Adventures with Angela

Friends and "Family"

Here at Yo Gabba Gabba, we really do get by "with a little help from our friends". With that said, I'm so glad to announce that the Yo Gabba Gabba "Family" episode is finally available! "Family" is one of my favorites of Season 2. I love this one for many reasons, but particularly as a character designer, I've been anticipating this one for a while because it introduces some new characters to Gabbaland. Muno's Mom, Muno's Dad, his sister Chibo (♥♥♥) and his baby brother Gogo.

Now this is where the friends part comes in. The script called for Muno's Mom to have a purse. The purse has to be functional, fashionable and it also has to magically be able hold items that are larger than itself (like Mary Poppins' carpet bag). The size has to be customized to fit Muno's mom because Gabbaland cyclopses are a bit bigger that normal humans. I happen to have a little bit of background in the accessory world, and I knew that for a cool mom like Muno's, this purse can't just be a prop. So I knew the right person to call...The marvelous, mysterious, mad, mad, mister meaner herself, MISSY BROOME.



I worked alongside Missy many years ago, back in the glory days of Paul Frank Industries. Sidenote: Anybody remember the J & MISSY Cat bag? That's a good example of my art + Missy's pursiness. Anyways, Missy is amazing. She's also worked for Roxy, teaches design at OCC and she's the creator of the world famous HOWDY.

So I called Missy up with our little design project, and instantly she was on it. She whipped up 3 amazing concepts and once we settled on one, she nailed it and quickly shipped it over to us. I was surprised to find that for production purposes, she fashioned two versions. One was normal and the other had a velcro trap-door bottom to solve our "Mary Poppins" issue. Brilliant! The craftsmissyship was impeccable.


She even lined the bags with this far-out polka dot print! Not necessary for a "prop" but this was no prop, this was a cyclops woman's vital fashion accessory! In this shot, Muno's Mom is pulling out all of the items necessary to make lemonade.



Like I said, we really do get by with a little help from our friends. Missy did all of this for us out of the kindness of her (Joan-Jetty-black) heart, asking nothing from us in return. She is just one example of the many dear friends that help us bring this silly little magic show together. We are so thankful for all of them. We love you!

More Missy Broome links:
http://missybroome.com/
http://www.myspace.com/missybroome
http://www.myspace.com/howdymonster

MATES OF STATE - Behind the Scenes - YO GABBA GABBA

I went to the Licensing Show in Vegas...

...And all I got was this AWESOME picture with Brobee!

TCA Nomination!!!

The Television Critics Association announces it's 2009 Award Nominees, and Yo Gabba Gabba is one of them!!! For: OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CHILDREN’S PROGRAMMING! How cool is that?!?!?!
Check it out, give a high five and do a silly dance!
Tvcritics.org

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Also in other important news:
HAPPY NATIONAL DOUGHNUT DAY!!