Superhero Making Music (Article - 09 Dec 2008)

[nindanjoe]

This first post will have information, and the second post will have the article. I'm just testing stuff out. :)

Article Title and Link : Superhero making music

There's a full audio interview with Magnús Scheving there. It took some time to figure it out since my usual methods did not work. You can download both the original .rm file and the converted .mp3 file here:

--- dead link ---

Length of the audio file is about 14 minutes and 14 seconds. I admit those filenames are quite long. The original filename was just lazytown.ram.

[nindanjoe]

Re: Superhero Making Music (Article - 09 Dec 2008)

Full article for archiving purposes:

Superhero making music
By Caron Parsons

Magnus Scheving is a bit of a hero - not only is he the man behind the moustache as superhero Sportacus in TV's LazyTown - he is also trying to save the world's children from obesity and lack of exercise.

Not an easy thing to do you'd think, especially when you have what must be a multi-million pound product to keep running and a new musical to promote.

But then this is a man who seems to exude boundless energy and has a huge enthusiasm for everything he tackles.

Our Icelandic hero started out training to be an architect - he built his own home from scratch - and in his spare time began speaking to groups about health matters and motivational ideas.

As a European aerobic champion, and Iceland's Athlete of the Year in 1994, he was obviously practicing what he preached and his advice soon became sought after worldwide.

But he came to realise that one sector of the population was being forgotten:

"There was no role model for health for kids," he told the BBC Bristol website.

"I thought 'maybe I can do something about that'."

Better health

Realising that governments were going to have problems with unfit, unhealthy children if something wasn't done, he began to look into how to package a recipe for better health for children, while making it palatable to them.

"Kids don't really get the word healthy, in a sense it's because they feel they are never going to be 21 - ' that's old people we are never going to be there', " he explained.

And so the idea of LazyTown was born, a colourful world where children learn to share, make friends and play outdoors and where the naughty Robbie Rotten and his fiendish plans to bring laziness back to the town are demolished by the high-kicking, somersaulting superhero Sportacus.

In 1995 Magnus wrote the book Go, Go, LazyTown, which became a series of books and then a stage musical.

"It was extremely popular and sold out for four years in Iceland and was the most successful play ever done in Iceland for kids," said Magnus.

"The ideas came from kids and parents - from speaking to them around the world."

His ten years of research showed that across the globe parents wanted the same things for their children - and the positive and negative sides of these attributes were then embodied in the LazyTown characters.

The musical became a TV series, currently showing on CBeebies and Nick Jr in this country, and is now on screen in somewhere between 109 and 117 countries across the world.

Ultra-polished

A figure of $1m an episode has been quoted for the ultra-polished show, which combines live action, puppetry and CGI effects and is shot in a purpose-built studio in Reykjavik.

"I made the most expensive TV show ever in history, in High Definition for kids, " said Magnus.

"I think kids can recognise quality and maybe that was stupid, I don't know, but we didn't want to compromise when it came to kids.

"The audience is not stupid, they are extremely talented and very quick. When you are that age, between 0-7 you learn to talk, walk and run, these are the years of your life that your brain is open the most and you store up everything.

That's why it is really important to have a programme that is well done and gives some kind of value for kids."

The worldwide success of the show now sees it return to its theatrical roots, with the launch of LazyTown Live which comes to Bristol's Hippodrome in February.

But can the high production values of the television series be recreated as a touring show? Magnus thinks it can.

"LazyTown works much better live in my mind. That's why I'm so proud and really looking forward to seeing what will happen with the live tour," he said.

"Kids are going to have a lot of excitement and even parents will - there will be lots of things they will recognise."

New superhero

The touring show is expected to be very interactive, but some may be disappointed to find that though the characters remain the same, the actors playing them will not be those known from television - including our superhero himself."

He says his "ambassadorship" to the show worldwide and to his healthy children campaign mean he can't take the Sportacus role on tour - and there is another reason.

"Sportacus live does incredible stuff and he has to do them three times a day and I was thinking I'm too old to do them three times a day!" he admitted.

"I can do it, but not three times a day. I thought 'I need a younger man' so I found one, who is 26 years old."

The new, younger Sportacus has spent time at Magnus's home in Iceland, training and discussing the role and is raring to go and Magnus says he is very impressed that the touring cast closely resemble their puppet counterparts.

When the LazyTown show was originally launched in Iceland, mini-vegetables - or "sports candy" as Sportacus refers to them - were sold during the interval.

Such was the show's power that kids went wild for them: "They couldn't import enough baby carrots to Iceland. They were sold out throughout the country!" said Magnus

If the UK's touring show produces a similar result there will be parents up and down the country sending out grateful thanks to Sportacus and Magnus - such is the life of the superhero!

LazyTown Live! comes to the Bristol Hippodrome from 8-10 February 2008.

last updated: 21/12/2007 at 15:03
created: 12/09/2007

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/ar ... ture.shtml
Article Archived Screenshot: http://www.mediafire.com/?xjjitu9mtxd]Download Link[/url] | http://sendshack.com/download/45vrjq8]Mirror 1[/url]

[boredjedi]

Re: Superhero Making Music (Article - 09 Dec 2008)

"Sportacus live does incredible stuff and he has to do them three times a day and I was thinking I'm too old to do them three times a day!" he admitted.

So much for the power of sportscandy. :)

[BusyTown]

Re: Superhero Making Music (Article - 09 Dec 2008)

Thanks for this Nindanjoe!

"I made the most expensive TV show ever in history, in High Definition for kids, " said Magnus.

"I think kids can recognise quality and maybe that was stupid, I don't know, but we didn't want to compromise when it came to kids.

"The audience is not stupid, they are extremely talented and very quick. When you are that age, between 0-7 you learn to talk, walk and run, these are the years of your life that your brain is open the most and you store up everything.

That's why it is really important to have a programme that is well done and gives some kind of value for kids."

I like his thinking :)

[Glanni]

Re: Superhero Making Music (Article - 09 Dec 2008)

"Sportacus live does incredible stuff and he has to do them three times a day and I was thinking I'm too old to do them three times a day!" he admitted.

So much for the power of sportscandy. :)

I lol'd so hard at that.