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[somber music]
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[clacking]
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[tape whirring]
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His name is Wishbone,
and he stars
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in his own
public television series.
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[music builds]
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It's a show
about a remarkable dog
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who will introduce
millions of kids to great books.
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Wishbone and I believe
reading is to the mind what food is to the body.
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A diminutive canine with a taste
for classic literature
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is the star
of this next imaginative series.
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- [announcer 1] And the Emmy
goes toWishbone. - [audience cheering]
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- [announcer 2] Wishbone!
- [announcer 3] Wishbone!
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- [announcer 4] Wishbone!
- [announcer 5] Wishbone!
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[all cheering]
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[camera flash popping]
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[Rick]
I think the main idea I was trying to get to was
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make a television show
that captured the lives of kids, real kids,
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in an-- in any neighborhood.
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After months of sort of trying
one idea after another,
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it occurred to me,
uh, that you could...
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...use a dog
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to sort of expand it,
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expand the imaginations
of this show.
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I sat in my office, and I looked
on the credenza behind my desk,
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and I had this copy
of Masterpieces of World Literature,
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that was the title.
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And I just stared at that book,
and I thought,
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"Wh-- what if he imagined
himself in these stories?"
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- And that was the beginning.
- [magical tinkling]
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[Betty]
I really, really wanted
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to be in children's television.
Like, I really did.
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Rick Duffield heard about it
and called me up.
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I heard
he had this television show,
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and I was, like, "Oh, my God,
it's a children's TV show."
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And I went in,
and he was going on and on about
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this is the story,
and that's the story.
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And I waited for him
to take a breath and say, "Well, what do you think?"
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And I said, "Well, basically
I came here prepared to beg."
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[laughs]
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I wanted it so bad.
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The way I came to Wishbone
was my mom.
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Um, she had taught
Rick Duffield's son, Joe, in a theater program,
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and Rick said,
"I wanna do a show for kids,
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and I wanna assemble
a group of writers and talk about it.
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Would you like to come?"
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She said,
"Well, I happen to know one.
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She lives in New York,
and she writes plays.
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She's gonna be in town."
[chuckling] "Can I bring her?"
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And he said,
"Sure. That'd be great."
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And that was, uh,
how I met Rick.
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I've always had fun
imagining what dogs
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might be thinking
from time to time.
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And I think
it's, it's great fun
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to, just to consider the idea
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that a dog could be the hero.
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"What if the dog
were the real hero in the story?"
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When a dog can do that,
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I think it, it gives children
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the sense
that they're free to do that,
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that they can identify
with that feeling of wanting to be the hero.
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Even though they're this
little character in real life,
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they can be the, the hero
in the big story.
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And from there,
we kind of developed this character of this dog
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who had this big imagination,
was going through his life
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picturing grand and epic things.
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[light classical music]
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I had the job
of finding the dog.
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[whimsical music]
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[Rick]
And so, Betty
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contacted a trainer
out in Los Angeles,
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and we went out there,
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and there were
all kinds of dogs.
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- [dogs barking]
- You know, every size, shape,
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most of them mixed breeds,
you know, like--
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And I just didn't feel
anything yet.
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And the very last dog that came
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was Soccer.
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[light music]
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He was so amazing and charming.
When he did his little flip,
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and everybody was, like,
"Oh, my God."
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That dog did that flip...
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...and I said, "That's cool."
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And then, his face,
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there was something
about the face of that dog.
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When it looked at you,
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you felt like
it was thinking about you.
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Like, a--
There was an intelligence
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in the, in the face of that dog.
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And so, that was it for me.
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[music finale]
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And so, now I needed
someone to talk
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through the dog,
to be the voice.
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Well, we had to find
the dog's voice,
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and that was really fun.
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[Larry]
My agent called and said,
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"I'm sending you
on a voice audition."
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And I said, "Great.
What is a voice audition?"
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The only information
that I had at that time
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was this-- The pilot
for a kids' television show,
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and the star of the show
is a dog,
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and you will be the voice
of the dog.
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Having had dogs for a while,
I always observe dogs,
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and I would imagine
what they're thinking. I really did. [chuckles]
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"What is going on
inside that head?"
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And I would actually--
In my head, like,
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I'd do dialogue
for the dog just to--
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As a playful way
of enjoying the animal.
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I guess I had a feeling
it had to be playful, but I didn't know.
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I was driving
to the studio, thinking,
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"Okay, um, is it a real dog?
Is it an animated dog?"
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And then, I had this thought
which almost caused me to turn the car around.
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I thought, "If I get this job,
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am I going to have to dress up
in a big dog suit
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and dance around on a stage?"
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And so, we just auditioned
a lot of people
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that were very experienced
in voiceover work, theater work,
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and everything came off
as so stiff.
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They were all very serious.
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And then, this guy walked in.
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[Larry]
Betty Buckley and Rick Duffield came in
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and introduced themselves
and said, um,
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"This is who you're going
to be voicing today,
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and this is Jackie Kaptan,
a head animal trainer, and this is Soccer."
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And it was
a Jack Russell terrier, a real live dog.
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And I thought,
"How is that gonna work?"
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[light music]
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And then, fate intervened.
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Right at that moment,
right before we started,
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Jackie said, "Hey, guys,
Soccer needs a break."
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And I thought that meant
he needed to go outside.
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But what happened was
she reached into a pouch on her hip
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and she pulled out
a rubber soccer ball,
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and she pitched it to him,
and he lost his mind.
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I had never seen
anything like it.
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He was bouncing around
the study,
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playing a game of catch
with himself.
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And quite without
thinking about it,
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I just began to vocalize
what I thought
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must be going through
the dog's head in that moment.
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And this guy...
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...started doing a voice
for the dog, like, instantaneously.
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And that's kind of how
it felt for me,
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when I would think
like a dog would think.
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If, if I were that dog, this is
what it would sound like.
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And you, and you instantly gave
that dog life.
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And before I knew it,
he was down on the floor,
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playing like a dog,
talking like the dog's voice,
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and we were all
on the floor laughing.
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And then, just that fast,
Jackie swooped in
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and grabbed the ball
and put it back in her pouch,
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and Soccer immediately sat down,
like he was ready to go.
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And I stood up, and I turned
and I looked at everybody
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and I said, "Are you guys
ready to do the audition now?"
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And Betty Buckley said,
"Oh, we got the audition."
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And it was a huge,
uh, a huge gift to the show. Absolutely.
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That voice...
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...was the only way
we were gonna make this playful,
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and I am eternally
grateful for that.
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[Rick] I'd like you
to meet the other half of this extraordinary character,
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the voice of Wishbone,
Larry Brantley.
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Larry.
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- And, uh--
- [Larry] Ah!
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[Rick]
What we'd like to do is just give you an idea
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of how we auditioned Larry
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and how we sort of create
this character on the fly.
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Okay, Jackie, pay attention.
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We only get a chance
to do this once. Okay.
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Oh, uh, not so tight
on the leash, please. Thank you!
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Okay. Now, how am I
gonna meet Rick Duffield for my big audition?
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We can try
the straight approach.
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Shall we-- Oh, oh. Excuse me.
Sorry. [sighs]
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I thought I'd taken care
of that before I left.
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Okay, um, let's see.
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Let's just try the simple,
straightforward approach.
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Mr. Duffield,
it's nice to meet you. Hi.
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And, yeah,
we found the voice of the dog, Larry Brantley.
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Action!
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Snack time, Wishbone.
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[Wishbone]
Oh, perfect timing.
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Hey, Ellen, it's dinner time.
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- Whoa! Whoa! Wha-- Door! Door!
- [door rattling]
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- [Joe] Wishbone!
- [Wishbone] Yes! It's Joe!
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He's back! Joe, how are ya?
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- Oh, David! Good to see you!
- [David] Hey, boy.
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[Rick]
The next thing that had to happen
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was we had to
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make somebody believe
this might work.
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And so, we shot the trailer.
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[narrator]
In an average neighborhood,
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a new hero
is coming to television.
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[Rick]
Everything was shot below the waist.
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[narrator]
It's Wishbone,
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the next generation
of Wonder Dog.
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[Rick]
So, you didn't ever see any human faces.
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You just saw the dog,
and it was all about the dog.
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And we went to a, a quarry
and set up horses and flame bars...
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- [Wishbone] Hero coming through.
- ...and the dog was in an amazing little,
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um, Roman helmet,
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- and we shot a battle scene.
- [Wishbone continues indistinctly]
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And so, having that,
taking that and the script and the treatment,
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uh, and, and pitching it
was the next big step.
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And that was really hard to do.
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They packaged it all up
literally in a box
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that looks like a doghouse.
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And in the doghouse
was the script, a VHS,
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and they took it to Virginia.
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And it's really unheard of
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for buyers to buy something
in the room,
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but they bought that
in the room. They loved it.
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We sat in the room,
we showed 'em the trailer, and they just said, "Yes."
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So, they come back,
and Rick's, like, "Okay, we got five episodes."
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And I was, like,
"Okay. Holy shit." You know? [laughs]
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[upbeat music]
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We weren't just building sets,
we built a little town.
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To pull that off,
we'd have to create
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our own little Hollywood
in North Texas.
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I remember
going out... [chuckles] into this big piece of land
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where there was nothing.
I mean, nothing but trees.
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It was just a completely
undeveloped, wild piece of land.
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[Rick]
We converted 50,000 square feet of industrial warehouse space
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into a pair of sound stages
to accommodate our interior sets.
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And Chris Henry,
our production designer, adapted ten acres of property
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into a working backlot
for all of our exteriors.
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You know, I think, in terms
of a show like Wishbone
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that dealt with
two concurrent storylines,
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we had a contemporary story
of the kids...
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...and then
we had the literary stories.
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You know, the backlot was, like,
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like, "Who does
something like that?" You know?
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An entire neighborhood,
the cul-de-sac of the, you know, the Barnes' house...
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[enchanting music]
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...Wanda Gilmore's house...
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...and our house.
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It was unbelievable.
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[Betty]
So, we built a town...
237
00:11:40,652 --> 00:11:41,739
...into the trees.
238
00:11:41,913 --> 00:11:43,391
It was just charming,
239
00:11:43,565 --> 00:11:44,521
beautiful...
240
00:11:45,608 --> 00:11:46,434
...neighborhood.
241
00:11:47,173 --> 00:11:48,565
Yoo-hoo! Joe!
242
00:11:49,086 --> 00:11:50,000
Joe!
243
00:11:50,521 --> 00:11:51,913
Get-- Jo-- Yoo-hoo!
244
00:11:52,086 --> 00:11:53,347
Joe, just one minute.
245
00:11:53,826 --> 00:11:55,608
It's about your dog.
246
00:11:55,782 --> 00:11:57,782
- Hello, Samantha.
- Hi.
247
00:11:58,260 --> 00:12:02,652
We didn't know how
we could pull off five shows,
248
00:12:02,826 --> 00:12:05,565
with five different book worlds,
249
00:12:06,173 --> 00:12:07,434
to bring to life...
250
00:12:08,826 --> 00:12:10,260
...and find all the people
251
00:12:10,782 --> 00:12:13,434
to, to inhabit those roles.
252
00:12:13,608 --> 00:12:16,304
I'd worked on the Dallasseries
for ten years already before this,
253
00:12:16,478 --> 00:12:19,608
and so I knew we could do it.
And we had the best talent pool.
254
00:12:19,782 --> 00:12:21,695
The talent pool in Dallas
was fantastic,
255
00:12:21,869 --> 00:12:24,347
so I, I wasn't worried,
I was excited.
256
00:12:24,521 --> 00:12:28,000
I was visiting a friend
in Los Angeles, and I get on the plane,
257
00:12:28,173 --> 00:12:31,434
and by that time
I had, I had really done
258
00:12:31,608 --> 00:12:33,304
a fair amount of work
in Dallas, you know, like--
259
00:12:33,478 --> 00:12:36,434
And I thought, "Maybe it's time
to move to Los Angeles."
260
00:12:36,608 --> 00:12:39,217
And so, I was sitting
on the plane, and I said,
261
00:12:39,695 --> 00:12:42,739
"Dear God, if I am supposed
to stay in Dallas,
262
00:12:42,913 --> 00:12:45,782
I need a lightning bolt
with my name on it."
263
00:12:46,347 --> 00:12:50,347
There's a date, 1864,
and that should give us a clue.
264
00:12:50,826 --> 00:12:53,956
- Well, how?
- [Ellen] Well... [clicks tongue] let's think about it.
265
00:12:54,652 --> 00:12:55,913
What was going on back then?
266
00:12:56,086 --> 00:12:57,391
I always loved
her acting anyway,
267
00:12:57,565 --> 00:12:59,043
and I just thought she--
'Cause she was just
268
00:12:59,217 --> 00:13:00,782
very real and authentic,
and I just thought
269
00:13:00,956 --> 00:13:02,391
she'd be a great mom, so,
270
00:13:02,565 --> 00:13:04,652
yeah, I just thought
she was perfect.
271
00:13:04,826 --> 00:13:06,565
I was living in Houston,
272
00:13:07,434 --> 00:13:10,043
and I get a call
from Rody and casting
273
00:13:10,608 --> 00:13:16,478
and she says, uh,
"Angee, can you be in Dallas late tomorrow morning
274
00:13:17,043 --> 00:13:20,869
to audition for a series regular
in a new PBS kids' show
275
00:13:21,043 --> 00:13:22,478
that's shooting in Dallas?"
276
00:13:22,652 --> 00:13:25,739
Angee, uh, was just fun.
277
00:13:25,913 --> 00:13:28,130
She just had a sparkle to her.
278
00:13:28,304 --> 00:13:30,086
I just thought
she just added a lot.
279
00:13:30,260 --> 00:13:32,000
[reporter]
Hundreds of kids braved the heat
280
00:13:32,173 --> 00:13:33,956
and the competition
last summer,
281
00:13:34,130 --> 00:13:36,217
hoping to be cute
and clever enough to play
282
00:13:36,391 --> 00:13:38,434
in a new children's
educational show
283
00:13:38,608 --> 00:13:40,652
now in production
in North Texas.
284
00:13:40,826 --> 00:13:42,304
We had a big open call
for the kids,
285
00:13:42,478 --> 00:13:44,434
and then the, the line was huge.
286
00:13:44,608 --> 00:13:46,956
I mean, there were
hundreds of kids trying out.
287
00:13:47,434 --> 00:13:49,130
[host]
Meet the three who succeeded.
288
00:13:49,304 --> 00:13:53,478
Jordan Wall, Adam Springfield,
and Christie Abbott.
289
00:13:53,956 --> 00:13:58,913
[Rody] Jordan Wall,
he just was so down to earth, very grounded,
290
00:13:59,086 --> 00:14:01,391
just ready to do anything
you wanted to asked of him.
291
00:14:01,565 --> 00:14:04,913
He just really took
direction well and listened really well.
292
00:14:05,086 --> 00:14:06,391
Did you hear that, Wishbone?
293
00:14:06,565 --> 00:14:08,782
Another birthday present.
[laughs]
294
00:14:08,956 --> 00:14:10,043
Hey, come on, let's go.
295
00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:12,304
Christie was a-- is darling.
296
00:14:12,478 --> 00:14:14,086
She was just very authentic.
297
00:14:14,260 --> 00:14:16,304
'Cause we'd auditioned
lots of girls for that part.
298
00:14:16,478 --> 00:14:17,956
And there were
a lot of cute ones,
299
00:14:18,130 --> 00:14:21,000
but she just really was,
again, just very real.
300
00:14:22,869 --> 00:14:24,913
Oh, that's your
science fair project?
301
00:14:25,521 --> 00:14:29,434
[Rody]
Adam was, I thought, introspective, and curious,
302
00:14:29,608 --> 00:14:33,869
and I think, for the part
they wanted him for was just perfect.
303
00:14:34,043 --> 00:14:35,304
[light music]
304
00:14:36,739 --> 00:14:37,739
[music crescendos]
305
00:14:43,086 --> 00:14:44,086
[audience applauding]
306
00:14:49,217 --> 00:14:51,695
[Betty]
The idea for a company cast came from Rody Kent,
307
00:14:52,260 --> 00:14:53,695
and it was truly brilliant.
308
00:14:53,869 --> 00:14:55,695
[Rody]
I decided it was gonna be
309
00:14:56,173 --> 00:14:58,826
really beneficial
to have a repertory company.
310
00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:01,217
[Betty]
We wanted to have the efficiency
311
00:15:01,391 --> 00:15:03,826
of classically trained actors.
312
00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:06,869
When we cast,
we turned over the picture
313
00:15:07,043 --> 00:15:10,086
and we didn't look
at any of the television, we looked at the theater.
314
00:15:10,260 --> 00:15:12,869
[Rody]
And the reason we wanted the classically trained actors
315
00:15:13,043 --> 00:15:15,739
in this group
was for the fantasy parts,
316
00:15:15,913 --> 00:15:20,086
because they could do-- speak
the Shakespearean language,
317
00:15:20,260 --> 00:15:21,913
they could do accents.
318
00:15:22,086 --> 00:15:24,347
You know, maybe English accents
or German accents.
319
00:15:24,521 --> 00:15:26,304
And we needed them
to be authentic.
320
00:15:26,478 --> 00:15:29,217
At that time, I had just played
the title role in Othello
321
00:15:29,391 --> 00:15:30,608
for Classic Theater Company,
322
00:15:31,130 --> 00:15:33,652
and, uh, Rody needed
a classical monologue.
323
00:15:33,826 --> 00:15:35,260
So I went into the pre-read,
324
00:15:35,739 --> 00:15:37,739
belted out this monologue,
and Rody was, like,
325
00:15:37,913 --> 00:15:42,521
"Okay. Yeah,
I think I can read you in front of the producers."
326
00:15:42,695 --> 00:15:45,826
I came and I auditioned
for Rody Kent, our casting director...
327
00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:49,000
[smacks lips]
and she already kind of knew me from being a kid, growing up,
328
00:15:49,173 --> 00:15:52,086
doing stuff in Dallas,
and I did monologues for her.
329
00:15:52,260 --> 00:15:56,173
And one of the monologues I did
was Ophelia from, um, Hamlet,
330
00:15:56,347 --> 00:15:58,608
and she started tearing up,
and she was, like... [mimics crying]
331
00:15:58,782 --> 00:16:01,000
So, it was, it was so sweet,
and I was so excited
332
00:16:01,173 --> 00:16:03,304
to get to use
my classical training.
