Lights... Camera... ACTION!!: A Hollywood Quest

20 Questions

20 Questions - Interview with Mavis Kingsley

Penelope Weiss
November 19th, 1983

In my time writing for the 20 Questions column, I've gotten to 'interview' quite a few important and famous individuals, but it's not often that one conducts an interview without ever actually meeting the subject of said interview. A novel experience for certain and such was the case for one Mavis Kingsley, prominent employee of Lucasfilms, who I've just recently had the pleasure of interviewing.

Ms. Kingsley, for any readers who are unaware, is the creator of the hit animated show, Pacific Rim, as well as serving as the screenwriter of the successful horror film, Amnesia, and a lead writer on G.I. Joe along with series creator, Larry Hama. She has also worked on a number of other series as well, contributing to episodes of various Lucasfilm animated properties, most notably Miraculous.

Ms. Kingsley has had quite the prolific career during her time in Hollywood even though she's still so young (something that seems to be a growing trend within Lucasfilm with the likes of Quentin Tarantino and Sam Raimi), but despite her great successes and her long time spent thus far in Tinsel Town, not much is actually known about this rather reclusive screenwriter. Outside of a single interview done in the wake of Pacific Rim's explosive success, Mavis Kingsley is an almost entirely unknown quantity, due in no small part to her declining many of the interview requests she receives.

With this in mind, I had hoped (though truthfully doubted that I'd succeed) to get an interview with the up-and-coming screenwriter and formally sent in the request to both Lucasfilm and Ms. Kingsley herself.

I'm sure you can imagine my shock when the request had been accepted, though I was quickly more confused than anything when I showed up to Lucasfilm headquarters in our fair city and was told that I wouldn't be meeting with Ms. Kingsley.

I was obviously quite put out at this point, seeing as how they had accepted my request for an interview, only to snub me when I finally showed up? It certainly wasn't the first time this has happened, but it's never any less irritating.

However, they clarified for me that I would, in fact, be allowed to interview Ms. Kingsley, but that it could not be in-person and would have to be done through proxy.

I didn't understand at first and thought this might be some strange tactic that they were using against me. Accept the offer so that they'd appear more open and then stall until I had lost interest, or a way to control the answers being given to the press, perhaps?

But no, the answer was a lot more mundane than that. I was informed by the liaison that Ms. Kingsley is a rather shy woman and gets rather anxious in interviews, and so they deemed it best if the interview was conducted through proxy. Not what I was expecting, but we adapt and overcome.

And oh boy! It was oh so worth it.

I was able to get not only some interesting insights into Ms. Kingsley (who, as an aside, is probably the youngest looking woman I think I've ever seen in my life, despite nearing her thirties, I believe. She looks like a teenager! Jeez, save some of those good genes for the rest of us) herself as a person and creator, along with interesting news about her most recent project, Undertale, but I was also able to get some incredibly spicy information.

The kind that you'd be more likely to find in either a gossip rag or as front page news on the cover of something like the Times. The kind I'm frankly not qualified to handle, but what is life without risk?

Overall, it was a very novel and interesting experience having conducted this interview, and frankly? I may use this method again in the future for other interview subjects. Perhaps more of them will accept the interview if they don't have to actually talk to me? Then again, I think I prefer speaking to them and getting more raw answers.

Enclosed below are the questions asked and the answers received:

Question 1: I'm sure you've been asked this a million times already, but what inspired you to go down this path?

Mavis: It probably isn't a surprise to hear that I've always been interested in writing as a general matter. As I grew older, I found myself taking whatever opportunity I could to write; from essay competitions, to extra credit, to contributing to the local paper, to selling class notes to the other students, I would do whatever I could to squeeze in a little more writing experience. Originally, I had the ambition to become a novelist, but that changed after I watched a screening of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. It was such a profound moment for a young Mavis and I remember I ended up burning the rest of my not insubstantial savings on rewatching the film in our dinky little local theater as many times as I could. I'm pretty sure they were happy to take my money the first few times, but they were definitely sick of me by the fifteenth time, let alone the forty-third time or the eighty-ninth. From that moment forward, I knew that I wanted to be working in Hollywood. At first, I fancied myself as a future director, but I pretty quickly learned that outside of photography, I didn't have much talent with a camera. Instead, I applied my talents to my passion and committed myself to screenwriting. One thing led to another, until I eventually landed where I am now.

