Speaker 1: For me, making movies is a lot like magic. My
Speaker 1: favorite part is actually animating the figures and bringing them
Speaker 1: to life, and I also love painting and cutting and
Speaker 1: drawing and gluing. That's all super exciting to me. If
Speaker 1: you're lucky enough to do work that feels like play,
Speaker 1: I think that's everybody's dream. So I'm just living my
Speaker 1: dream right now. I think the best tool if you
Speaker 1: want to start its paper cutter, is curiosity. There's no
Speaker 1: one way to make a paper figure, there's no one
Speaker 1: way to make a paper film, but there's only one you.
Speaker 2: That's Julian Currie. He's a film producer and an animator,
Speaker 2: which means he uses both computers and his own hands
Speaker 2: to create the most amazing puppets and bring them to life.
Speaker 3: With his art. He teaches us.
Speaker 2: That we can go anywhere with the magic of imagination.
Speaker 2: Welcome to Growing Up the Lingo Kids podcast. It encourages
Speaker 2: kids to dream big and discover who they want to be.
Speaker 2: Join us on an epic adventure to uncover the secrets
Speaker 2: behind awesome skills, cool hobbies, and the incredible journeys of
Speaker 2: people who followed their dreams. In today's episode, Louise and
Speaker 2: I will play with some cool toys and do some
Speaker 2: paper cutting to make our very own movie.
Speaker 3: Let's begin why, Okay, So if I put this here
Speaker 3: and then I move this guy over here, it should work.
Speaker 3: Oh so close. Okay, let me try again.
Speaker 2: Hey, Louise, what are you up to?
Speaker 3: Oh? Hi, Emilie. I'm trying to make a movie with
Speaker 3: my toys.
Speaker 2: Oh fun.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I watched the movie Toy Story yesterday and I
Speaker 3: loved it, so I thought maybe I can make my
Speaker 3: own movie my own toys. But final talk, that's a
Speaker 3: great idea, Yeah, but I can't make you work. Every
Speaker 3: time I try to make Sir MetalMan move his sword,
Speaker 3: I try to hide my hands so the phone camera
Speaker 3: won't see it. But it doesn't look good.
Speaker 2: Oh. I think I know what your problem is. You do, Louise,
Speaker 2: Did you know that the word movies is actually short
Speaker 2: for something else?
Speaker 3: No? I didn't know that.
Speaker 2: Yep, it's short for moving pictures. And that's because the
Speaker 2: movie is actually a very very long series of pictures.
Speaker 2: So when you watch a movie, you're actually seeing many
Speaker 2: pictures very quickly.
Speaker 3: Oh like hundreds of pictures.
Speaker 2: Well, more like around one hundred and fifty thousand give
Speaker 2: or take. For every second in a movie, you see
Speaker 2: twenty four different pictures. So if a movie lasts around
Speaker 2: one hundred minutes, well that's a lot.
Speaker 3: Of pictures exactly. Wait, I think I get it. I
Speaker 3: should just take a whole bunch of pictures.
Speaker 2: You got it. You take a picture and then you
Speaker 2: move your character just a little bit, then take another one,
Speaker 2: then move it again, and so on and so forth.
Speaker 3: That sounds like a lot of work.
Speaker 2: Oh it is. Feature length animated movies can take years
Speaker 2: to finish.
Speaker 3: I better get started. Then.
Speaker 2: I actually know someone who can help you make your
Speaker 2: dream come true?
Speaker 3: Really, who is it, Emily?
Speaker 2: His name is Julian Currie, and he's gonna be our
Speaker 2: very special guest for today's talking game show.
Speaker 3: What does he do?
Speaker 2: Something very unique? He turns puppets into films that just
Speaker 2: tell wonderful stories.
Speaker 3: Wow, puppets like this school puppa right here. Look, I
Speaker 3: can put my hand in it and go like, hi,
Speaker 3: every what do you call the squirrel that goes to space?
Speaker 4: Hmm?
Speaker 3: I give up an astronut.
Speaker 2: Astro nut?
Speaker 3: I get it.
Speaker 2: Well, Julian's puppets are a little bit different from yours.
Speaker 2: They're actually made of paper.
Speaker 3: Hold on, I've never seen paper puppets before.
Speaker 2: Julian Curie makes his movies at home and he works
Speaker 2: with actual paper. One of his paper movies is called
Speaker 2: Gruff Gruff.
