Nickelodeon’s new animated comedy Max & the Midknights (premiering Wednesday October 30th at 7pm) is adapted from Big Nate author Lincoln Peirce’s popular book. Co-Executive Producers Sharon Flynn and David Skelly discuss the show’s unique tone, visual perspectives and inspirations. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity. Images Courtesy: NICK)

Jackson Murphy: How does it feel that it’s coming to TV Oct. 30 and the first two episodes have already been on YouTube for a few months — and has been very well received?

Sharon Flynn: It feels great!

David Skelly: Yeah, so exciting. Finally the public gets to see what we’ve been working on for so long.

JM: And it looks like this was an intense process — it has the look of stop-motion but it is CG and what you do with the camerawork. But Sharon, tell me first about this girl Max in medieval times and what you love about your lead character.

SF: I love so much about Max. When I first read Lincoln Peirce’s original book, which our series is based on, I fell in love with Max. She’s brave. She’s fearless. She stands up against evil and stands up for people. She’s not afraid to take on any obstacles and stand up for those that need help. She’s a modern girl living in a medieval world.

JM: Yes! And you get the dynamics of both time periods. Was that an interesting process, David, that blend? We definitely see a little bit of that in the second episode.

DS: That’s right. So we do a little bit of time travel because Mumblin the magician is retired in the 1970s. So we go to his retirement home and then back again to medieval setting with Max and the Midknights.

JM: And the comedy of that — engaging today’s viewers in the medieval times. David, was it challenging to pinpoint that humor and make sure it worked?

DS: I love that question. Our characters are really grounded, and they’re really reacting to the moment. While we do have wonderful sections of slapstick comedy throughout the whole series, the real humor of the entire show… comes from our characters’ acting in a real way to their surroundings. The humor comes from the situations, other characters and being in the moment.

JM: Max wants to save her uncle. Sharon, that’s quite a dynamic [including] how we’re introduced to them and this quirky, unique vibe. There’s a really strong relationship between the two of them.

SF: Max and Uncle Budrick’s relationship is the key relationship of our show. It’s where the heart emanates from… and the instigation of the entire plot. This very loving relationship — Uncle Budrick is her adoptive father — has dreams for her and she also has dreams for herself. The love that they have for each other and devotion is a great thing. Ultimately our show is about family, and it starts with Budrick and Max.

Sharon, David and Jackson

JM: David, where did you pull inspiration from for the look of the characters, and how’d you make it look so good?!

DS: Well thank you very much for saying that. We drew inspiration from a lot of different places. In terms of the stop-motion look of it, we looked very closely at the classic Rankin-Bass holiday specials, like “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”… and “The Nightmare Before Christmas”. Those were two touchstones for us. You could still see the hand-crafted part of it, the humans were touching these stop-motion puppets, and it was being filmed on a real set with real lights and real cameras. That was the look we wanted to tap into for this, not to fool our audiences into thinking this is something other than CG, but that maybe there was something about that kiss of stop-motion that made our show look just a little bit different than all the other really beautiful shows that are out there. How do we differentiate ourselves from the look of other shows right now?

JM: The magic is absolutely there, and Sharon, it’s also in the camera angles: the way the camera is positioned, some interesting close-ups, down on the ground looking up. How much of that was intentional and how much did you play around with as you were making these episodes?

SF: Well that was always the plan. We created a brand new pipeline in order to make our show and achieve that dynamic camera. We knew we were telling an epic story — Max’s journey… epic quest. We needed the filmmaking to support that story.

JM: And David, this is a show that is, out of the gate, not afraid of bringing up death. It’s a comedy and for families…

DS & SF: (laugh)

JM: …but you’re not afraid of that at all!

DS: I’ll tell you what… it takes place in medieval times. And it was a hard time.

JM: (laughs)

DS: …To be alive and have an adventure like this. There are real dangers. And yes, we do show the stakes in our show. We of course try to soften those moments with humor and slapstick moments. And for the most part everybody’s just fine.

SF: We really wanted to have our audience hopefully invest in this story. And we felt from the beginning that if the stakes weren’t real and high, you weren’t going to feel those stakes and you weren’t going to fear for Max and the Midknights. Plus dragons and razor-sharp swords. We really wanted to go there, and you see it in the first episode.

DS: And as the series goes on, the stakes get higher.

JM: Have any ideas for the show come to you at midnight?

DS: (laugh)

SF: Yes! I feel like ideas for the show pop-up when I least expect it.

DS: Midnight is a good time… “The Witching Hour”. There have been a lot of late night ideas for sure.

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Jackson Murphy

Jackson Murphy is a movie critic and entertainment columnist. He is the creator of the website Lights-Camera-Jackson.com, and has made numerous appearances on television and radio.

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