Question 2: Tolkein was inspired to write Lord of the Rings from his interest in anthropology, linguistics, and his experiences during World War 1. Van Goh was inspired to paint The Starry Night based on the view from the window of his asylum. Meanwhile, George Lucas was inspired by the adventure serials he saw as a child and Kurosawa films to create Star Wars. Who or what would you say were the main influences for your work?

Mavis: It's certainly overly dramatic to compare me and my work to such enduring greats as them, but to answer your question, I find that I draw from my own experiences and my day-to-day for most of my work. It's no secret that Pacific Rim came about in large part due to the messy end of business relations between Lucasfilm and Toho, as well as the flood of anti-Toho work that was being submitted in the offices at the time, while Amnesia came from a reoccurring nightmare I had and my contributions to G.I. Joe were drawn primarily from my family's long and storied history of serving in the United States military. That's not to say that all my work is like that, many of the scripts I've written have no parallels to my own life, but I believe it could be said that it's where most of my inspiration comes from.

Question 3: What film would you say has made the most impact on you?

Mavis: It entirely depends on what metric you want to judge by. As mentioned before, Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey is what nearly single handedly got me interested in making movies and shows. It's what got me started on my path as a screenwriter and I owe a lot to that film. On the other hand, Star Wars was a film that, with no exaggeration, saved my life. I very likely would not only not be where I am in Lucasfilm without Star Wars, but I likely would not be here period. It may be strange to hear that be said so openly, but it's the truth. My life was saved that day and I can't be grateful enough. Even with those two in mind, there's also my upcoming film, Undertale, to consider. This film is a culmination of all of my experiences thus far. The incredible and the sickening. More than that, however, this film is my message to anyone out there who feels like they're going through some really tough times and they don't know how they'll manage. I hope they see this film and understand that things will be okay, that they'll be okay. This film has helped to change my life forever, and if it can help even just one other person out there to stay determined, everything will have been worth it.

Question 4: Having worked at Lucasfilms for nearly a decade at this point and now recognized as an established veteran of the company, are there any writers, whether in Lucasfilms proper or any of its subsidiaries, who you feel have been an influence on your work?

Mavis: As a screenwriter, the process for something like that is going to be different than for someone like a director or an effects artist. I can't really say that we're 'inspired' in quite the same way as a director may be inspired by, for instance, the action directing of Bruce O'Brian. For myself, I couldn't exactly say that the work of my colleagues and fellow employees have influenced my work in any particular way, at least not consciously, especially considering that contrary to popular belief, Pacific Rim was not inspired by Gundam, at least not on my end.

Question 5: You most recently managed to make the successful jump from animated television to live-action film with Amnesia, directed by David Lynch. The film is being hailed as having taught America to fear the dark once more. With such a unique premise, style, and direction to the film, what was your inspiration for it?

Mavis: I certainly can't take credit for all, or even most of what's drawn so many people to the film. That really goes out to David [Lynch], who's incredible work brought the film to life, but the original concept actually came from a series of recurring nightmares I was having about my time working at Universal. My time there was, in so many words, unpleasant, and I continued to suffer nightmares of my time there long after I had left. I was tired of living with them, so I decided to channel them into scripts, hoping to gain some form of closure. Thankfully, they've since been greatly reduced in frequency and I sleep much better than I had before.

Question 6: In your time at Lucasfilms, you've been more deeply involved with your projects than most would expect a screenwriter to be, often being engaged with the whole of the production process for your works. With that in mind, has there been any actor you've met during this time that you'd say has impressed you during your stay at Lucasfilms?

Mavis: In my time working for Lucasfilm, I've had the privilege of meeting so many wonderful and amazing actors. From the likes of Liam Neeson, to Keith David, to Jodie Foster, to Mark Hamill, to Kevin Conroy, to B.J. Ward, to Frank Welker, to James Earl Jones. James in particular is an absolute delight and a big ol' teddy bear. With so many wonderful people and actors, it's difficult to choose just one. Though if I had to choose one who has well and truly astounded me, it would be the young girl who's currently been casted as the voice of Frisk, Undertale's protagonist, Tara Charendoff. Despite being only ten years old, Tara has to be one of the most talented voice actors I've ever seen. She's worked so much harder than anyone else in the cast and has been quite the impressive little professional, always giving it one hundred and ten percent. She's also been quite pleasant to work with and is just an absolute sweetheart, always brightening up the studio with her infectious enthusiasm and energy. She even took the time to befriend my daughter when I had to bring her to the studio, despite the age gap. Tara's hard work, empathy, and optimism were everything and more that I was looking for in our Frisk. She well and truly embodies Frisk and I can scarcely think of anyone else who I'd want in the role.

