy hat, so these items will fill in the area on top of her head nicely and create the very rounded head that is part of this characters look.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/group.jpg

Last entry for tonight( Um...actually it's now almost 5am...i need to go to bed now!!)

This is a drawing Aaron asked me to do...showing for the first time all three of these characters togther.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Here's the latest update on the Hannah project:

At this very moment the decision has been made to do another version of the mask sculpt. We are concerned that the version currently awaiting to be cast is not "cute" enough to accurately match the "cuteness" of the original art of Hannah. Aaron is on the phone with Steve as i type this and plans are being swung into action to set up another Mitzi mask so i can have another shot at doing a revised version of the mask.

The main concern is the mouth, which is very large in comparison to the tiny mouth Hannah sports in the drawings. It was already plain to us that dupicating this tiny mouth would not work very well for a animatronic version, mainly due to the visability concern and more importantly the actual animation action of the flexing mouth.

So as of now ( about 3:30 pm..) we are getting things togther for tonights plaster-party. We will roll down to CEI in the rv and load it up with some latex and grab a fur roll to bring over to Steve's. SHould be fun.....i will post another update much later tonight/early morn.

[menutia]

What about her belly button and chest?

~M

(Yes, that is all I ever think about)

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Oh don't worry....we will make sure it's cute!

Speaking of cuteness....Aaron and i just finished the re-do of Hannah. Now she looks far more feminine and her head shape and ears are better proportioned to the actual "look" of the character.

I am really glad we re-did the sculpt....as she looks far better and not as "homely" as the previous sculpt pic gives the impression of. We want her to look appealing, and have some definate "girly qualities" about her.

It started by adding some puffy cheeks to the original version of the sculpt This made her face more chubby and also did away with the wide smile from the underlaying Mitzi mask. Upon reviewing the previous nights work, it became obvious that her face shape was not quite right and her smile was really far too big for Hannah. I went back and slapped some cheeks on and re-carved the smile lines and that helped her some. She really came into her own when Aaron stepped in and went nuts with a ice cream scooper and carved half of her head off! Trust me though...she needed it.

Aaron then reshaped her face shape, and cut down her ears a little. I then reshaped the ears and smoothed over the forehead while Aaron had a ball shaping some sexy-looking monkey lips on Hannah's mouth. When we were done, it was a complete and utter improvement. Looking at the previous version of the sculpt, it's almost embarrassing to see how badly a direction i was going in! I'm really glad we reworked it, and i think Aaron was happy to see that i did'nt spaz out over Hannah getting sliced up with a scoop! Ha ha!

So now i am sitting here about 8pmish waiting to head over to CEI to pick up some stuff and to Steve's to cast the mold. I was told to wear "crappy cloths" as we will no doubt get covered in plaster while making the casting. All in good fun.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

On a side note....

Aaron watched the new "Letters to Looney Bird" video show J and I shot a few month back and LOVED IT. J, i just wanted you to know that...and Aaron think you are really great with your interactions with Looney!


Okay...i had better get back to work now!

[chuckrules]

That's amazing Jenn. This has always inspired me to want to try something like this. But I would need some guidens to.

[kaittttt]

Oooh! Post pictures of the new mask sculpt as soon as you can please, Jenn! I'm really interested in how this'll turn out!

I'd love to help out somehow and get involved in something like this, but I know it's your project and there's not much of anything else I can do other than what I can send over the internet. :] Or through snail mail. But I know you guys'll do a great job! Like I said before... I'm real excited about this! I can't wait to see how it turns out!

[VegaNova]

Heya Jenn!

Man I feel for ya... I'm sitting here at the computer trying to figure out what could be done to make her more 'friendly looking', especially with the mouth problem you mentioned. The only thing I can think of would be to extend out the cheeks, or to flat out exchange the mouth clevace with a shorter (newly designed) one. :\

I'm sure you came up with something neat though (do post pics!). I actually liked the one you sculpted first. Looks like you tried to find a happy medium between those cartoons and the 'style' of the RAE.

Pretty sweet any way you look at it though. Thanks again for sharing all that you have!

-VegaNova

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Ohhhhhhhh........

Well i'm back after experiencing what Aaron tells me to be the first traditional Creative Engineering "All Nighter" that has happened in a long time. We spent most of yesterday and the entire night finalizing the Hannah sculpture, and brought it over to Steve's to begin the casting process. So i awoke at noon time and did'nt return to bed until almost 6am the next morning! Yeah...this one is quite a story...

So we set out around 5ish after finalizing the Hannah sculpt. Since we had to stop by CEI and pick up a couple of buckets of latex and some Dook fur ( which i felt matched perfectly for Hannah) Aaron had to break out the R.V. There was no way the three of us, plus all the supplies and sculpture could fit in the car....so it was literally a party on wheels in a sense. Imagine rolling through downtown Orlando while Beatles songs are playing and hearing "Billy Bob" and myself as Looney Bird singing along. Yeah..pretty surreal!

So we roll up next to to the CEI building and charge in to grab the goods we needed. It's into the basement to pry open a fresh barrel of new latex and fill up a couple of buckets. While down there i had another look at all the old original molds still on the shelving. It is amazing to me to see all those artifacts just sitting there just as they were all those years ago.

After we grabbed our latex, it was time to hit the fabric room and cut off a good size peice of Dook fur from the gigantic roll. All the original fabric rolls that were used for all the hair and plush of the various characters is still here.

Once we had what we needed. we hightailed it upstairs and headed out. Everyone piled into the RV, including Kerry's dog Tandy, and we hit the highway and trekked out to Steve's place.

Steve should charge admission for what he has on display in his house. He is a HUGE fan of robots of all types ( both real and fantasy) and believe me his collection is impressive.

As cool as his place is....you should have seen the wonders he was doing in his shed out back. Here he had set up his own homemade workshop to mold, cast, paint, and finish RAE masks. It was like a mini CEI, and that's what i referred to it as. Having just been back in the basement of the real thing, Steve's setup looked like a perfect recreation in downsized form. Call it "CEI Lite" if you like....lol.

So there we are, with the Hannah sculpt, ready for the mold making process to begin. After yet more modifications to the sculpt ( the jaw had to be redone to properly line up with the upper lip) it was time to crate her.

Steve pre-built a wooden frame for the sculpt and proceeded to install it around and over the mask-to-be. This in turn would be filled solid with plaster, which when dry will produce a perfect mask mold. Once the crating was done, it was time to roll up the sleeves and begin the fun of plastering the sculpt.

Steve gives us directions on how to mix the plaster, much to Aaron's amusement. Aaron is thinking there is a specific formula, as in mix 5 parts water to 3 parts plaster mix.....but Steve is a hands-on artist and prefers to "feel it out" and get the mix just right before applying. When i say he is hands on, i MEAN hands on...as all 300 pounds of plaster was mixed by hand in 5 gallon buckets! It was quite a sight to see them both mixing away and slopping poor Hannah's face.

After several hours the task was complete, and we were relieved it was over ( for the night/day) and could now turn things over to Steve to work his molding magic. By now it was about 4am...and we decided to celebrate by going to the local Steak n' Shake and having a meal. We were all ready for some chow.

So off we go...into the wee hours of the morning to have a very late dinner, or in my case very early Breakfast! We were pooped....but it did'nt matter as we were pumped about getting closer to the goal: Producing a usable mask for Hannah.

We finally parted company around 7am and the RV rolled back to Orlando. I was spacing out from lack of sleep....it had been a looooonnnngggggg day.

Once back at Aaron's place, we wasted no time hitting the hay.


Man..what a night!

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

We did take quite a few photos of yesterdays progress with the plastering....i will post them once Aaron has a chance to upload then to his site.

In the meantime, i will write about what is on the agenda today. I still feel the effects of lack of sleep...but the coffee just has'nt kicked in yet i guess!

So today is a "day off" for me somewhat. I think it came at the perfect moment, as i can use a day to kick back.

I'm really excited as Aaron has decided that he would like to go down to CEI and fire up the old Show Programming console. I told him how keen i am at having a shot at animating a show, and he wants to test it out to be sure everything is still in order. With the new Hannah show in the near future, it makes good sense to test the equiptment before you need to actually use it for something important like a customer show programming.

So yeah!! I am PHYCHED! Those that know me are aware that one of my longtime dreams was to be able to program a Animatronic show ( weather it be Disney, CEC, or RAE figures). I guess the WDW slogan for this year can be something i can related to: Orlando is indeed "Where Dreams Come True".

I've been toting J's video camera around and filming certain parts of the Hannah project. Hopefully there will be enough material to piece together in a video to give everyone a sense of what is involved in the creation process.

Right now i am going to take a breather.....and hopefully be back later tonight ( or early pre-dawn...lol) to write more about today's happening. We are all just playing the waiting game now as the plaster mold of Hannah dries in Steve's shed and we all anxouisly await his phone call saying "It's a GO!".

Cross your fingers the casting was a success....

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Hey there Travis!

Just saw your post here...

Yes, that is exactly what i did do yesterday....i gave Hannah cute pudgy cheeks and shortened her smile big time. Aaron redid her lips and cut back her forehead to make it more round as it should be. I also made her ears smaller so they would match the modified forehead.

She REALLY looks nice now. She definately had the "girly" look now.

Last night as we sat around Steak n' Shake we talked more about what we were going to do to bring her to life...as in how we are going to handle transforming her drawing into a full sized figure. We may salvage some old molds to use for creating Hannah's hands and shoes...as well as possibly make a new sculpt for her belly that shows.

Animations on her will include ears that will twitch ( very similar in motion to Mitzi) and possibly a tail on a spring so it will wiggle when she moves around. Her mech will be retrofitted Mitzi Bot'...as they are both the same size and stance wanted for Hannah.

Should be a perfect fit!

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Sorry about the delay in pix...

We all had a take a few hours rest after the 12 hour all-nighter. Aaron and i both took some stills ( he had the digital) and once they are loaded onto his site, i will post them here!

We got some good shots ...including the final sculpt of Hannah. Trust me, i am dying to show you the new cute version!

Pay no mind to her previous sculpt pic! LOL!

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Okay...here's the photos from last night!

This is the final sculpt of the redone Hannah...with the added "cuteness" factor. It is SO much better then the previous version.