333
00:16:03,478 --> 00:16:06,434
Romeo, Romeo.
334
00:16:08,173 --> 00:16:10,086
Wherefore art thou, Romeo?
335
00:16:10,260 --> 00:16:12,695
Deny thy father
and refuse thy name.
336
00:16:13,826 --> 00:16:16,086
'Tis but thy name
that is my enemy.
337
00:16:16,260 --> 00:16:18,347
This is a dream come true.
You're gonna do, you know,
338
00:16:18,521 --> 00:16:20,043
Romeo and Juliet,
you're gonna do Joan of Arc,
339
00:16:20,217 --> 00:16:21,521
and, you know, this is,
340
00:16:21,695 --> 00:16:23,695
this is an,
an incredible opportunity.
341
00:16:23,869 --> 00:16:27,043
When I got the call
that I was going to be part of the company,
342
00:16:27,956 --> 00:16:30,695
you know, you have those moments
in your life where you go... [gasps]
343
00:16:31,173 --> 00:16:33,260
"That's what it means
to catch the brass ring."
344
00:16:33,782 --> 00:16:35,782
And that's what it felt like.
It w-- it was amazing
345
00:16:35,956 --> 00:16:39,521
because the, the most
exciting thing about it was
346
00:16:39,695 --> 00:16:43,260
it, it felt very natural
because we weren't going
347
00:16:43,434 --> 00:16:46,304
from theater
to a daytime soap opera.
348
00:16:46,478 --> 00:16:50,173
We were doing exactly
what I've been doing on stage,
349
00:16:50,652 --> 00:16:53,347
just doing it
at a very, very different level.
350
00:16:53,521 --> 00:16:56,173
An enormous good fortune
that Wishboneenjoyed
351
00:16:56,782 --> 00:17:00,739
in that they had,
rather than making the decision
352
00:17:00,913 --> 00:17:03,826
to bring people in from New York
or bring people in from LA
353
00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:05,782
to cull the Wishboneplayers
354
00:17:05,956 --> 00:17:09,260
from the local community and put
all those fireflies in one jar.
355
00:17:09,826 --> 00:17:11,608
Uh, I thought
that was a, a stroke of genius.
356
00:17:11,782 --> 00:17:13,826
It really was, because
there was this renaissance
357
00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:15,000
of amazing theater going on.
358
00:17:15,173 --> 00:17:16,434
[Jeanne]
And so, that was sort of
359
00:17:16,608 --> 00:17:18,391
a genius idea, to do that,
360
00:17:18,565 --> 00:17:20,086
and it had never
really been done.
361
00:17:20,260 --> 00:17:22,130
I don't think it's been done
since, which is so cool.
362
00:17:22,304 --> 00:17:23,956
And then, as an actor,
it was really great
363
00:17:24,130 --> 00:17:25,913
because you get
to develop chemistry
364
00:17:26,086 --> 00:17:28,652
with different people.
It was just so great.
365
00:17:28,826 --> 00:17:30,782
And you get to play
all these different characters.
366
00:17:30,956 --> 00:17:32,608
And that's really
where the company came from.
367
00:17:32,782 --> 00:17:35,652
And it was, it was the only way
we were gonna get it,
368
00:17:35,826 --> 00:17:38,565
get it done because we didn't
have the, the resources
369
00:17:38,739 --> 00:17:40,000
to, to do it...
370
00:17:40,956 --> 00:17:41,782
...Hollywood style.
371
00:17:41,956 --> 00:17:43,608
[upbeat classical music]
372
00:17:55,652 --> 00:17:57,043
- [rustles]
- [Betty] I will tell you
373
00:17:57,217 --> 00:17:58,608
that I felt like
the hardest day
374
00:17:58,782 --> 00:17:59,913
was the first day.
375
00:18:00,086 --> 00:18:01,521
It was kids and dogs.
376
00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:05,739
And everybody knows
that that's a wild card
377
00:18:05,913 --> 00:18:07,826
that most productions avoid.
378
00:18:08,478 --> 00:18:11,521
They try to keep
the number of dog days on their schedule
379
00:18:11,695 --> 00:18:13,130
down to absolute minimum.
380
00:18:13,739 --> 00:18:16,521
Uh, and we were setting out
to, uh, sp--
381
00:18:16,695 --> 00:18:19,913
spend each day of shooting,
you know, with lo... [chuckles]
382
00:18:20,086 --> 00:18:21,304
...lots of animal behavior...
383
00:18:22,434 --> 00:18:23,956
...and kids, on top of that.
384
00:18:24,130 --> 00:18:25,695
And so, we got all bogged down,
385
00:18:25,869 --> 00:18:26,913
and we were not getting
our shots,
386
00:18:27,086 --> 00:18:28,478
and we weren't getting our shots
387
00:18:28,652 --> 00:18:29,956
before lunch.
388
00:18:30,434 --> 00:18:33,217
And I was, I was just,
"Oh, my God."
389
00:18:33,391 --> 00:18:36,173
And I went to Rick and Bert
at lunch and said,
390
00:18:37,478 --> 00:18:40,173
"You guys,
if we can't get through lunch,
391
00:18:40,652 --> 00:18:42,913
if we can't get through
the first day...
392
00:18:43,956 --> 00:18:45,478
...do you know what that means?
393
00:18:45,652 --> 00:18:47,478
But if we can get through lunch,
394
00:18:47,652 --> 00:18:49,869
and if we can get through
the first day,
395
00:18:50,043 --> 00:18:51,782
we can get through
the second day and the third.
396
00:18:51,956 --> 00:18:52,956
We can get through a week.
397
00:18:53,130 --> 00:18:54,260
We can do the whole thing."
398
00:18:55,826 --> 00:18:58,478
- Hello, David.
- Hi, Mrs. Gilmore.
399
00:18:58,652 --> 00:19:01,086
- Joe, this dog belongs
on a leash! - [Wishbone] Huh?
400
00:19:01,260 --> 00:19:03,347
He's running wild
all over my property.
401
00:19:03,521 --> 00:19:06,304
The beginning of the week,
we would get a new script.
402
00:19:06,478 --> 00:19:09,304
I would read through
and I would figure out what parts we already had.
403
00:19:09,478 --> 00:19:13,565
We had the repertory parts
that we needed to cast, uh, for the fantasy roles.
404
00:19:13,739 --> 00:19:17,652
Then we had contemporary,
any of the other actors in the contemporary life
405
00:19:17,826 --> 00:19:20,173
that would be working
with the series regulars.
406
00:19:20,739 --> 00:19:21,869
It was a fast pace.
407
00:19:22,043 --> 00:19:23,434
It was moving from one thing
408
00:19:23,608 --> 00:19:25,347
to the next really fast.
409
00:19:25,521 --> 00:19:27,217
There was a lot of things
that we did on Wishbone
410
00:19:27,391 --> 00:19:29,043
that I'd--
I had never done before.
411
00:19:29,217 --> 00:19:31,652
So, we were constantly prepping
412
00:19:31,826 --> 00:19:34,086
for the next episode,
getting props.
413
00:19:34,260 --> 00:19:36,173
You know, teaching the dog
different behaviors,
414
00:19:36,347 --> 00:19:38,347
um, different wardrobe.
415
00:19:39,391 --> 00:19:43,000
So, every, every week was,
was a new adventure on the show.
416
00:19:43,173 --> 00:19:44,913
We created a school.
417
00:19:45,086 --> 00:19:48,478
There would be art department,
you know, two sets.
418
00:19:48,652 --> 00:19:50,956
One of them shooting,
one of them prepping.
419
00:19:51,130 --> 00:19:53,652
"Are we going
location scouting?"
420
00:19:53,826 --> 00:19:55,695
Uh, "What are we doing
in the studio?"
421
00:19:55,869 --> 00:19:58,086
[Kelli]
It was kinda like jumpin' into the fire,
422
00:19:58,260 --> 00:20:01,304
but, oh, my God,
there was so much to do.
423
00:20:01,478 --> 00:20:03,217
I-- I had--
I knew it would be a lot,
424
00:20:03,391 --> 00:20:06,826
but it was even more
than I could have imagined.
425
00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:08,695
Actor schedules,
kids' schedules.
426
00:20:08,869 --> 00:20:10,782
Kids only had a certain
amount of time they could,
427
00:20:10,956 --> 00:20:12,521
they could work each day,
and then we had to figure out
428
00:20:12,695 --> 00:20:14,347
something else to shoot
for the rest of the day.
429
00:20:14,521 --> 00:20:16,565
It was a tight schedule.
And a lot of scenes,
430
00:20:16,739 --> 00:20:18,173
we had five or six people
to cover,
431
00:20:18,826 --> 00:20:20,347
and, and the dog.
432
00:20:20,521 --> 00:20:21,347
Wishbone
433
00:20:22,130 --> 00:20:23,956
had a specialness to us
434
00:20:24,130 --> 00:20:26,043
because we were all working
435
00:20:26,217 --> 00:20:28,086
as fast as we could
to create this thing,
436
00:20:28,260 --> 00:20:30,913
and things would
just fall together.
437
00:20:31,086 --> 00:20:34,173
[Chris]
Sometimes I wouldn't get scripts until Friday afternoon,
438
00:20:34,347 --> 00:20:36,913
and then Monday morning,
I'd have to say,
439
00:20:37,086 --> 00:20:39,565
"Okay, and this is what
we're gonna do."
440
00:20:41,347 --> 00:20:45,521
We had a specific amount
of days to edit a show.
441
00:20:46,043 --> 00:20:48,782
Getting all the departments
to speak the same language
442
00:20:48,956 --> 00:20:51,913
was a factor
of having everybody
443
00:20:52,086 --> 00:20:54,217
to go to the Tower of Babel
444
00:20:54,391 --> 00:20:56,695
and find each other
and figure it out.
445
00:20:56,869 --> 00:20:58,913
We must have set
some kind of a world record,
446
00:20:59,086 --> 00:21:02,043
because to go
from getting a script
447
00:21:02,608 --> 00:21:03,478
to shooting it...
448
00:21:04,478 --> 00:21:05,913
...in one week,
449
00:21:06,652 --> 00:21:08,260
it, it sounds impossible.
450
00:21:08,913 --> 00:21:13,000
There was no,
"Oh, we can edit three or four more days,"
451
00:21:13,173 --> 00:21:15,304
because the next one was coming.
452
00:21:15,869 --> 00:21:16,826
The pace,
453
00:21:17,695 --> 00:21:18,608
the pace was,
454
00:21:19,521 --> 00:21:21,304
um, daunting.
455
00:21:21,478 --> 00:21:22,956
[Michael]
There was no time.
456
00:21:23,130 --> 00:21:24,695
It was, "Get it done.
457
00:21:24,869 --> 00:21:27,521
Get it done
to the best of our ability
458
00:21:27,695 --> 00:21:28,652
and then move on."
459
00:21:30,695 --> 00:21:32,739
You have to bear in mind
that in the beginning,
460
00:21:33,304 --> 00:21:35,260
I was contracted
for five episodes.
461
00:21:35,434 --> 00:21:37,217
So I thought
that was the length and breadth
462
00:21:37,391 --> 00:21:39,652
of my responsibility, right?
463
00:21:39,826 --> 00:21:42,347
We're gonna do this
for five shows, and then I'll move on,
464
00:21:42,521 --> 00:21:44,913
and I'll have a great experience
behind me.
465
00:21:45,478 --> 00:21:49,347
And then,
we were on the fifth episode,
466
00:21:50,304 --> 00:21:52,391
and I think
it was lunch on a Friday,
467
00:21:52,565 --> 00:21:55,130
and that was when Rick Duffield
and Betty Buckley stood up
468
00:21:55,869 --> 00:21:57,913
at lunch on a Friday
and announced
469
00:21:58,086 --> 00:22:01,391
that PBS had ordered
35 more shows
470
00:22:02,086 --> 00:22:06,521
for a total of 40 episodes
in a calendar year.
471
00:22:07,043 --> 00:22:08,347
The looks of-- on the faces...
472
00:22:08,521 --> 00:22:11,260
[stutters] was everything
from total shock
473
00:22:11,434 --> 00:22:14,521
and terror to excitement.
474
00:22:15,217 --> 00:22:17,608
[Larry]
The first thing that happened was this sort of wave of relief
475
00:22:17,782 --> 00:22:19,695
ran over all these
young filmmakers
476
00:22:19,869 --> 00:22:22,130
in the lunchroom,
which was, like,
477
00:22:22,826 --> 00:22:26,478
"Oh, my gosh, we, we, we've got
a full-time job for a year now. We're covered."
478
00:22:26,652 --> 00:22:28,695
That was followed exactly
479
00:22:29,304 --> 00:22:33,739
by the clenching
of every set of teeth.
480
00:22:34,260 --> 00:22:37,913
Not knowing what a stupid thing
it would be to say yes,
481
00:22:38,869 --> 00:22:41,043
I said, "Yes. Of course. Sure."
482
00:22:42,739 --> 00:22:44,086
What was I thinking?
483
00:22:44,260 --> 00:22:45,826
This show was made on the fly.
484
00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:47,913
We made it up
as we went along, so...
485
00:22:48,869 --> 00:22:50,478
"Okay, we're gonna do
40 of these.
486
00:22:50,652 --> 00:22:51,913
When do they want 'em?"
487
00:22:52,086 --> 00:22:53,347
Well, they want
all of them at once
488
00:22:53,521 --> 00:22:54,391
because they're gonna strip it.
489
00:22:54,565 --> 00:22:56,521
So, we couldn't make five
490
00:22:56,695 --> 00:22:59,043
and send them five
and do the next five and make--
491
00:22:59,217 --> 00:23:00,782
They, they needed
all 40 at once.
492
00:23:00,956 --> 00:23:02,478
[light music]
493
00:23:09,782 --> 00:23:11,391
We all had the same question,
which was,
494
00:23:12,086 --> 00:23:13,260
"How are we gonna do this?
495
00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:15,956
How are we gonna pull this off?"
496
00:23:22,130 --> 00:23:25,217
And we were all young,
and we really didn't know what we were doing. [laughs]
497
00:23:25,391 --> 00:23:27,608
But we were all passionate
about not knowing.
498
00:23:28,739 --> 00:23:31,391
So, I had never written
for television or film before.
499
00:23:31,565 --> 00:23:34,217
I had written a couple of plays,
and I had been in plays.
500
00:23:34,391 --> 00:23:36,695
Not knowing what you don't know
can sometimes be
501
00:23:36,869 --> 00:23:38,565
a little bit of a blessing
and a little bit of a help.
502
00:23:38,739 --> 00:23:41,217
So, you're, like,
"Why can't we do that? Sure."
503
00:23:41,391 --> 00:23:44,869
I don't think we knew
that this was a kind of a big task
504
00:23:45,043 --> 00:23:47,782
as far as approaching,
first of all,
505
00:23:47,956 --> 00:23:49,434
a children's television show,
506
00:23:49,956 --> 00:23:51,782
and then being shot on film.
507
00:23:51,956 --> 00:23:53,826
Everybody has a piece
of the job.
508
00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:55,391
It was my first film set.
I didn't know
509
00:23:55,565 --> 00:23:57,913
what all these people
were doing. Found out.
510
00:23:58,086 --> 00:24:01,130
This is like a bunch of people
that really don't know what they're doing.
511
00:24:01,304 --> 00:24:02,869
And in,
in a lot of respects, it was.
512
00:24:03,043 --> 00:24:06,043
It was a whole group of people
that came together
513
00:24:06,565 --> 00:24:09,304
to work on something
that they had never really done.
514
00:24:09,956 --> 00:24:13,347
We all realized we had all been
thrown into the deep end,
515
00:24:13,956 --> 00:24:18,043
and most of us were young
and just at the start of our careers.
516
00:24:18,217 --> 00:24:21,739
Basically, I'd come up
doing commercials and short form style things.
517
00:24:21,913 --> 00:24:25,304
Although, my first job was a PA
on JFKwith Oliver Stone,
518
00:24:25,478 --> 00:24:27,695
I wasn't sure if I knew
what I was doing.
519
00:24:27,869 --> 00:24:29,478
So, when I got the chance
to step on set
520
00:24:29,652 --> 00:24:31,913
and actually run the set myself
for the first time,
521
00:24:32,086 --> 00:24:34,217
it was
the most nerve-racking thing
522
00:24:34,391 --> 00:24:36,565
I've ever done
in my career. [laughs]
523
00:24:36,739 --> 00:24:39,521
When I came
and worked on Wishbone,
524
00:24:39,695 --> 00:24:46,565
Betty had to teach me
a whole new process of series television
525
00:24:46,739 --> 00:24:49,304
that was shot on film,
526
00:24:49,478 --> 00:24:52,304
shot interior, out exterior
527
00:24:52,478 --> 00:24:55,260
with a whole repertoire
of, uh, casting
528
00:24:55,434 --> 00:24:57,739
new actors... [chuckles]
for every show,
529
00:24:57,913 --> 00:25:00,347
new sets for every show.
530
00:25:00,521 --> 00:25:03,130
Every-- You know,
everything was different.
531
00:25:03,304 --> 00:25:06,000
I had worked on movies
as a production office coordinator,
532
00:25:06,173 --> 00:25:07,913
so I had a really
good perspective
533
00:25:08,086 --> 00:25:09,782
of all these different
department heads,
534
00:25:09,956 --> 00:25:12,739
'cause as a coordinator,
you, you touch everything.
535
00:25:13,217 --> 00:25:17,043
And I know many of us
suffered from,
536
00:25:17,913 --> 00:25:20,956
you know, uh...
What do they call it, "impostor syndrome"?
537
00:25:21,130 --> 00:25:23,695
"Are they're gonna find me out?"
[chuckles] "I'm not really that good."
538
00:25:23,869 --> 00:25:26,304
I actually didn't even know
what the screenplay format
539
00:25:26,826 --> 00:25:28,521
was supposed to be.
540
00:25:28,695 --> 00:25:32,217
So I went and I bought,
um, a collection of screenplays
541
00:25:32,391 --> 00:25:33,434
by William Goldman,
542
00:25:34,086 --> 00:25:35,739
and I opened it up and I saw,
543
00:25:35,913 --> 00:25:39,304
"Oh, okay.