Question 7: From the synopsis and trailers, it has often been remarked that Undertale appears to be heavily inspired by Alice in Wonderland, with some critics even going so far as to call it a ripoff or a swipe. Do you agree with these statements?

Mavis: My answer to that should be rather obvious, but no, I do not agree with those statements. I certainly won't deny the influence that Alice in Wonderland has had on Undertale, seeing as how I was initially inspired by reading the book to my daughter before bed, the book being her favorite. That being said, the similarities are very surface level and more or less start and stop at 'girl ends up in a fantastical underground world.' As I've stated before, Undertale is a deeply personal project for me, and thus, it takes a lot of inspiration from my own life. From my experiences, from my friends and family, from my daughter, and countless other little things here and there. No, it's not a swipe of Alice in Wonderland, it's not an adaptation of it, and it's not another 'The Bro's,' despite that film not being a swipe either. I poured my heart and soul into Undertale, more than most can truly say about their own works, and I'm deeply insulted by assertions that I'm somehow 'stealing' the concept from somewhere else.

Question 8: You seem to thrive in writing multiple genres, whether it be Pacific Rim's mecha-kaiju battles, to Amnesia's thrilling psychological horror, to your work on G.I. Joe and its action-packed tribute to the military. With that in mind, will you be trailblazing within a new genre, or will Undertale derive more so from your previous works?

Mavis: Undertale is going to be exploring a new genre for me, specifically fantasy. Or maybe you could more accurately call it dark fantasy? Either way, it's definitely not something I've really worked with in the past, but then again, my only practical experience was with Science Fiction before I joined Lucasfilm. Aside from the genre though, I think you could view it a lot like Pacific Rim. For those who've seen Pacific Rim, they no doubt recall that the themes that dominate the series are those of mutual understanding and determination in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. This carries over for Undertale, as you'll have no doubt seen in the marketing. I'm certain there are more connections that could be drawn between my previous works and Undertale, but I'm not certain I'm divorced enough from my work to 'see the forest for the trees' in this case.

Question 9: Ron Clements and John Musker have been assigned to direct Undertale, having previously directed The Basil of Baker Street. How would you describe their vision for the film and how it compares with yours?

Mavis: Truthfully, I couldn't say that our visions conflict overly much. Working with them has been a very smooth process and they and their team have been more than accommodating of me and my nagging. They've always taken care to give consideration to me and my vision and have graciously allowed me to be more deeply involved with the project than would be typical as just a screenwriter. If I were to try and dig for any sort of contention between us, I'd say it'd be that my own work trends toward darker material, while their own trends toward lighter fare, given their experience with Disney. There are times where we disagree about the direction of the film and certain scenes, but they're always resolved peacefully and in a timely manner. Their experience with Disney also serves very well for the moments in the film that are unequivocally more light hearted. All in all, I'd say we've aligned quite well and I wouldn't at all be opposed to working with them again at some point in the future.

Question 10: With Dreamworks and Sunrise having a penchant for targeting older audiences in animation, a recent example being the release of Sword of the Stranger as the first PG-13 animated film, what kind of audience do you believe Undertale to be intended for?

Mavis: In terms of the target demographic, it could be said that Undertale is primarily for children, a demographic that I think Lucasfilm animation has unfortunately been neglecting, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that adolescents are the target demographic. That being said, Undertale is made with all-ages in mind, so in that sense, I suppose you could call it a family film instead. There's more than enough in there to keep all members of the family entertained and engaged with the film. Truthfully, I rather expect another phenomenon like Pacific Rim, although inverted in this case. Pacific Rim had been targeted towards teenagers primarily, but it ended up finding a large audience in not only adults, which was not unexpected, but also young children, which very much was. I'm personally expecting to see something similar, where Undertale is targeted towards younger crowds, but finds a surprising amount of appreciation from older demographics.

Question 11: Whether someone loves or hates a piece of media, there'll always be some aspect of it that can be described as their "favorite." With that in mind, what is your favorite moment from the Undertale film?

Mavis: While I can't answer that question in full due to spoilers, not to mention how impossible of a choice that is to make, there is one scene in particular that resonates with me very strongly. It's a scene towards the end of the film, after the journey is nearly complete and our hero, Frisk, can return home. She looks into a mirror and a certain line is spoken. I won't say what it is, since I really do think it's something that needs to be experienced, but when I watched that scene as the dubbing was being applied, I was in tears. It was just so powerful in a way that I don't think I quite have the words to describe. Undertale is a deeply personal story to me and one that draws from my experiences quite a bit, and to see that moment and being reminded of those words, language can't capture the experience. This production has been an amazing journey and I can't thank Ron [Clements] and John [Musker] enough for bringing it to life.