This was taken just before Steve crated it.

http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/mold/finalfinal.jpg

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

The photo below shows Steve and i just before we crated the sculpt. I am shown here doing the final reshaping of the mouth.


http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/mold/steve-jenn-01.jpg

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Here is a view of the sculpt after being sprayed with a release agent. This is helpful in seperating the sculpt from the plaster mold when the time comes do so once the plaster is fully dried. One of the trickest steps is doing this, so anything that can help increase the chances of a successly pull is handy!

http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/mold/releaseagent.jpg

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Now we are shown here crating the sculpt in preperation for the plaster pour.

http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/mold/moldform.jpg

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Anyone who has worked with plaster knows how messy it can be....and we all had our fair share of being slopped by the stuff.

Here is a funny moment when Steve accidentally rubbed a bunch a chalk sealant on his bottom. Afterwards Aaron and i had to argue over which one of us was going to wipe his bum off! Ha ha! Too bad that was'nt captured on videotape...

http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/mold/stevesproblem.jpg

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

And this photo bring the saga up to date:

Here is the Hannah sculpt intombed in solid pottery plaster after the pouring sequence. Here it will sit for about 15 hours or so to solidify.

Later today, Steve will turn this huge heavy block over and pull out the sculpt to reveal a new mold. This in turn will be used to pour liquid latex into and begin the process of making the first Hannah mask.


http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/mold/hugeblock.jpg

[mmbbfan10972]

Jenn: You Love Hannah Banana

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Yeah you could say that.....

;)

[mmbbfan10972]

More Pictures??? :D

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Latest news:

Aaron is on the phone with Steve as i type this and he has just pulled the sculpt.

The verdict:

It looks like it was a successful mold! Woo Hoo!!

I will post more details when i have them!

:D

[kaittttt]

Ack, Jenn! xD The new face is a HUGE improvement! You guys are really doing an awesome job. :3 She's so cute!

[kaittttt]

:] I drew another picture of Hannah for you, Jenn! xD The other doodle I did sucked. But I think the character is too adorable.. I wanted to do a colored one of her, too. :3

Lineart:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v710/ambereyedhanyou/hannahbanana2.jpg

Colored in photoshop!:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v710/ambereyedhanyou/hannahbanana2-colored.jpg

xD The original images you guys posted...she looks like a character that would be on a little girl's t-shirt, doesn't she..? I'm sure she'll be a hit once she's finished and the restaurant opens. :3

[lildook]

EW EW EW EW I am Excited beyond! This is So awesome! You go JENN!!! You guys are all doing an awesome job. KUDO's!!

I love Hannah's look as well! Oh NO She's officially Mitizi's replacement! HAHA I can't wait to see shows!

And more pictures of your progress! I know we all wish we could be there helping put our hands in this some way so your documenting of the project is like Gold!

Thanks!!!

David

[lildook]

BTW who's gonna sew the outfits? :-P

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

There is talk of possibly me doing the costumes, but nothing official yet.

Hey Kattt, awesome job with that art!


Tomorrow i will be going over to CEI as we try to get the Show Programmer fired up. SHould be fun!

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Here are some photos sent to us from Steve at home, where he just pulled out the sculpt.

Have a lookie!


This is a pic of what the casting looked like turned over and the inner foam support inside the mask was removed. So basically you are looking at the sculpture from the back side, face down in the now hard plaster block.

http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/mold/hannahfoamremoved.jpg

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

This shot shows most of the original sculpt removed...with the cheek and mouth clay still attached to the plaster mold.

http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/mold/hannahalmostdone.jpg

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Here's a pic of the complete mold!


http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/mold/hannahmold.jpg

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

And lastly for now...here is the remains of the original sculpture i did after being pulled from the plaster mold. I am very happy to see the mold came out fantastic! WAY TO GO STEVE!! You da MAN!

http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/mold/hannahtheruins.jpg

[lildook]

Is it just me or did we just realize that it wasnt beach bear nor billy bob that got with mitzi,, IT WAS FATZ... And dey had lil baby Hannah!!!! :-P

Had to do it.

[kaittttt]

Is it just me or did we just realize that it wasnt beach bear nor billy bob that got with mitzi,, IT WAS FATZ... And dey had lil baby Hannah!!!! :-P

Hahahahahahahahahaha! XD

[lildook]

Now if we could just convince Kaittt to draw fatz and mitzi sitting on couch in their slippers with lil baby hannah playing on the floor with some toys :-P tehe

[CEC3066]

are you doing Hanna's voice too Jenn?

[lildook]

I remember hearing that Aaron found some talent for Hannah's voice and that she can sing remarkabley. I can't quite remember her name though... sorry :(

David

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

This is true...

Aaron found someone locally who can not only sing great, but she is also British! This is fantastic, as that means Hannah will have a "authentic" accent and not a bogus false one. i MAY be doing some voicework, as there has been talk of me perhaps supplying Looney Birds voice. This would help Aaron with some of the new skit material, as it is difficult to concentrate on voicing two characters at once when they are both talking together. Having someone else do Looney would free him up to better concentrate on BB's character.

The concept for the Hannah show is that Hannah has just returned from America after searching many years for just the right act to bring back to her resturant. Guess who she finds....

Billy Bob and Looney Bird!

A lot of the conversation between them is about the differences in how Americans and the English express themselves while talking. Many sayings and expressions said in the US mean totally different things in the UK. An example: Being "mad" in the US means "angry", but in the UK it means "crazy". A "boot" is something you wear on your foot in the US. In the UK, it is what you call your car trunk.

So as you can see, this opens up all sorts of humorous possibilities. Billy Bob and Hannah will be trying to not only get certain points across that the other character may not understand right away, we will also get some great comedy as the two sort out their unique verbal differences.

Incorporated into the shows will of course be some great musical selections from the past ( BB and LB material) as well as some ALL NEW material. This not only means Hannah's contributions...but also some new Billy Bob and Looney Bird!


Update on the progress now:

Last night we did'nt go over to CEI as we were invited to a Dinner Party with Air's parents. Afterwards we came home and after deciding what we wanted to do, we ended up just relaxing and watching some random videos.

Today however, we will be down at CEI most of the day. Aarons is going to fire up the Show Programmer and we will fool around with all those fabulous buttons! YES!! Cannot wait!!!

Later tonight we will go out and have some fun...go down to Downtown Disney and catch a movie.

[kaittttt]

Now if we could just convince Kaittt to draw fatz and mitzi sitting on couch in their slippers with lil baby hannah playing on the floor with some toys :-P tehe

XDDD I could SERIOUSLY do that for you if you want. XD I've just got some other requests I gotta do first. Hahaha. Baby Hannah! XD

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Back now with the latest:

Steve has poured latex into the mold and is now awaiting the first mask pull. Everything is looking good so far!


We went over to CEI today to play around with the Show Programmer, but the tape deck was not working so it was a no go. Aaron opened it up though, to find out why the cassette door would not open. Turns out the rubber belts that drive the player were all rotted away from old age....so even after fixing the door we still would not be able to do anything with it. Oh well...it was still great to have a closer look at the Progamming table. Aaron took some time showing me some of it's features, including a general overview of how one would program a show. One of these days i would really like to give this a shot...

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Here's a nice pic from Steve showing the latex curing in the new mold we made the other night. There was trouble with Hannah's lips, part of them were damaged during the clay sculpt removal, but all is good as Steve was able to do some repair work.

Now we are just sitting on it....as we await the call that it has been pulled. This mask will be used as a mock up to test on the modified Mitzi Bot' as well be a test mask for Hannah's painting scheme.

http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/mold/hannahpoured.jpg

[captslappy]

I have a good working 234 cassette deck if Aaron needs one.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Thanks for the offer Captain!

The player is a 4 track pro cassette deck that is used to lay down the programming signals. He has a pile of them, as we went through some of them trying to find one that works. We loaded 3 into his car trunk as he plans on taking them somehwhere to get them repaired.

I will tell him about your offer though!

[CEC3066]

mmmmmm that mold looks good enough to be pancake batter

[lildook]

Sounds like Air needs a digital show programmer ;) te he hint hint.... Rip dem dam tapes up! haha

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Ha ha....well Air tells me he already tried digital formats to program and he prefers the tapes to digi.

The latest update now:


Steve has now poured the latex slosh out of the Hannah mold and we are now waiting for the latex edge to dry. Once that is done he will pull the mask and the sanding willl begin in prep for painting. I leave town tomorrow (Friday) so will miss out on the painting steps. I will be sending Steve a drawing of the colored mask so he can get an idea of what colors to use and have a guide to do color matches.

Should look great once all is said and done!

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Here's a pic from Steve of the mold with the latex slosh poured out. As you can see, we now have a nice thick mask "tester" to play around with. This will be used to fool around with when retrofitting the Mitzi mouth mech as well as be the mask Steve tests the paint on.

Another mask will be made for the final.


http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/mold/hannahsloshout.jpg

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Hey, i did'nt tell you what we did last night for fun!

Aaron broke out some old videotapes that had all sorts of rare stuff on them....the best one being this retrofitted RAE Classic Show that was turned into the shoddy looking Hillbilly Bear Show. The soundtrack was not produced by CEI, and was absolutely awful! Aaron himself could not beleive how bad it was! The voicework and songs were crap...but the CEI programmed animation was awesome as always. He dates this custom show around 1985 or so....and it was quite a thing to see. All the characters were retrofitted to be RAE versions of bears. Fatz was freakin' SCARY as a bear...as well as Rolfe and Mitzi as bears. Mitzi's voice was dreadful as it was SO obvious a man was doing her girly voice. Oh man....

Other vids we watched was the 1997 Consumer Electronics Show in LAs Vegas. This was the ONE time Air attended and he was touting his "Anti-Gravity Freedom Machine". Billy Bob was there ( the Mini RAE version on a platform) and Aaron and him did a neat presentation performance "live" on the sales floor. It was cool!! Such a shame though that he did not sell a single machine at the show....

We also watched a fun video from Looney Birds called "Live at Looney's" which was a promo program shown on local cable access channels. This video basically featured children doing LB Kareoke, and some great clips of Aaron himself doing some of the live performances with the kids. The best part was the skit he did for the kids with Bubba, the giant CEI gorilla. I did not know that other Animatronics were showcased at LB's...but there they were: Tin Man, Evil Tree, and Bubba! Very cool.

