13 July 07 Weta Designers reveal more designs from the Champ The Chopper children's book - featuring influences of Michelle Pfeiffer, apparently!

Weta Designers Daniel Falconer and Chris Guise reveal more images from the Champ The Chopper children's book by Rebekah Palmer, and tell me a little more about the creation behind these cool characters, including this one cool cat named 'Scratch'...

Above: 'Scratch' from Champ The Chopper by Rebekah Palmer.

Daniel: "Scratch doesn't go on rescue missions with the rest of the Kids Rescue team. She mostly slinks around the hangar being a typical cat. We experimented with all kinds of looks for her, from very round and fluffy persians to more slinky moggies. Chris's adorable bushy tailed black cat won the day and got the big thumbs up from Rebekah. I love it because you can tell everything about her character at a glance."

Chris: "It could have been something Rebekah said in one of our meetings. But after a few unsuccessful designs, something popped into my head that made me think of Scratch as a feline version of Michelle Pfeiffer from "The Wonderful Baker Boys". It seemed to work. Just hope Ms Pfeiffer doesn't take offense."

This image below, was created by Chris, and was largely based on the New Zealand landscape.

Above: An illustration by Chris Guise for Rebekah Palmer's 'Champ The Chopper' series.

Chris: "When drawing this picture, for some reason I kept thinking back to the classic english puppet show "Thunderbirds". I knew all that time sitting infront of the TV when I young would pay off one day!

Daniel: "Chris Guise's magnificent scenic piece really captured the world of Champ I thought. While not in the book, this image was one of the quintessential pieces of conceptual art that was produced that locked in the colour palette of Champ's environment and is the first piece in which we really got to see all of Sunshine Bay, where Champ lives. It looks like a lovely place to live if you ask me and reminds me strongly an the area in New Zealand in which I holidayed recently- the stunning Abel Tasman region."

Above: Zoom the dog, featured in Champ The Chopper by Rebekah Palmer.

Daniel: "Zoom is the Kids rescue team dog, a loyal and enthusiastic german shepherd, though tragically for him, he is afraid of heights, which, in a series of stories about a rescue helicopter, means he looks terrified most of the time. Chris designed a wonderfully expressive character here which, if I recall correctly, hit us a home run with Rebekah first pitch."

Champ the Chopper will be available in September, at a retail price of NZD $16.99 including GST. To pre-order books, please contact champ@westegg.co.nz.

Click here to read more on the series, and to see further images from the book. Tell us what you think of the series at the Weta Forums!