Question 12: I imagine that entertainment productions can be quite exciting affairs based on the stories that I and the public have been exposed to over the years. What would you say was the part of the Undertale production that you enjoyed the most?

Mavis: Without question, that would be the soundtrack. Our primary composer for Undertale is a complete unknown by the name of Koji Kondo, but despite having only just recently graduated from his university in Japan, I don't think I could have asked for a better composer. I actually have quite a bit of musical experience myself, so I've been working pretty closely with Mr. Kondo and it's been nothing but smooth sailing. He's incredibly talented and he's been very easy to work with. I don't even need to tell him what I'm looking for most of the time, since he's on the same wavelength as me, often knowing exactly what's needed from the soundtrack at any given time and what it needs to be invoking without me ever needing to tell him anything. He just gets it. He's also just been a lot of fun to work with, and frankly, I'd absolutely love to work with him again in the future if possible, although I know he has his sights set on working with Nintendo. As I said before, I've also been assisting with the music and I actually composed Once Upon a Time, Determination, and Undertale, the song taking its name from the film. It's been quite some time since I've been able to do something like this, so it's been an absolute blast getting to do it again, especially for a project like this. I'd have absolutely loved to compose more of the music personally, but I just don't have the time for it, what with my other responsibilities, and I doubt I would have been able to quite match Mr. Kondo's magnificent scores. More than that though, the reason I love this part of the production so much is that, more than any other part of the production, I've always felt that it was the music that truly brings everything to life. Yes, there's the script, the animation, the voice acting, and countless other things along the way that are electrifying in their own way, but for whatever reason, it's never quite as real as when you hear the music for the first time. Only then does it truly feel alive. At least, I think so. Honestly, I don't think the weight of this project really hit me until I first heard the orchestra playing the music. I remember I had to excuse myself because I was just too overcome with emotion. It was a profound moment of transcendence and I will treasure the memory for the rest of my life. Aside from all that though, it certainly helps that the music is just absolutely phenomenal. If it weren't made as the soundtrack for an animated film, I fully believe that Undertale's music would be a contender, along with the likes of Star Wars or Indiana Jones' music, for being counted among some of the greatest musical pieces ever composed.

Question 13: From both leaked and released concept art and previews, Undertale appears to have a unique art direction with a focus on monsters such as Toriel, Sans and Papyrus. What influenced this design choice and aesthetic?

Mavis: Would you believe me if I said that most of the characters and aesthetic came from my daughter? For instance, the characters of Sans and Papyrus, the two skeletons, came from some Halloween decorations that she became absolutely obsessed with, so I fashioned them into some toys for her and she's let her imagination run wild since. Temmie came from a cat that was gifted to us by the O'Brian's and my daughter, Milly, wanted to name her Timmy for some reason, but she can't quite say it correctly, so she keeps calling her Temmy, which I turned into the character of Temmie. Alphys came from a dinosaur toy of hers that she played with as being a scientist, Napstablook came from an imaginary friend of hers that she had for a while, and Mettaton, in part, came from an obsession with dancing that she's developed recently. Most of the other characters or monsters came from drawings and scribbles of hers that I passed off to our concept artists to turn into characters in the film. Even Frisk herself is actually inspired by my daughter and takes a lot from her. In a lot of ways, I'm making this film not just for me or for the audience, but for her.

Question 14: So far, you're two for two for successful creations, not including your work on other productions like episodes of Miraculous or your prolific work on G.I. Joe with Larry Hama. How are you feeling about Undertale's chances?

Mavis: It may be a bit arrogant of me to say, but I truly believe that Undertale has the potential to be the first billion dollar animated movie. In truth, there's not much that I could say truly separates Undertale from its predecessors that failed to do so that would elicit this belief. The animation is drop-dead gorgeous and innovative, but the same could be said of The Basil of Baker Street. The action is exciting and kinetic, but so was War of the Worlds'. The story is stirring and inspiring, but John Henry's was equally so. That's not to say that Undertale doesn't stand out amongst its predecessors, it certainly does, just that although it's an incredible film, the others are objectively so as well and it's hard to identify at this stage what could set it above the others. And yet, I can't help but feel the way I do. There's just some quality, some mysterious x-factor I can't quite describe in Undertale, whenever I watch it be slowly crafted together, that leads me to this belief. I can feel it in my bones, Undertale will be the first animated film to cross over that line and become a billion dollar film. Who knows, maybe it'll even be the first animated film to win an Oscar? A girl can dream, can't she?