So, setting, scene heading,
544
00:25:39,478 --> 00:25:40,739
uh, dialogue.
545
00:25:40,913 --> 00:25:42,565
Okay, you put that that way.
546
00:25:42,739 --> 00:25:44,956
Action is described
in this way." [laughs]
547
00:25:45,130 --> 00:25:47,086
And I basically spent a weekend
548
00:25:47,260 --> 00:25:48,869
reading through
these screenplays,
549
00:25:49,043 --> 00:25:52,130
getting a sense
of what the format was.
550
00:25:52,304 --> 00:25:54,086
I never really got
the impression
551
00:25:54,260 --> 00:25:56,652
that, uh, we were
being held back
552
00:25:56,826 --> 00:26:01,347
by, uh, inexperience
of anybody, uh, on the crew.
553
00:26:01,826 --> 00:26:03,869
You know, I think that,
uh, all the heads of department
554
00:26:04,043 --> 00:26:07,478
were good about,
uh, making sure that, uh,
555
00:26:08,173 --> 00:26:10,434
yeah, everybody knew
what was, uh, was required
556
00:26:10,608 --> 00:26:13,260
and how the process
was gonna work, and...
557
00:26:13,434 --> 00:26:16,086
The fun part
was meeting with everybody.
558
00:26:16,260 --> 00:26:18,521
And I wanted to meet with
every single department head,
559
00:26:18,695 --> 00:26:22,043
and I wanted to get everybody
in that crew,
560
00:26:22,521 --> 00:26:23,913
who would care about this.
561
00:26:24,086 --> 00:26:26,130
And I knew
it was gonna be so different
562
00:26:26,304 --> 00:26:27,739
that you had to
kind of have somebody
563
00:26:27,913 --> 00:26:29,913
that could problem-solve
and think differently
564
00:26:30,086 --> 00:26:31,913
about the way
you do a television show,
565
00:26:32,086 --> 00:26:33,608
because this was
unlike anything...
566
00:26:34,652 --> 00:26:35,608
...anybody had done.
567
00:26:36,086 --> 00:26:38,260
I would give, uh, everybody
568
00:26:38,434 --> 00:26:40,565
that was on the show
very, very high marks
569
00:26:40,739 --> 00:26:43,217
for just being smart,
paying attention
570
00:26:43,695 --> 00:26:46,347
and, and, uh, doing
what was asked of them
571
00:26:46,521 --> 00:26:48,217
even though
they might have been scared,
572
00:26:48,695 --> 00:26:50,608
you know, and, and nervous,
573
00:26:50,782 --> 00:26:53,130
you know, about, uh, yeah,
being on something
574
00:26:53,304 --> 00:26:55,739
that had to move
that big and that fast. [laughs]
575
00:26:56,478 --> 00:26:58,043
I sure didn't know
how to do it yet.
576
00:26:58,217 --> 00:27:00,434
Like, we had
to find our way through it.
577
00:27:00,608 --> 00:27:02,826
And I-- That's why I needed
every single person
578
00:27:03,391 --> 00:27:04,608
to be a collaborative person
579
00:27:04,782 --> 00:27:06,565
that would wanna
work together on this
580
00:27:06,739 --> 00:27:07,782
and figure it out.
581
00:27:08,608 --> 00:27:10,043
And maybe
that's one of the things
582
00:27:10,217 --> 00:27:11,869
that caused us all to coalesce.
583
00:27:12,434 --> 00:27:14,130
We all coalesced
around the question,
584
00:27:14,304 --> 00:27:16,478
"Are we gonna be able
to get this done this week?"
585
00:27:16,652 --> 00:27:19,130
It was tough, though,
for the writers.
586
00:27:19,304 --> 00:27:21,347
That was
one of the biggest strains,
587
00:27:21,521 --> 00:27:24,521
is that when they announced
35 more shows...
588
00:27:25,652 --> 00:27:26,434
"Okay."
589
00:27:26,608 --> 00:27:27,956
I didn't know
590
00:27:28,130 --> 00:27:29,391
because I had not been around
591
00:27:29,565 --> 00:27:31,086
a television series before
592
00:27:31,260 --> 00:27:32,173
or written for one.
593
00:27:32,739 --> 00:27:34,913
I didn't really know
how it worked.
594
00:27:35,086 --> 00:27:39,869
I honestly thought, "Okay, well,
now I need to write 40 scripts."
595
00:27:40,043 --> 00:27:44,782
I didn't really understand
that TV shows had staff writers.
596
00:27:44,956 --> 00:27:46,173
I didn't know anything.
597
00:27:46,347 --> 00:27:50,652
[laughs] I was so naive.
598
00:27:50,826 --> 00:27:53,869
So I panicked,
needless to say, thinking,
599
00:27:54,043 --> 00:27:56,956
- "I don't know
if I can do this." - [files plopping]
600
00:27:57,130 --> 00:27:59,565
Then, thanks to, you know,
other people, I was--
601
00:27:59,739 --> 00:28:01,826
it was explained to me
that you don't have to write
602
00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:03,565
all 40 scripts. [chuckles]
603
00:28:03,739 --> 00:28:05,739
"We can have other writers
help you."
604
00:28:06,260 --> 00:28:07,826
And that was a revelation.
605
00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:11,391
Stephanie Simpson
had a phenomenal challenge,
606
00:28:11,869 --> 00:28:15,478
to come up
with, um, staff writers and freelance writers
607
00:28:15,652 --> 00:28:17,695
to faithfully adapt
a classic book
608
00:28:17,869 --> 00:28:20,826
with this educational content
in a hurry.
609
00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:24,347
In terms of finding
other writers, they were my friends.
610
00:28:24,521 --> 00:28:28,173
They were people that I knew
were crazy enough to try this.
611
00:28:28,347 --> 00:28:31,434
None of them had written
for television before either,
612
00:28:31,608 --> 00:28:36,739
but neither had
a television show ever been written in this way.
613
00:28:36,913 --> 00:28:42,347
So, in some ways,
experience was less important than willingness
614
00:28:42,521 --> 00:28:44,826
and love of the material.
615
00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:46,521
Mo, I had known
in New York City.
616
00:28:46,695 --> 00:28:49,217
He had gone to school
with my sister.
617
00:28:49,391 --> 00:28:51,000
We had been neighbors
in New York,
618
00:28:51,173 --> 00:28:53,000
and we had
always told each other,
619
00:28:53,173 --> 00:28:56,956
"If I can help you, I will.
And if you can help me, I will."
620
00:28:57,130 --> 00:28:59,347
That was kind of a bargain
that, that we had.
621
00:28:59,521 --> 00:29:02,217
And so, when I got Wishbone,
I was able to call Mo.
622
00:29:02,391 --> 00:29:03,695
It's kind of a dream come true.
623
00:29:03,869 --> 00:29:05,652
He said,
"Wh-- where is this happening?"
624
00:29:05,826 --> 00:29:08,130
And I said,
"Well, it's happening in Dallas, Texas."
625
00:29:08,304 --> 00:29:11,478
[chuckling] And Mo said, "Okay.
So, am I coming to Texas?"
626
00:29:11,652 --> 00:29:14,434
And I said, "Yes, Mo,
you're coming to Texas."
627
00:29:14,608 --> 00:29:17,652
So he came
from New York to Texas,
628
00:29:17,826 --> 00:29:22,826
uh, and just
kind of set up shop to write this television series.
629
00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:25,782
And the same for Vincent.
We had also been friends in college,
630
00:29:25,956 --> 00:29:27,869
and I knew
that Vincent loved writing.
631
00:29:28,043 --> 00:29:29,782
I knew he loved classics.
632
00:29:31,434 --> 00:29:33,347
That was our little core group.
633
00:29:33,913 --> 00:29:35,739
Where did you start
in the media?
634
00:29:35,913 --> 00:29:37,043
What was your first...
635
00:29:37,608 --> 00:29:39,521
How do I come to know Mo Rocca?
636
00:29:39,695 --> 00:29:42,086
I think probably
being on The Daily Show.
637
00:29:42,260 --> 00:29:44,043
- But before--
- How did they find you?
638
00:29:44,217 --> 00:29:46,652
They found me because I had--
639
00:29:46,826 --> 00:29:50,000
I'd been writing for a kids'
TV show called Wishbone,
640
00:29:50,173 --> 00:29:52,695
which was really
an extraordinary--
641
00:29:52,869 --> 00:29:54,565
a learning experience for me.
642
00:29:54,739 --> 00:29:57,565
It's where I-- Whatever
storytelling skills I have,
643
00:29:57,739 --> 00:29:59,086
I kind of learned there.
644
00:29:59,260 --> 00:30:00,347
- Kids' show?
- Yeah.
645
00:30:00,521 --> 00:30:01,434
What age?
646
00:30:01,608 --> 00:30:03,173
For six to 11-year olds.
647
00:30:03,347 --> 00:30:04,695
Really good show.
648
00:30:04,869 --> 00:30:06,695
And, um-- If I do say so myself.
649
00:30:06,869 --> 00:30:08,000
But I was just a writer.
650
00:30:08,173 --> 00:30:10,347
And, uh, and, um,
651
00:30:10,521 --> 00:30:12,260
it took classic novels
652
00:30:12,434 --> 00:30:15,000
and it boiled them down
for kids...
653
00:30:15,956 --> 00:30:17,043
...starring a dog.
654
00:30:17,217 --> 00:30:18,521
And I know it sounds wacky.
655
00:30:18,695 --> 00:30:20,217
It was with
a Jack Russell terrier.
656
00:30:20,782 --> 00:30:23,956
But taking some of
the greatest stories ever told,
657
00:30:24,130 --> 00:30:26,304
and adapting them,
not dumbing them down,
658
00:30:26,478 --> 00:30:28,304
but adapting them for kids
659
00:30:28,869 --> 00:30:33,086
really made me think and learn
about how to tell a good story.
660
00:30:33,260 --> 00:30:35,217
[upbeat classical music]
661
00:31:13,173 --> 00:31:15,826
[host]
Also in family TV, there's usually a dog star
662
00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:17,826
like Rin Tin Tin or Lassie.
663
00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:20,043
But on PBS,
a dog named Wishbone
664
00:31:20,217 --> 00:31:22,521
represents the new breed
of TV dog.
665
00:31:22,695 --> 00:31:24,521
He only works
if he gets the perk.
666
00:31:24,695 --> 00:31:25,782
[finale music]
667
00:31:29,608 --> 00:31:31,913
- [rustles]
- I don't know if anyone else has attempted to do this much
668
00:31:32,086 --> 00:31:33,608
for a children's show before.
[chuckles]
669
00:31:33,782 --> 00:31:36,347
- A dog sailing a raft...
- [splashing]
670
00:31:37,478 --> 00:31:38,782
...a dog firing a musket...
671
00:31:41,130 --> 00:31:42,000
[gunshot]
672
00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:44,347
...a dog firing
a bow and arrow...
673
00:31:44,521 --> 00:31:45,956
[people shouting indistinctly]
674
00:31:46,913 --> 00:31:48,304
[whooshes]
675
00:31:48,478 --> 00:31:49,782
...a dog riding horseback...
676
00:31:50,434 --> 00:31:51,521
[Wishbone]
What about it?
677
00:31:51,695 --> 00:31:52,652
Think he's on his way back
678
00:31:52,826 --> 00:31:53,695
with that money?
679
00:31:55,043 --> 00:31:57,869
...a dog flying through the air,
just to name a few.
680
00:31:58,826 --> 00:32:00,869
The reason we could do
what we did
681
00:32:01,043 --> 00:32:04,565
was because
that dog could perform.
682
00:32:07,043 --> 00:32:10,391
I actually came to look on him
as a fellow actor
683
00:32:10,565 --> 00:32:12,652
and not a dog
that I wanted to pet
684
00:32:12,826 --> 00:32:14,565
because he was very serious
about work.
685
00:32:14,739 --> 00:32:16,130
And I remember Brian
telling me once about
686
00:32:16,304 --> 00:32:18,130
something called
"behavior chaining."
687
00:32:18,304 --> 00:32:20,086
And basically,
it's taking several behaviors
688
00:32:20,260 --> 00:32:21,565
and linking them together.
689
00:32:21,739 --> 00:32:23,260
So, for example, when,
690
00:32:23,434 --> 00:32:25,565
when Soccer would
come on to a set
691
00:32:25,739 --> 00:32:27,913
and he maybe walks in
and hits a mark,
692
00:32:28,086 --> 00:32:30,826
but then he jumps up on a bench
and then he sits down,
693
00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:32,434
and then he maybe
gives someone his paw,
694
00:32:32,608 --> 00:32:34,043
that all looks
completely seamless.
695
00:32:34,217 --> 00:32:37,086
It's actually several behaviors
chained together
696
00:32:37,260 --> 00:32:39,608
so that it looked like
he was just acting
697
00:32:39,782 --> 00:32:41,739
like every other actor on set.
698
00:32:42,217 --> 00:32:44,217
- [clacks]
- [man] Ready. And Wishbone, action!
699
00:32:44,391 --> 00:32:45,347
[Jackie]
Soccer, come!
700
00:32:45,521 --> 00:32:47,347
Come on, buddy. Come on, jump!
701
00:32:47,521 --> 00:32:49,086
Hup, hup, hup!
702
00:32:49,260 --> 00:32:51,391
- Come on! Hup!
- [Wishbone grunting]
703
00:32:51,869 --> 00:32:54,043
[Wishbone]
Huck! I know where the treasure is!
704
00:32:54,217 --> 00:32:55,782
[man]
Okay, action, Reagan. Come on in.
705
00:32:56,347 --> 00:32:58,652
- What?
- [Wishbone] Huck, it's in the cave!
706
00:32:59,217 --> 00:33:01,130
- Are you sure?
- [Wishbone] I know it.
707
00:33:01,304 --> 00:33:03,304
Come and help me get it.
I know a secret entrance.
708
00:33:03,782 --> 00:33:04,739
Well, let's go.
709
00:33:05,521 --> 00:33:07,130
[man]
Okay, turn and go...
710
00:33:07,304 --> 00:33:09,521
- [speaking indistinctly]
- [Jackie] Soccer, down.
711
00:33:10,043 --> 00:33:10,782
[man]
And cut.
712
00:33:10,956 --> 00:33:12,217
In, uh, filmmaking,
713
00:33:12,739 --> 00:33:15,565
uh, when you're laying out
complicated blocking,
714
00:33:15,739 --> 00:33:20,782
all the actors,
uh, uh, are given uh, specific marks to go to.
715
00:33:20,956 --> 00:33:24,043
[chuckles] So, Soccer was
all part of that, right?
716
00:33:25,173 --> 00:33:27,173
Soccer could hit
more than one mark.
717
00:33:28,347 --> 00:33:30,434
He hit three marks easily.
718
00:33:31,608 --> 00:33:34,913
We were able
to finish all those shows
719
00:33:35,086 --> 00:33:39,173
because Jackie Kaptan
was an extraordinary trainer.
720
00:33:39,347 --> 00:33:42,478
Uh, open-minded, but clear,
721
00:33:43,086 --> 00:33:45,739
you know, about, uh, uh,
what she was able to do
722
00:33:45,913 --> 00:33:48,391
with, uh, uh, with this cast
of dogs that we had.
723
00:33:48,565 --> 00:33:50,608
Soccer, come on!
Come on, buddy! Hup!
724
00:33:50,782 --> 00:33:52,913
Come on, buddy! Attaboy!
725
00:33:53,391 --> 00:33:56,086
He basically works
for praise from the trainers
726
00:33:56,260 --> 00:33:58,826
and his off time playing ball.
727
00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:00,826
He'll do anything to play ball.
728
00:34:01,347 --> 00:34:03,347
It is a difficult profession
to get into.
729
00:34:03,521 --> 00:34:06,478
My dad was a dog trainer,
um, as a hobby,
730
00:34:06,652 --> 00:34:08,695
and so I was exposed
to a lot of dog training,
731
00:34:08,869 --> 00:34:10,304
um, very young.
732
00:34:10,782 --> 00:34:12,608
Um, but I started
out of high school,
733
00:34:12,782 --> 00:34:15,695
workin' as a keeper
for wild animals.
734
00:34:15,869 --> 00:34:18,043
And I did wild animals
for the first ten years,
735
00:34:18,217 --> 00:34:22,086
um, for a wild animal company,
Steve Martin's Working Wildlife.
736
00:34:22,260 --> 00:34:25,173
I got him at eight weeks old.
He's a Jack Russell terrier.
737
00:34:25,347 --> 00:34:28,260
I've been workin' him
seriously for about seven years.
738
00:34:28,434 --> 00:34:30,913
Um, it's kind of
a nonstop process.
739
00:34:31,434 --> 00:34:33,347
- Scratch. Scratch.
- [Wishbone] I'm on my platform, so I normally--
740
00:34:33,521 --> 00:34:34,695
- Okay. [chuckles]
- Oh, oh, oh, oh.
741
00:34:34,869 --> 00:34:36,304
- [man] Good.
- [Jackie] Stay.
742
00:34:36,478 --> 00:34:38,260
- [Wishbone] Hm? [barks]
- Good.
743
00:34:38,782 --> 00:34:40,043
- [Jackie] Hide your eyes.
- [Wishbone] That's the one good line I know.
744
00:34:40,217 --> 00:34:40,956
- Larry has to do the rest.
- Hide your eyes.
745
00:34:41,130 --> 00:34:41,956
Hide your eyes.
746
00:34:42,652 --> 00:34:44,173
All right. Attaboy.
747
00:34:44,347 --> 00:34:46,565
Well, they're very active,
energetic dog.
748
00:34:46,739 --> 00:34:49,130
Um, I think, what makes them
a great movie dog
749
00:34:49,304 --> 00:34:50,956
is they have a lot of enthusiasm
750
00:34:51,130 --> 00:34:54,695
and a lot of character,
and they enjoy work.
751
00:34:54,869 --> 00:34:59,173
[Larry]
He wasn't just a trained dog. I mean, he was a trained actor.
752
00:34:59,695 --> 00:35:01,347
[Wishbone]
You mean me?
753
00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:04,478
Thank you, MonsieurMorrel.
I'm honored.
754
00:35:04,652 --> 00:35:06,130
I know you would rather...
