Interview with Eric Robles

There really isn't much to say about Fanboy and his little buddy Chum Chum. They go to school, hang out at the corner store, watch a lot of television, and wear superhero outfits wherever they go. The two kids are rather typical; except of course, for the fact that once their imagination kicks into gear, nothing stands in their way. In situations when others might taper their passions to the confines of reality, these two kids always take it one step farther. The hyperactive centerpieces of the new Nickelodeon animated series Fanboy & Chum Chum, the scrawny but talkative Fanboy and his chubby sidekick Chum Chum are in constant motion. Kids will be kids and boys will be boys; and much of the same goes for comic book-adoring animators as well.

Eric Robles, creator of Fanboy & Chum Chum, is well acquainted with the ambitions and runaway imaginations of comics-adoring kids -- having been one himself. Whether charting the availability of limited edition action figures or questing to transport one's brain into a super cool robot, Robles knows his stuff. Whether resolving a brainfreeze from too many slushies or helping a misguided viking reach hallowed halls of Odin after success at a few arcade games, Robles knows his stuff. In Fanboy & Chum Chum, which airs regularly on Nickelodeon Saturday mornings at 10:30am (ET/PT), life is all about having fun.

Interview Chapters:
growing up (page two)
the original short (page three)
working on the series (page four)
story design (page five)
"Enjoy being a kid." (page six)

AnimationInsider.net recently had the opportunity to speak at length with animator Eric Robles about his creation, Fanboy & Chum Chum. In this discussion, Robles provides extraordinary detail on the development process for his CG series, from concept to creation, and from the original animated short produced for Frederator's "Random! Cartoons" to the new full-length series topping the weekly charts on Nickelodeon.

Recently renewed for a second season, Fanboy & Chum Chum averages above a 5.1/22 rating on weekend broadcasts for kids aged six to eleven (year-to-interview date), and has occasionally tipped the scales of the top ten weekly transmissions (K2-11) in terms of audience delivery.

Robles has been a professional animator for roughly fifteen years, and employed just about everywhere: Disney, DreamWorks, Cartoon Network, Universal Studios designing theme park monsters. A self-described latchkey kid growing up who busied himself with all matters of cartoons, comics, arcade games, and drawing (at his earliest, of Godzilla or Superman for his schoolmates); Eric Robles was the type of kid wholly invested into having fun. "If you look at Fanboy," he laughs, "that's pretty much me."