Speaker 3: That's sounds like something that Maxie would say. And what's
Speaker 3: it about.
Speaker 2: It's about a super spy and I think Julian can
Speaker 2: explain it way better than me. Check this voice note
Speaker 2: he sent just for you for me.
Speaker 3: Oh, I want to know everything about it.
Speaker 4: So Graphic is a short film about a superspy who
Speaker 4: risks her life all around the world with all these
Speaker 4: sorts of daring missions just to get her dad to
Speaker 4: say that he loves her, or to say that he's
Speaker 4: proud of her. Except her dad is a very quiet
Speaker 4: gruff man. She realizes that her dad has loved her
Speaker 4: all along and has been so proud of her all along,
Speaker 4: He just didn't use words. If you want to see
Speaker 4: how he didn't show it, you'll have to watch the short.
Speaker 3: Film, Oh, super spy meets grumpy Dad.
Speaker 2: I like it, And you know this is Julian's favorite
Speaker 2: project too.
Speaker 3: So how do you know Julian Emily?
Speaker 2: Well, Julian is so good at paper cutting. He has
Speaker 2: an amazing YouTube channel in which he shows how he
Speaker 2: brought the Super Spy and her Dad to life.
Speaker 3: Oh, and how does he do that with magic?
Speaker 2: Actually he uses animation, just like we talked about before.
Speaker 2: But honestly, it's very much like magic if you ask me.
Speaker 3: Oh, I can't wait to meet him. Maybe he can
Speaker 3: help me I animation for my toys. We'll see.
Speaker 2: Julian just messaged me and he will be here in
Speaker 2: five just enough time for me to show you something
Speaker 2: about the wonderful history of animation.
Speaker 3: What are we waiting for? Let's go.
Speaker 2: There's one more thing all animated movies must have.
Speaker 3: And what's that?
Speaker 2: Emily Well, to find out, do we need to go
Speaker 2: all the way back to nineteen twenty six.
Speaker 3: Wow, that's almost one hundred years ago. Yep.
Speaker 2: Back then, one of the first animated movies ever came
Speaker 2: to life, The Adventures of Prince ahmed by a filmmaker
Speaker 2: who was quite ahead of her time. Her name was
Speaker 2: Latte Reineger, and this film was made with black pieces
Speaker 2: of paper. You could only see shadows moving on the screen.
Speaker 3: Oh, I can make canshadows. Look, I can make a bird.
Speaker 2: Who that's right? But you know what that film had
Speaker 2: no sound and no music.
Speaker 3: Wait, so there's no talking or anything.
Speaker 2: Nope, only paper on screen. But even if it had
Speaker 2: no sound or music, it did have something that made
Speaker 2: it special for people to watch. Can you guess what
Speaker 2: that was? I guess it had adventures and a prince bingo.
Speaker 2: This film told a story. It's about a prince who
Speaker 2: saves a woman from evil beasts.
Speaker 3: Oh, I get it. If we want to make an
Speaker 3: animated movie with my toys, we need to tell a
Speaker 3: story with them.
Speaker 2: Yes, and Julian can definitely help us with that.
Speaker 3: Let's go.
Speaker 2: Hi there, dear listeners, Welcome to our talking game show,
Speaker 2: and please welcome Julian Currie. Julian is an amazing animator
Speaker 2: and paper cut filmmaker. He has reached millions of viewers
Speaker 2: worldwide with his creations. Today, we'll start with a little
Speaker 2: chat and we'll do something extra fun for our game show.
Speaker 2: We'll put Julian's creativity to the test to see what
Speaker 2: amazing movie ideas he can come up with on the spot.
Speaker 3: Hi Julian, I'm Luis. Nice to meet you. Your puppets
Speaker 3: look just like toys to me. What were your favorite
Speaker 3: toys when you were a kid.
Speaker 1: Honestly, it was any toy that had the best articulation.
Speaker 1: And what I mean by that word is the most
Speaker 1: joints on a figure. If their wrists could move, if
Speaker 1: their head could move, if their torso could move, their shoulders.
Speaker 1: I hated toys that could not move if they were
Speaker 1: just solid plastic, and I couldn't bend their arms and
Speaker 1: their legs into cool poses.
Speaker 2: Ooh like action figures. Yes, superhero toys now, Julian, you
Speaker 2: use paper puppets instead of plastic or plush toys in
Speaker 2: your movies, and you make them yourself. But why do
Speaker 2: you use paper?
