Potty Mouth

Welcome to the sixth installment of our MYSTIC COSMIC PATROL WEEK ongoing feature!

Debuting yesterday at Funny or Die, “Mystic Cosmic Patrol” is a nostalgic sitcom romp of mystical proportions. Created as an homage to kid-friendly shows like “Power Rangers” and “Ultraman,” the fast-paced webisodes combine monsters and comedic mayhem to create a parody worth every bingeable minute.

We recently sat down with special effects makeup artist Cig Neutron to discuss Grinch smiling, embracing goofiness, and what you’ll find beneath the skin of his creatures.

TrunkSpace: Because the project wasn’t tied to a specific studio or network, there were a lot of “ifs” involved in “Mystic Cosmic Patrol.” Does working on an independent project require a leap of faith and what was it about this particular project that made you take that leap?
Neutron: Yes, it absolutely requires a leap of faith. A lot of projects like this come my way and I only take the ones I truly believe in. From the first time I met Gavin, I could tell that he had the creative fire, and those are exactly the types of people I want to work with.

TrunkSpace: Potty Mouth is an amazingly fun character. How quickly did he come together design-wise?
Neutron: Gavin and I are pretty much on the same page style and influence-wise, so as soon as he described the character I knew exactly what he wanted. When you work with people who are just as excited as you are, it doesn’t take long to arrive at an end result.

TrunkSpace: Does your process involve extensive sketching and planning or do you work directly from your brain?
Neutron: I actually don’t do very much sketching. For Potty Mouth, there were no preliminary designs. I just jumped right in and started fabrication. Gavin had enough faith in me that he actually didn’t see the full character together until the day it was supposed to shoot!

TrunkSpace: If “Mystic Cosmic Patrol” has a long future and turns into an ongoing series, would the longevity be part of the fun for you – getting to explore so many different designs within a single universe?
Neutron: Absolutely!! The genre and inspirations for the show are near and dear to my heart, so if I have a long run of making Kaiju, I’ll be Grinch smiling the whole way.

TrunkSpace: What are the aesthetic factors you have to consider when designing creatures meant to fit into a world inspired by “Power Rangers” and shows like it?
Neutron: It’s hard to describe to someone who hasn’t grown up with the genre, but there’s just a certain magic to the aesthetic. Even when the genre takes itself seriously there’s always an air of goofiness. That’s why MCP is so much fun. It is self-aware and really embraces that goofiness, which opens up the door to really push the limits of the style.

TrunkSpace: As the designer, are you the first person to take a suit like Potty Mouth out for a test drive?
Neutron: Designs that seem like a good idea on paper, don’t always translate to the physical world. It’s very important to try on pieces of the suit to make sure the actor can move, breathe, see, etc… because you know, those things are somewhat important.

TrunkSpace: How do you personally know when a design is finished? Are your creatures ever truly complete or do you view them as works in progress to be tinkered with as inspiration hits?
Neutron: Time is our most precious resource. As artists, we’d love to spend forever on making something pristine, but that’s just not realistic. Me personally, I need to constantly move from creature to creature because if I spend too long on one thing, I’ll get bored. I’d rather populate the world with an army of crazy critters, than just one immaculate creation.

TrunkSpace: Where are you the hardest on yourself as a creature designer?
Neutron: Probably anatomy. I’m a real stickler for anatomy that looks like it actually functions. Sure I bend and stretch the rules, but at the end of the day, if you asked me to peel off the skin of any of my creatures, I would have a fully functioning system of muscle, bone, and organs underneath.

TrunkSpace: As a creature designer, was (and is) Halloween your favorite time of year?
Neutron: Halloween is and always will be my favorite time of year.

TrunkSpace: Do you have a costume design for yourself in the works for this All Hallows’ Eve?
Neutron: Whenever anyone finds out what I do, the first thing they say is, “Oh, you must have THE best Halloween costumes!” Actually, it’s quite the opposite. My costumes are usually lame because all my time is spent getting hired to make other people’s costumes. Which is totally rad… but also kinda sucks.

“Mystic Cosmic Patrol” is available now at Funny or Die.