755
00:35:06,304 --> 00:35:07,956
[Larry]
He had this amazing range,
756
00:35:08,130 --> 00:35:10,956
emotionally, and, and all
of his expressions.
757
00:35:11,130 --> 00:35:13,391
And physically,
he could do anything,
758
00:35:13,565 --> 00:35:15,130
whether he would shade his eyes
759
00:35:15,304 --> 00:35:17,608
or fly around
from one place to the next,
760
00:35:17,782 --> 00:35:19,913
or cock his head
and look at you
761
00:35:20,086 --> 00:35:22,739
like, "Did you just say
the right line?"
762
00:35:22,913 --> 00:35:24,608
He was Charlie Chaplin
763
00:35:24,782 --> 00:35:27,304
in a little
white and brown dog's body.
764
00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:29,913
And I have to say,
there were lots of times,
765
00:35:30,086 --> 00:35:31,173
whatever character
I was playing
766
00:35:31,347 --> 00:35:32,826
over the course
of those seasons,
767
00:35:33,391 --> 00:35:36,521
where you, you bought into it
enough that I was really reading
768
00:35:36,695 --> 00:35:39,347
whether real or imagined
expressions on Soccer's face.
769
00:35:39,869 --> 00:35:42,956
Don't worry, Robin,
we'll figure something out.
770
00:35:43,130 --> 00:35:44,782
[Wishbone]
If only I'd taken her with us.
771
00:35:44,956 --> 00:35:46,260
I should have.
772
00:35:46,434 --> 00:35:47,956
If only I knew
that she was all right.
773
00:35:48,130 --> 00:35:51,260
- If I had some kind of sign!
- [whooshes, thuds]
774
00:35:51,434 --> 00:35:53,521
[Matt] And, you know,
he was processing what I was saying,
775
00:35:53,695 --> 00:35:56,652
and, and whatever he was--
whatever expressions
776
00:35:56,826 --> 00:36:01,260
Jackie was creating for him
with a treat, just off camera,
777
00:36:01,434 --> 00:36:05,173
to me, he was absolutely
your mind through his face,
778
00:36:05,347 --> 00:36:07,391
interacting with me.
So it was a--
779
00:36:07,565 --> 00:36:11,043
Once I suspended
my own disbelief, it was a joy.
780
00:36:11,217 --> 00:36:12,304
The dog was an actor.
781
00:36:13,086 --> 00:36:14,695
It's-- You're working
with another actor.
782
00:36:15,173 --> 00:36:17,217
One thing I loved about Wishbone
is that all the actors
783
00:36:17,391 --> 00:36:19,869
treated the dog like,
like he was Laurence Olivier.
784
00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:24,565
And then, Larry did
such and amazing job of voicing the dog
785
00:36:24,739 --> 00:36:28,086
that you felt like
the dog was talking to you and was present in that moment.
786
00:36:28,260 --> 00:36:31,000
[Larry]
Watching Soccer work on camera,
787
00:36:31,173 --> 00:36:32,521
and watching Jackie and Brian
788
00:36:32,695 --> 00:36:35,043
and the rest of the team
work with him,
789
00:36:35,217 --> 00:36:39,565
taught all of us
a lot about set discipline.
790
00:36:39,739 --> 00:36:42,434
Everybody knew that Soccer
needed attention,
791
00:36:42,608 --> 00:36:44,782
and he needed to work,
and he needed focus.
792
00:36:44,956 --> 00:36:47,130
And so, I found it
really interesting
793
00:36:47,304 --> 00:36:49,652
that none of us, cast or crew,
794
00:36:49,826 --> 00:36:52,130
in between takes,
would want to do anything
795
00:36:52,304 --> 00:36:54,217
that would break
Soccer's focus.
796
00:36:54,391 --> 00:36:56,695
[Brian]
The dog will lose focus if he's, you know,
797
00:36:57,478 --> 00:36:59,782
interested in somebody else,
or if, you know,
798
00:36:59,956 --> 00:37:03,391
they just had
a burger and fries and he smells it all over them.
799
00:37:03,565 --> 00:37:04,608
You know, it just depends.
800
00:37:04,782 --> 00:37:06,608
Um, so, yeah,
801
00:37:07,260 --> 00:37:09,521
we tried to keep Soccer
focused on us.
802
00:37:10,913 --> 00:37:14,043
[Larry]
He was the most expressive dog I've ever seen on a camera.
803
00:37:14,217 --> 00:37:16,217
He had great personality.
804
00:37:16,391 --> 00:37:19,695
During a scene,
he was very aware that he was working.
805
00:37:19,869 --> 00:37:22,695
And it wasn't long,
during the first season,
806
00:37:22,869 --> 00:37:25,217
before people just, on set,
807
00:37:25,391 --> 00:37:28,608
other actors
just began treating him like another actor.
808
00:37:29,739 --> 00:37:32,695
- How are you feeling, dear boy?
- [Wishbone sneezes] Horrible.
809
00:37:33,173 --> 00:37:34,260
[people laughing]
810
00:37:35,217 --> 00:37:37,260
[Larry]
And if you just did your job
811
00:37:37,434 --> 00:37:39,391
and let that little dog
do his job,
812
00:37:39,869 --> 00:37:41,043
he was pretty amazing.
813
00:37:44,434 --> 00:37:48,608
Typical day started usually
between 6:00 and 6:30 in the morning.
814
00:37:48,782 --> 00:37:51,173
The five days
of principal photography,
815
00:37:51,695 --> 00:37:53,304
I had to go
wherever the shoot was,
816
00:37:53,478 --> 00:37:54,826
whether it was on the backlot
817
00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:56,000
or whether
it was the soundstages,
818
00:37:56,173 --> 00:37:57,130
or whether we were shooting out
819
00:37:57,304 --> 00:37:58,869
somewhere like a rock quarry.
820
00:37:59,391 --> 00:38:02,130
So, I would arrive,
and the first person I would look for
821
00:38:02,304 --> 00:38:05,826
would be, um, either
the second AD or the first AD,
822
00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:08,739
to let them know I was alive
and breathing and on the set.
823
00:38:09,304 --> 00:38:11,869
The second person
I would seek out would be Michael Haines,
824
00:38:12,043 --> 00:38:15,304
because I was always
going to be by sound.
825
00:38:15,478 --> 00:38:17,913
[lively music]
826
00:38:18,086 --> 00:38:21,391
When they told you,
"Hey, the guy who's gonna be the voice,
827
00:38:21,565 --> 00:38:23,869
- we actually wanna
have him on set." - Yeah.
828
00:38:24,043 --> 00:38:27,695
And so, he's got--
"There's gotta be a way for him to act,
829
00:38:28,217 --> 00:38:29,695
- but not be on set."
- Right.
830
00:38:29,869 --> 00:38:31,347
"There's gotta be a way
for him to vocally act
831
00:38:31,521 --> 00:38:33,217
with the on-camera actors."
832
00:38:33,391 --> 00:38:35,565
So, how did you,
how did you solve that issue?
833
00:38:35,739 --> 00:38:38,173
Well, we decided
to have you outside of the room.
834
00:38:38,695 --> 00:38:40,086
[Larry]
During the first season,
835
00:38:40,565 --> 00:38:44,739
Johnny Knight built for me
a, a booth, a sound booth
836
00:38:44,913 --> 00:38:48,217
that stood in our studios,
between Studios A and B
837
00:38:48,695 --> 00:38:50,521
and he called it "The Doghouse."
838
00:38:50,695 --> 00:38:52,478
And that was where I was
when I was in the studio.
839
00:38:52,652 --> 00:38:54,739
But when we were on,
when we were on location,
840
00:38:54,913 --> 00:38:58,739
I was right by Michael,
who would fashion me a, um,
841
00:38:58,913 --> 00:39:01,956
a sound booth
out of furniture pads and C-stands.
842
00:39:02,130 --> 00:39:04,652
When we were outside, though,
it was a little different, right?
843
00:39:04,826 --> 00:39:06,652
Because you had
to run a speaker out to, like,
844
00:39:06,826 --> 00:39:08,521
- where the camera lived?
- Correct. Yes.
845
00:39:08,695 --> 00:39:10,869
I had to run a speaker out
by where the camera was
846
00:39:11,043 --> 00:39:13,956
- so the talent could react
to your voice. - Yeah.
847
00:39:14,130 --> 00:39:17,478
Having Larry Brantley on set,
uh, at the time,
848
00:39:17,652 --> 00:39:20,739
literally 15 or 20 feet away,
849
00:39:21,347 --> 00:39:22,826
voicing whatever character
it was,
850
00:39:23,000 --> 00:39:24,652
in this case with Little John,
Robin Hood,
851
00:39:24,826 --> 00:39:27,478
the character I grew up loving,
that was invaluable
852
00:39:27,652 --> 00:39:30,260
because now we're actually
acting with an actor.
853
00:39:30,434 --> 00:39:35,565
We were on set,
but Dog Boy was in his dog box off stage, and--
854
00:39:35,739 --> 00:39:39,130
You know, all by himself
in his little sound booth,
855
00:39:39,304 --> 00:39:40,956
and, uh, so the only time
we got to see him
856
00:39:41,130 --> 00:39:43,260
was we'd go knock on the door
and say, "Hi."
857
00:39:43,434 --> 00:39:46,304
Or I'd say, "Knock, knock.
Would you like a snack?"
858
00:39:46,478 --> 00:39:48,173
[both laughing]
859
00:39:48,347 --> 00:39:50,000
[upbeat classical music]
860
00:39:57,304 --> 00:40:00,260
I tried to bring
into the contemporary sets
861
00:40:00,434 --> 00:40:04,565
as much of my own
life experience as I could.
862
00:40:04,739 --> 00:40:07,217
And I was always a aficionado
863
00:40:07,391 --> 00:40:10,304
of the craftsman style
of bungalow,
864
00:40:10,478 --> 00:40:14,826
and designed the Talbot home,
uh, accordingly.
865
00:40:15,000 --> 00:40:17,000
[somber music]
866
00:40:25,043 --> 00:40:28,565
And then, next door
was our wonderful character, Wanda.
867
00:40:28,739 --> 00:40:29,956
[doorknob clicks]
868
00:40:32,130 --> 00:40:34,217
[Chris]
We went with the Queen Anne style.
869
00:40:34,391 --> 00:40:36,130
- [light piano music]
- [birds chirping]
870
00:40:46,260 --> 00:40:50,652
I just try to bring
as much character into my sets
871
00:40:51,173 --> 00:40:57,130
as I possibly can so that
there is something spoken
872
00:40:57,826 --> 00:41:00,913
before a word
of dialogue is said.
873
00:41:01,086 --> 00:41:03,565
Giving characters
a place to live.
874
00:41:08,347 --> 00:41:10,739
That's where
I would like to live, because it's warm,
875
00:41:10,913 --> 00:41:12,478
and it's fuzzy,
and it's friendly.
876
00:41:12,652 --> 00:41:14,782
And that's where
a dog like Wishbone
877
00:41:14,956 --> 00:41:16,173
would like to live.
878
00:41:18,913 --> 00:41:22,260
Chris had
a lot of design skills,
879
00:41:22,434 --> 00:41:24,956
a great understanding
of construction,
880
00:41:25,565 --> 00:41:27,913
but first and foremost,
he was great for this job
881
00:41:28,086 --> 00:41:32,260
because he, he had
a extremely good
882
00:41:32,434 --> 00:41:35,434
liberal arts background
and theater background,
883
00:41:35,608 --> 00:41:37,173
and he knew this material.
884
00:41:37,347 --> 00:41:39,173
I had enough feel for the time
885
00:41:39,347 --> 00:41:41,304
and the place
and the architecture.
886
00:41:42,086 --> 00:41:47,086
After we got a hint of an idea
about what the next show was,
887
00:41:47,260 --> 00:41:48,869
I'd often, on the way home,
888
00:41:49,043 --> 00:41:51,130
stop at the library
or at any bookstore
889
00:41:51,304 --> 00:41:54,043
and I would buy a paperback copy
of that book
890
00:41:54,217 --> 00:41:57,000
and just read the whole book
so that when Chris,
891
00:41:57,173 --> 00:41:59,000
who had already done
his research,
892
00:41:59,521 --> 00:42:02,565
came to me and said,
"We're gonna need this, this and this,"
893
00:42:03,173 --> 00:42:04,869
I would know
what he was talking about.
894
00:42:05,521 --> 00:42:07,304
...with the time machine.
Well, what is it?
895
00:42:07,478 --> 00:42:09,521
What does it look like?
What should it look like?
896
00:42:09,695 --> 00:42:11,391
We found this wonderful book
ofVictorian Inventions
897
00:42:11,565 --> 00:42:13,869
that were quite
silly-looking to us.
898
00:42:14,043 --> 00:42:16,521
Uh, I saw a little cart
that would look like
899
00:42:16,695 --> 00:42:19,347
it was meant to travel
on, uh, railroad tracks,
900
00:42:19,521 --> 00:42:21,652
and the man was seated
in a little metal,
901
00:42:21,826 --> 00:42:23,478
uh, curved metal chair.
902
00:42:23,652 --> 00:42:25,652
[classical music]
903
00:42:26,826 --> 00:42:30,173
I was looking for styles
904
00:42:30,347 --> 00:42:33,478
more than
a particular architectural
905
00:42:33,652 --> 00:42:36,304
or a particular ground plan,
906
00:42:36,478 --> 00:42:38,652
'cause I knew
we could always build,
907
00:42:38,826 --> 00:42:41,695
configure to suit
our, our needs.
908
00:42:42,347 --> 00:42:44,217
I had Kathryn Yingling.
909
00:42:44,391 --> 00:42:48,782
Kathryn was my wo-- wonderful
sketch and concept artist.
910
00:42:48,956 --> 00:42:53,956
Initially, I was there
to draw concept drawings
911
00:42:54,130 --> 00:42:55,434
for art department.
912
00:42:55,608 --> 00:42:56,739
[Chris]
I called her and I said,
913
00:42:56,913 --> 00:42:58,391
"Look, we're-- I'm trying to
914
00:42:59,043 --> 00:43:03,173
do some renderings
of this little neighborhood."
915
00:43:03,347 --> 00:43:08,000
[Kathryn]
I would piece together images in Chris's head,
916
00:43:08,173 --> 00:43:10,913
and he would frequently
do a little sketch.
917
00:43:11,086 --> 00:43:14,434
[Chris] I said, "Let's try
to see if we can come up with an aerial view
918
00:43:14,608 --> 00:43:19,782
of what these,
uh, facades and areas are, are going to look like."
919
00:43:19,956 --> 00:43:25,000
Now, I knew
we were going to be doing Victorian street scene
920
00:43:25,173 --> 00:43:31,173
and with some facades
that go back to the Elizabethan era,
921
00:43:31,347 --> 00:43:33,869
and then,
maybe as you turn a corner,
922
00:43:34,043 --> 00:43:38,173
we'll see a, uh,
medieval facade, you know,
923
00:43:38,347 --> 00:43:40,478
with the half-timbered framing.
924
00:43:40,652 --> 00:43:43,391
It's interesting.
I mean, we just looked at all different types of rock,
925
00:43:43,565 --> 00:43:45,782
how rock had been used
in building castles
926
00:43:45,956 --> 00:43:47,782
- and other medieval buildings.
- [machinery beeping]
927
00:43:47,956 --> 00:43:50,347
What our forefathers,
many, many centuries ago
928
00:43:50,521 --> 00:43:52,478
did with their hands,
and mortar and stone,
929
00:43:52,652 --> 00:43:53,695
we have done with foam.
930
00:43:53,869 --> 00:43:55,347
[light music]
931
00:43:56,652 --> 00:44:00,347
We weren't trying to make
the sets look fantastical.
932
00:44:00,826 --> 00:44:03,869
We were trying to make them
look as natural as possible,
933
00:44:04,043 --> 00:44:07,739
as, as normal,
uh, true to life as possible.
934
00:44:07,913 --> 00:44:12,304
More than anything,
we built architectural pieces.
935
00:44:12,478 --> 00:44:14,913
I said,
"We'll always use a courtyard."
936
00:44:15,565 --> 00:44:18,086
And the courtyard can be,
937
00:44:18,260 --> 00:44:20,826
you know, a courtyard
in Romeo and Juliet,
938
00:44:21,000 --> 00:44:25,173
it can be a courtyard
in Three Musketeers,
939
00:44:25,347 --> 00:44:28,565
or it can be
a cathedral of Notre Dame
940
00:44:28,739 --> 00:44:30,260
in Hunchback of Notre Dame.
941
00:44:30,434 --> 00:44:32,652
But these were
often historical images
942
00:44:32,826 --> 00:44:37,347
that we needed to produce
in a very short amount of time.
943
00:44:37,869 --> 00:44:39,956
The, the pace
was, was pretty brutal.
944
00:44:40,130 --> 00:44:43,826
Uh, we had to get the drawings
to the carpenters,
945
00:44:44,347 --> 00:44:46,695
sometimes,
like, in an hour and a half,
946
00:44:46,869 --> 00:44:50,173
and they would
amazingly fast-build them.
947
00:44:50,347 --> 00:44:52,304
I mean, by the end of the day.
And then,
948
00:44:53,217 --> 00:44:55,478
they would be sent over
to the, uh, scenic department
949
00:44:55,652 --> 00:44:58,043
where they would be painted,
wallpaper acquired,
950
00:44:58,217 --> 00:45:00,391
draperies acquired
by the art department.
951
00:45:00,565 --> 00:45:04,739
They'd be
dragged out to the sets, put up with jacks, lit.
952
00:45:04,913 --> 00:45:08,043
[Barry]
Then you shoot it, and then you say bye-bye.
953
00:45:08,217 --> 00:45:11,043
And it's really sad
because you pampered it
954
00:45:11,217 --> 00:45:12,478
and babied it for so long.
955
00:45:12,652 --> 00:45:14,739
Then now it's, uh, done. Next.
956
00:45:14,913 --> 00:45:18,434
[Stephanie]
You could walk onto a set for the classic literature,
957
00:45:18,608 --> 00:45:20,913
and it was like
going into a museum
958
00:45:21,086 --> 00:45:24,956
because they were,
in and of themselves, works of art.
959
00:45:25,130 --> 00:45:27,130
[classical music]
960
00:45:28,173 --> 00:45:32,260
I don't remember
Chris Henry ever saying, "We can't do this."
