Cuphead Creators on Redbull TV

Redbull TV series Levels, is a series of mini-documentaries on game #creators who have perfected their craft. And in this perfection, they have achieved a high level of success through monetizing their creations.

In this episode of Levels we meet the people who created Cuphead. For someone like me who is not a gamer per se, but is a creative professional, I found the vignette about Cuphead to be fascinating. Using a 1930's cartoon style, co-creators Chad Moldenhauer, his brother Jared Moldenhauer, and Chad's wife Marija Moldenhauer spent 4 years developing the artwork and levels of the game.

Chad states that he and his brother both grew up watching old cartoons. They worked hard to capture the unique style of these iconic animations. Chad was in charge of drawing the characters for the game. And later, his wife Marija took over the inking job, where ink is applied to the pencil drawings of Chad's art. This is the assembly line method of art that was used in animation before computers. And it is still used today in comic books where you have an penciler and an inker.

Though not stated in the Levels feature on Cuphead, legendary animator Chuck Jones most likely figures into the creative influences of the Moldenhauers.

Chad Moldenhauer shows off one of their early flip books of the character Cuphead.

The Moldenhauer team that created Cuphead is an excellent demonstration of the 10,000 hour rule. This rule states that to become an expert in anything, it generally takes someone 10,000 hours of practice to become good enough at it to be at a professional level. For instance, The Beatles played in Hamburg, Germany as the house band for a bar for 2 1/2 years playing other people's music as they honed their skills. This led to them becoming professional and then well known for recording and performing their own music. Likewise, David Lee Roth of Van Halen recently disclosed that he and his bandmates played several different small gigs consisting of five 45-minute sets around the Los Angeles area for 5 years before they ever got a record deal. Also, when I used to go to comic book conventions to have my work reviewed by artists, the best advice I ever got was "Just draw.". And what that meant was carrying around a sketch book with me everywhere ever I went.

Marija inking the "tweens" of the Cuphead animations. She goes on to explain that they realized if they wanted the look of the animations of the 1930's they were going to have to use the techniques of how cartoons were made in the 1930's.". The fact that we live in an age where these techniques can now be transformed into a game is a testament to the fascinating time we live in today. What will your 10,000 hours of expertise and hard work become?

Link to Redbull TV's Levels on Cuphead Creators - https://www.redbull.com/int-en/tv/video/AP-1Y2VQBWTD2111/home-work

Tony Castelluci is a filmmaker, writer, and raconteur. Having once served as a Water Safety Survival Instructor as a member of the elite special operations USMC unit 2nd ANGLICO, Tony still seeks adventure on air, land, and sea. Please subscribe, resteem if you can afford it, and share this post if you appreciate the content.