Bubba's skit started with Aaron talking about the big gorilla and how he was hoping he would move for the kids since they had done such a great job singing. As he would turn towards the audience, Bubba would then twitch...which in turn made the kids scream like crazy trying to get Air to turn around and see him move. It's a classic old stage routine, but in the end Aaron finally does turn around and see Bubba going bonkers. His reaction was priceless: He hoofs it at lightspeed out of LB's place ! Ha ha! It was great!

It's a darn shame Looney Bird's is not around here anymore. I would have liked to have expereinced it in the flesh.

[CEC3066]

Maybe you WON'T have to leave Jenn. they do have a BABW at the Florida Mall Why not Transfer to that one so long as your back in time for CV4, Aaron would be happy, Steve would be happy but most importantly....KERRY! Oh wait You have J's camera. Nevermind!

[lildook]

well Air tells me he already tried digital formats to program and he prefers the tapes to digi.

hehe, sounds like my grandpa tellin me he'd rather listen to some good ol 45's rather than some mp3's :-P

[lildook]

Btw awesome jobs! Are we gonna get to see any more pics of the progress since your gonna be gone jenn?

:(

[WickedWonder1]

This is the coolest news I've heard in a while! I had heard about the HB project but didn't know it had progressed to this point. Thanks for the pictures and journal Jenn, and I hope to hear more in the future!
BTW, I know a person who'd be *perfect* for the costuming! :rollin

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Well lildook....your grandpa is not the only one who thinks "old technology" is better then the "new". I am a big supporter of "old tech" and i have to side with your grandpa on this....vinyl records sounds WAY better then any Mp3 thingy...but that's just my opinion. Each there own i say....

Thanks for the great feedback gang....all of us involved in this project are really appreciative of the positive buzz this seems to be creating in the Animatronic world! I am sure Air and Steve will contunie to ad updates to this thread once i head back home tomorrow. I will of course continue too if whenever i have an update.

The latest now is we are awaiting the 234 tape deck(s) to get repaired in preperation for programming the future Hannah shows. Steve is about to pull the first Hannah mask anyday now....and work will begin on painting it. I need to send him that color sample drawing to him ( makes note to self).

Aaron has been working on the scripts for the new shows for the past couple of weeks already, and ONE skit has already been recorded! I have not had the opportunity to hear it yet, but i am told it is good stuff! More will be recorded in the coming weeks. The goal is to have the Hannah Bot' ready to go in 3 weeks so programming can begin on her once the shows are recorded. I am up for coming back to help out, and there has been talk of it...so we will see.

I found some good hands for her last night while at CEI in the programming room. I was checking out the New RAE setup and noticed that the Danceatronics Mitzi has the PERFECT Hannah hands. I showed them to Aaron and he agrees. Now all we need is to find the original molds for those in the basement and we are good to go. We were hoping we could recycle something instead of spending more time making a new sculpt and mold for her hands.

As far as her shoes go...i am sure we can find something in the basement to use there too. The costume will be all new though...and depending on who makes it the Mitzi shirt will be a basic pattern for it. There is talk of maybe Steve and I doing it, and putting her together appearence-wise.

Hey Danny....i like your idea about transferring to the BABW here in Orlando ( there are several) but the LAST place i would want to be working here would be there man! Seriously...it's WDW all the way with me. Ha ha!

Great suggestion though. I wonder if Kerry and Aaron could stand having me live with them 24/7? Ha ha!! I know Kerry would love it!

[lildook]

Jenn,

I hope I didnt come across rude... thats usually why I throw in a spare smiley here and there haha.. Your right though to each his own... Since I can be considered the new age digital programming dog here I was only trying to dance around like a butterfly and make jokes at the older system. All in good humor..

I know there are benefits to his older tape system, definately the most defiable being he has it already, and it works for his application. Can't beat that usually...

Again can't express my love for your art work and the progress... So KUDOS again and hope to see more :)

David

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Thanks lildook...all is cool and i did'nt take any offense at all to your comment. Everything is COOL!


Well shucks...it's going to be dang depressing going back home after all this excitement. It's been non-stop Animatronic mayhem and i am LOVING it! I want to stay another week and work with Steve on getting Hannah completely finished! I bet if i did, we would do it too.

Oh well.....hopefully i will get back here fast and pick up wherever the two of them are on the project. I'll let you know when i know!

[CEC3066]

BUT by going back home you'll be able to get back on a more normal sleep pattern. These days of Getting up at noon and going to bed anywhere between 4 and 5 am must have you going NUTS

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

It takes a toll on your body sometimes, yeah...like that all-nighter we all pulled at Steve's when we plastered the sculpt....but it works out. It has been kinda cool actually to shift my sleep pattern a bit and get back into the Nightowl phase.

It's a Floridian thing...since it is normally hot out during the day it makes sense to be active during the cooler nights.

Tonight we enjoyed out last night together by having Dinner with Aaron's family. Afterwards we hit Downtown Disney so i could satisfy my Disney Addiction ( had to check out the Pins!). We also strolled through Pleasure Island which was cool, as it was my first time since they just recently stopped charging to do so ( you are charged only when you go into the clubs).

We finished up our last night together by relaxing and watching "The Billy Bob Project" video movie Kerry and I made back in 2002 as a tribute to the RAE. Aaron loves it, and thinks it should be released to the fan community. Kerry is still hesitant though but for those that have seen it know that it gets high marks.

[captslappy]

Did you get to go by Tommorow Land and show Kerry Sonny Eclipse?

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

No Captain...we did not go to the Parks while i was down here. Only Downtown Disney so i could check some old tix and pick up some trading pins.

One of these days when i am down here at WDW we will have to get together and then i can take her to all the cool attracions there. I think she missed quite a bit the first time she was there in November. Sonny would definately be on our list of must-sees.

Well i'm about to take off ( literally) for the Airport here....man this sucks! I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE!! It's like 76 degrees here, and 22 in Boston! ARGH!!

Good thing i'm wearing my t-shirt today.......lol.....

[lildook]

Nooooooooooooooooo :-P I wanted to see the hannah mask pulled :)

David

[captslappy]

Jenn please pass on to Aaron I have a perfect set of those mijjin Mitzi hands if he wants them. I have no use for them.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Done....and THANK YOU Captain! This will help out a lot, as it will save them trying to find the original mold in the mountain in the basement. Kudos to you man!

Well yes, i am now back home here in Boston freezing my giblets off. Don't worry though folks...this is NOT the end of the story, nor this thread! Both Aaron and Steve will be keeping me updated on the progress, and in the future i will likely return to work more on the tail end of the project.

For now, i will await news and pix from Steve about how the first mask came out. We are all sitting on the edge of our seats about this important "first pull" as we need to confirm that the mask scult WILL work. If not...well.....we are basically back to square one!

I have FULL confindence though in Steve's judgement and certainly more then enough confidence in his experience at this point. I'm not worried at all. You guys should have seen his shed....i called it "Creative Engineering Lite" as it was basically a mini version of the warehouse ( at least the masking center). Steve is the man....and if anyone can pull this off ( no pun intended) HE can.

Speaking of wanting to show you things....did i mention earlier that J let me borrow his small video cam so i could film on location in the thick of this project? Yes! I JUST finished watching the videos we shot and they came out GREAT! I'm still bummed that the camera battery died when the time came to pour the plaster, as it was quite a scene that night at Steve's. Everything else is pretty much there though, from our first meeting with the raw Mitzi mask mock up to discussions galore about how we are each planning on how handle this projects' challanges. Some of the best footage is the stuff shot literally in the moment....as Aaron and i rework the 1st version of the Hannah sculpt to make it prettier, to some fun moments that just happened spontanuously. It is a very good record of the process...i just wish i had captured that hilarious all-nighter we had at Steve's pouring the plaster. Man that was right out of a comedy movie!

So at some point, pieces of this may be "released" for fans to get a glimpse on what goes into such a project. I will wait for now, as i think it would only be right to have Aaron view it first and give his official stamp before distribution.

Stay tuned!

:D

[lildook]

Im in line :)

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Okay!

Here's the latest news: The mask has been pulled, and it looks INCREDIBLE!

See for yourself, courtesty of Steve:


http://mesmerizer.com/hannah/hannahmask1.jpg

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Here's another view of the freshly pulled mask....this time showing how the all-important upper and lower jaw line up.

Looks good!



http://mesmerizer.com/hannah/hannahmask5.jpg

[captslappy]

Cool, looking forward to seeing the finished complete cosmetics on an actual robot.

[pizzacam]

Haha, yeah that's looking great Jenn!! I have to hire you to do a mural for me!

[lildook]

wow looks awesome! I can't wait to see the painting either!

[VegaNova]

Thanks Jenn / Steve / Air for posting all this new stuff! I'd definetely love to see more as this moves along. :eek

For those who haven't heard it yet, I posted the Hannah Banana demo show on Radio ShowBiz. It plays about every 25 songs or so, neat little clip that was recorded a few months back. ;)

-VegaNova

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Awesome Vega...i did not know that the Hannah promo show had already been "released"! Cool!

Sadly i am not able to hear it on Showbiz Radio, as since it was upgraded my computer cannot hook up to it. Bummer really...but oh well...i will hear it eventually.

Here is something that might be of interest to our readers......a little peek behind the scenes of some of the little details that go into a project like this.....


Here is a look at the paint scheme guide i sent to Steve as a guide for painting Hannah's mask. He has plenty of experience, so this is more a color guide for him. It also helps to show him where i envision the placement of the colors and shading, since i am not there i person to do so ( man it sucks being back in MA! :lol )


http://mesmerizer.com/hannah/paintscheme.jpg

[lildook]

btw.... I did have a few technical questions... :)

*How did you make the lower jaw line up seemingly perfect? Was it all eyeball or is there some trick to placing the lower jaw togther with the upperbefore fixing it?

*Did you use oil based or water based clay?

*This question maybe more for steve, but what is the best spray on release agent that you guys used?

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

When i did the original sculpture, the mouth was done "eyeballed". When Aaron and i went back and redid the sculpt to make it more feminine looking, he reshaped the lips and showed me a measurement technique. Before Steve made the mold, Aaron and i both tested the jaw by squishing it against the upper lips to ensure it would line up.

I can't really go into more detail as i don't want to give away all the "trade secrets"....heh heh....hope you understand what i mean....as Steve has spend a lot of time and money perfecting his particular process and i would'nt feel right if i revealed too much of how that is done.