961
00:45:32,434 --> 00:45:36,782
The conversations
were more about how we were gonna do this.
962
00:45:39,260 --> 00:45:42,086
[Chris]
We're gonna be exceptional on everything we do.
963
00:45:42,260 --> 00:45:47,478
We're going to be unique
in every way we tell a story.
964
00:45:49,869 --> 00:45:53,043
[Rick]
I want it to be immersive, to feel like you are
965
00:45:53,608 --> 00:45:56,695
in 15th-Century England
or Spain.
966
00:45:59,173 --> 00:46:01,347
[Michael Benson]
The art department had dozens and dozens
967
00:46:01,521 --> 00:46:04,217
of people coming and going.
The, the scenic department
968
00:46:04,391 --> 00:46:06,826
had dozens
and dozens of painters over the course of it,
969
00:46:07,000 --> 00:46:10,130
and sometimes we'd have
two crews working back-to-back.
970
00:46:10,304 --> 00:46:12,086
We'd have one crew working
on this one
971
00:46:12,260 --> 00:46:14,652
and another crew working
on the next one.
972
00:46:17,434 --> 00:46:19,739
It is the look of a show,
973
00:46:20,565 --> 00:46:21,565
the sets,
974
00:46:22,478 --> 00:46:23,391
the colors...
975
00:46:26,521 --> 00:46:29,869
...designing things
that need to be designed that don't exist.
976
00:46:32,260 --> 00:46:34,826
Without detail,
you have no interest.
977
00:46:35,565 --> 00:46:36,913
Because detail
978
00:46:37,869 --> 00:46:39,739
is what tells the story.
979
00:46:42,000 --> 00:46:45,000
I did things that I thought
980
00:46:45,173 --> 00:46:48,260
people identified with
universally.
981
00:46:50,652 --> 00:46:53,565
[Kathryn]
So you were walking into the world of this book,
982
00:46:53,739 --> 00:46:55,043
and it was so different
every week,
983
00:46:55,217 --> 00:46:56,695
and they, they did it.
984
00:46:59,434 --> 00:47:03,347
[Chris]
And so much of what we did, we learned as we went along.
985
00:47:05,173 --> 00:47:07,869
I remember
the first day we shot.
986
00:47:08,043 --> 00:47:10,826
Rick gathered
everybody together,
987
00:47:11,565 --> 00:47:15,521
and, and he said,
"Look around you.
988
00:47:16,000 --> 00:47:19,217
I think you can tell
this is gonna be something exceptional."
989
00:47:20,478 --> 00:47:22,130
It was. It was.
990
00:47:25,086 --> 00:47:28,739
To create the overall
visual style of the show,
991
00:47:28,913 --> 00:47:31,217
as far as makeup and hair goes,
992
00:47:31,391 --> 00:47:35,086
I would find out what the period
of the novel was.
993
00:47:35,260 --> 00:47:40,478
My job, I felt,
was to create the visual
994
00:47:40,652 --> 00:47:44,869
of how the books had described
the various characters.
995
00:47:45,043 --> 00:47:48,478
I had a makeup studio and room.
996
00:47:48,652 --> 00:47:53,739
We had over
200 wigs and hairpieces, all lined up on the walls,
997
00:47:53,913 --> 00:47:56,478
and we'd constantly
be picking one or the other.
998
00:47:56,652 --> 00:48:00,913
The makeup would be designed
according to what activities
999
00:48:01,086 --> 00:48:03,043
- they were doing in the scene.
- [swords clanging]
1000
00:48:03,217 --> 00:48:05,956
So, if I knew
that they're gonna be fighting
1001
00:48:06,130 --> 00:48:08,565
and doing all this stuff
and sweating,
1002
00:48:08,739 --> 00:48:11,086
I wasn't gonna be having
a long beard,
1003
00:48:11,260 --> 00:48:13,782
I'd create a shorter beard
or a different wig.
1004
00:48:13,956 --> 00:48:16,347
One of the things
that I absolutely love doing
1005
00:48:16,521 --> 00:48:21,086
is sideburns, mustaches,
beards, goatees.
1006
00:48:21,260 --> 00:48:25,217
They're very easy things
to change a look with.
1007
00:48:25,391 --> 00:48:29,826
[Joe]
There was a period of back-to-back-to-back episodes
1008
00:48:30,000 --> 00:48:32,739
where I did Israel Hands
in Treasure Island.
1009
00:48:32,913 --> 00:48:36,739
- [indistinct chatter]
- The next episode was Robin Hood.
1010
00:48:38,000 --> 00:48:38,956
Your Highness.
1011
00:48:40,000 --> 00:48:43,478
I had just captured the villain
and was about to hang him.
1012
00:48:44,000 --> 00:48:45,782
Were you? Had you done so,
1013
00:48:45,956 --> 00:48:47,739
I would have hung you myself.
1014
00:48:47,913 --> 00:48:49,739
And then,
the next episode after that
1015
00:48:49,913 --> 00:48:51,521
was The Three Musketeers.
1016
00:48:51,695 --> 00:48:54,260
You need a lesson in manners,
you insolent pup,
1017
00:48:54,434 --> 00:48:56,130
and I'll be the one
to give it to you.
1018
00:48:56,304 --> 00:48:58,000
So I went from a full beard
1019
00:48:58,739 --> 00:49:01,521
to whatever you call it,
a goatee or Van Dyke,
1020
00:49:01,695 --> 00:49:04,347
to this little, like,
French triangle thing.
1021
00:49:04,521 --> 00:49:06,521
So, they just kept
shaving my beard
1022
00:49:06,695 --> 00:49:08,173
week after week after week,
1023
00:49:08,347 --> 00:49:10,695
and it was like
an ongoing transformation.
1024
00:49:10,869 --> 00:49:12,304
[laughs] It was pretty cool.
1025
00:49:12,478 --> 00:49:15,565
Wishbonehas everything
1026
00:49:15,739 --> 00:49:19,652
from any other film
or production that I've done.
1027
00:49:19,826 --> 00:49:23,130
Wishbonewas the culmination
of it all.
1028
00:49:23,304 --> 00:49:28,565
We did periods from 4000 BC
up to, what, the 1920s?
1029
00:49:28,739 --> 00:49:31,173
So you had everything.
1030
00:49:32,304 --> 00:49:34,782
[Mr. Hyde laughing]
1031
00:49:34,956 --> 00:49:37,217
While they were putting
the makeup on for Mr. Hyde,
1032
00:49:37,391 --> 00:49:39,608
and I was sitting in front
of the mirror, watching,
1033
00:49:39,782 --> 00:49:40,913
it was, um,
1034
00:49:41,739 --> 00:49:44,434
it was like
I was becoming somebody else.
1035
00:49:44,956 --> 00:49:47,000
And especially,
when they put the stuff on my teeth
1036
00:49:47,173 --> 00:49:48,652
to make my teeth look rotten,
1037
00:49:49,304 --> 00:49:50,695
and I smiled for the first time
1038
00:49:50,869 --> 00:49:51,956
while I was looking
in the mirror,
1039
00:49:52,130 --> 00:49:53,608
I suddenly knew
1040
00:49:53,782 --> 00:49:56,260
that I was Mr. Hyde.
1041
00:49:56,913 --> 00:49:59,652
What's everybody
staring at, then?
1042
00:50:01,086 --> 00:50:04,130
Anyone who fixes me
with an unkind eye
1043
00:50:04,304 --> 00:50:05,913
- walks away with a bloody lip!
- [thwack]
1044
00:50:06,086 --> 00:50:07,391
[dramatic music]
1045
00:50:07,565 --> 00:50:08,608
[thunder cracking]
1046
00:50:08,782 --> 00:50:10,956
[electricity buzzing]
1047
00:50:11,434 --> 00:50:15,000
In Frankenstein,
there were some challenges.
1048
00:50:15,913 --> 00:50:19,130
There were also some things
that I chose to do.
1049
00:50:19,304 --> 00:50:21,391
We were thinking, do we do
1050
00:50:21,565 --> 00:50:25,304
a space-age kind
of a robotic type of monster?
1051
00:50:25,478 --> 00:50:27,565
But then, we decided
we wanted to keep
1052
00:50:27,739 --> 00:50:30,347
the Frankenstein monster
very human
1053
00:50:30,826 --> 00:50:34,043
to create a sense of pity
for this character,
1054
00:50:34,217 --> 00:50:36,565
but still
with the horror involved
1055
00:50:36,739 --> 00:50:39,173
in piecing together
this creation.
1056
00:50:40,565 --> 00:50:44,913
We were taking him
from this baby monster
1057
00:50:45,086 --> 00:50:48,608
and transitioning him
as he grew.
1058
00:50:48,782 --> 00:50:50,739
So the difference of the scars,
1059
00:50:50,913 --> 00:50:54,652
making the scars
look new to a little older,
1060
00:50:54,826 --> 00:50:58,434
uh, changing the length
of the hair and creating.
1061
00:50:58,608 --> 00:51:01,217
And for me,
that was also a challenge.
1062
00:51:01,826 --> 00:51:04,086
Number one,
Matt's a very good-looking guy,
1063
00:51:04,260 --> 00:51:06,565
and I had to make him
look like a monster.
1064
00:51:07,173 --> 00:51:12,608
But second of all
was that I felt, with Wishbone,
1065
00:51:12,782 --> 00:51:15,304
that we wanted
to make a lovable monster.
1066
00:51:15,478 --> 00:51:17,130
You must wonder... [laughs]
1067
00:51:18,869 --> 00:51:22,478
...what I, your creation,
have been doing
1068
00:51:23,086 --> 00:51:24,869
since you brought me to life.
1069
00:51:25,043 --> 00:51:26,434
[Wishbone]
I know what you've been doing!
1070
00:51:26,608 --> 00:51:27,652
You've left nothing but death
1071
00:51:27,826 --> 00:51:29,304
and destruction in your wake!
1072
00:51:29,478 --> 00:51:31,434
And the next thing I would do
1073
00:51:31,608 --> 00:51:35,043
is coordinate
with the wardrobe department.
1074
00:51:35,217 --> 00:51:37,782
So, "Were the clothes
gonna go over?"
1075
00:51:37,956 --> 00:51:41,521
"Were they gonna go around?"
"Does it zip up the back?"
1076
00:51:41,695 --> 00:51:43,000
"Does it have a corset?"
1077
00:51:43,173 --> 00:51:44,869
The wardrobe on Wishbone
1078
00:51:45,043 --> 00:51:46,521
was like another character,
1079
00:51:46,695 --> 00:51:48,304
basically, in the story.
It was so--
1080
00:51:48,478 --> 00:51:50,956
It was such a great part of, um,
1081
00:51:51,130 --> 00:51:52,434
bringing the story to life.
1082
00:51:53,260 --> 00:51:56,652
[Shauni]
Well, Stephen Chudej was our boss, costume designer.
1083
00:51:56,826 --> 00:51:58,869
[somber music]
1084
00:51:59,043 --> 00:52:01,173
Then we also had
three stitchers,
1085
00:52:01,347 --> 00:52:02,913
Tom, Traci, and Robin.
1086
00:52:04,565 --> 00:52:07,043
After Stephen would go to
production meetings and stuff,
1087
00:52:07,217 --> 00:52:09,000
he'd come
and guide us all in our--
1088
00:52:09,173 --> 00:52:10,478
what we were gonna do
for the week.
1089
00:52:10,652 --> 00:52:12,173
And for the most part,
1090
00:52:12,347 --> 00:52:14,434
he left us to do our jobs.
1091
00:52:14,608 --> 00:52:18,391
Clothing, uh, helps
to convey a sense of time,
1092
00:52:18,956 --> 00:52:22,217
uh, helps to convey
a sense of who these people are,
1093
00:52:22,391 --> 00:52:24,173
and where they are in life.
1094
00:52:24,347 --> 00:52:27,347
I got to wear
these amazing dresses,
1095
00:52:27,521 --> 00:52:29,260
huge, I mean outfits.
1096
00:52:29,434 --> 00:52:31,304
They were designed
so beautifully,
1097
00:52:31,478 --> 00:52:33,086
and so authentically.
1098
00:52:33,260 --> 00:52:36,478
These were hand-made
period costumes.
1099
00:52:36,652 --> 00:52:40,347
I mean,
we're talking real velvet, we're talking silk,
1100
00:52:40,521 --> 00:52:42,869
we're talking, you know,
the heavy weight
1101
00:52:43,043 --> 00:52:45,130
that the clothes would have
at that time.
1102
00:52:45,782 --> 00:52:49,521
Everything,
from the, the facial hair to the wigs, to the hats,
1103
00:52:49,695 --> 00:52:53,739
to the, to, to the bracelets
you wore, were authentic.
1104
00:52:53,913 --> 00:52:56,521
I'd like to introduce
the costume designer, Stephen Chudej...
1105
00:52:57,565 --> 00:53:00,956
...and we'd like to show you
how we transform, uh, Soccer
1106
00:53:01,130 --> 00:53:03,739
- and Wishbone
into a classic character. - [Larry] Look how cute I am.
1107
00:53:03,913 --> 00:53:07,086
[Rick]
Turning this character into a classic character, um,
1108
00:53:07,260 --> 00:53:08,956
uh, is quite a challenge
every week.
1109
00:53:09,130 --> 00:53:10,347
It's a challenge
for the writers,
1110
00:53:10,521 --> 00:53:12,043
it's a challenge
for the art department,
1111
00:53:12,652 --> 00:53:15,000
but it's a challenge, uh,
to try to give this character
1112
00:53:15,173 --> 00:53:18,913
what every great actor
for a great part needs, which is a great wardrobe.
1113
00:53:19,086 --> 00:53:20,782
[Larry]
Thank you. Jackie. Jackie.
1114
00:53:20,956 --> 00:53:22,782
I can't-- Jackie, work with me.
1115
00:53:22,956 --> 00:53:24,956
- [grunts] Thank you.
- [audience laughing]
1116
00:53:25,130 --> 00:53:26,826
[Larry]
Ah, that's much better.
1117
00:53:27,000 --> 00:53:28,434
[Rick]
The great Sherlock Holmes.
1118
00:53:28,608 --> 00:53:30,608
[Stephen]
The, the challenge is sizing down
1119
00:53:30,782 --> 00:53:32,260
human clothes and...
1120
00:53:33,695 --> 00:53:35,304
...making them actually fit.
1121
00:53:35,478 --> 00:53:37,391
We have to make things
that he will wear.
1122
00:53:38,434 --> 00:53:40,956
There are
plenty of period clothes that we can make,
1123
00:53:41,130 --> 00:53:42,869
but it's just not possible.
1124
00:53:43,043 --> 00:53:44,521
Wishbone's wardrobe was amazing.
1125
00:53:44,695 --> 00:53:47,260
They created these outfits
for the dog that were
1126
00:53:47,956 --> 00:53:51,173
so imaginative, hilarious,
and perfect for the character.
1127
00:53:51,347 --> 00:53:54,260
I think the hardest thing,
probably, for the wardrobe
1128
00:53:54,434 --> 00:53:56,695
were keeping his hat, hats on.
1129
00:53:57,173 --> 00:54:01,521
As far as Wishbone's hats,
we make each and every one of 'em simply because
1130
00:54:02,478 --> 00:54:04,913
period hats don't, don't exist
that, that small.
1131
00:54:05,086 --> 00:54:07,565
Soccer, at the beginning,
wearing the hats, you know,
1132
00:54:07,739 --> 00:54:10,826
to get him not to shake his head
in the middle of the scene, you know, it, it took a while.
1133
00:54:11,000 --> 00:54:14,173
He would shake his head
and they'd fall off, or--
1134
00:54:14,347 --> 00:54:15,956
We were always
trying to find a better way
1135
00:54:16,130 --> 00:54:19,913
to, to make it stay on to where
you don't see it as well.
1136
00:54:20,086 --> 00:54:22,130
So, that was,
that was a challenge.
1137
00:54:22,304 --> 00:54:24,826
[Wishbone]
And I suppose I'd best be about my business.
1138
00:54:25,000 --> 00:54:25,956
Good day, lads.
1139
00:54:27,000 --> 00:54:29,130
Now may be my best chance
to look around.
1140
00:54:29,739 --> 00:54:31,347
And the fact
that they could design
1141
00:54:31,521 --> 00:54:35,782
and sew things
that the dog would wear joyfully
1142
00:54:35,956 --> 00:54:37,739
was also incredible.
1143
00:54:37,913 --> 00:54:40,043
We had to measure him
1144
00:54:40,782 --> 00:54:43,130
and make a dog mannequin...
1145
00:54:44,565 --> 00:54:48,521
...and then I would
make a pattern
1146
00:54:49,304 --> 00:54:52,217
that I would base
all the other patterns off of.
1147
00:54:52,391 --> 00:54:54,782
[somber music]
1148
00:54:54,956 --> 00:54:59,000
Hundred-and-twenty-four costumes
for 40 episodes.
1149
00:55:01,913 --> 00:55:04,869
So, to get costumes
for Soccer...
1150
00:55:06,086 --> 00:55:07,304
...Stephen would come in
1151
00:55:07,826 --> 00:55:11,304
with a pile of books
and show me pictures and go,
1152
00:55:11,478 --> 00:55:14,130
"I want this,
this, this, and this. Put them all together."
1153
00:55:15,173 --> 00:55:17,086
That's where the magic happened.
1154
00:55:21,260 --> 00:55:23,478
[Rick]
The wardrobes, I thought, were flawless.
1155
00:55:25,652 --> 00:55:28,695
The way it was designed,
I thought was brilliant.
1156
00:55:31,739 --> 00:55:34,956
[Betty]
The costumes, like his shirt,
1157
00:55:35,130 --> 00:55:39,565
and tie, pants, coat, vest,
1158
00:55:39,739 --> 00:55:42,521
they all had to be one piece.
1159
00:55:42,695 --> 00:55:44,521
[somber music]
1160
00:55:50,652 --> 00:55:55,869
Not only was Soccer
asked to do unique things,
1161
00:55:56,043 --> 00:55:58,086
by wearing clothes
and performing,
1162
00:55:58,260 --> 00:56:03,565
but his costumes
had to move freely enough
1163
00:56:03,739 --> 00:56:06,130
for him to do his tricks.
1164
00:56:10,695 --> 00:56:13,478
[Rick]
After a while, when Soccer walked on the set in costume,
1165
00:56:13,652 --> 00:56:15,086
he just wasn't Soccer anymore.