Speaker 3: Yeah? It can break and if it gets what you
Speaker 3: can use it anymore, and the wind can blow it away.
Speaker 1: I love paper because it's all around us, whether that's
Speaker 1: in cereal boxes or old homework or newspapers, or if
Speaker 1: it's the stuffing in the packages that come in the mail.
Speaker 1: It's all around us. So it makes it so easy
Speaker 1: to find and so easy to play with and build.
Speaker 1: You almost don't have to buy any because it's just
Speaker 1: all around us. I recycle so much, probably too much.
Speaker 1: I have too many piles of junk.
Speaker 3: Oh wow, I'll keep my cereal boxes next time.
Speaker 2: Great idea, Luise. We have a lot of stuff at
Speaker 2: home that we can use to make magic happen. Speaking
Speaker 2: of which, Julian, I heard you used to be a magician.
Speaker 3: Is that true?
Speaker 4: Uh?
Speaker 1: You know, as a kid, I always loved escaping to
Speaker 1: new worlds. And I saw a magician do some tricks
Speaker 1: at a shop one day when I was younger, and
Speaker 1: he was surrounded by this crowd and just the awe
Speaker 1: and wonder that was that happened in that room, and
Speaker 1: I said, Wow, that's what I wish that I could do.
Speaker 1: So I bought a few magic tricks, I got some kids,
Speaker 1: and I started doing magic at school. And I was
Speaker 1: able to see that all and wonder in my friend's eyes,
Speaker 1: or not even in my friends, other people's strangers. It
Speaker 1: was such a way to connect with people who I
Speaker 1: didn't even know by bringing them joy and wonder.
Speaker 2: And how is making movies similar to doing magic at school?
Speaker 1: When you're making a movie or you're telling a story,
Speaker 1: you're doing the exact same thing. So I was able
Speaker 1: to bring a lot of that magic knowledge into making
Speaker 1: movies because I have that same desire. I want to
Speaker 1: bring joy and wonder and awe to people when I
Speaker 1: tell a story.
Speaker 3: Wow, Julian, I can't wait to tell my friends to
Speaker 3: save all their cereal boxes too, so we can make
Speaker 3: our own puppets and make movies with them. So what
Speaker 3: can kids like me learn from animators like you?
Speaker 1: I think the best tool if you want to start
Speaker 1: as paper cutter is curiosity. Looking at artwork that's all
Speaker 1: around you, looking at movies, looking at shows that you like,
Speaker 1: looking at the places that you like, the people that
Speaker 1: you like, and trying to just bring that into paper world.
Speaker 1: There's no one way to make a paper figure, there's
Speaker 1: no one way to make a paper film, but there's
Speaker 1: only one you. And so if you stay curious and
Speaker 1: you blend all those things into a really cool story,
Speaker 1: that's going to bring a lot of people joy. It's
Speaker 1: worth trying using cardboard or colorful paper, or posters or
Speaker 1: cereal boxes, small scissors, big scissors, hot glue, Elmer's glue, whatever.
Speaker 1: I think sometimes play and curiosity is the final product.
Speaker 3: That's true.
Speaker 2: Antipators can use lots of different and creative tools to
Speaker 2: tell their stories.
Speaker 3: I have all those things at home already. I have
Speaker 3: an orange cereal box. Maybe I can cut it into
Speaker 3: a zigzag shape and that I can move it around
Speaker 3: and use it as fire in the background.
Speaker 2: Ooh, great idea, Luise. By the way, ready for some
Speaker 2: game show playtime.
Speaker 3: I'm super ready, Emily. Today we're playing a very short
Speaker 3: game called what if?
Speaker 2: And what is this game about?
Speaker 3: I'll say what if? Then I'll share a movie idea,
Speaker 3: and then Julian will tell us how he would turn
Speaker 3: that idea into a movie.
Speaker 2: Ooh, that's exciting. I like it.
Speaker 3: Let's begin, okay, Julian. So here's idea number one? What
Speaker 3: if I want to make a short animated film about
Speaker 3: a talking deck of cards?
Speaker 1: Oh?
Speaker 4: Wow?
Speaker 1: What's really cool about a deck of cards? And I
Speaker 1: used to be a magician, so I've been around decks
Speaker 1: of cards a lot. Is that they have an opening
Speaker 1: flap and that kind of acts like a lip in
Speaker 1: a way. You can glue some google eyes to it.
Speaker 1: You can draw some eyes on it.
