Smithereen: Aftermath

This photo taken on location, shows how dangerous the puppet stunts in the new Dan Clark/Wildbrain/Jetix Europe stunt puppet production Team Smithereen, can be to real stunt puppets.

Smithereen Puppeteers Laugh it Up

On the set of the new stunt puppet show Team Smithereen from creator Dan Clark and producing partners Wildbrain and Jetix Europe, puppet captain/puppeteer Sean Johnson, and puppeteers Russ Walko and Jonathan Kidder share a laugh between takes. Thirll Kat, dressed in his black light, glow in the dark sci-fi gear, is not having as much fun.

Team Smithereen Anatomy of a Puppet Stunt

The stunts of Team Smitereen, the new stunt puppet show from The Dan Clark Company/Wildbrain/Jetix Europe require lots of creative thinking, pre-planning, careful rigging, nerves of steel, and a little luck. Because so much is unknown before the stunt is attempted, the final result is never certain. This post outlines the steps it takes to pull off a spectacular Team Smithereen puppet stunt.



First the stunt is dreamed up, and pitched. Many of the Team Smithereen puppet stunts came directly from the Smithereen production team. Once an idea is chosen, episode storyboards are created. This Team Smithereen storyboard was illustrated by Smithereen puppet captain/puppeteer/director Patrick Johnson.

The finished storyboards are sent to the Team Smithereen producing partners Wildbrain in San Francisco, and Jetix Europe in England. After they've made their notes, the boards are tweaked and finalized.



Most of the puppet stunts developed for Team Smithereen require the production of special props. These custom painted paintballs and official Team Smithereen paintball cannon were created by Smithereen prop masters/production designers Lisa Coto and Brandon Minton.



Stunt day at the Team Smithereen house is full of excitement and some nervous anticipation. Because of the unpredictability of doing live stunts with puppets, the crew must be ready for anything.

In the top photo, prop master/production designer Lisa Coto, director/show creator Dan Clark, and director of photography Ivan Corona make final preparations. The green screen stage has been covered from top to bottom with plastic to protect the lights, and crew from stray paintballs and over spray.

In the middle photo, Team Smithereen puppeteer Russ Walko helps puppet captain/puppeteer/director Sean Johnson suit up in plastic and a protective paintball mask.

In the bottom photo, Team Smmithereen prop master/production designer Brandon Minton prepares to blast stunt puppet Thrill Kat with paintballs.



Action! After lots of hard work and preparation it's time to shoot the puppet stunt. The stunt is shot with two hi-deff cameras so nothing is missed. Some stunts are shoot in slow motion to capture everything in full detail.

Paintball episode director Patrick Johnson observers the action on a flat panel monitor.



Another sucesfull stunt created by the Team Smithereen crew. In the top photo puppet captain/puppeteer Sean Johnson and puppeteer Russ Walko pose with a paint splattered Thrill Kat. The bottom photo shows some of the damage, wear and tear that the Team Smithereen stunt puppets endure on a daily basis.

Whoop gets his Wings

This production still from the new stunt puppet show from The Dan Clark Company/Wildbrain/Jetix Europe Team Smitheen, shows stunt puppet Whoop flying through the air with his handmade wings.

This photo shows what the stunt puppets look once the green screen compositing and puppet eye animation is complete.

Team Smithereen: Spectacular Kills

The puppet stunt team and the stars of Team Smithereen, the new stunt puppet show from The Dan Clark Company/Wildbrain/Jetix Europe attempt outrageous stunts on a daily basis. Every stunt has a high degree of risk, and they always goes terribly wrong in a visually spectacular fashion.



The puppet "kills" ad a degree of difficulty to Team Smithereen - director/creator Dan Clark, puppeteers/puppet captains Sean and Patrick Johnson, prop masters/production designers Brandon Minton and Lisa Cota, puppet builder Mark Villalobos, and director of photography Ivan Corona, must all work together to pull off puppet kills that are completely unexpected, visually spectacular, and outrageously funny.




Recipe for Spectacular Team Smithereen Puppet Kills:
Begin with new puppet building materials like foam latex, silicone, and wax, combine with methyl cellulose, liquid nitrogen, and shampoo, mix with a blender, paintball guns or blow torch, shoot at super slow speed with a hi-def camera, throw in some green screen compositing, and a dash of sophisticated digital animation, cook and let cool. Now you have Team Smithereen, a visually delicious hot snack.

Please note: The Team Smithereen crew is a group of highly trained professionals, do not attempt these puppet kills at home.

Swazzle Lends a Hand

Team Smithereen, the new stunt puppet show from The Dan Clark Company/Wildbrain/Jetix Europe posed puppetry challenges unlike any other puppet show. To meet these challenges The Dan Clark Company called upon Sean and Patrick Johnson, the co-owners of Swazzle, a highly successful Los Angeles based puppet company.

Since 2004 Swazzle's team of talented professional puppeteers have presented hundreds of puppet shows at venues all over California. Swazzle works with the best in the puppetry field, so it was fitting that Sean and Patrick Johnson were asked to personally assemble the puppeteers for Team Smithereen. Sean and Patrick pulled together L.A.'s top puppeteers, and as puppet captains they collaborated with director/show creator Dan Clark to meet the unique challenges posed by Team Smithereen.

Smithereen Bio: Dan Clark

Team Smithereen creator Dan Clark sets up a shot at the Team Smithereen house, nesteled in the Hollywood hills.