1166
00:56:18,695 --> 00:56:23,086
He was a character,
and he seemed fully committed to take on the role.
1167
00:56:25,826 --> 00:56:27,000
[classical music]
1168
00:56:27,173 --> 00:56:28,130
Stay! Stay!
1169
00:56:33,826 --> 00:56:36,652
I worked for a short time
for George Lucas at ILM
1170
00:56:36,826 --> 00:56:38,000
in the camera department,
1171
00:56:38,608 --> 00:56:41,391
and that's where I learned
how to do visual effects.
1172
00:56:41,913 --> 00:56:46,086
Visual effects supervisor
is about coordinating the team to create a visual effect,
1173
00:56:46,260 --> 00:56:48,956
and people don't understand
what a visual effect really is.
1174
00:56:49,130 --> 00:56:52,434
A visual effect is simply
a shot, a finished shot
1175
00:56:52,608 --> 00:56:55,869
that has two or more pieces
put together to make one piece.
1176
00:56:56,043 --> 00:56:58,217
It can be a combination
of a matte painting,
1177
00:56:58,391 --> 00:57:01,391
it could be a-- an green screen
and live action,
1178
00:57:01,565 --> 00:57:03,826
and specific,
what we call elements,
1179
00:57:04,000 --> 00:57:06,304
little pieces, parts,
that go into it.
1180
00:57:06,478 --> 00:57:10,130
But you have to be able to take
two or more pieces--
1181
00:57:10,304 --> 00:57:12,260
And some of these shots
that we did for Wishbone
1182
00:57:12,434 --> 00:57:16,913
had as many as 40 elements.
And put them into one picture
1183
00:57:17,086 --> 00:57:20,130
that doesn't show
any of the seams.
1184
00:57:20,304 --> 00:57:22,130
I'd compare visual effects
to a puzzle
1185
00:57:22,304 --> 00:57:23,869
because it's a number of pieces
1186
00:57:24,043 --> 00:57:25,608
that have to go
together perfectly
1187
00:57:25,782 --> 00:57:28,739
so you can't tell
where one piece stops
1188
00:57:28,913 --> 00:57:30,434
and the other piece begins.
1189
00:57:31,043 --> 00:57:34,304
Typically, our visual effects
combine live action
1190
00:57:34,478 --> 00:57:37,565
with other pieces
like photographs
1191
00:57:37,739 --> 00:57:40,086
and sometimes other pieces
of live action,
1192
00:57:40,260 --> 00:57:43,782
like water or moving clouds
for a sky background.
1193
00:57:44,956 --> 00:57:49,000
Caris was such a creative spirit
and such a storyteller.
1194
00:57:49,173 --> 00:57:52,608
Her ability to kind of create
1195
00:57:53,173 --> 00:57:56,043
something that was always
gonna serve the story,
1196
00:57:56,217 --> 00:58:00,043
but that was
also technically difficult, um, was amazing.
1197
00:58:00,217 --> 00:58:03,043
I think every episode
had something new in it
1198
00:58:03,608 --> 00:58:06,217
that we learned how to do
over time.
1199
00:58:06,391 --> 00:58:10,347
Nobody really knew how to talk
about visual effects,
1200
00:58:10,521 --> 00:58:12,434
so they'd come to me
with an idea
1201
00:58:12,913 --> 00:58:15,130
and we would figure out
1202
00:58:15,304 --> 00:58:17,608
what all those pieces, parts
needed to be.
1203
00:58:17,782 --> 00:58:22,956
And the art department
was critical in this because
1204
00:58:23,478 --> 00:58:26,173
they were the ones
who were determining, "Okay,
1205
00:58:26,347 --> 00:58:29,869
we need a wide view into a field
with a little house over here,
1206
00:58:30,043 --> 00:58:32,000
and Wishbone walks
down the road over here.
1207
00:58:32,173 --> 00:58:33,695
How do we put that together?"
1208
00:58:33,869 --> 00:58:36,260
Every episode
was its own challenge.
1209
00:58:37,260 --> 00:58:39,956
Some episodes had 20 shots,
some had three.
1210
00:58:40,130 --> 00:58:41,869
[classical music]
1211
00:58:47,217 --> 00:58:51,652
Working with Soccer was such,
uh, an interesting process
1212
00:58:51,826 --> 00:58:54,260
because Jackie
was such an astonishing trainer.
1213
00:58:54,782 --> 00:58:56,913
The purpose
of the visual effects department
1214
00:58:57,086 --> 00:58:59,086
is to take Wishbone
all over the world,
1215
00:58:59,260 --> 00:59:01,695
to place him
in France or England,
1216
00:59:01,869 --> 00:59:04,608
or places that exist
only in our imaginations
1217
00:59:04,782 --> 00:59:07,434
or in the imaginations
of the authors of the book.
1218
00:59:07,608 --> 00:59:11,260
I had to do my homework
on exactly what was needed for the shots.
1219
00:59:12,130 --> 00:59:14,782
The advantage I had,
and the only advantage I had
1220
00:59:14,956 --> 00:59:18,695
was the fact that I had already
spent years in California
1221
00:59:18,869 --> 00:59:21,086
shooting for ILM,
or shooting on other features
1222
00:59:21,260 --> 00:59:23,173
that I was hired
to do effects for.
1223
00:59:23,695 --> 00:59:26,913
It wasn't that I wanted
to be the best visual effects supervisor in the world,
1224
00:59:27,086 --> 00:59:29,000
it's I wanted to contribute
to the story.
1225
00:59:30,826 --> 00:59:33,130
Everything that I looked for
to put on film,
1226
00:59:33,304 --> 00:59:36,347
I wanted to have
an emotional context.
1227
00:59:37,652 --> 00:59:41,086
I wanted something to come
and fill my head with rhythm
1228
00:59:41,260 --> 00:59:44,173
and with beauty and with uplift.
1229
00:59:45,217 --> 00:59:47,173
Whether it was time-lapse clouds
1230
00:59:47,347 --> 00:59:51,217
or how a dirt road
runs off into the horizon
1231
00:59:51,391 --> 00:59:53,130
and dips down into a canyon...
1232
00:59:54,130 --> 00:59:57,565
..."How can I put this on film
in such a way
1233
00:59:58,043 --> 01:00:00,217
that other people
will see it too?"
1234
01:00:01,695 --> 01:00:05,000
This whole thing
was this amazing collaboration.
1235
01:00:06,260 --> 01:00:09,173
There was a, a sense of magic,
and a sense of play,
1236
01:00:09,782 --> 01:00:11,869
and a sense of heart.
1237
01:00:12,043 --> 01:00:13,869
The heart was
the most important part.
1238
01:00:14,043 --> 01:00:15,826
[moving classical music]
1239
01:00:19,956 --> 01:00:23,391
The time in the '90s, mid-'90s,
1240
01:00:23,956 --> 01:00:26,304
we had a choice.
We could have produced
1241
01:00:26,478 --> 01:00:29,304
the, the show
on, uh, on videotape
1242
01:00:29,478 --> 01:00:34,869
if we had chosen to, uh, shoot
multi-camera proscenium style,
1243
01:00:35,043 --> 01:00:38,652
where, you know, you've got
the crew on one side... [laughs]
1244
01:00:38,826 --> 01:00:41,391
...and the set on the other,
and everything happens,
1245
01:00:41,565 --> 01:00:44,173
you know, on that,
uh, on that set, sitcom style.
1246
01:00:44,347 --> 01:00:46,217
Yeah, if you did it
on a-- in a stage
1247
01:00:46,391 --> 01:00:48,695
where it's just
silly props and--
1248
01:00:48,869 --> 01:00:50,217
It-- it wouldn't feel the same.
1249
01:00:50,391 --> 01:00:54,521
You know,
film has its own vocabulary,
1250
01:00:54,695 --> 01:00:56,347
its own visual vocabulary.
1251
01:00:56,521 --> 01:00:58,565
[classical music]
1252
01:01:01,521 --> 01:01:05,826
We all agreed we wanted
a, a single-camera film look,
1253
01:01:06,000 --> 01:01:08,652
which, you know, puts it
in the same visual style
1254
01:01:08,826 --> 01:01:13,304
as the, uh, popular
television shows of the time.
1255
01:01:13,478 --> 01:01:15,739
But Wishbonewas a big bet.
1256
01:01:16,217 --> 01:01:18,695
- [clapperboard clacks]
- Okay, dolly. And action.
1257
01:01:18,869 --> 01:01:21,739
That's what I wanted it to be.
I wanted it to feel cinematic.
1258
01:01:21,913 --> 01:01:25,913
[Bert]
We shot 16 millimeter rather than, uh, 35 millimeter.
1259
01:01:31,782 --> 01:01:37,043
There is a, a level
of production that is produced by film images.
1260
01:01:37,217 --> 01:01:42,043
It interprets light differently
than, uh, videotape did at the time.
1261
01:01:42,217 --> 01:01:47,478
We wanted to do
as much as possible to get that cinematic feel,
1262
01:01:47,652 --> 01:01:51,478
to feel like when kids
are watching this show on PBS,
1263
01:01:51,652 --> 01:01:54,043
they get to watch a movie
every time.
1264
01:01:54,217 --> 01:01:57,869
So we chose to make
a, a cinematic-style show,
1265
01:01:58,478 --> 01:01:59,739
uh, which was a big decision.
1266
01:01:59,913 --> 01:02:01,913
[upbeat classical music]
1267
01:02:13,434 --> 01:02:16,000
Well, I was given
the instruction
1268
01:02:16,173 --> 01:02:21,043
that in addition to doing
the art direction work,
1269
01:02:21,217 --> 01:02:22,782
that I'd be doing
the book covers.
1270
01:02:23,260 --> 01:02:25,869
And I would take
1271
01:02:26,043 --> 01:02:28,782
the-- what I knew of a novel
1272
01:02:28,956 --> 01:02:31,739
and sort of resolve it down
1273
01:02:31,913 --> 01:02:35,217
to one look, one thought.
1274
01:02:35,391 --> 01:02:37,521
I tried to interject
1275
01:02:37,695 --> 01:02:40,391
as much of the book as I could
in the cover.
1276
01:02:40,565 --> 01:02:44,782
And you do that by fonts,
typefaces that are period.
1277
01:02:44,956 --> 01:02:47,260
You immediately go to the past
1278
01:02:47,434 --> 01:02:50,391
when you see
an old font and typeface
1279
01:02:50,565 --> 01:02:53,521
that you associate
with, you know,
1280
01:02:53,695 --> 01:02:55,521
uh, the 1800s, for example.
1281
01:02:56,565 --> 01:02:57,913
In Frankenstein...
1282
01:02:59,173 --> 01:03:00,913
...we all know
the Hollywood version...
1283
01:03:02,260 --> 01:03:04,565
...but I wanted to put
on the cover
1284
01:03:04,739 --> 01:03:08,695
the etching of a young woman
writing by candlelight,
1285
01:03:09,434 --> 01:03:12,086
'cause I wanted young readers
to know that a woman,
1286
01:03:12,652 --> 01:03:15,695
Mary Shelley,
had written Frankenstein.
1287
01:03:15,869 --> 01:03:20,000
We animated over
the Frankensteinbook.
1288
01:03:20,913 --> 01:03:24,695
It was in this Gothic type,
you know, typeface.
1289
01:03:24,869 --> 01:03:29,260
And we put electrical shocks
in, you know... [poof]
1290
01:03:29,434 --> 01:03:31,478
...bursts going--
coming from it.
1291
01:03:31,652 --> 01:03:35,608
And, oh, they just gave it
that snap that it needed.
1292
01:03:37,217 --> 01:03:40,086
We had to originate
every book cover
1293
01:03:40,260 --> 01:03:44,043
so there was no copyright
infringement of that book.
1294
01:03:46,347 --> 01:03:49,434
I would put them up on the wall
behind my desk,
1295
01:03:49,608 --> 01:03:51,782
and I just started
watching them add up,
1296
01:03:51,956 --> 01:03:53,652
week to week, month to month.
1297
01:03:54,173 --> 01:03:56,956
And I would look at them
1298
01:03:57,130 --> 01:03:59,434
as I designed
the next book cover
1299
01:04:00,043 --> 01:04:02,521
so that I didn't repeat
a design.
1300
01:04:02,695 --> 01:04:04,782
[light classical music]
1301
01:04:06,217 --> 01:04:08,956
I always tried to make
as much of a statement,
1302
01:04:09,130 --> 01:04:12,217
even through the book cover
as I possibly can,
1303
01:04:12,695 --> 01:04:15,391
just to lend
a little more information
1304
01:04:15,869 --> 01:04:17,391
about the episode.
1305
01:04:21,782 --> 01:04:25,217
The process
for choosing what stories Wishbone would tell
1306
01:04:25,391 --> 01:04:27,304
was a complex one.
1307
01:04:27,478 --> 01:04:29,217
We would just sit down together,
1308
01:04:29,391 --> 01:04:31,478
just go through
lists and lists and lists,
1309
01:04:31,652 --> 01:04:35,739
and then I would go off and read
a summary of the story
1310
01:04:35,913 --> 01:04:38,304
just to get a sense
of the basic idea,
1311
01:04:38,478 --> 01:04:39,826
if I hadn't read
the book myself.
1312
01:04:40,000 --> 01:04:41,956
Every week,
I was reading a new book.
1313
01:04:42,130 --> 01:04:44,173
But to determine
what would work,
1314
01:04:44,347 --> 01:04:46,739
- we had to think, a...
- [laughter]
1315
01:04:46,913 --> 01:04:48,826
..."Is there a level
within this story
1316
01:04:49,000 --> 01:04:51,739
that will work for children?"
Some books are too dark.
1317
01:04:51,913 --> 01:04:53,913
There had to be something
within the story,
1318
01:04:54,086 --> 01:04:57,521
some light, some hope,
1319
01:04:58,260 --> 01:05:00,043
um, an opportunity for comedy.
1320
01:05:00,217 --> 01:05:02,478
And there had to be
a good role for Wishbone.
1321
01:05:02,652 --> 01:05:06,565
[Wishbone]
I have words. [retches] Let me teach you
1322
01:05:06,739 --> 01:05:08,434
how to insult my nose, monsieur.
1323
01:05:09,869 --> 01:05:12,826
You could have said,
"Your nose is so big,
1324
01:05:13,000 --> 01:05:15,260
you should call a doctor
and have it amputated."
1325
01:05:15,434 --> 01:05:18,739
Then we had to think,
what are the themes of this book
1326
01:05:18,913 --> 01:05:22,391
and how could that theme
translate into a kid's life?
1327
01:05:22,565 --> 01:05:24,391
It should be fun and funny.
1328
01:05:24,565 --> 01:05:27,043
We should be able to hit
the heavy emotions, which we did.
1329
01:05:27,217 --> 01:05:29,130
We always played them
very straight.
1330
01:05:29,304 --> 01:05:32,000
When something was sad
on Wishbone,it was sad.
1331
01:05:32,173 --> 01:05:35,217
The actors played it straight
and so did the dog.
1332
01:05:35,391 --> 01:05:39,173
But there had to be
lots of opportunities for,
1333
01:05:39,347 --> 01:05:41,478
you know, for little
throwaway lines from Wishbone
1334
01:05:41,652 --> 01:05:43,739
and for him to be funny.
1335
01:05:44,565 --> 01:05:46,304
[Wishbone]
Ooh, sunshine and a bench.
1336
01:05:46,478 --> 01:05:48,347
Looks like I might
have my nap after all.
1337
01:05:48,521 --> 01:05:51,652
Oh! I'm assuming
that was an accident.
1338
01:05:52,347 --> 01:05:53,739
- [thwack]
- [neighing]
1339
01:05:55,347 --> 01:05:58,391
[Wishbone]
Ouch! That's a couple of cracked ribs, at least!
1340
01:05:58,565 --> 01:05:59,521
Comin' down!
1341
01:05:59,695 --> 01:06:01,608
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey,
1342
01:06:01,782 --> 01:06:04,086
hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
1343
01:06:04,260 --> 01:06:05,739
[laughing] I love that!
1344
01:06:05,913 --> 01:06:08,434
Okay, guys,
let's do some spelling!
1345
01:06:08,608 --> 01:06:11,217
And to keep reminding the kids,
"This is for you.
1346
01:06:11,391 --> 01:06:13,391
We're in this together.
This is playful.
1347
01:06:13,565 --> 01:06:15,565
This is fun. This is joyful."
1348
01:06:15,739 --> 01:06:17,608
[somber music]
1349
01:06:20,391 --> 01:06:22,869
[host] Wishbone, the series
is the brainchild of Rick Duffield,
1350
01:06:23,043 --> 01:06:24,565
who serves
as executive producer,
1351
01:06:24,739 --> 01:06:27,391
and he joins us
this morning from Fort Worth.
1352
01:06:27,565 --> 01:06:30,478
And we should mention
that Wishbone the dog isn't with us this morning.
1353
01:06:30,652 --> 01:06:32,913
- No, he's not.
- We hear he's on hiatus in Hollywood. Is that true?
1354
01:06:33,434 --> 01:06:36,173
That is true.
Um, he's getting ready to go on tour, though.
1355
01:06:36,347 --> 01:06:38,173
- [chuckles] I bet he is.
- He...[chuckles]
1356
01:06:38,347 --> 01:06:40,521
Yeah, it's the, uh,
Live Unleashed tour.
1357
01:06:40,695 --> 01:06:43,565
Uh, he's, uh, visiting
a number of cities around the country.
1358
01:06:43,739 --> 01:06:46,826
Larry would be a great person
to put on the road
1359
01:06:47,608 --> 01:06:50,565
to capture the essence
of Wishbone
1360
01:06:50,739 --> 01:06:53,000
and, like, bring him out
into the public.
1361
01:06:53,173 --> 01:06:55,869
And he goes, "We want you to go
on tour with Jackie and Soccer."
1362
01:06:56,043 --> 01:06:58,391
It would feel, for kids,
like a peek,
1363
01:06:58,565 --> 01:07:00,956
having a piece of the show
right next to you.
1364
01:07:01,434 --> 01:07:03,869
We went out to, like,
every major market.
1365
01:07:04,391 --> 01:07:06,478
- [man chuckles]
- Later today, Wishbone will be appearing
1366
01:07:06,652 --> 01:07:08,782
at the Store of Knowledge
in Horton Plaza.