;)

[MSOFW]

So maybe I missed this -

Where is this show going location wise? Did someone commision to build one show or is this a brand new CEI line of shows that will be produced?

~Mike

[CEC3066]

The show is going to a Family Entertainment Center in London.England

[captslappy]

It is just one show for now but they may open more later.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Yes, this Hannah character is the mascot of a new entertainment resturant opening in London later this year. The owner contacted Aaron about making to show for his new place, and Aaron agreed. Since he knew Steve and I could help him get this show together, he accepted the job and the rest is history.

[puppetdude]

So, I am updating the progress blog on Hannah tonight especially for the customer who wants to know how things are going.

I have dropped off three of my Tascam 234 tape players to be repaired so that if anything happens to one of them during the programming phase, I can keep on trucking. It seems all these units have the same problem. Even Mike's has this problem. Mike, I appreciate your offering to let me use your deck, but kind of figured it wouldn;t work either since they all have decayed at the same rate since the early 80's when they were made. \\

And, David, the system is all digital with the exception of the deck used to play the audio and time code reference. Back when the programmer was developed, digital audio was not available on computers, so the Tascam 234 was interfaced. I have never seen an animatronic programmer that can do what this programmer can do and I wouldn't want to use a programmer with less capability just so I could go all digital. But, as soon as you show me one that works better than the one I have, I will bless it as the greatest programmer I have ever seen right here on the web site. You just have to let me try it out. I'll tell you what it's missing. Remember, we developed this programmer over a period of 15 years with many thousands of hours of use and tweaking of functions and responsiveness. And, by the way, an mp3 has only a fraction of the fidelity of an old vinyl record. Compression sucks.

Now, on with the progress of the mask. We have removed the original mask from Mitzi, removed her ears, hair and hair attachment parts and attached the new mask, fitted it with snaps, fitted it around the eyes and snapped it and filled the head with a temporary filler just to get a look at the mask on the mechanical frame. This is still not the mask we will finally be using and therefore is not being painted yet. We are working out the mechanical considerations first, and figuring out how the ears will work, the skull will be modified, the mouth will fit, and the neck will be made.

Here are a few pictures for you. I hope this is how you post pics.

http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/mask/fit-01.jpg

http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/mask/fit-02.jpg

http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/mask/fit-03.jpg

http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/mask/fit-04.jpg

http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/mask/fit-05.jpg

http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/mask/fit-06.jpg

http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/mask/fit-07.jpg

http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/mask/fit-08.jpg

http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/mask/fit-09.jpg

http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/mask/fit-10.jpg

[puppetdude]

Kaitttt,
Your drawings are very impressive! I love your work!

Also, I might add that we have been making progress on another front besides mask making and fitting. I am working with James Marous to construct the control system. At this point, it appears the easiest path to completion is to use my bit strippers to control the movements and lights. I am sending James power supplies, metal boxes tomorrow and, meanwhile, he and I are deciding how many high voltage circuits we are controlling. We are allowing a circuit for curtains to be added later, although that is not a part of the project at this point. Also, we will be allowing for Looney's letter to come up which will take pulling a signal off the props valve bank so that at various points in the show, Looney can bring up a letter, or a printout from a Google search or whatever to read to the others or the audience. When I get the complete list of bits defined, we will know if the bit strippers will do the job. I'll have that in a few days.

[RockafireGuy]

Hi Aaron! Just out of pure curiousity.... what's Hannah Banana for? Of course..... Maybe if I had not been too cross eyed to read all fo the posts here early in the wee hours of the morning.... I might be able to figure it out on my own.. LOL!

[RockafireGuy]

Okay.. never mind.. I just read it.. you dont' have to answer.. LOL! I'm half asleep....

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Yeah...that's what threads are for dude! Ha ha! :lol


I just saw these photos from Steve, as he sent them to me to check out. I think it looks great on her! The ears will give us some cosmetic issues but nothing we can't enhance with a little creativity. When she is furred, and has all her banana "hair" on ) plus the huge floppy hat..) it will be fine.

Aaron. i'm glad you took several machine in to be repaired. Yeah, having more then a few backup will be a smart thing when the time comes to program.

Hannah is going to be a LOT of fun to play with on the console i think. I am already looking forward to that aspect, as i see this character having a lot of animated potential.

[lildook]

Everything looks awesome! Great job guys...

David

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Here's some artwork i did recently that shows Hannah with her new American pals Billy Bob and Looney Bird.

"I'm Bananas for Hannah" is a slogan i came up with...and i can see this image being used to make some cool looking t-shirts and other merchandise.

Perhaps this will become a new catchphrase?


Here's a look at the artwork....the white line is there only to prevent image theft, as this is a sample.


http://mesmerizer.com/hannah/bananas.jpg

[kaittttt]

Aw, thank you Aaron! It means a lot to me that you took the time to look at somea my doodles. :] I really appreciate the compliment.

As for Hannah.. it's just turning out so awesome! And I'm so totally excited to see the mask painted! XD And to see the body with the new fur!

And your drawing is sooo cuuuute, Jenn!

[lildook]

I'd buy a tshirt with that on it immediately :)

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Woo Hoo!!

:D :D :D :D

[RockafireGuy]

This art work is nice.. Kaittttt.... you should do this for a living.....

Hi Jenn....

[puppetmaster29]

Wow, she's looking good so far. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the completed character!!!

And yes I would have to agree, kaitttt's artwork is awesome looking and I can't leave you out either ms jenn! Unfortunately, I wasn't blessed with that kind of talent. I don't think a stick figure will amount to much these days.:D

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Thanks puppetmaster29!

Latest news is that Aaron will start writing more Hannah shows next week.

Steve is in the process of smoothing down the Hannah mold a bit as we have decided that the initial "test" pulling of the mask is a bit lumpy. Hannah needs to have a nice smooth forehead...so Steve is going to work his magic and see if he can help her out a little.

The "I'm Bananas for Hannah" artwork i did has been offered for sale to the owner of the Hannah resturant.....perhaps we will eventually see this on some great merch!

I will post more updates when i have them folks..

:D

[cosmicbazaar]

Hey Kaitttt:

You are a hell of an artist. I love the colored rendition of Hannah!

Steve

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Hi Steve!

Hey, welcome to the Board!

Folks, here's the man himself who is helping us on the Hannah project in a big way!

He JUST sent me photos of the test Hannah mask with her banana "hair". She looks GREAT!

I am hoping to post these soon....

:D

[lildook]

who did the banana hair?

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

The "banana hair" is actually just plastic prop fruit.

Have a look at these fab photos, thanks to Steve and Aaron for these!


http://mesmerizer.com/hannah/fitting/bananas-1.jpg

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

http://mesmerizer.com/hannah/fitting/bananas-2.jpg

http://mesmerizer.com/hannah/fitting/bananas-3.jpg

http://mesmerizer.com/hannah/fitting/bananas-4.jpg

http://mesmerizer.com/hannah/fitting/bananas-5.jpg

[ChuckEFranchize454]

wow thats looking real good. so someone answer this for me..... what stage is Hannah gonna be on? is she gonna be on a rock a fire stage or is she gonna have her own stage or Jenn do u have a Layout of the stage design. i really wanna see how this stage is gonna look for hannah

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Hey there Franchise....

The idea is to have Hannah on a Mini RAE-style stage, with Billy Bob and Looney Bird there with her. Hannah will be positioned on one side, presenting her hot new discovery from America, Billy Bob and Looney Bird!

As far as the actual look of the stage, there is talk of using some of the RAE trees and perhaps some NEW custom painted scenery to add to it.

It is not 100% certain at this point if Looney will be in his traditional oil barrel ( i am assuming so, but i don't know what Aaron has in mind officially regarding Looney). It may turn out he will appear in something else.

Should look pretty decent when all is said and done. I would image it would have a standard stage lighting set with it ( floor and spots).

That's all i know about it at this point...work is continuing on getting the mask finalized and paint test finished.

[bzier]

Hannah's looking awesome! I would love to see this show go somewhere closer to home... :(

[MMBBfan327]

Great work you guys...cannot wait to see the final outcome please keep us posted!

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Will do guys...as best as i can when i have new info or photos!

;)

[Snap]

Very Awesome!

[puppetdude]

Hey Kaitt,
Maybe the owner of Hannahs would be able to use your artwork as well as Jenn's. It's clear you have great talent too, and I bet Jenn wouldn't mind if you helped out in the art department if she gets too swamped to handle everything. Right now, I am planning on having Jenn not only do his artwork for him, but also help me program the shows we need to send him. On top of that, I have another customer who I haven't talked about yet who has just bought a show and needs to have a custom character made and custom programming done. Everybody wants all their work done yesterday, and I am afraid I'll be tearing Jenn apart at the seams pretty soon. I also, am having a bit of a hard time being "retired" with all this work going on even though you fans are now doing so much to help me get these orders out.

Steve has just sent me a picture of the new ear mechanisms for Hannah. Here it is:

www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/ears/mod-1.jpg (http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/ears/mod-1.jpg)

Aaron

[puppetdude]

Hmmm I meant to have the picture show up in the post. Let me try again.

Aaron

http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/ears/mod-1.jpg

[kaittttt]

Hey, Aaron! :] I'd love to help out in any way possible! Just lemme know what I can do for you! I'd be honored. :] Thank you so much for your kind words.

[captslappy]

Are you guys using mijjin hands for the robot?

[chuckrules]

That looks very cool.:)

[MMBBfan327]

Who plays Hannah's voice on the demo reel with Billy Bob and Looney Bird?

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Yes, the "New RAE" Mitzi hands are perfect for Hannah. We will more then likely be using the ones you sent Captain!

I am not sure who the voice actress is that is doing Hannah's voice in the recorded shows ( Aaron would be able to answer this). To date, i have not heard any of the material, but i am assured she sounds perfect for the character.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Breaking news gang!!

I am returning to Florida to finish work on the Hannah project early next month! Yippee!!!

For 2 weeks in early March, i will be back in Magical Orlando to put the pedal to the metal and work on finishing up the character, produce some artwork for the resturant, and also try my hand at programming some material. Also in the works in another characters mask sculpt, this time from another customer and totally unrelated to the Hannah Project.

This should be a interesting 2 weeks...the fun starts March 5th folks....and you can read all about it AS IT HAPPENS exclusively here on ShowbizPizza.Com!!

