EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW--Guy Himber (MEL--Goomba/Creatures)

[Phlibbit]

UPDATE 11/15/10: Guy's interview has been updated with some fresh behind-the-scenes photographs featuring Guy working at MEL and some more in-production shots of the Allosaurus rats.

UPDATE 11/1/10: The interview is up! Read it here.

UPDATE 10/24/10: Guy sent his answers to the questionnaire. We're just working out follow-up details right now so we should have it up by this coming weekend.

Time for another round of interview questions to get from you guys! As Guy and Hank worked in similar departments on similar projects we've decided to allow questions for both of them at the same time. This should save time and let you all come up with more questions by considering their individual roles compared to each other.

This time, we have an interview set up with Guy Himber, who helped build and operate the Goombas and miniature dinosaurs for MEL (Makeup and Effects Laboratory).

This is an E-mail correspondence so try to word your questions as clearly as you can! The deadline for suggesting is one week from now on Friday, September 10th.

So, get to asking those questions!

[billbot85]

I'm really looking forward to this one, especially since I've been thinking about buying a goomba head bust and building a replica costume.

Here's my questions: Is it possible for a fan to build his own goomba replica and use servo motors from remote controlled cars (to make the mouth open and close and to turn the head left to right)? If so, how would a person go about doing it, including building the rig, making a foam latex skin, and making the uniform?

Were the uniforms for the goombas modified from already-made clothing, or were all of the clothes made from scratch (such as the wool coat)?

[1upmushroom]

We know that there are 3 Goombas in the movie. But is there or are there unused Goombas that were made for the film or at least thought of?

[Redstar]

I just talked to Guy again and he elaborated on his role in the film:

I designed and built the small mini dinosaurs ( seen throughout the film ).

I also helped build the Large Goomba costumes ( mech designer - Russ Shinkle )

I also puppeteered the two group of characters for the principal filming.

He also stated that his real role was in designing and building the small mini dinosaurs. While he did help in building the Goombas, he did not design them and so cannot speak with absolute authority on them. However, he can still offer insight into their development, so questions in that regard are still acceptable.

Hopefully this helps you all think of some good questions to ask!

[moviemaker29]

I am sure you guys will be asking this question but just so it's acknowledged in this thread I'll throw it out there:

It seems like there was a lot of work put into the smaller dinosaur puppets and because of this, were there other scenes with the dinosaurs shot during filming that ended up on the cutting room floor? (like the vendor cart scene Mark Miller mentioned...)

I would also like to know if the fact that many of the sets were built around the concrete remains of the cement factory made it difficult to run the puppeteering lines for the creature effects and keep the puppeteers off camera since it seems like the sets weren't on raised platforms where the puppeteers could work from underneath them?

[Redstar]

I would also like to know if the fact that many of the sets were built around the concrete remains of the cement factory made it difficult to run the puppeteering lines for the creature effects and keep the puppeteers off camera since it seems like the sets weren't on raised platforms where the puppeteers could work from underneath them?

That's a really good question. (Also, the makers of Yoshi encountered a similar problem that was hinted at in the Movie Magic clip on the site. We can ask this of them as well if given the opportunity)

[moviemaker29]

Yeah that is indeed a very good point that the Yoshi puppeteering work would have encountered the same type of problem, even moreso since Yoshi was used in numerous wide and medium shots.

In fact, come to think of it, I wonder if there was a rug/carpet underneath Yoshi in the office scene with Daisy to hide any cabling running out from the puppet? Interesting thought...

[Phlibbit]

I do know that at least for some of the shots involving things like wires on the Thwomp Stomper scenes, and the scenes with the fireballs, the VFX department went back and had to erase the lines. This was probably done in some part with Yoshi as well.

[Phlibbit]

I took some scans today of an appropriate segment of the Japanese movie program pertaining to the development of the Goombas, Yoshi, and other creatures. Perhaps you guys will find them enlightening:

[Howlrunner]

We know that there are 3 Goombas in the movie. But is there or are there unused Goombas that were made for the film or at least thought of?

There were actually 4 types of Goomba designs seen in the film - Toad, the reptilian humanoid, the dinosaur head guy and the snake head guy..... That said, I would be very interested in seeing (or hearing about) any other unused Goomba designs.

What was the design process for the goombas like? Did they start as more mushroom-like and slowly evolve into the designs we see onscreen now, or were hulking lizard-like creatures wanted from the very start?

And what are those big mosquito-type things at the bottom of the page in that Japanese article? I don't remember seeing those in the film.....

[Phlibbit]

Yeah, we're definitely gonna ask what those insect things are!

[Redstar]

Last call on questions for Guy Himber! I will be sending the questions today at 5PM PST. No questions submitted after that time will be accepted; however, follow-up questions will be accepted once the actual interview is updated onto the site. So, think hard and try to get more in!

[1upmushroom]

Did he work on other creatures?

That's all I got. I hope I'm not too late.

[ultimateemail5000]

Shuold ask him if they ever thought of trying to make the Goombas with just the head, and little boots underneath them. I doubt it but that would be cool to see, so all they would do is jump on them.

I like that Mario doll the Goomba is holding in that picture. I've seen it once in a Mario Mania book, and a photo of Shigeru Miyamoto holding it, but could never find the real thing.

Just had a thought of how cool it would have been when the mattress went to crash, if Mario jump off of it and jumped off of 3 Goombas heads in a row knocking them down.

[Redstar]

Shuold ask him if they ever thought of trying to make the Goombas with just the head, and little boots underneath them. I doubt it but that would be cool to see, so all they would do is jump on them.

If such a design was ever made, it would have been back during the fantasy-based production. I'm sure some concept art will turn up over time...

Just had a thought of how cool it would have been when the mattress went to crash, if Mario jump off of it and jumped off of 3 Goombas heads in a row knocking them down.

That would have been a rather cool game reference. Unfortunately, I don't think Parker and Terry knew anything about the games to ever consider such a reference. We were lucky to get what vague references we did.

On-topic: I sent the list of questions to Guy. It's pretty expansive and covers a range of areas, though there's particular emphasis on the miniature dinosaurs as he both built and designed them. More Goomba-focused questions in regard to how they were designed are left out in favor of future interviews with those more involved in that particular department. I did manage to fit in most of your questions in one form or another, so hope you're all looking forward to reading this!

[Phlibbit]

Guy's interview is up!

http://www.smbmovie.com/SMBArchive/spec ... 24-10.html

What do you guys think?

[Redstar]

I wanted to mention that Guy was unfortunately unable to provide any photos or concept art relevant to his interview (though will come in handy later on). While Phlibbit did a great job working in screencaps from the movie we will still return to this interview and update it with additional/replacement photos if the opportunity arises. In the meantime, enjoy Guy's wonderful answers.

[ultimateemail5000]

This is a good interview, good to read about the mechanics, if anything I could think of those Skeeters to be are the giant flys from the original Mario Bros. Just a guess, even though he said they were part of a different movie. Other than that good interview.

[Redstar]

It seems the second and fourth questions were accidentally spliced with the corresponding questions from the Andrea Powell interview. The actual questions and answers have since been corrected, so make sure to take a look to be sure you haven't missed anything!

[Phlibbit]

UPDATE 11/15/10: Guy's interview has been updated with some fresh behind-the-scenes photographs featuring Guy working at MEL and some more in-production shots of the Allosaurus rats.