Question 15: All of Dreamworks' films thus far have had very distinct identities from one another. Hiawatha is not John Henry is not The Basil of Baker Street. How would you say Undertale stands apart from previous Dreamworks titles and what aspects does it share with other Dreamworks films and shows?

Mavis: Well, the most immediately obvious is that Undetale is more fantastical than previous Dreamworks entries. Sure, they've had their fantasy elements, particularly with Hiawatha, but all of Dreamworks' animated films thus far have been rooted in real life. John Henry takes place in post-Civil War America, Hiawatha is about the American Indians and is set in pre-colonial America, while The Basil of Baker Street is set in what is otherwise just London. Undertale on the other hand is not like that, at least not from what we see in the film. Another detail that becomes immediately apparent is the run-time. Undertale is the longest animated film to date by a wide margin. It's necessary for the sake of the film's content and it's paced well, so it shouldn't be something you truly feel while watching, but it is something to consider and can be potentially intimidating to viewers. As for some ways in which it's similar? It certainly keeps to the tradition of Dreamworks producing smart and mature storytelling. All-around, it's an amazingly well-made film, pushing the boundaries of entertainment and animation, just like its predecessors.

Question 16: There have been reports from LucasArts of an Undertale video game being in development. Did the idea for Undertale come first as a game, or is the game an adaptation of the film, and what would make the game special?

Mavis: Undertale was conceived of first as a film, but it's been distinctly conceived of with video games in mind, in the sense that video games play into the film experience. The game could be seen sort of as an adaptation of the film, but there's a lot more content there that simply isn't in the film. I think what really sets this game apart is consequence. In this game, more than any other, your choices matter and I think it's an experience that will really resonate with gamers and create a memorable experience.

Question 17: As such a prolific creator and with such a major project for you being released soon, one has to wonder, what are you looking towards as your next work?

Mavis: Of course, it all depends on my bosses and if any of my scripts get greenlit, but I do have a couple projects lined up that I've been wanting to move forward with. In particular, there are three that I've been pushing for. One is called The Magic Treehouse and it would be an educational show following a brother and sister as they travel through time in their magical treehouse, taking the time to witness and learn about the various era's they travel to. The second is a sci-fi and sports series called Real Steel where in the not-so-distant future, human boxing has been made illegal due to safety concerns and has been replaced by robot boxing. The third is the script for my Pacific Rim sequel that I've been working on and focuses on a post-Kaiju War world. I'd love to be able to do any of my projects, but I'm particularly eager to get back to my science fiction work. Outside of my own projects, however, I've been more-or-less lobbying for a horror sci-fi concept developed by an intern of mine, an absolute sweetheart by the name of Thea Martin, to be produced and added to the LucasTV catalog called The SCP Files. In the end, I'm just looking forward to whatever it is I get to work on next.

Question 18: After having lived in Hollywood for a while now, what is your opinion of it?

Mavis: I don't actually live in Hollywood, or LA to be more precise, I just work here. Hollywood has been a very interesting, but deeply mixed experience. I've had the pleasure of meeting some of the absolute best people I've ever met and I thank the Lord God every day for their presence in my life, but I've also had the unfortunate displeasure of meeting the absolute worst people I've ever come to know as well. Some truly terrible and abominable people, if they could even be called that. Everywhere you go, you'll meet all different sorts of people, but in Hollywood, you'll meet and witness some of the absolute best that humanity has to offer right alongside the sorts of folk that Satan himself would feel compelled to tip a hat to. I hope that one day that will change, but for now, it's something that I simply have to bear and grit my teeth against.

Question 19: No doubt many others would do anything to enjoy the position that you find yourself in. How does it feel being a part of LucasFilms, a company that has smashed all expectations to become one of the most successful studios in Hollywood, all after being founded only a decade ago?