Welcome to the fifth installment of our MYSTIC COSMIC PATROL WEEK ongoing feature!

Debuting today at Funny or Die, “Mystic Cosmic Patrol” is a nostalgic sitcom romp of mystical proportions. Created as an homage to kid-friendly shows like “Power Rangers” and “Ultraman,” the fast-paced webisodes combine monsters and comedic mayhem to create a parody worth every bingeable minute.

We recently sat down with series star Chris Masterson to discuss the high cost of red, embracing the more affordable blue, and reacting to a puke-inducing toilet.

TrunkSpace: What personality traits are required to lead the Mystic Cosmic Patrol? And why do most leaders of monster-fighting groups wear red?
Masterson: An inflated ego and a lack of awareness on how others view your actions. Well, this leader wears blue, but only because red was more expensive and Jack is nothing if not thrifty.

TrunkSpace: How did you become involved in the project and what drew you to it?
Masterson: The concept was brought to me by our executive producer, Tommy Meyer-Klipsch. I loved the concept of a “Power Rangers” type of a show starring six people with a mean IQ of 108, being tasked with defending Earth from evil space robots.

TrunkSpace: You’re also serving as producer on the series. What are your ultimate goals for it? Do you have a network home in mind that you believe best serves the project?
Masterson: I just want people who are fans of the genre to see it. Funny or Die has launched several of my favorite shows and characters so I’m pretty happy we found a home there.

TrunkSpace: You’re no stranger to comedy, but a lot of the humor you have delivered via previous roles was firmly rooted in reality. What was it like performing in a piece where anything, including a toilet creature named Potty Mouth, is possible?
Masterson: Pretty much the same for me. I think actors generally try to react realistically to whatever situation is presented to their characters, but from the point of view of the person they’re playing. In our case it’s through the eyes of a guy who’s pretty full of himself and is pretty certain he knows more than everyone else, but almost never does. And the world he’s in is just the world to him. The same way you or I might react to a neighbor’s dog getting loose and chasing us down the street is the way he’d react to being attacked by a puke-inducing toilet with arms, legs, and an attitude.

TrunkSpace: Flash forward a year from now and you’re walking the floor at a comic convention. You spot someone cosplaying as your “Mystic Cosmic Patrol” character. What goes through your mind?
Masterson: What the f@&k?!

TrunkSpace: It’s a great time for content creators, but more content also means that viewers are spreading themselves thin and DVRs are filling up with shows people mean to “get to eventually.” How does a show like “Mystic Cosmic Patrol” rise above the noise and find an audience?
Masterson: I hope we’ll have a pretty clear demo that’ll be sure to watch, regardless of what else is on because if you’re a fan of kaijū, the “Power Rangers,” and badly video’d 90s afternoon television (and if you have a sense of humor), you’re not gonna get much closer to that than us.

TrunkSpace: When do you feel the most energized and inspired as an actor? What is it that excites you about the craft?
Masterson: When it all starts coming together. When the various pieces that have been planned and rehearsed start to gel and I can tell it’s just starting to become something. That’s when I’m most excited to be doing it.

TrunkSpace: Where are you the hardest on yourself as an actor?
Masterson: I’m never hard on myself as an actor. I generally give it all I have and when I feel I fell short, I think, “Ha, well that didn’t work out!”

TrunkSpace: You played Francis on “Malcolm in the Middle” for 151 episodes. If “Mystic Cosmic Patrol” gets picked up and finds the kind of success that enables it to stay on the air that long, would you be happy playing a character again for such an extended period of time?
Masterson: Absolutely.

TrunkSpace: Potty Mouth sets a nice table of villains to come. What other kind of villains would you like to see the blue patrol member lay the mystic cosmic smackdown on? It seems like it is an “anything you can imagine” situation, which leaves the door open for some character-creating fun.
Masterson: I’d like to see some sort of a human centipede inspired space robot that feeds off of Earthlings it appropriates into its “circle”. That or a giant walking Zoltar machine who shouts fortunes at people, which come true the next morning, but they’re always terrible, terrible fortunes…

“Mystic Cosmic Patrol” debuts today at Funny or Die.