Speaker 2: I would have a little card with googly eyes, me too.
Speaker 3: Okay. Second story option? What if I wanted to make
Speaker 3: a short animated film about a dog who's best friends
Speaker 3: with a cat.
Speaker 1: Wow, well, right off the bat, I love the story.
Speaker 1: I have three cats. I don't have any dogs right now.
Speaker 1: But I do love animals, so I totally support anyone
Speaker 1: making animal puppets. So I think my first step would
Speaker 1: be drawing your cat and drawing your dog. Then step
Speaker 1: two would be finding the best cardboard or paper that
Speaker 1: can hold the paint and the color of your critters
Speaker 1: that you want. You can use cardboard from boxes that
Speaker 1: come to your door in packages, So if you want
Speaker 1: in your cat to be white and your dog to
Speaker 1: be black or the other way around, it's not gonna
Speaker 1: wrinkle a lot like it would if you just painted
Speaker 1: right onto paper.
Speaker 3: There's a lot we.
Speaker 2: Can take from this. Making an exciting story is key
Speaker 2: for animation, and giving your character's personality is a must. Julian,
Speaker 2: Before we let you go, any last tips for our listeners.
Speaker 1: I would just urge anyone who doesn't know how to
Speaker 1: do something and it's they see something that looks cool,
Speaker 1: just try it, because that's how everybody started. My first
Speaker 1: steps into it. We're not good. I did a lot
Speaker 1: of experiments, but you know, after a couple of years,
Speaker 1: I had a finished movie that I could share with people,
Speaker 1: and that brought people a lot of joy.
Speaker 2: Excellent advice. We're almost never going to get things right
Speaker 2: the first time.
Speaker 3: Yeah, like me right now with my movie. But that's okay.
Speaker 3: That's how you learn exactly.
Speaker 2: Julian, thank you so much for joining us. We had
Speaker 2: so much fun. So, Louis, did Julian give you any
Speaker 2: ideas for your own movie?
Speaker 3: I think I have a story ready for my Sir
Speaker 3: MetalMan and Doctor Dynomight. I can't wait to take pictures
Speaker 3: of it and put all together.
Speaker 2: I love your enthusiasm. We can have a premiere screening
Speaker 2: and our very special Go Forward Lab movie theater.
Speaker 3: You have a movie theater.
Speaker 4: We do.
Speaker 2: We love building fun and new gadgets, but it's a
Speaker 2: lot of work and sometimes we just want to take
Speaker 2: a break, sit back and watch a good movie, you know.
Speaker 3: And can we have popcorn?
Speaker 2: Louise, it's a movie theater, of course we can have popcorn.
Speaker 3: Yes, So, Louise.
Speaker 2: The Go Forward Labs a movie theater is very special
Speaker 2: because they can take all the pictures you've taken from
Speaker 2: your short film and played them all together so we
Speaker 2: can see how they look in movement.
Speaker 3: I hope I took enough pictures.
Speaker 2: Wow, Louise, did you build that set all by yourself?
Speaker 3: Oh? I love it? Yes, Oh look, there's sur MetalMan
Speaker 3: drawing the sword. That was a lot harder than I
Speaker 3: thought it would be.
Speaker 2: But it looked great. Oh and there's the evil t Rex.
Speaker 3: That's Doctor Dynamite.
Speaker 2: How did you make him spit fire like that?
Speaker 3: I got this idea from the interview with Julian. I
Speaker 3: wanted to add fire to the background. Guess what I
Speaker 3: did exactly the orange cardboard leftover.
Speaker 2: Well, it looks really cool. Congratulations, Louise, can't wait to
Speaker 2: see your next movie. So what did you learn about
Speaker 2: being an animator from Julian?
Speaker 3: I learned that animators use their super imaginations, They learn
Speaker 3: lots of cool tricks to make their films. Their stories
Speaker 3: can make people feel all sorts of feelings, and they
Speaker 3: put a ton of love into their work.
Speaker 2: Thanks for tagging along on this episode of growing up
Speaker 2: about the magic behind animation. Until next time, keep that
Speaker 2: spark of curiosity up, dear listeners, Louise, are you curious
Speaker 2: for more always? Well, you can check out Lingo Kids,
Speaker 2: the number one app for kids. We have tons of
Speaker 2: videos and games and podcasts that are fun and educational.
Speaker 2: Download the link kids app and give it a try
Speaker 2: for free. So that's a side.
Speaker 3: That's this side, sh