Stay tuned!

:D

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Latest update now..

Aaron is hard at work getting the show recordings complete. I can't wait to hear this stuff! It's going to be GREAT hearing Billy Bob and Looney interact with this new character!

:D

[CEC3066]

it's a good thing she is going to the UK as there is a bread company here in the US called the Hannah Banana Bread Company. I discovered this while looking for videos of Hannah on Youtube.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Well gang, i'm back here now in fabulous Orlando to continue work on Hannah and some related projects.

I think we will be making yet more history over the next couple of weeks, and readers of Showbiz Pizza.com will have have the exclusive scoop!

Tonight we are getting together with Steve, who will be stopping by to drop off some supplies so i can get started on one of the projects i have been enlisted for.

The weather is great, and it's nice to see leaves on the trees and green grass again!

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Back now with the latest update:

I have now heard the first Hannah show, and it sounds good! Work is going ahead in the recording department to complete to remaining shows so i can start fooling around with them on the programmer.

At the moment i am slightly spaced out, as i have come down with a very bad cold of some sort all of a sudden..which is making things move in slow-motion for me. I remember this happening to me the first day i was here back in January ( must to the sudden change of air or something..maybe pollen?) but back then i was over it in a day. This i think will last a bit longer!

There is some fun planned for this weekend, with some friends coming down to experiment with some "new technology". We will see how that goes....

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Wow i'm loving this Broadband connection here in FL!

Alright folks, have i got a scoop for you!

After some thought, it has been decided to change the voice of Hannah. We now have another woman handling the voice characterization, and last night Aaron pulled an all-nighter and recorded a bunch of show material with her. So the sample show that has been floating around in the fan communtiy for the past few months is now a collectors rarity!

Click on the link below and hear the ALL NEW "Sample Show" of Hannah Banana with her new pals Billy Bob and Looney Tune....er....Bird!


www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/shows/scratch/show-01.mp3 (http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/shows/scratch/show-01.mp3)

Great stuff, and i think you will agree that the character is really starting to come to life now!

Steve is almost done with the mechanical modifications on the Mitzi Bot' to bring it up to par with what is required for Hannah. This primarily involves a new mech setup for the ears, as Hannah has her large monkey ears that need to move on the side of her head...not on the top like Mitzi needed!

Steve and i are also getting together later today to work on a unrelated project...so i will be able to check out firsthand the progress. SHould be fun!

I'm still battling a bad cold/alergy reaction thingy while all this is going on...so i have been having some early nights these first few days. I did want to come on though and give ya'all this breaking news......

More info when i have it!

[menutia]

Um, is a gas station like a petrol station?

[pizzacam]

LOL yeah really! :lol Cool skit though! So are they gonna be at some fish and chips joint or?

What's the kiddie equivalent to pizza there? :o

[Billy Bob Brockali]

Pork Pies, of course! Full of lovely sweetbreads...


XO >>>>

[kaittttt]

I'm likin' the new voice, Jenn! :] But why did Aaron decide to go with a different person..? Needed more personality..? And is this girl really british like the other one was?

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Good questions!

For Pizzacam: The stage set will be similar to a Mini Show, with Smitty's Super Service Station behind BB and LB. Hannah will more then likely have a old tree section behind her, as there is still some around that can be used.

For Kaittt: The original voice talent for Hannah was just as authentically British as the new voice. It was felt however that a new direction was needed as the original voice was not matching the personality of the needed character persona. In other words, you could hear MORE of the character we were looking for in the new voiceovers then in the previous version.


Aaron has already "tweaked' the new sample show already, adjusting the sound level of Hannah's voice a tad. SOunds even BETTER now then what is in the link above!

He is currently going crazy trying to complete at least this one show so i can start on the programming. I can hardly wait, as this is something i have always dreamed of doing!

Look out CEC!

Ha ha ha !!!!

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Latest update now:



Last night a longtime dream of mine came true as i had my first programming session at CEI on the Show Programmer trying out some of the new Hannah show. It was a great experience, and fasinating all at once as the system that was used to produce the CEI shows we all know and love is nothing short of utterly amazing. I was amazed and impressed by the extremely clever system they have there, and despite it's age i found it to be very user friendly and more my style, as in, more hands-on and responsive. Absolutely incredible setup, and i can see now that all those years required to develop the Show Programmer definately come to the fore when you sit and begin your sequences. It was a lot of fun, and as i suspected highly addictive too! We arrived around 6:30PM or so and did'nt leave until around 2am!

Aaron showed me the ropes and the basics of how the get started. He then did a few sample animations to show me some examples of timing. All very interesting and informative...learning about some of the neat functions of the Programmer.

After a little of this one-on-one, Aaron let me loose on my own to experiment with the sample Hannah show, primarily the opening segment with Hannah introducing Billy and Looney, and their reactions to her. I won't go into great detail, as we don't want to give away all the surprises...but gosh it was FUN! I have always felt that i would be a natural for this sort of thing, with all the years of puppetry and animation skills of other kinds....AA's always seemed the next logical step to try my hand in. I can hardly wait to get back behind the desk and play around some more with the sample show segment!

Huge thanks go out to Aaron for allowing me to partake in a part of CEI History and also for letting me do something i have been wanting to do for AGES.

Tomorrow he will be recording more show segments with Hannah's voice artist and perhaps later in the week i will have more material to play around with. We will see...

[CEC Kid Check]

Hey Jenn, this is very exciting, and congrats on working on a show with Aaron that we all know will be successful!

And that demo of Hannah and BB/LB sounded great!

So is there going to be other characters on the stage besides Hannah, LB, BB? Like back-up singers like sun and moon?

[Jasper]

Haven't posted in a while but have been following this Hannah Banana thread...

I must say this is real exciting stuff! That audio clip was fun...felt like real good old fashion Rock-afire dialogue.

Can't wait to see some animation programming demos!

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Well thanks guys...glad to see you are following the progress and have interest in it.

Latest news now: I started programming the sample Hannah show a few days ago and i'm really enjoying it. Being able to animate the different movements with CEI's incredible setup is nothing short of amazing. Today i am going back and spending a large chunk of this afternoon and tonight just working on it some more, laying down some more movements and playing around with a few ideas i have.

A few nights ago we had a get together at CEI with David, Damon, and their friends to test out David's programming system. We were there until about 1:30 in the morn, but just as we were all leaving Rick Baily ( voice of Beach Bear) came by to visit us! It was great to have him join us, and he was very entertaining. At around 4:30 the party broke up and we all headed home exusted from the days activities.

That's the latest...!

[harveytwoface999]

I'm whipping up a demo "showtape" based on the demo that was posted here, and I'm about halfway done. Right now I need someone with a Billy Bob walkaround and a Looney Bird puppet or walkaround for some live-action scenes.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

All right gang: Here it is, hot from the studio!

The ALL NEW 2nd Hannah Banana Show!!

Hear it here!

www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/shows/scratch/monkeybeatles.mp3 (http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/shows/scratch/monkeybeatles.mp3)

This show i will be starting programming on tonight. Last night i worked on the 1st sample show, and after 12 hours was able to present Aaron with complete show ready for viewing. It was a awesome experience to be able to have some fun animating these beautifully complex figures, and it was also a great lesson in observation. When all was done ( up to that point) i video taped it, as this is one show i definately wanted in my personal collection. It's not every day one gets to animate a new CEI show in the actual place where all those great shows originally came from, using the same equiptment pretty much. Flippin' INCREDIBLE if you ask me....

I am estastic with glee...can't WAIT to get back there tonight and go nuts!!!

I think i am spending too much time there as i am starting to NOT notice the sound of the trains when they go by now! HA ha ha!!!

:D :D :D

More news when i have it!!

Steve plans on painting the Hannah test mask before i leave next week, so soon we will be seeing her in "color"!

[harveytwoface999]

Just out of curiosity - who's doing the showtape video? Because I'm pretty good with Flash, and I could whip up a demo for it.

[CEC3066]

Are you doing Looney's voice Jenn or is Aaron doing both Billy Bob & Looney Bird

[MMBBfan327]

Also do my ears decieve me, or on the original demo tape is that Dook introducing??? :D :D :D :D :D :D

[menutia]

What Video? I didn't think there was going to be video for this show.

~M

[captslappy]

They did use Dook's voice for the intro on the test skit. I asked Aaron about that when it first came out. It is a voice over only taken from an old tape. Dook the robot is not in the show.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

The Hannah shows will not incorporate video ( we DON"T need yet another AA show with this "distraction.."..lol). The "video" i may have mentioned earlier is a private video i shot at of my programming for the 1st Hannah show. And yes. Dook is not involved in this show in any way. It will be Hannah, Billy Bob and Looney only.

Last night i spent another 6 hours of so at CEI re-programming a few sections of the 1st show i was working on the other night. I tightened up some of the movement ( there was too many "robotic" moves) and smoothed it out a bit. Aaron seemed pretty excited about what i had accomplished so far...and i was already excited! This sort of thing is a project you can easily keep going back to and tweaking to add in uncounted more touches and adjustments.

Tonight i will be back, and Aaron will be spending some time with me to show me some hands on examples and tips on how to acheive certain moves smoothly and some ideas on incorporating some actual acting into the performance. Many of these things i already am aware of due to my puppetry/animation background...but the trick is learning to incorporate that already stored knowledge and expereince with the classic system of programming a RAE character onstage.

Can't wait...as we will ALSO be starting work on Hannah show #2, and maybe in a few days also work on Hannah show #3 which is almost done. I am here until Monday, and the plan is to get me going on these as far as possible before i depart.

[CEC3066]

When does the show ship to London?

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Sometime in May i beleive....

Sorry i have not been keeping up in this thread the past few days..i have a good reason! For the past four days i have been living in a warehouse full of robots programming the first 3 Hannah shows! Basically i was cut off from the real world during that time, thus no recent updates.

Here they are now:

I have programmed the first 3 Hannah shows using Billy Bob, Looney, and Mitzi on CEI's wonderful Show Programmer. Aaron gave me a crash course on how to animate a show and i have taken to it like a duck to water. I had a ball, and it was a great thrill to be able to do this. This was without a doubt the highlight of the trip! Gettting to actually create the movements and put these 3 shows together was a thrill beyond belief!

