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Captain N: Game Master - Wombat Man

9 comments
I was talking to my daughter about marsupials and she mentioned wombats. I told her that in 1988 I designed a wombat character for an animated TV show for DIC Entertainment -- looked it up on Youtube...and there it was! I designed Wombat Man and the love interest in this clip.

I was the lead character designer for this show, having designed many of the main characters. Although, I only worked on it for the first season. As was customary back then they would lay everyone off after the productions ended their season, and in-between seasons I landed a job with Disney.

My friend Fil Barlow also did some of the main characters as well. He was instrumental in getting the contract from Nintendo with his humorous character designs, the difference being the show was going to be about a Paper Boy. Back then there was a video game that featured a paper boy delivering papers, and the Paper Boy was going to be the lead character for the show. Somewhere along the line the Paper Boy idea was dropped and Kevin, as Captain Nintendo, was born. Fil was living in Australia at the time and wasn't around during production as he was with Alf and Alf Tales.

Funny thing, I remember Mike Maliani, our executive producer, came by with photos of child actors to play the part of Kevin Keene. I shuffled around the pictures and settled on Dorian Barag. I don't know if I helped his career or sunk it!

Once the show went in production I worked with character designers Ed Lee and Mike Goguen.

Sadly, the character Wombat Man was only featured here as the character Simon Belmont was switching TV channels. One of the production coordinators named Kurt Weldon did the voice for Wombat Man.

9 comments :

Peter Oedekoven said...

Looks like a fun show.Never got aired in europe though, right?
Great stuff Marcelo!

GWhitehall said...

I loved this showwww!!! Very cool :)

tiffannysketchbook said...

what a blast from the past! I remember loving this show!

Armand Serrano said...

From now on, you're Wombat Man! Cool stuff, Moe!

Anonymous said...

"Sadly, the character Wombat Man was only featured here as the character Simon Belmont was switching TV channels. One of the production coordinators named Kurt Weldon did the voice for Wombat Man."

Actually, he was featured in a Season 2 episode titled "I Wish I Was a Wombatman", where he and Nikki (his love interest) were the central focus.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GNASmn14Yo

Paperboy was also featured as a guest character in a later episode.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-jpr2S3ldw

Design-wise, what were your inspirations for Wombatman and Nikki? I always thought Nikki was kinda hot.

Marcelo Vignali said...

That's interesting about Wombat Man. I remember hearing that the studio was interested in giving Wombat Man his own show, but that never materialized...but it's good to know he had another appearance.

Well, I can't take much credit for their inception. Wombat Man and Nikki were written into the script, and so I had to design them. As for Nikki, I think her inspiration came from Carl Barks (of the Donal Duck comics). Carl would design very human-like characters, with animal noses. I thought it would be fun to do the same with her design.

Anonymous said...

"As for Nikki, I think her inspiration came from Carl Barks (of the Donal Duck comics). Carl would design very human-like characters, with animal noses. I thought it would be fun to do the same with her design. "

Really? I always thought Nikki was based on a certain celebrity from the period. At the very least she had a bit of Cindy Crawford vibe to me anyway.

Marcelo Vignali said...

You're probably right! A little Kim Bassinger, Cindy Crawford and Carl Barks -- all rolled into one.

Anonymous said...

I remember being a kid in the 80's and watching these cartoons, and Wombat Man always stuck out to me as a great character. So much so, that many years later when online video games came about, I always went by by the handle WombatMan. Apparently I’m not the only one, because multiple times I’ve started a new game, only to find the name is already taken. Anyway, thanks for the great memories!