GeoffreyKater: When they approached me about the show. I thought it sounded like a cool project, considering the Surfer was such a great powerful character.

DRG4: So you really didn't have to do anything to get the job? They basically offered it to you?

GeoffreyKater: It's not as easy as that......I really had to provide the talent first off, in order to prove to them that I could not only understand the character and the universe he was in, but also to design props and ships that looked like they came from Kirby land.

DRG4: Did you read any of the Surfer comic books?

GeoffreyKater: Yes, I had to do tons of research, to learn Jack Kirbys style. Once you get used to it, his style has a lot of rhyme and reason. It's very edgy and sort of Rocket Age mentality. His stuff was a little Flash Gordony, with bubble cockpits and stuff.

DRG4: Yeah.

GeoffreyKater: Kirby was the master of what I liked to call Mathmatical Line.

DRG4: Mathmatical Line?

GeoffreyKater: Every line had a purpose, one flowing into another, perhaps landing on a spherical shape or cosmic wave. Each line had a purpose. Even his characters were edgy like that.

DRG4: Yeah. He was one of the greatest artists to ever draw.

GeoffreyKater: Yes, not many others could tell a story so visually like he could. You could feel the emotion bursting from each drawing. You could tell he loved to draw. I used to dream Kirby.

DRG4: So you got to achieve a dream when you did the Surfer cartoon.

GeoffreyKater: Totally, it was a true honor to be inspired by one of the greats. Stan Lee was a cool guy; he used to hook me up. He was one of the best story tellers of all time, so him and Kirby ruled at that time. Stan would tell us stories about his day at the grocery store and make it sound cool. Drama in the vegetable isle.....he was a crack up

DRG4: Could you summerize what your job actually consisted of?

GeoffreyKater: I was intially the Prop Designer/ Space ship designer. I was in charge of reading the script, getting a feel for the story and the characters involved. Then I was given a breakdown of what props had to be designed.....as things got more hectic in production, I started to concentrate solely on the ships. I had to look at the Kree lets say...and say....Ok, what kind of ships do these guys fly around in? I figured the Kree were kind of like the Russian Military, very exacting and strong. The Skrull, insect like and Klingonish. When I would design a fleet of ships, I would choose one design theme that would make a real strong statement.
The kree were Hammerhead designs for all the ships, so it would be instantly recognized as Kree without having to look for a logo or something. That's what made a movie like Star Wars so great......There was no question what was Empire or Rebel. The Skrull were like insects, so I developed an insect like look for the ships, with green color. In one episode, a skrull fighter used it's legs to rip the Hammer Head off a Kree fighter. I wanted the weapons to be as unique as the ships themselves. The Kree fought in close packs like a real organized military, while the skrull fought hand to hand, with no rhyme or reason. I also liked the way the Kree ships had a Battleship quality to them. In pre- prodution it was basically doing a million thumbnails till the designs were approved, then developing the personality of each ship
Then onto phase 2....CGI.

DRG4: Did you have anything to do with the CGI Galactus or was that out of your field?

GeoffreyKater: CGI Galactus was Designed by Tom Mclaughlin and animated by two animators: Joe Clasen and his wife Susan. Vadim Sokolov was also responsible for Galactus. Vadim was a great Background Designer and would help Kirbyize most of the stuff. Joe and Susan did a great job animating Galactus....really pulling off great EFX. His eyes were crucial to his power.....they worked for weeks on getting that fire to shoot out of his eyes.

DRG4: Yeah. He looked really strong and menacing.

GeoffreyKater: Yes....along with all the energy buzzing around in his body. Taking Kirby energy and making it animate was really exciting and the staff was happy to see that happen. We tried to make the show as close to the feel of Kirby as possible, and some of that stuff in the comic you just wanted to see be animated....How did you feel about Galactus?

DRG4: I thought he was great in all aspects.

GeoffreyKater: Did you feel he was true to his character in the comic?

DRG4: Yeah. Definetely.

GeoffreyKater: Good....mission accomplished

DRG4: I also thought that Thanos was portrayed really well. Did you design his ship?

GeoffreyKater: Nope. Unfortunately, I missed the boat on that one. Galactus' ship and Thanos' ship were designed by Tom and Vadim....I wish I could though. Sometimes, producers take the show so personal, they want to design the main stuff. It's all politics. Galactus ship was so Megabyte heavy, we had to load him in to a scene in 10 parts. Our 633MHZ alphas would choke on it. Those scenes took forever to animate. I did however model the rest of the show...all the ships, planets, other props etc.....it was a heck of a task.

DRG4: How difficult was it?

Geoffrey Kater: It was modeling extreme. Once I was building a ship, I would further develop the design, you know refining it and etc.I then went on to become lead animator on the show for CGI.

DRG4: Did you have an episode that you were most proud of? The Forever War perhaps?

