#studio tours

If one went to Joey Drew Studios for a tour, one was in for a very special treat. The studio tour featured not only a guided exploration through the various departments, but at the very end there was an exclusive meet and greet with one of Joey Drew’s famous trio. The children were always the most excited about this part, and it generated a great deal of buzz during the summer months. If one had gone on the tour more than once, they began to notice a pattern arising. Mondays and Saturdays were when Alice Angel would come out, Sundays and Wednesdays were reserved for Boris, Tuesdays and Thursdays were when people were lucky enough to meet the star himself Bendy, and Fridays where when all three would come together.

Naturally Fridays were the most popular tour days, as kids could meet their favorite characters, and get autographs and pictures with them. The kids couldn’t believe they were there, the adults were impressed with the lifelike quality of their character actors and costumes. Though, that was because kids could believe a cartoon could exist in reality, so they saw the toons as the flat, two-dimensional creatures they had been created as. The adults, on the other hand, “knew” that cartoons couldn’t come to life, and saw those that appeared as people, three-dimensional beings, and nothing more than actors.

What visitors didn’t know, and for good reason, was that these “character actors” weren’t actors at all but the actual characters, brought to life through black magic by Joey Drew himself. Bendy had since become head animator and the one everyone went to for checking their frames. Boris aided the music department, and Alice floated around not tied down to any one part of the production process like her coworkers.

Of course, time passed and their popularity began to wane in the wake of newer creations, especially now that everything could be in color. Disney and the Warners were really giving them a run for their money. Though the tours generated a good portion of revenue that helped bolster production and the budget, they still needed to keep with the times if they had any hope of staying open. So new characters, new shows, new everything became the norm.

That didn’t mean the meet-and-greets with ended. Oh no, they kept up with those. One might even say they had increased them. Every character that was popular with Joey Drew Studios fans made a meet and greet appearance. But, since there were only three actual ink beings how was this accomplished? It wasn’t that more satanic rituals were performed and sacrifices made to bring them to life. Bendy had set a harsh “do it and you’re fired rule” down with that. No, the fact of the matter was that the three mascots for the studio were a part of the rubber-hose, squash-and-stretch type of toon. And being made entirely of ink didn’t limit them in the real world.

Whatever character needed to appear was squashed and stretched into being. Then, the department specializing in colorization would send someone down to paint them. True, they could have been colored with ink, but ink had some… adverse effects which weren’t appropriate for the family friendly gatherings. Paint, on the other hand, was for whatever reason and so they used it.

Aside from Alice, who had to portray any and all female characters for this show, Bendy and Boris would pick and choose who they would portray based on personality. Boris took the more kind-hearted ones, Bendy the wise-cracking know-it-all. It suited them well, and made them more money to add to the budget for making their productions.

What Bendy wouldn’t admit to anyone was that this was probably his favorite part of his job. He enjoyed making the cartoons, and whipping arrogant young animators into shape, but he loved, loved, loved making kids smile. Of course, that had been why Joey had first created him on paper; to make kids smile. It only figured that if there had been one trait carried over into the real world, it was that one.