1367
01:07:08,956 --> 01:07:11,782
This morning,
Larry's with Wishbone, his trainer, Jackie Kaptan,
1368
01:07:11,956 --> 01:07:14,173
and the voice of Wishbone,
Larry Brantley.
1369
01:07:14,347 --> 01:07:17,391
All right, yeah, here he is,
ladies and gentlemen, the star of the show.
1370
01:07:17,565 --> 01:07:19,695
- And he looks fabulous,
doesn't he? - Yeah, he does look great.
1371
01:07:19,869 --> 01:07:21,608
- I'm telling you, he--
- He puts on makeup all day, all morning.
1372
01:07:21,782 --> 01:07:23,782
Just killing me.
Oh, that is au naturel.
1373
01:07:24,260 --> 01:07:27,695
We went to Los Angeles,
San Diego, Boston,
1374
01:07:27,869 --> 01:07:29,478
New York, Minneapolis.
1375
01:07:29,652 --> 01:07:31,652
I mean,
just all over the country.
1376
01:07:31,826 --> 01:07:34,608
The biggest rage now
on KPBS is Wishbone.
1377
01:07:34,782 --> 01:07:36,391
Everybody's in love
with Wishbone.
1378
01:07:36,565 --> 01:07:38,739
This is Larry Brantley.
He's the voice of Wishbone.
1379
01:07:38,913 --> 01:07:41,086
[host]
One of the things that people love about Wishbone,
1380
01:07:41,260 --> 01:07:45,260
grown-ups especially,
is that he teaches children lessons about history.
1381
01:07:45,434 --> 01:07:47,434
[host] Afraid
I'm signaling something to Wishbone right now.
1382
01:07:47,608 --> 01:07:49,739
- I shouldn't be
moving my hands. - I think Wishbone is--
1383
01:07:49,913 --> 01:07:51,826
He's looking at me,
he's getting a raise, which is really
1384
01:07:52,000 --> 01:07:53,695
- not the best thing to do.
This way-- - [all laughing]
1385
01:07:53,869 --> 01:07:55,130
Well, you know what? That's why
there's money right here.
1386
01:07:55,304 --> 01:07:57,565
- Oh, oh.
- [indistinct chatter]
1387
01:07:57,739 --> 01:08:00,173
"Oh, it tastes like a five spot.
I don't touch that."
1388
01:08:00,347 --> 01:08:01,913
Dog with a big imagination.
1389
01:08:02,086 --> 01:08:04,565
Wishbone, the star
of the new television series.
1390
01:08:04,739 --> 01:08:06,347
He was at
FAO Schwarz celebrating
1391
01:08:06,521 --> 01:08:08,608
the canine event
of the season himself.
1392
01:08:09,173 --> 01:08:11,391
Wishbone was entertaining fans
with his bag of tricks
1393
01:08:11,565 --> 01:08:13,565
to promote his TV show,
to meet the fans,
1394
01:08:13,739 --> 01:08:15,173
and to spread his love
of reading,
1395
01:08:15,347 --> 01:08:17,434
which is the premise
of the new program.
1396
01:08:17,608 --> 01:08:19,130
- It is a terrific show,
and, and... - Thanks.
1397
01:08:19,304 --> 01:08:20,652
...it's got to be a lot of fun
for both of you
1398
01:08:20,826 --> 01:08:22,478
to really bring to children
1399
01:08:22,652 --> 01:08:24,260
some of those
classics of literature.
1400
01:08:24,434 --> 01:08:26,434
- [host 1] Good morning.
- [host 2] Hello, Jackie.
1401
01:08:26,608 --> 01:08:27,739
- Good morning.
- Hi, Wishbone.
1402
01:08:27,913 --> 01:08:29,913
- Hello.
- [laughs]
1403
01:08:30,086 --> 01:08:33,478
We've had a very big response,
and we're very excited about it.
1404
01:08:33,652 --> 01:08:36,391
Um, the kids
really seem to enjoy it, along with the adults.
1405
01:08:36,565 --> 01:08:38,000
It's something
they can watch together.
1406
01:08:38,173 --> 01:08:39,782
Now, Wishbone will be
at the Mall of America
1407
01:08:39,956 --> 01:08:41,478
on Saturday. And on Sunday,
1408
01:08:41,652 --> 01:08:43,782
he'll be at Target stores
in Roseville,
1409
01:08:43,956 --> 01:08:45,173
and then in Eden Prairie Center.
1410
01:08:45,347 --> 01:08:46,608
So, kids, tell your parents.
1411
01:08:46,782 --> 01:08:48,260
Somebody from
the Mall of America
1412
01:08:48,434 --> 01:08:49,869
came in and said,
1413
01:08:50,652 --> 01:08:53,173
"You guys, this is,
this is more people
1414
01:08:53,347 --> 01:08:56,000
than we had for the opening
of Planet Hollywood."
1415
01:08:56,173 --> 01:08:58,739
"How many people
did you have at the opening of Planet Hollywood?"
1416
01:08:58,913 --> 01:09:00,391
And they said, "5000."
1417
01:09:00,956 --> 01:09:03,913
We said,
"Well, how many do you think there are out there now?"
1418
01:09:04,565 --> 01:09:06,608
"About 7000."
1419
01:09:06,782 --> 01:09:10,000
[host]
Kids love the action. Parents love the message.
1420
01:09:10,173 --> 01:09:11,434
[man]
Oh, you can tell I watch it too.
1421
01:09:11,608 --> 01:09:13,043
- Uh-oh.
- [woman laughing]
1422
01:09:13,217 --> 01:09:15,347
Yeah, I think I like it
because it lets the kids
1423
01:09:15,521 --> 01:09:19,391
see the classics,
and, uh, introduces them to some literature.
1424
01:09:19,565 --> 01:09:22,826
[host] Of course,
these kids dig this dog for less noble reasons,
1425
01:09:23,000 --> 01:09:25,043
but no less important.
1426
01:09:25,217 --> 01:09:29,782
He's smart,
and he's a cute little dog.
1427
01:09:30,347 --> 01:09:33,434
And it slowly began
to dawn on me
1428
01:09:33,608 --> 01:09:35,130
and everyone
who was part of that,
1429
01:09:35,782 --> 01:09:39,086
just how popular
the show was becoming.
1430
01:09:40,217 --> 01:09:43,782
Amazing. Amazing responses.
Kids loved it.
1431
01:09:43,956 --> 01:09:48,130
Well, I think it's cute
to have a dog play the role as a main character.
1432
01:09:48,304 --> 01:09:53,217
It's sort of funny
and the way, the way kids would like it to be.
1433
01:09:53,391 --> 01:09:56,391
I like it 'cause it's like
a cartoon, but it's... [stutters]
1434
01:09:56,565 --> 01:10:00,608
It's got real people
and, uh, a real dog.
1435
01:10:00,782 --> 01:10:03,391
[Charlotte]
Kids started wanting the books and reading the books
1436
01:10:03,565 --> 01:10:05,913
'cause they didn't know
the literature.
1437
01:10:06,086 --> 01:10:09,217
They loved Soccer or Wishbone.
They loved the little dog.
1438
01:10:09,391 --> 01:10:12,652
This show was not just
appealing to children.
1439
01:10:12,826 --> 01:10:16,521
This had a huge audience
all the way up--
1440
01:10:16,695 --> 01:10:19,043
You know, people
in their seventies and eighties.
1441
01:10:19,217 --> 01:10:21,695
We had a huge following
in college students.
1442
01:10:21,869 --> 01:10:23,782
We had a huge following
in high school students
1443
01:10:23,956 --> 01:10:26,130
who were, like, "Oh, snap.
What's this about, this book?
1444
01:10:26,304 --> 01:10:27,695
Oh, I'll watch Wishbone."
1445
01:10:27,869 --> 01:10:30,217
This little family comes up
and they say,
1446
01:10:31,173 --> 01:10:34,608
"Oh, you just don't know
what this show has meant.
1447
01:10:34,782 --> 01:10:38,217
The first word
that our baby ever spoke was 'Wishbone'."
1448
01:10:38,391 --> 01:10:40,043
[Gigi]
What was fascinating,
1449
01:10:40,565 --> 01:10:42,739
all the little kids knew it.
1450
01:10:42,913 --> 01:10:44,434
"Oh, I love Wishbone."
1451
01:10:44,608 --> 01:10:46,913
And then the people
50 and older.
1452
01:10:47,086 --> 01:10:48,521
There was, like, this
1453
01:10:48,695 --> 01:10:51,782
interesting dichotomy
of age range.
1454
01:10:52,260 --> 01:10:54,695
[Rick]
The kids got it right away.
1455
01:10:55,347 --> 01:10:58,217
Not everybody did,
but kids got it right away.
1456
01:10:58,391 --> 01:10:59,173
They knew.
1457
01:10:59,347 --> 01:11:01,130
[light music]
1458
01:11:04,652 --> 01:11:09,173
In '96 is when we did
most of the, uh, negotiation.
1459
01:11:09,826 --> 01:11:11,304
We had finished in '95.
1460
01:11:11,913 --> 01:11:14,217
In '96, we were just working
to get the next season going.
1461
01:11:14,391 --> 01:11:18,043
I went to meeting after meeting
at the PBS headquarters
1462
01:11:18,652 --> 01:11:23,130
to come up with different ways
to get the show back on the air.
1463
01:11:23,695 --> 01:11:26,739
They did come up with
a good portion of the cost
1464
01:11:26,913 --> 01:11:29,043
of that second season,
but not all of it.
1465
01:11:29,521 --> 01:11:32,869
It was an expensive show to do,
and at that time,
1466
01:11:33,043 --> 01:11:35,260
everything was heading
in the other direction.
1467
01:11:35,434 --> 01:11:37,043
We got to keep the expenses down
1468
01:11:37,217 --> 01:11:38,956
because the industry
was changing,
1469
01:11:39,478 --> 01:11:41,869
television was changing,
cable was changing.
1470
01:11:42,043 --> 01:11:43,565
Everything was changing.
1471
01:11:43,739 --> 01:11:46,521
And there was more
and more product on the air.
1472
01:11:46,695 --> 01:11:49,956
And the more the product,
the cheaper it needs to be.
1473
01:11:50,478 --> 01:11:52,782
So it was hard to get
that money together
1474
01:11:53,347 --> 01:11:54,652
to do that second season.
1475
01:11:54,826 --> 01:11:56,782
[pensive music]
1476
01:12:08,434 --> 01:12:10,043
Let's talk about playing cowboy.
1477
01:12:10,695 --> 01:12:14,608
We did Dog Days of the West
as a, uh, partnership with Showtime.
1478
01:12:14,782 --> 01:12:16,652
[music playing]
1479
01:12:17,347 --> 01:12:18,391
[narrator]
Wyatt Earp,
1480
01:12:19,304 --> 01:12:20,434
Doc Holliday,
1481
01:12:21,086 --> 01:12:22,173
Wishbone.
1482
01:12:22,347 --> 01:12:23,826
[all]
Howdy, Bill?
1483
01:12:24,000 --> 01:12:25,173
[Wishbone]
Howdy, everyone?
1484
01:12:25,347 --> 01:12:26,434
[narrator]
It takes a real hero
1485
01:12:26,608 --> 01:12:28,826
to tame the wild, Wild West.
1486
01:12:29,000 --> 01:12:30,304
[Wishbone]
I don't have a gun!
1487
01:12:30,478 --> 01:12:32,695
[narrator]
Wishbone's Dog Days of the West,
1488
01:12:32,869 --> 01:12:34,782
a Showtime original picture.
1489
01:12:34,956 --> 01:12:38,304
I had been reading
a lot of O. Henry at that time.
1490
01:12:38,478 --> 01:12:41,217
All of his characters
are so colorful.
1491
01:12:41,826 --> 01:12:45,086
I thought
that would be a great way to get into Western.
1492
01:12:45,260 --> 01:12:47,260
The Western genre for kids.
1493
01:12:47,434 --> 01:12:51,478
And so, to get to go
to New Mexico for a few weeks
1494
01:12:51,652 --> 01:12:55,434
and play cowboy
was just a dream come true.
1495
01:12:55,608 --> 01:12:56,695
[Wishbone]
Waa-hoo!
1496
01:12:56,869 --> 01:12:58,478
[Western music]
1497
01:12:59,956 --> 01:13:02,565
That was awesome. Super fun.
1498
01:13:02,739 --> 01:13:05,739
You know, location, project,
and in a beautiful place.
1499
01:13:05,913 --> 01:13:09,217
And it really felt
like being on a movie set.
1500
01:13:09,391 --> 01:13:12,652
We were out there
at J.W. Eaves Ranch for one location
1501
01:13:13,130 --> 01:13:15,304
and Silverado Ranch
for another location.
1502
01:13:17,869 --> 01:13:22,869
And there's just prairies,
and vistas, and buttes, and mesas.
1503
01:13:23,391 --> 01:13:26,521
It opened up the world
so we were able to have a movie schedule.
1504
01:13:26,695 --> 01:13:29,913
We can do big theatrical things,
like a stagecoach coming down...
1505
01:13:30,086 --> 01:13:32,000
[Wishbone]
Hyah, hyah!
1506
01:13:32,173 --> 01:13:34,000
- ...dog herding cattle...
- [Wishbone] Hyah, hyah, hyah!
1507
01:13:34,173 --> 01:13:35,347
- [cattle mooing]
- [Wishbone laughing] Yip, yip!
1508
01:13:35,521 --> 01:13:36,956
...a dog riding a horse...
1509
01:13:38,478 --> 01:13:39,913
...a train coming in...
1510
01:13:40,086 --> 01:13:41,086
[horn hooting]
1511
01:13:42,652 --> 01:13:44,608
...a food fight
of epic proportions.
1512
01:13:45,086 --> 01:13:46,521
- [splat]
- [men exclaiming]
1513
01:13:46,695 --> 01:13:47,869
I can't see!
1514
01:13:48,043 --> 01:13:49,043
[all hooting]
1515
01:13:51,782 --> 01:13:54,347
Our shots widened
because we were... [laughs]
1516
01:13:54,521 --> 01:13:57,521
...we were able to be out
in the, the great outdoors, you know,
1517
01:13:57,695 --> 01:13:59,391
and these,
these great Western sets
1518
01:13:59,565 --> 01:14:01,521
that they have out
in that part of the country.
1519
01:14:02,000 --> 01:14:05,608
And so, we were able to take
advantage of a much wider frame.
1520
01:14:05,782 --> 01:14:08,173
Somewhere deep in that shoot,
there was an action sequence
1521
01:14:08,347 --> 01:14:10,304
where there's a big gunfight.
1522
01:14:10,956 --> 01:14:13,478
Marshall Buck is running
across a great expanse.
1523
01:14:14,869 --> 01:14:17,652
The idea that Soccer
is gonna be running right along beside us--
1524
01:14:17,826 --> 01:14:20,608
We're both gonna get up,
you know, beautifully and simultaneously
1525
01:14:20,782 --> 01:14:22,608
and synchronize up
on this little plank,
1526
01:14:22,782 --> 01:14:24,695
and we're gonna
lean against the wall. Cut.
1527
01:14:25,304 --> 01:14:27,913
So, they set it all up.
They call, "Action."
1528
01:14:28,086 --> 01:14:29,826
We take off at a dead sprint.
1529
01:14:30,000 --> 01:14:32,347
And about five yards
before that plank,
1530
01:14:32,521 --> 01:14:34,826
that dog decides
to cut underneath my feet.
1531
01:14:36,260 --> 01:14:39,565
Within a tenth of a second,
the option is
1532
01:14:39,739 --> 01:14:42,869
I accidentally trip over
this dog and face plant
1533
01:14:43,043 --> 01:14:45,956
and, and everything goes
every which way and possibly hurt the dog,
1534
01:14:46,130 --> 01:14:48,130
and, and just all heck
is gonna break loose.
1535
01:14:48,304 --> 01:14:50,565
Or, in my lizard brain,
1536
01:14:50,739 --> 01:14:53,000
it just launched me in the air
over the dog
1537
01:14:53,173 --> 01:14:56,000
as it went underneath my feet,
dive rolled in the air,
1538
01:14:56,173 --> 01:14:58,086
came up, slammed my back
against the side of the building
1539
01:14:58,260 --> 01:14:59,347
and brought the gun out.
1540
01:15:02,304 --> 01:15:04,739
Rick called, "Cut."
There was a moment of silence
1541
01:15:04,913 --> 01:15:06,173
and then everybody exploded.
1542
01:15:06,347 --> 01:15:08,260
And I remember thinking,
1543
01:15:08,434 --> 01:15:10,173
"They'll never use that
in the film."
1544
01:15:10,347 --> 01:15:12,608
And then we, we showed up
for the premiere at the theater,
1545
01:15:12,782 --> 01:15:14,391
and they kept that in the film.
1546
01:15:14,565 --> 01:15:15,652
- [gunshot]
- [crow cawing]
1547
01:15:15,826 --> 01:15:16,913
- [clicking]
- [gunshots]
1548
01:15:17,652 --> 01:15:18,913
- [gunshot]
- [thuds]
1549
01:15:19,782 --> 01:15:21,043
- [clicks]
- [gunshot]
1550
01:15:21,217 --> 01:15:22,217
[bullet ricochets]
1551
01:15:22,391 --> 01:15:23,391
That was so much fun,
1552
01:15:23,565 --> 01:15:25,304
and everybody had a great time.
1553
01:15:25,478 --> 01:15:27,260
And I think, because we were
having so much fun,
1554
01:15:27,434 --> 01:15:29,521
you can see it
in the finished product.
1555
01:15:29,695 --> 01:15:31,000
You can see it
in the performances,
1556
01:15:31,173 --> 01:15:32,304
you can see it
in the art direction,
1557
01:15:32,478 --> 01:15:34,000
and the way the thing is shot.
1558
01:15:34,173 --> 01:15:35,913
It just looked like
we were having a good time.
1559
01:15:36,086 --> 01:15:38,086
Never ever anger a film crew.
1560
01:15:38,260 --> 01:15:39,826
[uplifting music]
1561
01:15:47,608 --> 01:15:48,434
[music ends]
1562
01:15:50,217 --> 01:15:52,086
- [rustles]
- In the span of my career,
1563
01:15:52,652 --> 01:15:55,391
Wishbone'sright there
at the very tippy top.