GeoffreyKater: I would say episode 11....the war between the Kree and Skrull...I really got into designing and animating the first 12 shots. I can't remember the show name, but I loved it.....We had our producer change to Roy Smith, and he was very liberal about letting me just go off. The storyboards were originally boarded for an all hand animated show, so the scenes looked very 2d and uninteresting. Once we convinced Marvel that 3D could be used, we took liberties with the boards and took advantage of that CGI camera. You know panning around stuff etc....the whole idea behind doing the CGI was because we wanted to capture all that Kirby detail and drawing it by hand would have been a nightmare. Once the ships were built....that's all she wrote. We could go off in all directions. I would like to credit Dale Hendrickson, our CGI Producer. He developed the look for the CGI.....a 2D flat cel-shaded look. He had been developing that look for years...and Surfer was his chance to prove his theory....That you could mix 3D and 2D without a harsh contrast of media.
I wouldn't say that it looked totally seamless, but it was the best so far.

DRG4: How'd you react when you found out the show had been canned?

GeoffreyKater: I was really bummed.....I was already starting season 2 and had a bunch of cool ideas for new ships...with different power sources etc....

DRG4: I heard Larry Brody had already finished writing just about the whole second season.

GeoffreyKater: Yeah.....Larry Brody....There was a ton of fighting about the writing too. Larry is a great writer, but mostly felt Surfer needed to be less brainy and more action oriented.

DRG4: Yeah. I noticed he spent a lot of time thinking about things.
Another question: Did you like the voice cast on the show?

GeoffreyKater: I liked Galactus the most, although I felt James Earl Jones would have been perfect. I thought Surfer came off a little whiny. The Watcher was cool. All the voice casting was done in Canada. It saves money, like a lot of productions are doing these days.

DRG4: Yeah, they're using Canada for all the new Marvel cartoons, like the Avengers.

GeoffreyKater: Yeah...some of my buddies were on that show, but then they got pulled.
They're doing Spider-Man: Unlimited though.

DRG4: Cool. I think it would be great if the Surfer guest-starrred in one of those shows.

GeoffreyKater: That would be cool. You never know...that's a good idea.

DRG4: To sort of add some closure.

GeoffreyKater: Yeah. I feel like the fans got gyped. That might help people feel better about the series. The show was really starting to gain some clout.

DRG4: Yeah. It had really high ratings.
Did you have a favorite character, besides the Surfer?

GeoffreyKater: The Watcher. Watcher was cool, cause I've always been into those all knowing all powerful dudes....kind of like Gandalf in Lord of the Rings. Shalla Bal...she was cool.

DRG4: Did you have a least favorite?

GeoffreyKater: Least favorite.....I wasn't too fond of .....who's that charcter in the "Forever War"...the one stuck fighting the Kree?

DRG4: Adam Warlock?

GeoffreyKater: Yes! Adam, to me, didn't have enough depth. I felt like there was so much more to him and he came off kind of lame in the series.

DRG4: Yeah

GeoffreyKater: I really loved the episode with the Horse characters.....forgive me, I can't remember all the names.

DRG4: That one has Beta Ray Bill.

GeoffreyKater: Beta Ray Bill kicked. He was the only one that challenged Surfer to a duel. I loved the action and pride Bill took.

DRG4: Was there a lot of censorship that FOX pressed down on you guys? I know FOX said Pip couldn't smoke at all.

GeoffreyKater: We have to adhere to strict guidelines when it comes to content. We first work out the story then run it past BS-&-P. BS-&-P stands for I think....Broadcasting Standards and Practices. It means: no knives or guns pointed at each other, no smoking, etc.....They used to let characters point guns at each other, but I don't know what happened. It depends on the time slot. No dying....etc. I guess GI Joe has to throw water balloons at each other. No short skirts, cleavage....no sexual content....huge no no.

DRG4: Drat....
Final question: What are you currently doing and do you have any future plans?

GeoffreyKater: Now, I'm Producing a pilot for Fox Family. I've since started my own Design and CGI Animation Studio and have done several fun projects. My latest was Thumb Wars. Did you see it?

DRG4: You were a part of Thumb Wars? That was a great spoof.

GeoffreyKater: Yeah....I was the CGI Model Design Supervisor. I designed all the ships, built a couple and supervised the rest. That show was fun. You can check them out on a web site at www.thumbtv.com. My company name is One Pen and we are breaking new ground in design for animation.

DRG4: Can you say anything about your pilot?

GeoffreyKater: I've always been a little disappointed with how dated most industrial design for movies seems to be. My pilot is a whole new take on live action game shows...thats all I can say.

DRG4: Sounds interesting.

GeoffreyKater: I was a Car Designer before I went into Entertainment, so I have a huge advantage over a lot of other Prop designers. I'm heavy into outrageous, cutting edge vehicle design. I almost went to Tokyo to design the 2000 Maxima, but opted for Surfer instead. I even thought Star Wars was a little disappointing.

DRG4: You made the right choice.

GeoffreyKater: The pods were hot though.

DRG4: Yeah

GeoffreyKater: Any other questions?

DRG4: I guess that's pretty much it. Anything you want to say in closing?

GeoffreyKater: Right on! Nice chat.....

DRG4: Okay. Thanks for taking the time out od your work to do this.

GeoffreyKater: No problem...later.

This page is a part of DRG4's Marvel Cartoon Pages:

Featuring Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, and the Silver Surfer.