Mavis: It's been an absolute dream. Before working at Lucasfilm, I started at Universal, Universal's TV division to be exact. It was, to put it bluntly, an utter hell and one that still haunts my nightmares. Like I said before, Amnesia was actually inspired by some of the recurring nightmares I had of my time working there. What I haven't shared before was what I actually experienced in my time there. In my limited time working at Universal, I was regularly harassed, bullied, humiliated, coerced, and sexually assaulted. It was, without equal, the worst period of my life. I was regularly belittled and demeaned by my superiors, often being treated as though I was some sort of maid or servant. I was regularly sexually harassed by many of the male staff and talent whom I worked with or for, including both verbal and physical harassment with some going further than others, and all the more disturbing given my age at the time. This attention didn't go unnoticed by the female employees, but far from help or sympathy, they regularly bullied me, often wrecking my things, excluding me from events or withholding pertinent information, gossiping and spreading rumors behind my back like that I had been sleeping my way through all of the bosses to try and secure a promotion, and hurling insults towards me like slut or whore. In meetings, I was made to feel stupid for speaking or giving my thoughts, even if I had been directly asked, and regularly humiliated and made an example of. A particular favorite of theirs were their various attempts to 'remind me of my place as a woman.' It wasn't as though I could quit either, as I was, and am, a single mother. Even though my parents have been beyond supportive, I couldn't simply rely on them for everything, in both a practical sense and, although it may sound silly to say this, out of pride. They had already been so very supportive to me and my daughter, the idea of becoming even greater of a burden and failure to them than I already had been was offensive to me. Day in and day out, it was a nightmare that I simply couldn't wake from, made more difficult by the realities of attempting to raise a young daughter by yourself at such a young age. It only got worse when I had been asked to stay after a meeting with one of the junior executives. I hadn't thought much of it at first. The man, whose name was Taylor, was kind in an environment sorely lacking in such a trait. He was always friendly to me, spoke respectfully and openly, and he made me feel valued. By this point, I had been made essentially his secretary, and so I didn't think much of him asking me to stay, seeing as there were matters in the meeting that we likely would need to review, as well as the fact that we would often speak with one another when we had the time. It began innocently enough, but he was clearly agitated by the meeting. I will refrain from the sordid details, but he did attempt to sleep with me, and failing that, to force himself on me, having feigned his attitude with me to try and earn my trust. I later learned that he had a reputation for doing this with other women in the offices and that one of the ringleaders of the female side of the bullying, a woman named Justine, had been his favorite prior to my hiring and she grew jealous by his attention being drawn to me. Despite my fear and shock, I wasn't going to simply tolerate his attempt to rape me, and I fought back, having been more than adequately instructed on how to do so by my father, having served in both World War 2 and Korea. In the aftermath of the incident, I had been brought before one of the executives, although I can't remember his full name, only that his first was Oswald, and presented with claims that I had assaulted Taylor without provocation and that I'd be fired without receiving any of what I was owed and that they'd be pursuing criminal charges against me, among other things that I only faintly remember that were meant to scare me, and scare me they did. I was terrified of losing my job and I begged and pleaded for them to believe me and to not lose my job, but it didn't matter. They knew what had happened, they simply didn't care. Instead, I was told that I would be allowed to remain employed by Universal, along with them choosing not pursue criminal charges against me, if I were to become a corporate spy and infiltrate Lucasfilms. I was appalled, but there wasn't much I could truly do in my situation, and so I accepted. To avoid dwelling on the issue, I'll simply say that I was eventually caught when I walked in on the internal screenings of Star Wars, but instead of being turned in, Mr. Eisner offered me the chance to work for them in earnest. I quit Universal the next day and the rest is history. Compared to Universal, Lucasfilm is an actual heaven. I've got great friends, great coworkers, my working conditions are amazing and my benefits are astounding. I'm fulfilled and happy at Lucasfilm and my time here has truly given me my life back. Working at Lucasfilms is worlds apart and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Question 20: During the premiere of Amnesia, you attended it with both Bruce and Carrie O'Brian and they appeared to be rather friendly with you leading many to speculate as to your connection with the O'Brians and why they would attend the premiere of the film with a scriptwriter who, according to reports, is not officially a part of the Lucasfilms writers room. What exactly is the nature of your relationship with Bruce and Carrie O'Brian? What is your impression of them?

Mavis: I'm well acquainted with Mr. O'Brian, but Carrie is a friend of mine. I'm always hesitant to claim that we're close friends, as I always feel overly presumptuous doing so, but she insists on the label, so I can only say that it's my own hang-ups keeping me from saying so. Their daughter, Mary, is also close friends with my own daughter, Millicent. We first became acquainted during the production of Pacific Rim, where Carrie sang the ending song, Allies. We first got to talking in a more casual manner when she found out about my daughter and how young I had her, as she was also a young parent, and was looking for advice. We just kept talking and meeting from there and eventually she just kind of 'adopted' me as her friend. It was nerve wracking at first, meeting regularly with the wife of your boss's boss's boss and a major figure in her own right, but I eventually settled and we've gotten along well since. She's been an incredible and invaluable friend to me in the time that I've known her and I'm blessed to have her in my life. I won't disclose much about them as I know that they value their privacy, but the O'Brian's are incredible people and some of the nicest and welcoming you'll ever meet. They're wonderful, kind, and godly people and I believe wholeheartedly that they are fundamentally good people, which is more than I can say for many of those who infect Hollywood, and I thank the Lord that they've entered into my life.