Dan Clark is a writer/producer/director and series creator, he's also the creative spark behind the company that sports his name: The Dan Clark Company. Dan Clark and his producing partner Don Asher and artist Dave Pressler formed the company as an idea incubator where writing, design and new weird stuff could come together to form a more complete project development process.

As a storyteller Dan Clark excels in a variety of genres. He just wrapped writing and story editing the super cool preschool series Yo Gabba Gabba for The Magic Store, W!ldbrain and Nick JR. The Dan Clark Company is currently developing the animated adventure sci-fi series Smash Show with W!ldbrain for Disney, and the live action teen monster show, Crypto Tapes with the Wolper organization for Cartoon Network.

Dan Clark and the Dan Clark Company have created an eclectic mix of creative projects including: the sci-fi fantasy series Brats of the Lost Nebula (with The Jim Henson Company) for Warner Bros., the Emmy Award winning preschool adventure The Save-Ums!, the soon to be released Einstein Pals for the Walt Disney Company, the live action Ninja Turtles for FOX KIDS, the adult gay puppet comedy Playing With Dolls, and the blood-drenched indie romp, The Item.

Dan Clark wrote and directed the first digital feature to premiere in Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival - the film was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize, and he was nominated for a Sombody To Watch Independent Spirit Award for his work on The Item. Dan Clark also received the George Foster Peabody Broadcasting Award for a kids PSA campaign for Fox Kids.

Now Dan Clark and the Dan Clark Company are using innovative foam latex puppets, Hi-Definition green screen compositing, and cutting edge computer animation to bring Team Smithereen to life. Team Smithereen is set to debut early in 2009.

Meet the Stars of Team Smithereen

Meet the stars of Team Smithereen! From left to right, Brave Little Francis, Whoop, Thrill Kat, and Stunt Pig. For this this group of fearless puppet stunt professionals no stunt is too dangerous, no stunt is too extreme, and no stunt goes as planned.

Team Smithereen is the creation of Dan Clark and the Dan Clark Company in partnership with W!ldbrain and Jetix. Team Smithereen is set to debut early 2009, in the mean time check out the Team Smithereen blog for exclusive behind the scenes photos, and videos, and information.

Offical Team Smithereen Press Release

Jetix Europe teams with W!LDBRAIN on first short-form programme for its new-look websites

Amsterdam, The Netherlands and London, UK – Jetix Europe N.V. (AMEX: JETIX; Reuters: JETIX.AS; Bloomberg: JETIX.NA), today announced that it is teaming up with W!LDBRAIN, the award-winning entertainment company, on a new short-form series that will premiere on its websites across Europe in early 2009. The move follows Jetix’ recently announced plans to overhaul its websites with new and improved navigation and functionality, including interactive VOD players.

W!LDBRAIN’s Team Smithereen will be the first new short-form series that Jetix will debut in Europe as an exclusive premiere on its websites. Kids across Europe will be able to access this new short-form content whenever they want online with new episodes being regularly updated on the Jetix sites in Germany, the UK, Spain, Italy, France, Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Hungary and Poland.

The slap-stick Team Smithereen is produced by W!LDBRAIN, the acclaimed company that develops and produces television, motion pictures, commercial content and licensed merchandise. The series is created by The Dan Clark Company, whose creative group specialises in puppetry and effects driven content for television. The 26x2 shorts follows a hapless team of puppet stuntmen who, more often than not, get into trouble on some of their death-defying feats. Team Smithereen shorts will debut exclusively on the new-look Jetix websites beginning early 2009.

Marc Buhaj, Senior Vice President Programming, Jetix Europe, says: “We want to offer kids the chance to enjoy original Jetix content wherever they are and developing a fuller digital offering is key to this. The short-form focus will be on comedy and creating characters that will have strong word-of-mouth and viral appeal. With this in mind Team Smithereen was the perfect series for us to launch our new online shorts strategy. It features the world's first vinyl puppet stunt team. These are four of the wildest, most wide-eyed, thrill-seeking, adrenaline junkies you'll ever see. It’s Jackass with vinyl puppets and we’re certain that Jetix kids across Europe – and probably some adults too - are going to love the crazy, unstoppable crew who are Team Smithereen.”

Bob Higgins, Head of Creative, W!LDBRAIN, says: “Dan Clark is one of the most distinctive, creative talents that I have ever worked with. The Team Smithereen series is a perfect addition to W!LDBRAIN’s slate of diverse and original projects. The ‘slap-stunt’ concept and style pushes the boundaries of animation and brings to life a world of vinyl-latex characters doing off-the-wall stunts that will have you on the edge of your seat. With Jetix offering a compelling online destination for the Team Smithereen series and our all-star creative team bringing their original sensibility to the process, the brand has the potential to become a multi-million dollar franchise that will transcend its online roots.”

Dan Clark of The Dan Clark Company, says: “W!LDBRAIN is hands down the most exciting company around. They do it all, animation, live action, the web, and broadcast. Along with my partners, producer Don Asher and character designer Dave Pressler, I’m stoked to be making Team Smithereen with them. Team Smithereen is a first of it’s kind, it combines cutting edge puppet work with new CGI techniques to deliver a crazy stunt-packed comedy featuring fresh mayhem and a collection of weirdly wonderful characters. Working with Jetix Europe on this series of shorts is a joy for our creative group, they are the perfect company to unleash Team Smithereen on a world hungry for off-the-hook physical comedy and spectacle!”