I'm not sure if I call this Q&A wall a success exactly. I suppose it wasn't a fail because some questions were valid and made me think. It was unfortunate my family (19 year old brother) kind of immediately ruined it by asking me stupid questions...
I'll be answering the relevant questions in depth here:
Why the name Monarch Park?
~ It's a reference to Queens Park here in Invercargill. Incorporating a real insect, a Monarch Butterfly. Though I know Monarchs aren't native, I thought at the time it was a neat play on words. None of the characters have butterfly wings however, those are based off other insects with more see-through wings.
Will you age them?
~ My younger sister did make me think with this question, I honestly don't know yet. Cartoons can be funny things where the characters are timeless, kind of stuck in the same age while the world around them becomes more futuristic (the Simpsons, bobs burgers). But I do envision that after this first series in the holidays, the next one is them back at school and they would celebrate birthdays. It'd depend on how long the whole show goes on for.
Will they have voices?
~ Yes all the characters will eventually have voice actors playing them. I'm not sure who exactly yet but I do need to think about it and get onto it.
Do the characters aim to reinforce or work into any specific stereotypes?
~ So the point of a character arc is for the character to grow and learn over time or through a journey. I am only concentrating on the first episode so not much character growth will occur during this 11mins. But over the whole series there will be a change in their initial characters and stereotypes. Honestly I'm not sure if I've focused many or any major stereotypes on them anyway. I suppose the boy character Fletcher is into jokes and being humourous in sometimes an inappropriate way, but he'll learn how to notice social cues eventually. Hilda may appear girly and shy but she will be able to overcome that through her friends helping her try new things and feel more confident in herself. Maybe you see some stereotypes? Let me know cos I can't think of them.
Why is this scale important?
~ The characters are this small to be able to get up close to New Zealand's native flora and fauna in detail. Their buildings and items are also that small so they can live in them and use them. At the end of the day however, this is fantasy and it could be any scale it wants to be, that shouldn't matter when watching the content.
