Back in the days before video games, kids (to be specific,
young boys who lived in the suburbs) lived differently.
9-to-13 year-old males would get up on a Saturday morning
and then select that day’s weapon of destruction (i.e. their skateboard,
bicycle or scooter). They’d then ride out in their neighborhood looking for
adventure with the only hard-and-fast rule to live by: That they had to head
back home when the streetlights came on.
Sandro Corsaro remembers that world vividly. As a kid
growing up in Stoneham, MA., he spent many a Saturday cruising around the
cul-de-sac. Where Sandro would often bash an elbow or scrape a knee as he tried
to learn a new trick on his skateboard on Nixon Lane. And it was this time and
that place (more importantly, that feeling) that Corsaro was trying to
recapture when he created Disney XD‘s “Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil.”
“Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil” Sandro Corsaro
“I remember – when we first started working on this animated
series – having these long conversations with Chris Savino
about what it was like to be a kid growing up in the suburbs in the 1970s,”
Sandro explained. “The rules that you had to live by back then. Where you could
ride anywhere you wanted in the neighborhood just as long as you didn’t cross
Main Street. Or that tight feeling that you got in your chest whenever you
tried a new trick on your skateboard. That’s what we wanted ‘Kick Buttowski’ to
be about. Kids pushing back against the
safety & conformity of the suburbs so that they could then have all of these crazed, stunt-filled
adventures.”
And at the very center of this Emmy-nominated (for
Outstanding Short-Form Animated Program) series is the show’s title
character, Clarence “Kick” Buttowski. Voiced with a steely intensity by
“Diagnosis Murder” veteran Charlie Schlatter, Kick is a pot-bellied young boy
who is determined to someday become the world’s greatest daredevil. Which is
why Kick spends every waking hour thinking up new death-defying stunts to
perform. What’s more, he walks around wearing a crash helmet as well as an Evil
Knievil-style jumpsuit.
“People often ask me if I was like Kick when I was a kid,”
Corsaro laughed. “And while I did do some pretty crazy stuff – like roller-blading
down Broadway — I wasn’t nearly as hardcore as Kick is.”
Copyright 2010 Disney XD. All rights reserved
And speaking of Sandro’s family, Corsaro readily admits that
he drew a lot of inspiration for the characters in “Kick Buttowski: Suburban
Daredevil” from his own family.
“Brianna is actually modeled after my older sister. Who was
kind of the golden child of my family,” Sandro said. “While I was outside
jumping over things, she was taking piano lessons, French lessons, signing up
for an extra math packet. She could do no wrong.”
Whereas Corsaro’s older brother … He was the template for
Wade, that teenaged gas station attendant who’s always so supportive of Kick’s
efforts.
Kick, Gunther and Wade from “Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil”
Copyright 2010 Disney XD. All rights reserved
“I thought that my older brother was the coolest person in
the world,” Sandro recalled. “He moved out of my parent’s house when he was
only 18 and then went to work at a record store. I used to go visit him at his
job and stare up at that poster that had been personally signed by Jon Bon Jovi
and wish that I had his life. That I was free to come and go as I pleased.”
Which brings us to Kick’s parents, Harold & Denise
Buttowski. Corsaro admits that he may have given his own parents some grief
when he was growing up. But nothing like what Kick puts poor Harold &
Denise through.
“And nowadways … My Mom tells me that I’ve added 30 years to
my Dad’s life. He’s so proud that his son created this animated series which
constantly references his old hometown,” Sandro stated.
Copyright 2010 Disney XD. All rights reserved
And the Stoneham, MA.
references really do come fast & thick on “Kick Buttowski: Suburban
Daredevil.” Take – for example – the show’s “According to Chimp” episode. Where
hundreds of chimpanzees escape from Mellowbrook Zoo and then terrorize the
populace. That’s something that could have actually happened in Stoneham, MA.
Given that this Boston suburb is home to the Stone Zoo.
“I was actually back in Stoneham last Fall,” Corsaro
remembered. “And it’s amazing how much of that town has remained the same since
I was a kid. The Watchmaker shop is still in the same place. As is the Dairy
Dome and Dead Man’s Drop.”
Speaking of traveling … Sandro and the “Kick Buttowski:
Suburban Daredevil” team went down to San Diego last month to do a panel for
this Disney XD series at Comic-Con International. And Corsaro was really gratified. Both by the huge crowd
that turned out on Sunday, July 25th as well as the great questions
that the kids in the audience came up with.
Copyright 2010 Disney XD. All rights reserved
“Oh, sure. There were kids who asked the obvious questions.
Like ‘Are we ever going to get to see Kick’s hair?’ And the answer to that
question is no,” Sandro smiled. “But then there those kids who asked really
interesting questions. Like ‘Why does ‘Kick Buttowski’ look different than all
the other animated series on TV? Why are the backgrounds out of focus?’ And it
was Charlie Schlatter who jumped in at that point and then explained the
concept of racked focus.”
Corsaro came away from Comic-Con feeling newly energized. He
was thrilled to see some of the drawings that “Kick Buttoski: Suburban
Daredevil” fans had done of characters from the show.
“I just hope that they’re just as enthusiastic about Season
2 of the show. Which is going to feature some exciting new characters,” Sandro
said. “Like Gordon Gribble, Kick’s first real rival when it comes to who is
Mellowbrook’s top daredevil. And then
there’s Hush and Razz, the guys who run the top skate shop in town, Skidzee’s.”
Copyright 2010 Disney XD. All rights reserved
And there are lots of other surprises that will be revealed
in Season 2 of “Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil.” Which is supposed to debut
on Disney XD in the Spring of 2011. But – for now – Corsaro is just enjoying
the ride. Which started out with him working as a production assistant on “The
Iron Giant” (where Sandro regularly rubbed elbows with Brad Bird, Teddy Newton
and Mark Andrews) and recently resulted with the creator of this animated
series having his picture printed on the front page of the Boston Globe.
“Of course, given the way that I behaved as a kid, I bet
that there are a lot of my old neighbors who thought that I’d eventually end up
with my face on the front page of the Boston Globe. But not for a good reason,”
Sandro chuckled.
“Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil” airs on Disney XD Saturday
mornings at 8:30 am ET / PT, 7:30 a.m. CT