Shadows in the Forest

Within the deep dense forest of the Western Woodlands of Mystery strange creatures dwell.  Creatures without substance or form.  Shadow Folk, the essence of evil.  They lurk wherever there is darkness and feed on lost things and wandering travelers.

The elves live near the densest part of the Woodlands and stories have cropped up of elves disappearing if they leave the forest path.  It is not just a tale to scare little children, the Shadow Folk are taking elves from the darkest parts of the forest.

It is said that the Shadow Folk arrived in Midieville soon after the battle against the trees and bears.  Some think that the they are actually the disembodied spirits of the trees themselves, wandering with only the lust of evil to guide them.  They are tricky creatures who make subtle noises just off the paths into the shadows.  The noises entice a curious elf to look for the source, and that's when the shadow folk strike.  As soon as no light is directly cast on their victims, they flood in and bathe the area with darkness, then the elf is no more.

So, be careful if you venture into the Woodlands of Mystery.  Stay on the paths, don't wander out of the sunshine, and don't investigate any curious noises.  If you do, you may never be heard from again.

~Marvin

Marvin's new look

Greetings 3twins fans!

Today I'm bringing you a design of what Marvin the Blue Wizard will look like in our upcoming Nintendo Wii U game, Of Mages & Pages!

I'm not going to go into too much more, but this is a very close to finalized version of Marvin as he will appear as a playable character in the game.

Until next time.

~Jason

Finally Xilva!

Several years back when Andy wrote the first few scripts for Midieville they looked much different than anything we have on the website.  The stories were meant to be full 10-20 minute animated adventures following a trio of creatures sent on quests by the king.  Those three adventurers were: Marvin the blue wizard, Gidju the dragon and Xilva the elf.  Though when we started making the Midieville shorts they were mostly just a way for us to cut our teeth in animation and served as tests for things we wanted to try out.  For logistical reasons, the lovely Xilva was cut from those and we just never found a good story point to add her into the fray... until now.

Now that we're taking the world of Midieville and putting it in our upcoming Nintendo Wii U game, Of Mages & Pages, Xilva has a place in the land of Midieville once more.  So, I present to you a peek at one of the oldest and most neglected characters from the 3twins wheelhouse, Xilva the elf.  This concept drawing comes from S. LaDon Ware.  Xilva will be joining our heroes at some point in the game and finally take her place next to Marvin and Gidju!

~Jason

NEW CHARACTER: Leon the Green Wizard!

Greetings 3twins fans!

Today I'd like to show you a new character for our upcoming Wii U game: Of Mages & Pages.  This is Leon the Green Wizard.  If you watched any of our Midieville cartoon shorts, you may recall Leon being mentioned by name in the final installment of the Spellbook saga: http://www.3twins.net/Spell10.html  Here's a little teaser for you, the story discussed in that short plays a large role in the game!

This design comes from the game's Lead Animator, Michael Lude.  He is fast at work on designing all twelve wizards for the wizard council.  I will share them each with you as time goes on.  However, other than Marvin, Leon is the most important wizard in the game!

Stay warm and we'll see you in March!
~Jason

Early Marvin and Gidju Animatic!

I was recently looking at some of our archives and I stumbled upon a very early animatic featuring Marvin and Gidju in their concept stages! These were very early concept drawings where Marvin was thin and tall and Gidju was fat.

As many of you may know, I am not an artist, I am a writer. However, I do play around with artistic tools from time to time to help get my ideas in some crude tangible form. I created the Gidju concept through a compilation of several found clipart images. Gidju's head was modified from a hippo clipart, his body a dinosaur clipart, and the wings were from a dragon clipart. If you compare these designs to our final designs you can see how things evolved, but a lot of elements from the concepts are still present.. I think the current designs (drawn by Steve Surine) have a lot more character though.

You might notice that even though this animatic has no audio, it follows the script of the very first Midieville Teaser with Marvin making himself disappear and then reappear. Interestingly, the other background images are very similar to the final backdrop for Marvin's hut in the woods.

That's all for now,
Jason

Marvin, the blue wizard Character Study

Marvin is the Wizard of Weather for Midieville. Along with the charge of protecting the White castle and the Human Kingdom, Marvin is in charge of making the weather. Sometimes Marvin uses his weather-working powers as weapons to fight Anell and The Black Knight, other times he uses them to teach Gidju a lesson.

Marvin lives in his stone hut in the middle of the enchanted forest. The location is so secret and the only way someone can get there is by magic (or wandering aimlessly for hours sometimes works too).

As one of the original 13 Wizards, Marvin is very respected in the Magical community. His knowledge of spells almost surpasses that of the Master Magician, who is leader of the Wizards. As the Wizard charged with the safety of the White Castle, King Mathos often seeks the aid of Marvin for special tasks.

Created by Andy Kuder
Voiced by Jason Kuder
Special Attributes: Weather-working
Hobbies: Picking on Gidju, Building rock structures, Weather-working, Telling tales of old
Nicknames: Marv, Blue, Marvin, Weather Guy, Hey you with the hat
Personality: Marvin comes across a gruff, but he is truly tenderhearted
Quirks: Often needs to clear his throat, which some mistake as magical incantations
Strengths: The Blue Wizard of Weather can conjure up storms of any kind and direct them where he wills
Weaknesses: The Blue Wizard of Weather's only known weakness is The Brown Wizard of Time's ability to pause, slow down, or speed up weather

Concept Art

Trivia: Marvin is one of the oldest wizards in Midieville
Defining Episodes:
Marvin's Magic Tricks (First appearance)
What's up with the Weather (Marvin's first weather working)
The Tale of the Spellbook (Marvin recounts historical events)

Check back next weekend, when I post my character study for Bob Palindrome of Star Feched