Anime Boredom - Interview with Mr. Valois (Jim Henson Mangas

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Interview with Mr. Valois (Jim Henson Mangas - TOKYOPOP)

Rasmussen : Tell us abit more about yourself, and how you came to join TOKYOPOP (and what you did prior to joining TOKYOPOP).
Mr. Valois : Prior to being a manga editor at TOKYOPOP I spent 10 years in feature film development, most recently as Director of Development for The Jim Henson Company. While at Henson I worked with Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean on the story and script for MirrorMask.
Also at that time I worked on a film version of the manga Parasyte by Hitosi Iwaaki, which TOKYOPOP publishes in the U.S., and I quickly became aware of what a cool company TOKYOPOP is. So when the opportunity came to become a TOKYOPOP editor I jumped at it -- and I still get to work on all my favorite Henson stuff, which is really cool.

Rasmussen : Tell us abit more about how this deal between TOKYOPOP and Jim Henson Company came about?
Mr. Valois : Well, discussions between Henson and TOKYOPOP for Labyrinth and Dark Crystal had begun before I joined TOKYOPOP. I think the idea to do manga versions of these two movies came from former TOKYOPOP editor Jake Forbes. Jake, who is now a writer, is scripting the Labyrinth book. When I came on board I took over finalizing the deals on these books and began working with Mike Polis at the Henson Company on developing the stories.
For MirrorMask, I've know Neil for a long time -- and he's is someone that TOKYOPOP really wanted to work with, so with our mutual Henson relationships it just made sense for MirrorMask to be the first book that we work on together.

Rasmussen : Starting with the 1982’ title Dark Crystal what can you tell us about this upcoming project, and will it have anything to do with the rumored sequel which is said to be in pre production?
Mr. Valois : I'll do the best I can here, TOKYOPOP editor Tim Beedle is managing the creative on this one. This story will be a prequel, so it probably wont have much to do with the theatrical sequel. We're focusing more around the animated series they have in development, which will be set prior to the first movie.

Rasmussen : Next, the 1986’ movie Labyrinth. It is supposed to take place as a sequel, and it features Toby’s return to the Labyrinth, but does this mean we won’t see his sister in this manga? Also what characters from the original might we see in this “sequel”?
Mr. Valois : Sarah is in the book, I can promise you that -- however, this story will focus mainly on an older Toby and his journey through the Labyrinth. As for the characters from the movie, expect to see almost every one of them in the manga.

Rasmussen : Have you seen either of these movies? If so what were your thoughts on both, and which of these two did you like better? (Labyrinth or Dark Crystal)?
Mr. Valois : I love them both, although I would have to say that Labyrinth is probably my favorite.

Rasmussen : Neil Gaiman’s MirrorMask. You have the right to do the prequel, but does that mean you’ll also have the right to the Cine Manga version of the actual movie once it’s in release?
Mr. Valois : I believe the deal we have is just for the manga, however I'd love to see TOKYOPOP publish a Cine-Manga. We've done some really cool stuff on the recent BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER Cine-Manga, so it would be great to see MirrorMask get a similar treatment.

Rasmussen : Can you tell us in abit more detail about the prequel to MirrorMask, or the upcoming MirrorMask movie?
Mr. Valois : I don't want to spoil the movie, which everyone should go see. Neil is working on the story for the prequel manga right now -- so there's not really anything more to say at this point than that it's a prequel that will follow all the event that lead up to the events of the movie. God, that's really vague...

Rasmussen : Besides these three titles are there plans for any other related colaborations between Jim Henson Company and/or Neil Gaiman and TOKYOPOP?
Mr. Valois : Yes, there are some other titles we've talked about and we've also talked about co-developing some original properties together, which I find to be very exciting. At this time, these are the only three that we have deals in place for.

Rasmussen : At the close of your press release you note that Disney owns the Muppets, but I thought I heard Jim Henson’s properties were owned by a German company and that they were not budging on any attempts by Disney to purchase the Jim Henson properties. Did that change recently? And if so how much of Jim Henson Company past The Muppets does Disney now control?
Mr. Valois : Ah, this is a question for the folks at Henson. I can say that Disney does indeed own The Muppets now.

Rasmussen : Any final words for our readers?
Mr. Valois : Well, I just want to say that we're very pleased to be working with Henson and Gaiman -- and I know that this is just the beginning. Expect to see more collaborations from us in the future.