1564
01:15:56,043 --> 01:15:57,869
I can say without fear
of contradiction.
1565
01:15:58,521 --> 01:16:00,478
I mean, I'm, I'm 57 years old.
1566
01:16:00,652 --> 01:16:02,913
I'm more than
twice the age I was
1567
01:16:03,086 --> 01:16:04,608
when I started working
on this show.
1568
01:16:05,347 --> 01:16:07,086
It's still the best thing
I ever did.
1569
01:16:07,260 --> 01:16:09,217
Hands down, without question.
1570
01:16:09,391 --> 01:16:12,565
In the scope of my career,
it sits absolutely at the top,
1571
01:16:12,739 --> 01:16:16,913
or the heart or, or the, the,
the best project of my career.
1572
01:16:17,739 --> 01:16:19,000
Nothing compares.
1573
01:16:19,173 --> 01:16:20,260
So I'm retired now,
1574
01:16:20,434 --> 01:16:21,608
and I've got lots of stuff
1575
01:16:21,782 --> 01:16:22,652
to look back on.
1576
01:16:23,304 --> 01:16:25,478
And it was a highlight.
1577
01:16:26,086 --> 01:16:29,260
Uh, it was working
with people I love.
1578
01:16:29,434 --> 01:16:31,304
[poignant music]
1579
01:16:35,826 --> 01:16:36,869
And that's enough.
1580
01:16:42,304 --> 01:16:43,478
[muted]
1581
01:16:50,000 --> 01:16:52,913
I'll never have an experience
like that again in my life.
1582
01:16:53,086 --> 01:16:55,565
It was fully magical.
I got so close
1583
01:16:55,739 --> 01:16:57,739
to all of the people
working on the show.
1584
01:16:57,913 --> 01:17:01,130
I just thought it was
such a fantastic experience,
1585
01:17:01,304 --> 01:17:03,043
and, um, my favorite one.
1586
01:17:03,217 --> 01:17:05,608
My favorite moment
in my career, really.
1587
01:17:05,782 --> 01:17:07,695
I'm enormously proud
of obviously
1588
01:17:07,869 --> 01:17:09,608
what we accomplished,
uh, and always will be.
1589
01:17:09,782 --> 01:17:12,608
It'll be one of the things
in this life and the next
1590
01:17:12,782 --> 01:17:17,086
that, uh, I am the most proud
to have my name associated with.
1591
01:17:17,260 --> 01:17:19,130
I still feel this way today
1592
01:17:19,956 --> 01:17:23,913
that we gelled together so well,
it was like a family.
1593
01:17:24,652 --> 01:17:26,000
It didn't feel like a job.
1594
01:17:27,043 --> 01:17:28,173
It wasn't a job.
1595
01:17:28,956 --> 01:17:31,869
The show was great for me
because, you know,
1596
01:17:32,043 --> 01:17:34,391
I learned so much
about training dogs
1597
01:17:34,565 --> 01:17:36,434
and animals for movies.
1598
01:17:36,608 --> 01:17:38,391
I think it really helped
propel me
1599
01:17:38,956 --> 01:17:40,826
as a trainer for what I did.
1600
01:17:41,000 --> 01:17:44,739
Um, I, I came out of this show
with a lot more confidence
1601
01:17:44,913 --> 01:17:46,956
knowing that I could do
so much more.
1602
01:17:47,478 --> 01:17:49,130
The moment we had,
1603
01:17:49,304 --> 01:17:51,913
and the moments we've had
with Wishbone,
1604
01:17:52,086 --> 01:17:54,217
it haven't been duplicated
in my career.
1605
01:17:54,826 --> 01:17:56,260
The show is really special.
1606
01:17:56,434 --> 01:17:58,478
There won't be
anything else like this.
1607
01:17:59,130 --> 01:18:02,434
[Mary]
If it's an arc, it's like right there at the, the top.
1608
01:18:02,913 --> 01:18:05,739
I mean, I won't say
that, like, everything was downhill after that...
1609
01:18:05,913 --> 01:18:08,956
[chuckles] because I did go on
and do a couple of other series
1610
01:18:09,130 --> 01:18:11,173
as a mom.
Uh, but this was definitely--
1611
01:18:11,347 --> 01:18:14,086
this, you know, the high point.
This was Mount Fuji.
1612
01:18:14,260 --> 01:18:18,782
I was just so grateful
that I got to have this experience.
1613
01:18:18,956 --> 01:18:24,739
It was everything
that if you wanna be in the film industry,
1614
01:18:24,913 --> 01:18:27,739
it was everything
that you thought it would be.
1615
01:18:28,391 --> 01:18:29,478
In my career,
1616
01:18:30,043 --> 01:18:31,304
Wishboneis just
1617
01:18:32,130 --> 01:18:33,869
so important to my heart.
1618
01:18:34,391 --> 01:18:37,347
Such a tremendous challenge,
such...
1619
01:18:38,869 --> 01:18:42,304
...an accomplishment
that I did not by myself,
1620
01:18:42,478 --> 01:18:44,652
but with this group
of wonderful people
1621
01:18:44,826 --> 01:18:46,652
who became friends forever.
1622
01:18:47,260 --> 01:18:51,391
And it sits right there
at the top of my career.
1623
01:18:52,000 --> 01:18:53,695
It was the best group of humans.
1624
01:18:54,608 --> 01:18:56,478
It was the best circumstances.
1625
01:18:56,652 --> 01:18:59,130
It-- In many cases,
the hardest circumstances,
1626
01:18:59,826 --> 01:19:02,608
because there was so much youth
and inexperience on that set. [chuckles]
1627
01:19:03,434 --> 01:19:07,956
But it created
this bond among all of us,
1628
01:19:08,521 --> 01:19:11,521
which is why I'm still
very close to almost everybody
1629
01:19:11,695 --> 01:19:13,913
that worked on that show,
to this day.
1630
01:19:14,391 --> 01:19:17,478
Because we had this ability
to put together
1631
01:19:18,000 --> 01:19:21,086
something that was
really magical.
1632
01:19:21,565 --> 01:19:24,652
I do remember periodically
getting out of my car and going,
1633
01:19:24,826 --> 01:19:27,521
"Wow, I'm going
to work here," you know?
1634
01:19:28,130 --> 01:19:31,652
And I do remember feeling
it was really special at the time.
1635
01:19:31,826 --> 01:19:35,608
It was so big
in its little dog way
1636
01:19:36,173 --> 01:19:39,608
that, that was never matched
for me in my career.
1637
01:19:40,565 --> 01:19:41,608
Oh, it's everything.
1638
01:19:42,260 --> 01:19:43,565
[voice choking] I couldn't ask
for anything more.
1639
01:19:43,739 --> 01:19:45,565
[poignant music]
1640
01:19:48,391 --> 01:19:50,434
We wanted it
to be a weekly show.
1641
01:19:50,608 --> 01:19:52,956
You know, we thought
that's the best way to feature it.
1642
01:19:54,000 --> 01:19:56,086
You know,
every show is a whole universe.
1643
01:19:56,608 --> 01:19:58,478
We approached it that way.
1644
01:19:59,000 --> 01:20:03,391
And the, the head
of children's programming, Alice Cahn, at PBS,
1645
01:20:03,565 --> 01:20:04,913
was pursuing that
1646
01:20:05,086 --> 01:20:07,565
'cause she wanted
to make that change
1647
01:20:07,739 --> 01:20:09,043
in the broadcasting schedule,
1648
01:20:09,565 --> 01:20:12,217
and try to get
that more weekly viewing.
1649
01:20:12,869 --> 01:20:14,130
When it came down to it,
1650
01:20:15,130 --> 01:20:16,869
their programming model was...
1651
01:20:18,173 --> 01:20:20,739
...strip shows... [chuckles]
'Cause all these stations
1652
01:20:20,913 --> 01:20:22,782
had different agendas
around the country.
1653
01:20:22,956 --> 01:20:24,913
But that children's block,
1654
01:20:25,086 --> 01:20:27,000
everybody just
latched on to that,
1655
01:20:27,173 --> 01:20:28,565
and they had their half day,
1656
01:20:28,739 --> 01:20:30,826
Monday through Friday
filled with programming.
1657
01:20:31,304 --> 01:20:34,695
The intention with
the programming at the time is to strip,
1658
01:20:34,869 --> 01:20:37,652
what they call strip, um,
a children's show.
1659
01:20:37,826 --> 01:20:40,652
And it's just like
a cartoon script. It's every day.
1660
01:20:40,826 --> 01:20:42,217
Forty shows...
1661
01:20:43,347 --> 01:20:44,478
...in eight weeks.
1662
01:20:45,608 --> 01:20:49,652
That meant that every day,
a new Wishboneshow was gonna air.
1663
01:20:50,826 --> 01:20:55,000
And when I heard that,
I knew our show was doomed.
1664
01:20:57,913 --> 01:21:01,347
The people that were in charge
of the marketing and the broadcasting
1665
01:21:01,521 --> 01:21:04,652
failed to see, is--
there was gonna be
1666
01:21:04,826 --> 01:21:06,913
a staying power
with this audience
1667
01:21:07,086 --> 01:21:08,826
that could be
appointment viewing.
1668
01:21:09,000 --> 01:21:11,391
There was not financial payback
1669
01:21:11,565 --> 01:21:13,391
that they were looking for
1670
01:21:13,565 --> 01:21:17,260
between our financiers,
our studio and PBS.
1671
01:21:17,434 --> 01:21:20,478
They just didn't wanna invest
in giving it more time.
1672
01:21:20,652 --> 01:21:22,347
I think, if they'd
given it more time,
1673
01:21:22,521 --> 01:21:25,478
it would have been
phenomenally successful.
1674
01:21:25,652 --> 01:21:27,347
[somber music]
1675
01:21:27,521 --> 01:21:31,043
The day we had to talk
about shutting down the show
1676
01:21:31,782 --> 01:21:34,913
was definitely the hardest day.
1677
01:21:35,739 --> 01:21:38,913
We came back from shooting
Dog Days of the West,
1678
01:21:39,608 --> 01:21:42,000
and that was when
Rick had to stand up
1679
01:21:42,739 --> 01:21:45,826
and tell us all
that there would be no more Wishbone.
1680
01:21:47,173 --> 01:21:52,173
[Rick]
I felt, um, an obligation to everybody on that show...
1681
01:21:53,826 --> 01:21:55,478
...to keep it alive...
1682
01:21:57,217 --> 01:21:58,304
...and I just couldn't.
1683
01:21:58,913 --> 01:21:59,826
I cried.
1684
01:22:00,478 --> 01:22:01,695
I cried that day.
1685
01:22:02,173 --> 01:22:03,695
Fortunately, I was off camera,
1686
01:22:03,869 --> 01:22:05,652
so, like,
nobody could see me crying.
1687
01:22:05,826 --> 01:22:07,086
But I think a lot of people did.
1688
01:22:07,608 --> 01:22:08,695
And Rick did too.
1689
01:22:09,565 --> 01:22:12,956
But he said something at the end
that's always stuck with me.
1690
01:22:14,565 --> 01:22:17,521
He said,
"I want you to remember, when you walk away from here,
1691
01:22:18,434 --> 01:22:22,173
that you weren't just
a part of something great,
1692
01:22:22,347 --> 01:22:24,347
you were part
of something important."
1693
01:22:25,130 --> 01:22:28,826
Everything happens for a reason,
as, as sappy as that sounds.
1694
01:22:29,000 --> 01:22:31,521
And, and so, what remains is,
1695
01:22:32,130 --> 01:22:35,869
uh, something that,
that won't ever be done again like that.
1696
01:22:36,043 --> 01:22:38,782
There's some kind of magic
that happens with television
1697
01:22:38,956 --> 01:22:41,739
and the audience,
and you don't know
1698
01:22:41,913 --> 01:22:43,782
what kind of lifespan
you're gonna get.
1699
01:22:43,956 --> 01:22:46,478
You know,
there's a time and place for every show on television.
1700
01:22:46,652 --> 01:22:49,260
They flame out,
and they're amazing, and they're gone.
1701
01:22:49,434 --> 01:22:51,478
Victor Hugo said,
1702
01:22:51,652 --> 01:22:53,521
"There's nothing more powerful
1703
01:22:53,695 --> 01:22:56,000
than an idea
whose time has come."
1704
01:22:56,173 --> 01:22:57,782
And I just think
1705
01:22:57,956 --> 01:22:59,782
that it was a magic time
1706
01:22:59,956 --> 01:23:03,043
when we were able
to put together a show
1707
01:23:03,217 --> 01:23:06,521
of that magnitude,
and it was an idea whose time had come.
1708
01:23:07,086 --> 01:23:10,434
I think the enduring legacy
of a show like Wishbone
1709
01:23:10,608 --> 01:23:14,739
is to remind the audience that
1710
01:23:15,565 --> 01:23:18,086
an original, crazy idea...
1711
01:23:19,391 --> 01:23:20,652
...will always...
1712
01:23:21,782 --> 01:23:23,913
...stick with you and stand out.
1713
01:23:24,478 --> 01:23:28,956
I think the show's legacy
is giving children an excitement
1714
01:23:29,130 --> 01:23:31,826
for reading, and making it fun.
1715
01:23:32,000 --> 01:23:34,956
I think the Wishbone
shows you that, um,
1716
01:23:35,782 --> 01:23:38,913
if you put th-- that kind
of material in the world,
1717
01:23:39,086 --> 01:23:41,260
that people will not
just receive it,
1718
01:23:41,434 --> 01:23:44,217
but it will change them
and help them
1719
01:23:44,826 --> 01:23:46,869
in ways that are immeasurable.
1720
01:23:47,565 --> 01:23:48,782
And in this case, the idea was,
1721
01:23:48,956 --> 01:23:49,913
we wanna introduce kids
1722
01:23:50,086 --> 01:23:51,173
to classic literature,
1723
01:23:52,000 --> 01:23:53,173
and we want them
1724
01:23:53,826 --> 01:23:55,695
to have it in a way
that is approachable.
1725
01:23:56,173 --> 01:23:58,913
Because it didn't
play down to kids,
1726
01:23:59,086 --> 01:24:00,869
it didn't condescend,
1727
01:24:01,478 --> 01:24:05,478
it didn't shy away
from dark subject matter.
1728
01:24:07,478 --> 01:24:09,913
[Michael Benson]
I, I can't think of any other show that,
1729
01:24:10,086 --> 01:24:12,782
it's main, uh, raison d'être
1730
01:24:12,956 --> 01:24:17,695
was to, uh, to get children
interested in books.
1731
01:24:17,869 --> 01:24:20,260
[Rick]
The kids saw these shows when they were little,
1732
01:24:21,173 --> 01:24:24,043
and as they get older,
they remember it.
1733
01:24:24,217 --> 01:24:25,434
It never goes away,
1734
01:24:26,260 --> 01:24:27,869
the experience
of watching the show.
1735
01:24:28,913 --> 01:24:31,652
It's gone. It's long gone,
but they always remember it.
1736
01:24:31,826 --> 01:24:35,782
And I think the longer the time,
the more fond the memories are.
1737
01:24:35,956 --> 01:24:38,565
The idea of a dog
as the hero of the story,
1738
01:24:39,260 --> 01:24:42,869
and it resonated,
but it didn't just resonate with the kids.
1739
01:24:43,043 --> 01:24:45,739
It resonated with everyone
who's still young at heart.
1740
01:24:45,913 --> 01:24:47,521
[muted]
1741
01:24:47,695 --> 01:24:50,521
There's a universality
to the concept
1742
01:24:50,695 --> 01:24:53,130
contained within the heart
of the show
1743
01:24:53,304 --> 01:24:57,565
about how classic literature
relates to modern life
1744
01:24:57,739 --> 01:24:59,173
that will never be lost.
1745
01:25:00,086 --> 01:25:02,391
Will never be lost because...
1746
01:25:03,913 --> 01:25:04,956
...people are people.
1747
01:25:05,869 --> 01:25:07,347
We made a difference.
1748
01:25:08,652 --> 01:25:10,521
Period. Exclamation point.
1749
01:25:10,695 --> 01:25:11,869
We made a difference.
1750
01:25:13,565 --> 01:25:17,130
I also think the enduring legacy
is just to tell people
1751
01:25:17,304 --> 01:25:18,826
these books
are not intimidating.
1752
01:25:19,000 --> 01:25:20,478
These books are for you.
1753
01:25:20,652 --> 01:25:24,130
These are human stories
about human experiences,
1754
01:25:24,695 --> 01:25:26,173
and they have something
to offer you.
1755
01:25:26,347 --> 01:25:28,826
And you don't have to have
any special talents
1756
01:25:29,478 --> 01:25:32,739
to engage with them,
to learn from them and to love them.
1757
01:25:32,913 --> 01:25:36,043
- [birds chirping]
- Different stories brought us all to the same place.
1758
01:25:36,913 --> 01:25:38,304
That's what stories do.
1759
01:25:39,173 --> 01:25:40,869
And this neighborhood is...
1760
01:25:41,608 --> 01:25:42,913
Well, it's our place.
1761
01:25:43,608 --> 01:25:45,869
It's just an ordinary
neighborhood, but...
1762
01:25:47,434 --> 01:25:49,347
...it's the home
of our stories.
1763
01:25:49,521 --> 01:25:50,478
[muted]
1764
01:25:50,652 --> 01:25:52,434
Beneath the dullest exterior,
1765
01:25:53,260 --> 01:25:54,173
there is a drama,
1766
01:25:54,869 --> 01:25:57,086
a comedy, a tragedy.
1767
01:25:57,782 --> 01:25:59,434
[Wishbone]
"What's the story, Wishbone?"
1768
01:25:59,608 --> 01:26:02,521
The story is us.
It's all of us...
1769
01:26:02,695 --> 01:26:03,956
Whatcha!
1770
01:26:04,521 --> 01:26:05,826
...and it always was.
1771
01:26:06,391 --> 01:26:07,347
Whoo-hoo!
1772
01:26:07,521 --> 01:26:09,391
[light classical music]
1773
01:26:29,913 --> 01:26:31,521
[music builds]
1774
01:27:29,956 --> 01:27:32,000
[music continues]
1775
01:28:31,695 --> 01:28:32,739
[music ends]