Wow, that was certainly something, wasn't it?

Not only all the insights into Ms. Kingsley or into the production of Undertale, but those details about Universal? I can't even begin to imagine what she must have had to endure at the hands of such callous evil.

It's utterly sickening and it's a damn shame she's only just now come out with this. I can only hope that while these monsters may not be able to be legally punished, as the clock on the statute of limitations for these acts have no doubt run it's course, that some kind of comeuppance comes their way.

I swear, the more that I learn about Universal, the more vile they become. And so soon after the height of the Women's Liberation Movement.

While that would normally be all for this article, I'd hate to end off on such a depressing note, so I actually have a little something extra for all of my lovely readers.

As I was putting together this article, I received a very interesting gift. A little birdy sent me some animation frames and stills from the production of Undertale and although my little Tweety Bird wished to stay anonymous, I thought that I'd take the time to share these incredible images with you all for your viewing pleasure.

It's my sincere wish that you find these images enclosed below enticing enough to watch the film when it is released. I believe Ms. Kingsley is owed a little success for her troubles and it's our job as an audience to give it to her.

I may not know if Undertale will be any good, though I have few doubts about that, but I do know that it'll be absolutely gorgeous.













A/N: Here it is everybody, the Undertale omake I've been talking about and my second ever completed Omake and it's quite the chonker at over 6,000 words! Roughly 8,000 if you count everything else. How exciting! To be fully transparent, this was not the Undertale omake I had initially been working on. I initially was working on an omake from the perspective of someone watching the trailer to Undertale so that I could and boost it's reception. That eventually evolved into having a young American McGee, known primarily for his darker take on Alice in Wonderland video game, being the POV character after discussions with overmind, but that omake ended up not really going anywhere since I had too much trouble writing it, hated what I did write, and I wasn't confident that I'd be able to complete the omake in time, particularly as I didn't know when Undertale would be released. Instead, I decided to switch over to this interview question format since I thought I'd be able to get through it much quicker. I can't really say that I finished it quicker, but I definitely did have an easier time actually writing stuff. I'll probably still try and do that American McGee stuff, but I'll probably try to tackle it from another angle. For this omake, I intially was gonna make it a fake newspaper article, but I decided to get rid of the newspaper angle and change it to a magazine article, just to make my life easier and better justify the images at the end, and I chose a random date that I thought the film wouldn't be released by. The part that I probably had the most difficulty with was writing the journo's words. I don't know, I just felt awkward writing them and I can't say that I really like those parts. Looking back on it, I also really dislike my first omake and after some time passes, I'll probably also start really not liking my work on this one either, but we learn and improve. For each of the questions, I tried to answer from the perspective of Mavis, although I'm not really sure I fully accomplished that and I think I let a little bit too much of me bleed into it in places. There were also some moments that I straight up just wasn't sure how to answer and I kinda had to bullshit a response, like about what separates Undertale from other Dreamworks films. For some of the answers in general I ended up needing to also be a bit vaguer than I would have wanted to be because the details aren't actually set in stone, like where Mavis grew up or how long Undertale is gonna be exactly. Something that I did rather like about the framing of this omake was that it allowed me to show off Mavis, but in a bit more of a confident, almost spunky light. Seeing as she's not actually speaking with the interviewer, only writing out her answers, I thought that it would make sense that a lot less of that anxious, neurotic energy would be on display. I also like that it's giving me a small opportunity to introduce a bit more background on Mavis before the big omake on her. Speaking of that, I want to quickly talk about the sexual assault portion. Ya'll might think its really dark and that it might've come out of nowhere, even though I've already established that she was abused during her time working at Universal, but it's actually something I've had as part of her background for quite a while now. I know overmind and I think Kaiser Chris have both been aware of this, overmind even took it upon himself to develop the idea that the nightmares Mavis was having that inspired Amnesia linked back to her abuse at Universal for the Amnesia sidestory, an idea that I actually really liked and decided to extend with including Justine and Oswald, named after characters within the Amnesia franchise. Although I had already conceived of them beforehand, I decided to name them after the Amnesia characters for some fun tie-in. There were also a