The Neverhood Chronicles. One of my all-time, most personal favorite series; a wicked collection of deeply inspired stories, games and art, all set in the broad framework of a desolate world of clay.
In 1998, The Neverhood was succeeded by oddball action platformer, Skullmonkeys. Released for the Playstation One, Skullmonkeys offered a conceptually tamer, more lighthearted experience than that of it's borderline psychedelic predecessor; trading eerie ambiance and Biblical lore for a far more accessible - yet nevertheless subversive - approach perhaps intentionally reminiscent of Earthworm Jim; a series created and developed by countless Neverhood alumni. What Skullmonkeys might've lost in straight-edge artistic flair, it more than made up for with strange humor, dark imagery, and it's simply jovial sense of boundless creativity.
The Neverhood Chronicles sat dormant, having closed on the melancholic, vague ending of Skullmonkeys; Klaymen drifting into the endless void of black surrounding Idznak after defeating Klogg's gargantuan flying doomsday device, Evil Engine Number Nine - mindlessly snapping photos as he's pulled quietly into the abyss, quite literally never to be seen again. Bye, Klaymen.
However, it seemed the series might once again spring to life, as news of a Neverhood movie crept through the web...
Klaymen battles a monster |
Neverhood series creator, Doug TenNapel, once again lead the project, approaching the film from a holistic perspective; opting to avoid a direct adaptation or follow-up to the 1996 point and click source material, while still including largely the same core characters, concepts and themes. In a now-deleted forum post, TenNapel mused, "I'm putting everything on the table story-wise and saying, 'What is the Neverhood about and who is Klaymen?' "
According to the initial press release, the film would have carried on the series tradition of stop-motion clay animation; this is supported by the photograph of Klaymen battling against an unnamed monster (possibly the Weasel) serving as the outline's cover, as well as a two photographs revealing the development of the models featured posted to the Neverhood Facebook.
An early twelve page outline was uploaded to Frederator Films' co-founder Fred Seibert's Scribd sometime around 2009, offering a glimpse into what the reimagined world of The Neverhood may have resembled; its logline reading as follows;
"A clay being must go on a quest to find a cure for his people who have turned into moronic animals."
Klaymen and Purpee |
As per usual, the Neverhood itself - including the Junglehood - is an island of sorts, alone in a vast, empty expanse of black.
The Never and JungleHoods |
Later that night, as Klaymen and Purpee read of the legendary Big Robot Bil, Klogg - an evil being from the Junglehood - peers through the crack connecting their worlds; sticking a harpooned device, the Moostifier, into the ground; hairy tentacles suddenly creeping through the NeverHood, transforming it's people into the rat-like Moosts; a hunched, hideous vermin common to the JungleHood. Discovering the herds of ravenous Moosts the following morning, Klaymen and Purpee venture into the Junglehood; certain to right their wrong.
A Moost |
Willie reveals that Klogg has turned countless Hoods into packs of Moosts; the all-powerful sculptor, Hoborg - his castle on the other end of the Junglehood - being their only hope.
Temporarily taming the Weasel with the help of Willie, the cast venture to Hoborg's castle; encountering a broken, precarious bridge, soon further destroyed by the Weasel's unpredictable antics - halting their progress.
Looking back wistfully on the world of the Junglehood, seemingly defeated, they notice the faint impressions of a man along it's underside - realizing it to be none other than the fabled Big Robot Bil, climbing down to activating the gigantic, mythical being. Big Robot Bil, thankful to once again be awakened, launches the group across the gap to Hoborg's castle.
Klogg |
Inside, they discover Hoborg, too, has been transformed - now powerless against the devilish Klogg; sitting, crowned, atop Hoborg's throne. Klaymen manages to steal the Moostifier as the gang escape into Big Robot Bil, quickly returning the Jungle and Neverhoods to their former glory.
Klogg, using his Robot Hecto Nine, follows closely behind; battling against Big Robot Bil before both machines plummet into the surrounding abyss, leaving Klogg behind as he ejects himself via large mechanical wings. Crash landing, Klogg fearfully threatens to turn the people back into Moosts - cornered by the enraged clay-people of both worlds - as Klaymen, alone, offers forgiveness; hoping Klogg would be willing to join their newly discovered family.
Big Robot Bil and Robot Hecto Nine |
Klogg reveals his heart is made not of clay, but stone - certain he'll never be able to join them. Klaymen, however, offers the power of Hoborg - knowing it will be able to save him; and, as Klogg lowers his defenses, his stone heart turns to clay; ending in a large, celebration as Hoborg, still in his castle, cures himself of Moostification - silently congratulating the faithful Klaymen.
As the party rages on, Willie, Klaymen and Klogg venture into the abyss in search of Big Robot Bil; flying off on Klogg's now repaired mechanical wings.
Willie |
Once dissonant, silent, and perhaps even eerie, the film's Klaymen is talkative, adventurous, and youthful - aspects not entirely inaccurate to his original portrayal, but nevertheless, different. This sums up the majority of the film's changes to the original game's concepts. TenNapel seems to have heavily battled with and focused on the sense of visual engagement, as well as simplicity necessary for such an adaptation; particularly, one set to retell the story of a decidedly abstract game. In the words of the man himself, "Part of Neverhood's problem is that it's so unique. It almost CAN'T be a TV show or movie because it really is a gaming experience... a lot of story elements came about because it was a game that would be weird in a movie."
Mock-up development |
Frederator Films ultimately never released any features, including the three pictures intended to introduce the company. Needless to say, The Neverhood was dead in the water. Though most sources chalk up the Neverhood film's cancellation to budgetary reasons alone, TenNapel further explains as follows; "[The Neverhood Movie is] dead as far as I know. Or I should say that it never quite got off the ground... the heat came off of the project. We were talking to Lyca and Sony about a movie. Close but no cigar."
Aspects of the film's narrative lived on through the series' following installment, Return to The Neverhood; a self-described "musical novella" in which the lead characters, Clay-Guy and Mud-Gal, undergo a transformation of sorts after consuming a rather literal "forbidden fruit" - both, of course, reflecting the Biblical recount of Adam and Eve, carrying on the religious theming and imagery present in all Neverhood stories. The Neverhood spiritual successor, Armikrog, also carries on certain elements of the film; small aspects of Klaymen's revised design, such as his odd, noodly "hat", reappear in the analogous Tommynaut; with the general role and appearance of Klaymen's pet Purpee morphing into the outspoken canine sidekick Beak-Beak. Likewise, both characters are comparatively expressive against the original version of Klaymen, and even speak.
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