Steve has now finished painting the first Hannah mask to see how she will look. It is really starting to come alive, and i think this will be a neat looking character when all is said and done. This week he will put her all together and see how she looks in action. Unfortunately i have to return home to Boston today, so i will miss seeing that happen.

Ah well...there is always next time!

[harveytwoface999]

Boston for the WIN! _|,,|

(That was supposed to be one of those "rock on" hands. :lol )

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

:D :D :D

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Alright...latest news now.....

I'm back home here in BeanTown but the project surges forward regardless!

Yesterday Steve and Aaron set up the mock up version of Hannah and tested her out with the 3 shows i programmed last week. I'm told things went well, but sadly no photos to share!

More shows will be recorded soon....

For those curious, i have named the first 3 Hannah shows. For the trivia buffs out there, here they are:

Hannah Banana Show 1: "Introducing Billy Bob"

Hannah Banana Show 2: " Talking Monkey"

Hannah Banana Show 3: "Sweet Tea"

These are tentitive "pet names" i gave these shows while working with them in the programming room...and are in no way "official" but i like them! If you have already heard these shows, you will see why i chose these names.

At the moment i am working towards finishing the Hannah artwork for her place, and things are coming along nicely. Once the designs are released i may be able to share a few here, but for now they have to be kept under wraps.

Hannah's will have it's own website eventually, and whenever it is setup and ready to go, i will pass on the address to our readers here at ShowbizPizza.Com!

:)

[menutia]

Quick, someone buy www.hannahbanana.com - .net - .org... etc.

[CEC3066]

wouldn't hannahbanana.co.uk be more appropriate since shie IS going to London?

[puppetdude]

We'll be posting some video of all of this soon.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Wonderful to hear that PuppetDude, as i for one am bursting at the seams to show the Fan Community my programming efforts!

Latest update now folks: Hannah now has her tail! Steve is doing a fantastic job creating a special custom made curled monkey tail that looks just like it appears in her pictures. I have seen the photos, and i have to say it again folks: This character is REALLY coming to life now!

Stay tuned for more news when it happens!

PuppetDude, any chance we could share some more photos with the folks here?

[puppetdude]

Sure...Here's Tandy sparkin' a stogie.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f278/rolfesangel/Tandy013.jpg

[lildook]

That dog's ruthless! First eats the Frog, Now relaxin to a stogey... My my... :)

[edpride]

Hannah Banana looks cute. Is she a new Rock-Afire character? Is a return of the Rock-Afire Explosion in the works? what do you guys think?

[yorkmiss]

I'm not so sure that's a stogie... It could be a BLUNT! :)

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Puppetdude....very funny....!

That is not exactly the type of "photos" i was asking about! How about some of those new pix of Hannah?

For those wondering: Hannah is not a RAE member really....she is a custom made character that will be shipped off to perform in her own show in the UK. Billy Bob and Looney Bird will be with her, but i would not say she is a "Band Member". She is the host of the show, and of the resturant....the mascot if you will.

Yes she is a CEI creation, the animatronic that is, but the character itself was designed by the owner(s) of the Hannah restaurant overseas. CEI had the task of taking those original drawings of her ( on page 1 of this thread) and turning those into a fully animated figure in three dimentions.

The Hannah resturant will have this exclusive show. It's exciting as it is the first NEW show to come out of CEI in some time as noted previously, and Fans can get into it i think since Billy Bob and Looney Bird will now be able to entertain a whole new market in an area that i'm sure will embrace them.

Remember that over in the UK, there are NO Chuck E. Cheese's. He is totally unknown there so for many Brits this will be the first time they have ever been exposed to the Pizza/Games/ Animatronic Show resturant concept. I think it has a excellent chance of making a impact, and the kids over there are going to be in for a treat. If things really take off over there...who knows..anything is possible at this point. I would like to see it become a success. I think it has a really good chance, as unlike here in the States, HB's will have no direct competition from CEC's and will not be forced out of the game.

[RAFE CEC Guy]

Wow! This Concept That Has Been Around For 30 Years Will Be Heading To The UK! Who Knows? Maybe Demand For CEI's Shows Will Cause The Production of More CRAFEs!!!

Hey, A Guy Can Dream! But Seriously, This Could Happen!

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Possible, but there has not been any Classic RAE Bots' made for over 20 years now. The last batch made was in 83'!

It will be great to see a new boon for these shows, but it will also be a challange to come up with the manpower and suppiles needed to begin that production up again after all this time.

Who knows? Anything is possible!

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Latest news:

Show #4 is now recorded, and it sounds great! Nicknamed "Singalong", it features Hannah getting the audience excited about doing a sing along to a popular old tune. Billy Bob and Looney join in, and it's a fun time! Looney Bird totally steals the show however....but i won't say how as this will make a nice surprise!

Work is finishing up with the Hannah artwork too....

More news when i have it kids!

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Latest news:

Aaron has shot a fun video showing Hannah's new owners all the goodies they will be getting with their Show. In it you can catch the first glimpes of the Hannah robot with her mask on, and the beginnings of some cosmetics!

Very exciting stuff!


The small photo below is from Damon, and shows me at the Programming desk at CEI animating Billy and Looney for the assembled guests that night. Sorry it is not bigger, i have great difficulty posting larger images as they take far too long to load!

Thanks Damon!

[lildook]

We get to see the vid?

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

I'm working on it!

;)

[pasqually82]

I'm really looking forward to seeing this in action. Sounds fun!

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Thanks guys, and sorry for the recent lack of photos.

Their was some concern about revealing too much so the window backstage was tinted a little to allow for some fun surprises. If i am granted permission to post the video, i think it will more then make up for the lack of recent pix.

The video features a rough version of Hannah, and does not have any shows running. It is simply a overview of the equiptment being sent over to be installed at the resturant in the UK. Becuase of the personal nature of the vid, i wanted to seek permission before sharing.

[kaittttt]

:] I've seen both videos! Hannah is freakin' ADORABLE!

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Agreed....

I think folks will be very happy with her when all is said and done.

By the way Kait, thanks for helping me out with that little "side project" i am finsihing up. I did recieve your MySpace message but i rarely go there and do not know how to send a message back! So to be sure you did'nt think i was a snob, i wanted to say hi back here!

;)

[lildook]

HOw'd u get to see :( crying loudly

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Since i am involved in this project, i get to see the previews. ;)


Speaking of such:

I finally have some tidbits to share!

Here is the LATEST HANNAH SHOW for your listening pleasure:

Hannan Banana Show #4---"Singalong" ( that's what i call it)

http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/shows/scratch/daydream.mp3

This is actually the second version of the show, as the ending was changed to make it fit better with the overall feel of the performance. Here you get to hear Hannah SING for the first time ever!! Check it out!


Up next: The "Helpful Hannah Video" courtesy of Aaron and Kerry.

This video was shot to basically show the Hannah resturants' owners what items they would be recieving in there show, as well as a preview of the still-in-production Hannah figure. Here you can the Hannah figure with her mask on and the very early stages of being put together cosmetically. She is wearing the mask i sculpted earlier this year, which was then made by Steve.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wTPmjazAS8

Please note that the bananas and "greenery" on her head is TEMPORARY and will not be on the actual finished figure. Also please keep in mind that the movements you see of her in action are on a figure that has not been adjusted correctly yet ( this is a rough early test only folks...) so the motions may seem out of the norm. I have not been able to watch the entire video myself, so i cannot say if the movements Aaron mentions above are with my programming or not. Once i see it entirely, i will add further comments.

Enjoy!

:choochoo:

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Okay, i have now watched the video in full.

The very end features a very brief clip of the 1st Hannah Show "Introducing Billy Bob". Here you can see the three characters singing the last chorus of the song together.

At the end of the song, look closely and you can see Hannah wiggle her big monkey ears and wink at the audience. This was a fun thing i came up with for her as the early images of the character always had her winking. When programming, i added this to the end of every show to be her "trademark" sendoff of sorts.

The ears look great in motion. Steve did a awesome job retrofitting the original Mitzi ear mechs to this new configuration.

I can't wait to see her complete, and in action! Big thanks go out to Aaron and Kerry for sharing this video with us all!

[mitzirocks]

Hannah is SOOOO cute!:) You are awesome Jenn! :happy: When will there be a video of the show and when will the restaurant be open? Enjoying the discussion.......Clarke





Cosmic, Man. We gotta keep his little froggy self away from this Hopper dude....:rolfe:

[pasqually82]

Yes, Hannah does look adorable. Great job in creating her! Thanks for all the updates and visuals, Jenn

[captslappy]

Can't wait to see her painted. I was wondering how the green eyes were going to work for her but they look alright!

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

The mask shown in the video above IS painted Captain...but the lighting is so low that you really can't see her shadowing work and pink nose/lips/cheeks!

Hannah will have brown eyes as well....not green. I have actually been very stipulant about this, as her "look" based on the original promo drawings all have her shown with dark, black eyes. I always thought that for the figure to match the image, her eyes would have to be switched out to a Fatz pair.

Green eyes would clash terribly with her purplish pink shirt once that is made and put on her. So again, just to clarify....the above video is a "work in progress".

Someone asked again about when the resturant that will have Hannah is opening. It is to be called "Hannah Bananas" ( she is the mascot) and will open just outside of London, England this Summer. Tentative date is sometime in June last i heard word about it.

There will be several shows, all of them featuring new introductions/interactions and well known songs that many fans will remember.

Video of the final version, as well of photos of the finished Hannah are a ways away still.....as Summer nears however this is surely to change!

[CEC Kid Check]

Been thinking about this for awhile...
So if the show is being playied in London, and all the electrical for the show was/is made here in the U.S (110-120v). How are you going to run the whole shows electrical off a European voltage?
If you buy a series of Transformers to convert 110-->220v, for the amount of stuff that needs to be plugged in (like spot lights..etc..) that can get quite expensive, so what's your plan on that Jenn?

[captslappy]

There are adapters that deal with such things. Its not a big deal at all.

[Pizzatimefun222]

Eh? >D She's not as cute as Helen Henny.:rollin


Hellen's ugly comparred to Hannah.

[Pizzatimefun222]

I mean the drawings, since we mostly live in Americia, we can't see it. lol.

