Posted in: Disney XD, Disney+, TV | Tagged: Armorsaurs

Armorsaurs: Feiss on Localization, Directing, Flavor Flav & More

David Feiss (Hitpig) discussed his latest Korean sci-fi action series, Armorsaurs, as well as localization, YooHoo and Friends, and much more.

David Feiss has been a staple in animation for over 40 years as a jack-of-all-trades. Some of his best-known works include The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin, Garfield and Friends, Alvin & the Chipmunks, Droopy: Master Detective, Cow and Chicken, Father of the Pride, the Despicable Me franchise, the Hotel Transylvania franchise, the Smurfs franchise, and The Snoopy Show. His latest project ventures into the world of live-action in the hybrid series, Armorsaurs, which is based on the Korean sensation Armored Saurus, which follows a group of teenage pilots who are genetically linked to dinosaur companions thanks to the Avian Anomaly they have, and are equipped with advanced battle armor to deal with evil extraterrestrial threats on Earth. Feiss spoke to Bleeding Cool about whether there was any localization process for Armorsaurs in Korea, comparing the experience of directing animation to live-action, and the animated series Americans can't see on YouTube that stars Flavor Flav.

Armorsaurs Director David Feiss on Localization, Directing Animation vs. Live-Action, YooHoo and Friends

BC: Was there much adjustment to localize the series since you're updating the show for international audiences?

Feiss: Yeah, it was for a general audience. We actually ended up having one Korean-American and one Korean-Canadian in the cast. The rest were from North America. The Korean-Canadian actor (Julien Kang) was the villain, who was Switchblade, and then we had two actresses from North America who actually live full-time in Korea.

As far as directing animation versus live action, was there anything invaluable that you came away with that you may not have picked up in coming from the animation world?

I discovered that I really like it. There's something that, again, the vitality of working with actors has always been there with voices, but to be able to direct in three dimensions, to see it come to life so quickly, and the interaction between the actors was quite interesting to me, and it's something I'd like to continue. I found that it brought a lot of joy, and my skills as a storyboard artist were being used every single day on set to visualize shots where a dinosaur that didn't exist in a background that didn't exist. Having to show that to the cinematographer and create the shots in the moment was quite exciting.

I wanted to shift gears. Now, you've done so much in your career, and growing up, I've seen so much of your stuff out there, like Two Stupid Dogs, Bobby's World, Cow and Chicken, Despicable Me, and so forth. Was there something you worked on that had so much more to offer that didn't reach its fuller potential?

I did a show that was, oddly enough, another show that originated from Korea. I retooled for the West, called YooHoo and Friends, which was a 2D children's show that the company I was working for had the rights to. There were 52 episodes to rewrite, and I tried to sell it to the West, so I ended up doing that. I came up with a new concept to use as much of the old animation as possible, but create new characters as bumpers, the beginning, and the end.

I recently moved to a new location, and then my neighbor across the street was Flavor Flav, who was the first person to welcome us to the neighborhood. I got to talking to him, and he asked me what I did. I said I work in animation, and he goes, "Man, I always want new voices!" With YooHoo and Friends, I had a character he was perfect for and I asked, "Do you want to do you want to do this character?" He called his manager at that moment, and we made a deal basically in the cul-de-sac.

In that show, we did 52 episodes, and it aired on Cartoon Network Latin America, ABC Australia, and most of Europe, but it never made it to North America. I wish that show had gotten to North America, and the reason it never did was that there was a rights issue with the toys, and apparently, it prevented the series from being broadcast in the U.S., but it's still running around the world. I still get residuals, because I did the theme songs, so I get like music residual royalties. That particular show, I really like, and it's available online; you can see it, it's YooHoo and Friends with Flavor Flav, so it's different than the original Korean version of YooHoo and Friends.

Was there an IP that you've always wanted to work on but haven't had a chance to?

Not really. That's an interesting question, but mostly I prefer coming up with my own stuff, and that's what I'm working on now. I've got some various projects of my own in production right now or in development.

Season one of Armorsaurs, which stars Jalien Bates, Jacob Makabi, Avianna Mynheir, Sade Louise, Derrick Kwak, Yvonne Chapman, Andrew Russell, Carson Allen, Julien Kang, and featuring the voice of Michael Dorn, is available on Disney+.

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