Synopsis / Premise
London in the mid-eighties, reports are growing of supernatural sightings and paranormal activity. What started as unexplained phenomena in the suburban areas surrounding London has spread to the inner city. Hospitals are inundated with people literally frozen with fear. The more the ghosts scare people, the more powerful they become. People are afraid to walk the streets at night. Ghosts are a very real problem.
In an attempt to combat the scary spirits, the British Government commission Dr. Winston Newton (a brilliant scientist), to research dogs and cats and their sixth sense like ability to detect ghosts. Using his beloved pets Dylan (an Alsatian) and Cindy (a Himalayan cat), he attempts to isolate their genes and harness their sixth sense. However, an accidental radioactive explosion in his lab mutates their genetic structure, giving them the ability to walk and talk like humans. Using their heightened senses and superhuman strength, they hunt down the ghosts; expelling them back to the netherworld using Dr. Newton’s invention, the Exorkismos-ray gun. They become known as the “Anthropomorphic Ghost Hunters”.
In retaliation to our heroes, the ghosts resurrect an evil Victorian veterinarian called Albert Snare, arch nemesis to Dylan and Cindy! During the day Albert was perceived to be an honest vet but by night he performed evil experiments on his victims. Now with ghostly powers he has returned….
Love it! Your names are very evocative here, and the idea of an evil vet is priceless. Some points here though. Dont worry about setting this in the eighties - its a reboot, so its just a contempary setting . Its best to keep things vague so that the cartoon doesnt date. And Anthropomorphic Ghost Hunters is an accurate description, but a mouthful. It needs something a little catchier I feel, and easier to understand by the younger audience.
ReplyDeleteRegarding characters, who were you thinking for the three archetypes. As you describe them, Cindy and Dylan are both heroic archetypes, so I would resist the urge to make one of them a sidekick, because it them makes the other one more important (Batman gets all the limelight, while poor Robin is just along for the ride). Its good to define both characters - just that you are only required to develop one of them.
Hi Justin,
ReplyDeletethanks for your commments. Out of the three archetypes, I have struggled with the sidekick archetype the most. I felt Cindy was kind of bolted on just to meet the brief requirements. To be honest I was taking the route of making her the "Robin" type sidekick, but I did flirt with the idea of creating a villainous one. As Albert is a Victorian Vet, maybe he experiments on a rat which develops Stockholm Syndrome? What do you think?
I think the rat is a much more fun character to develop. To keep him distinct though, I would keep him as a rat, but one able to communicate - a failure to create the more useful humanoid form. Or a kind of small (3-4 foot tall), hunched rat figure - not quite fully humanoid. Cindy i think is just another version of the hero, so there is no point developing her on this project. Mention her of course, as the partnership makes for an interesting story. Its the kind of character you could, after this project is finished, flesh out and develop, for your own personal use, if you wanted to.
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