couple of other things I wanted to adress. First, Mavis' musical ability. I'll be real, this was initially born out of me kinda just spitballing potential character traits that she'd have while talking to Kaiser Chris. I was initially gonna walk back her talents in music, since I felt that I was making her skilled in too many things, but I eventually decided against it and actually to make it part of her characterization and relationship with her family. She'd be a wunderkind, the kind of person who, while not necessarily a prodigy or anything, just seems to succeed at whatever they do. This constant success would have stirred jealousy in her siblings, something that I intend to cover in an omake about Milly when the kids are older, and it would contrast with how fucked up her life becomes after her ex left her to be a single teen mom, which later gets reflected in Milly's feelings of inadequacy and insecurity about her friendship with Mary and Wally. I also just liked the idea of having her compose some of the music and the main theme in particular, given how personal a project Undertale is to her. The second thing was her friendship with Carrie and the O'Brian family. Again, this might seem like I'm inserting Mavis into everything and trying to inflate her importance, but funnily enough, I didn't actually come up with that. If I remember correctly, Kaiser Chris was the one who ended up with the idea of them being better acquainted than I initially intended during the Pacific Rim sidestory and I think the idea just kind of grew from there, including an omake done by him regarding Mary and Milly first becoming friends, which was also initially established in the Pacific Rim sidestory by Kaiser. The idea of Milly and Mary being friends first came from when I first floated the idea of a Rugrats pitch based on the actual Lucasfilm "family" kids IIRC. That never manifested into anything cause I could write anything substantive for the SET UP, but I think it all ended up working out for the best though and it has given me a lot to work with. The third thing I wanted to cover was the Women's Lib stuff briefly mentioned at the bottom there. IIRC, the 70s were the peak of the Women's Liberation Movement and that with an increasingly prominent female figure coming out about having been sexually abused and discriminated against for being a women in the middle of all this, I thought it would bear mentioning. That's just the perspective of the writer of the article though, Mavis herself doesn't particularly care about stuff like "Women's Liberation" since she's a fair bit apolitical and to the extent that she is political, she's a religious conservative due to the influence of her deeply religious mother and deeply conservative father, the influence of both trickling down to her and eventually to Milly, though to a lesser extent. There were like two other things I wanted to talk about but now I can't remember what they were. Oh well. Also, if you couldn't tell, Tara Charendoff is Tara Strong before she married(obviously lol) and became Tara Strong. Another fun minor detail is that the writer for this article is named Penelope Weiss, or Penny Weiss/Pennywise. That happened completely by coincidence, but I got a kick out of it once I noticed and decided to keep it. As an aside, I'm hoping to maybe squeeze in a couple of other omakes before it's time for Undertale to be released. Or maybe I'll try and work on one for Faith the Unholy Trinity? Eh, I'll figure it out. I'll just leave it at that for now and I'll just talk about it later or edit the post if I think of anything else.

I'd like to give a very special thanks to @overmind, @Duke William of, @Kaiser Chris, and @Cyberphilosipher for all their help with coming up with the questions for this omake, as well as all the other assistance given. Thank you very much.

I also wanted to include an example of how I was envisioning Frisk's voice as it was being done by Tara Strong, so I included an example of a voice sample that I used to determine Tara Strong as Frisk's VA. I also very specifically paired up the voice at the time stamp in the video(starts with Ariel's daughter and ends when it transitions to Batgirl) to this specific picture of Frisk which I both really like and I envision as being the visual template for Frisk in the film.


View: https://youtu.be/fmXeH_2XIww?t=22


I've also decided to include a Cinematic Dub of Undertale to give people an idea of what some of the voice acting will look like, along with orchestra performances of the soundtrack. Although neither the Cinematic Dub or Orchestral Performances are one-to-one what it would be for the film, I think they give a good enough idea of what they'd be like so that you can better visualize it.


View: https://youtu.be/2vHERvHx26A

View: https://youtu.be/G8rbaGnX1AE

View: https://youtu.be/MEsuE35uSvo

The same goes for this animation that I %100 recommend you to watch all the way through from the very beginning, but I've set the time code to a part of the animation that covers the end of Pacifist. I fucking adore this video. I think the animation is really good and the scenes are done so well, I actually cried the first few times I watched it and I cried again rewatching it a couple days ago lol. You do need to have Closed Captions on though to know what's being said.


View: https://youtu.be/wkniQzsMZ-8?t=264

Anyway, that'll be all for now, I hope you enjoy!