[stixcom92]

i'm a new member, following the posts, what's the show running on (tape, iPod, etc)

[raebigc]

I hope this will work out great.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

I am not 100% sure what the Hannah Show will be running off of, but my guess would be the TiVo system Aarons runs his current RAE's off of off-sight.

He is really the only one that can answer that question, but i am fairly certain it will NOT be running off of a reel to reel!

;)

[mitzirocks]

How come they are not using the still that was in between Looney Bird and Billy Bob? .....Clarke




__________________________________________________ ____
cosmic man we gotta keep his little froggy self away from this hopper dude:rolfe:

[dheineCECfan]

Hanna Banana, a new CEI show for SPP/CEC knockoffs and theme parks, I guess. I even like the cartoon design.

[lildook]

If I'm not mistaken, No still or Pump because Aaron is running low on these items...

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Also keep in mind that the Hannah stage will be a bit different from the standard Billy stage set up. In the context of the venue, and the show material in general, having the "full" scene is not nessesary really.

Besides...it's time Looney cut down on the Gasahol man! LOL!


Okay..some news now: Show #5's audio is now finished ! Yay!! I have not heard it yet, but if it is anything like Show #4 was, it will be a winner.

Work on Hannah has been going non-stop, regardless of the impression that it may seem all has been quiet. Steve is awaiting for the materials for Hannah's fur and clothing which are being sent in from a costume company. This is being done to assure that both the animatronic version AND the mascot version will match perfectly.

Yep, you read that right: There WILL be a mascot, costumed version of the character! Woo Hoo!!! This is being handled by a professional mascot company, and she should look just like her picture.

More news when i have it !

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Well i have just seen some photos of the final Hannah mask painted, with fur! It looks fantastic, and i am looking forward to the final, complete, figure!

Steve has done an absolutely incredible job on her.....she looks great!!!

At some point i hope to be able to post some updated photos...until then rest assured she is looking great!

[ChuckEFranchize454]

hey jenn do u have any more mp3's of hannahs shows? there very awesomeness lol

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Show #5 was released publically recently on the Animatronics Group. It's a BUddy Holly tribute, and features Hannah doing some vocals of her own i am told!

The link i have was not working, but i will see if i can find the one that does work!

[mitzirocks]

I LOVE BUDDY HOLLY!:bb_happy2:



COSMIC MAN!:alien: WE GOTTA KEEP HIS LITLE FROGGY SELF AWAY FROM THIS HOPPER DUDE!:rolfe: :earl:

[mitzirocks]

Can you post the mp3 here?:bb_happy2:




COSMIC MAN!:alien: WE GOTTA KEEP HIS LITTLE FROGGY SELF AWAY FROM THIS HOPPER DUDE!:alien:

[captslappy]

Link to the animatronics group: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/animatronicsworld/

[captslappy]

Oh yeah, if anyone does apply be sure to leave me a comment so I can tell you are legit. I got really tired of spam bots signing up. If you are from the board you can tell me who you are but please be srue to say "from the Showbizpizza.com site" or something. There are a lot of new people here that I still don't know and I may not recognize your name. Anytime someone applies that doesn't leave a comment that reflects they are legit gets denied.

[mitzirocks]

Got any more photos of the show progress? Looking forward to seeing them.

By the way, thanks for the link CaptSlappy:bb_happy2: ......Clarke


________________________________________________
Cosmic Man:alien: We gotta keep his little froggy self away from this hopper dude.....:rolfe: :earl:

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Yes, thanks Captain for posting the link to the A-Group. The show link i have does not work!

I DO have a fresh batch of photos of Hannah, and will seek permission to post a few. She is VERY close to being completed, and tonight i saw the first photos of her mask complete on the Bot' with most of the cosmetics in place from the waist down.

I have yet to have seen her animated in this form though...that will no doubt come once the final cosmetics and shirt peice are placed on her.

More news when i have it!

[captslappy]

Aaron has posted the audio links to some of the Hannah shows on the group. New members may have to dig through the posts to find them. I do want anyone that applies to understand that this is a group about animatronics in general and isn't a CEC/showbiz fan site. If you join, please understand that the only thing we discuss is animatronics so please don't post about other aspects of CEC or Showbiz. Also, please leave a comment when you sign up so I know that you are legit and not a spammer. If not, you may get denied. Thanks!

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Here's the latest news on the Hannah project folks:

Aaron recently filmed the first video footage of the completed Hannah peforming one of her shows! Yes!! Here is the link below!


http://www.youtube.com/watch=?vIRNZyropX54

This is one of the later shows that was recorded for Hannah after my last visit to FL to work on the project, so this is not a show i programmed. I did the first 3 shows only.

She looks great!!

:)

[dheineCECfan]

Here's the latest news on the Hannah project folks:

Aaron recently filmed the first video footage of the completed Hannah peforming one of her shows! Yes!! Here is the link below!


http://www.youtube.com/watch=?vIRNZyropX54

This is one of the later shows that was recorded for Hannah after my last visit to FL to work on the project, so this is not a show i programmed. I did the first 3 shows only.

She looks great!!

:)

I think the Hannah Banana video link is wrong or removed or something.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Whoops! Sorry about that...i should have tested it once i posted.

I have tried to post it again, but no luck....so just do a search on You Tube for "Hannah Banana' and you will find it. It's 'The Queen" video featuring her and Billy Bob.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Here is a photo from Steve of the finished Hannah!

Check her out!!


http://www.cosmicbazaar.com/images/pics/hannah_finished_2.jpg

[menutia]

Wow, she is REALLY developed for a young girl. (ahem) This character is cute. She has a very modern look and the colors are very agreeable with the rest of that stage.

Look at the closeup of the Face. Great Job Jenn... ( and Steve and Aaron and Kerry.)

[dook&jasper`s#1fan]

hey jen,
hanner looks awsome !!! but what are the metal thingys in the ears for ??? are they her earrings lol??? allso why dose fatz have a cowboy hat on ??? lol. jen could you please get a pic of that places dook & hanners bouncy tail please ??? she is sooo cute & good job & good luck with her. melanie.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Thanks guys...glad to hear you like her! Steve did an awesome job fleshing her out which was a challange.

The "metal things" you see on the edges of her ears are not earrrings..lol....they fasten her ears to the shaft inside that controls her ear animation.

And about the cowboy hat Fatz in wearing in the background....i put that on him way back in March while i was programming "Country Bear" in Hannah Show #3 "Sweet Tea". I was just having some fun, and he looked good with it on for the night. It's cool that he STILL has it on after all that time!

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Well here it is folks: the latest video from Aaron featuring Hannah Banana in action with Billy Bob and Looney! Here you will get to see her perform an actual show!

This is a interesting video, as you get to see the doubles of the robotic figures move together as the tape rolls....very cool...and very reminicent of the ol' testing runs CEI used to make with rows and rows of characters back in the day!

This video shows the completed Hannah and Billy Bob performing in front of the Programming Stage at CEI. This is the Birthday Show that will play in the UK restuarant....and there could not have been a better choice: Sal's Birthday lives on!!

Check out the fab video here:

http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/video/hannah-sals.wmv (http://www.mesmerizer.com/hannah/videos/hannah-sals.wmv)

[RAFE CEC Guy]

It's awesome!!! I love it!!! But, Dook's solo was completely cut out.:choochoo: Plus, the whole gang(The RAFE) singing in the backround for the 2nd and 3rd verse is still there.:choochoo:

[RAFE CEC Guy]

Does the "whole gang" referance and the look towards center stage while saying that hint something?

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

The Hannah Banana Show only consists of three characters....Hannah, Billy Bob, and Looney Tune...er, Bird! This is why Dook's solo is cut out of this version of "Sal's Birthday".

The end chorus with all the charactets singing, including ones not present, was left the way it was as it should sound as if the audience is singing too. If you watch the video again, you will note how Hannah asks folks to join in, and Billy Bob encourages a sing-along.

Aaron did the new programming on this show too. It looks nice!

[CEC3066]

considering she's going to Britain I'm surprised Beatles Birthday wasn't chosen.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

I think "Sal's Birthday" was chosen because it is primarily performed by Billy Bob. It would not make a lot of sense show-wise with only three characters to do the Beatles Birthday since most of the song showcases several different voices all singing together.

With "Sal's Birthday". you can get away with the end section having more then three voices as by that point in the show, both Hannah and Billy have encouraged the audience watching to "sing along" with them. The "extra" voices can then be thought of as the audience joining them.

That's my therory anyway.....

Besides..."Sal's Birthday" is a great original song! :)

[menutia]

Yeah, so what happens when the Queen dies? They have to stop using about half of the shows!

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

The Queen is immortal...!

She will never die!


:p

[RAFE CEC Guy]

The shipping help video is now out for H.B. This shows the inventory, the boxes, the instructions for assembling, the packing, the character crates, etc.

Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHVySovuFjA&mode=user&search=

Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKIGOpj6g6c&mode=related&search=

This also at the end shows that the show has shipped as of June 5th.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Yeppers...it is outta here!

Now Aaron, Steve, and myself can sit back and relax now that the deadline has been met, and the Show is on it's way off to a new audience.

All of the Hannah shows have now been completed by Aaron, and he did the finished and final programming on all the shows. The first three shows i originally programmed have been altered i am told, but some of my orignal bits remain.

It will be interesting to see this show ( and the resturant surrounding it) when it finally opens this summer. At this point the place should be already built and the show will be ready to install when it arrives in a few weeks. I hope it recieves the same love, attention, and care it deserves and is not allowed to fall into ruin.

My only regret is i was not able to see Hannah finished and complete, performing in the flesh before she left the States. Oh well....i guess that would make a good enough excuse to go back over to Britian....lol...!

[RAFE CEC Guy]

I hope it recieves the same love, attention, and care it deserves and is not allowed to fall into ruin.

Of course it will. People from Britain aren't as idiotic or non-caring as some people in the U.S.

I'm definitely going to Britain soon now more than ever, because I was planning to go to Britain anyways. Now I wanna go even more.

[Rockafirefan]

Jenn. in the Sal's Birthday video, Why is the Mitzi robot moving?

[Aaron]

People from Britain aren't as idiotic or non-caring as some people in the U.S.

Way to support our country :cec_thumbs:

[menutia]

Jenn. in the Sal's Birthday video, Why is the Mitzi robot moving?


People from Britain aren't as idiotic or non-caring as some people in the U.S.

I love it when posts prove themselves.

[Pizzatimefun222]

I saw the animotronic. Not what I expected. :cecwink:

[PaulKTF]

Hi all,

I'm mostly a lurker here but I've been following the development of this project and I'm really excited about it- even more so now that it's completed and on it's way to the location!

Hannah looks and sounds fantastic! The actress is perfect for the role (she sounds lovely singing with Aaron), and the mask and costuming couldn't look better. I really think this is the most exciting project we've seen from CEI since the formation of the RAE concept.

Congratulations to everyone at who's been involved in its development and creation! I hope it becomes the hit it deserves to be. I only wish I could see it in person. I hope we get to see pictures or video of the show once its fully installed. Thanks to Aaron and Jenn for sharing the videos and the progress of its development. I appreciate being given that insight.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Thanks Paul

Well the latest news is that Hannah's is now officially open over there in the UK. No word on how business is, but the owner LOVES the show. Perhaps in the future we will be able to produce more skits!

Yay!!

:)

[Fight]

The whole thing is really fascinating. I hope that someday one of my characters will be animated in such a way.

[CECTV]

Wow, this is really fascinating. I must congratulate all who has been involved with this project. Hanna is gonna be a hit! By the way, does anyone have any vids of the show yet?

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Nope....neither myself or Aaron have gone overseas to see the show in it's actual location.

Aaron did film a few bits that are on YouTube ( check links contained above in this thread for them) but these are just rough examples to give the owner a idea of what the finished character looked like moving and perfroming a skit.

At some point hopefully one of us will be able to visit and document the place. I'm about due for a UK trip at some point....hopefully the place will still be open by the time i get over there! I really should, as a lot of the graphic images around the place of the characters is artwork i did for the owner. So if not to go for the show, i should go for all the merch, posters, signage and numerous supplies that sport my handiwork!

[Toonygirl]

Now you can show us the place and stage she's in now!

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Well no....as i had stated in the above thread, none of us have been over to England yet to visit the new Hannah Bananas restaurant!

So there is NO video footage that exsits ( yet...) of the show in it's enviroment. The only bits that exisit have already been posted above and those were shot by Aaron at CEI. These are only samples and do not show the robots on stage and it the actual location.

Just wanted to clarify that to avoid confusion.

:bbwink:

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Hi gang...

There is now a promo video up on YouTube showcasing Hannah's place on location! Now you can see for yourself what this place looks like, both outside and inside. You can also see the show in action on site ( breif segment) and the cute walkaround costumed version of Hannah.

It's all to be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMPGNGvycn0

Special thanks go out to Aaron Fechter for this!

:)

[PaulKTF]

Hi gang...

There is now a promo video up on YouTube showcasing Hannah's place on location! Now you can see for yourself what this place looks like, both outside and inside. You can also see the show in action on site ( breif segment) and the cute walkaround costumed version of Hannah.

It's all to be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMPGNGvycn0

Special thanks go out to Aaron Fechter for this!

:)

Everything looks great! Love their choice of colors for the interior. Hope it makes a boatload of money and becomes a franchise in due time. :bb_happy2:

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

I just hope that if it DOES take off and expand, Aaron and Steve are ready to handle the forthcoming workload!

I would like to see this become the UK version of CEC. It already has a lot of simularities fans here will instantly pick up. Calling the kiddie area "Toddler Zone" for example.....

I love the outside appearence. It is TOTALLY unique from anything we have here Stateside. The windows must be murder to keep clean though....

I was surprised at how low the spotlights are in the Showroom...they must have a very high stage, and a lower ceiling space then the outer play areas do.

[harveytwoface999]

...BRILLIANT!

I loved seeing the layout of the place and the Hannah walkaround!

The only thing is, the stage is all black and the only scenery is the Smitty's backdrop. When I took a look at it, I said "Is that it?" I just hope they're not quite done "finishing up" the stage and that there are still improvements to be made, but I understand that any decisions as such are entirely their own.

And not even HB can escape the notorious "Double Chuck" phenomenon (or in this case "Double Hannah")! :bbembarassed:

[CEC3066]

<I just hope that if it DOES take off and expand, Aaron and Steve are ready to handle the forthcoming workload!>

the ? is...ARE YOU?

[PaulKTF]

<I just hope that if it DOES take off and expand, Aaron and Steve are ready to handle the forthcoming workload!>

the ? is...ARE YOU?

Um... What's that supposed to mean?

[VegaNova]

Yeah I was thinking the exact same thing about the stage setup and layout. After seeing the CEI demo videos, these new clips seem awfully familiar only this time their shot in a restaurant and not in the CEI programming room.

Seems like a few simple backdrops and stages could have added to the effect tremendously. But if they were going for a more simplistic look I would have scrapped the Smitty's station all together and went with no props at all. Who's to say though... maybe the stage isn't complete yet.

And the 'Double-Chuck' syndrome - funny you should mention that. I just now watched that clip and the person in the room with me commented on me how they now understood why I though that diminished the effect of the character so badly. And then I come on here and read the same thing. :bbembarassed:

Hopefully this'll take off and they won't let the show fall to crap. That seems to be the curse of the RAE these days, and has been for many years. If the owner cares about the integrity of his character and entertainment, he'll make the right move by working a 'show budget' into his expenses and keeping the show well maintained. :bbwink:

[CECTV]

Nice vid. Although I did expect more out of the background though.:bbsad: Also, does Hanna have her own curtian? The two Hannas thing can be pretty scary.:rolfe: Anyways, congrats on your project!

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

<I just hope that if it DOES take off and expand, Aaron and Steve are ready to handle the forthcoming workload!>

the ? is...ARE YOU?

There would be no further "work load" to worry about for me Danny, as my part to play is pretty much over as far as Hannah goes. I sculpted the original mask, and drew up most of the artwork....all of those things can be recycled and duplicated without my direct involvement. Duplicating the masks for more Hannah robots, and creating NEW robots for any other possible forthcoming locations will all be things Steve and Aaron would have to come up with. Naturally i would be happy to help out....but the bulk of the workload will still be falling mostly on their shoulders.

For example....they would both have to create more Billy Bob figures and Looney Birds. That would be a task, let alone making more Hannah figures.




Nice vid. Although I did expect more out of the background though.:bbsad: Also, does Hanna have her own curtian? The two Hannas thing can be pretty scary.:rolfe: Anyways, congrats on your project!

There are no stage cutains at all, and that would include Hannah. It was decided early on to not have curtains.

The simplicity of the stage does not bother me too much. To your average guest, they have nothing to compare it to like we do. I think UK audiences will lap it up...and enjoy this concept a lot. Remember, there are NO CEC's over there so again, they have nothing to compare it with.

[menutia]

Watch the video carefully...

No lights. Nothing Programmed, that is. There are spots and pars hanging, but not operating.

Michael

[harveytwoface999]

Yeah, I was kinda expecting that Hannah and Billy Bob would have their own stages with scenery and all, or Billy's scenery extending to Hannah's area if they shared a stage, but then I saw all they had for scenery was the Smitty's backdrop that came with the characters and the rest is all black. Then again, like Jenn said, they have no CECs to compare it to, so their standards might be very different from ours.

Still, it's cool to see Billy Bob and Looney Bird in a completely new environment and that CEI is still at it after all these years! :bb_happy2:

[RAFE CEC Guy]

Watch the video carefully...

No lights. Nothing Programmed, that is. There are spots and pars hanging, but not operating.

Michael

I noticed that too. It probably means that the restaurant is still setting up the show and is offering the show while they're still working on it. That would explain the lights, black stage, and no props.

[lildook]

Yeah, hopefully they are still a work in progress.

I always say a good filled background goes a LONG way in any country :)

David

[terry67401]

Very nice!! Good to see Billy Bob and Looney Bird back in action!! I hope that takes off and becomes very, very successful!!

Who is providing the voice for Hannah??

[Pbsfreak]

Wow! I liked that video! I wanna go!

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

I have not heard any news on how the Hannah concept is working out over there in the UK.

Next time i talk to Aaron i will have to ask him if he has heard from the owner.

I know back in January when i first came onto the project there was talk of possibly recording a additional 10 shows after the initial 10 had played for some time. Wether or not that comes to pass, i do not know. What i DO know is that the voice of Hannah will probably change a teeny bit, and will possibly be performed by another voice artist.

[harveytwoface999]

Well if y'ever need any showtape videos made, just come on down and push one of these buttons on my Show(-tape video) Selector! :D

I'll try to whip up a demo video and post it soon.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Hi Folks!


I have big news: I have FINALLY found out about the Hannah Montana website! Air kindly sent me the link :

Check it out!!!!

http://hannah-banana.com/Default.aspx

On the home page here you can see some nice photos, including one of the Show!

In the "Story" section you can view some of the artwork i did for the owner. I have to note that even though the original drawings are done by my own hand, the digital coloring is NOT. I feel a need to stress this, as people know my work by it's shaded hand applied hues. It still looks pretty decent though here on the Hannah site.

Enjoy!!

:)

[lildook]

Hannah Montana HAHAH

[Rolfe19]

he he he someone had someelse on their mind! ha ha h. I believe the cei hannah like bananas! ha ha ha oh thats funny

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Here is a direct link to the page that desiribes the Show, which includes some nice photos:

http://hannah-banana.com/Pages/InsideHB3.aspx


Note the photo of the Hannah figure winking her eye....i am tickled to death to see this, as this was a little animation "signature" i did back when i was programming the first 3 Shows!! Air went back and retouched the programming, but i am thrilled to see that my "wink" for Hannah stayed!

I added the wink as i noticed in the promo art i had been sent ( shown on the resturant logo) always had Hannah winking. I thought it would be a neat way to have her close a show skit..so at the end of the three shows i programmed i had Hannah wink her eye. It was her "trademark" in a sense.

Also for the die hard fans, i added Kathy's old "signature" animation for Billy Bob. I don't know if anyone spotted this over the years, but when watching a lot of the excellent "Classic" Shows Kathy (1) would often begin Billy Bob's solo skits with a head tilt....as if this was her "signature". I always though this was cool, and i added this as a subliminal tribute to her fantastic original programming. As Earl would say, I'm such a GEEK....lol....

[CECGirl365]

someone Please tell me that they did not get the name from hannah montana!! and also not making fun of her! I'm just a huge fan of Hannah and Miley and don't want anyone making fun of either of them!!!!!