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By Robert Young

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1. INTRODUCTION

2. TRADING CARDS

3. COMIC BOOK

4. VIDEO GAME

5. ANIMATION PITCH

6. THESIS SHOW

7. PITCHING AND THE FUTURE

CONTENTS

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In the last few years, I’ve rediscov-

ered my love of professional wres-

tling. It’s garish, over the top, violent,

dramatic, and sometimes tacky and

I love it. It is a purely unique form of

storytelling, combining live stunts,

dramatic theater, special effects,

and improvisation the way that no

other type of visual entertainment

can.

As a kid growing up in the 80s, pro-

fessional wrestling was everywhere.

And of course, I was drawn to it for

the same reasons that hundreds of

thousands of other people were.

Hulk Hogan was physically huge,

and powerful, and had principals

that he stood up for. I didn’t know

then that wrestling was scripted,

so it seemed that guys like Hogan

were true heroes, fighting for what’s

right. It even said so in his entrance

music. Who wouldn’t be into that?

Who wouldn’t want to be Hulk Ho-

gan, or Andre the Giant, or Macho

Man Randy Savage? They had

cool names, huge muscles, athletic

prowess, undeniable charisma, and

millions of people loved them.

In 1991, during a segment on one

of WWF’s many television shows

called “Funeral Parlor” with Paul

Bearer, The Ultimate Warrior was

attacked from behind by The Un-

dertaker. I was watching, by myself,

from a room in the back of my

grandparent’s house. The Under-

taker hit Warrior in the back of the

head with an urn, then picked him

up, and locked him in a casket cov-

ered with symbols of the Warrior’s

iconic orange and green face paint.

Paul Bearer and Undertaker left with

the key. Vince McMahon, Macho

Man Randy Savage, and Rowdy

Roddy Piper were commentating

the action from the announce table.

The longer the segment goes on,

the more the commentators ex-

press concern for Warrior, letting the

audience know that that casket is

airtight and that Warrior likely can-

not breath. Crew members come

out to try to open the casket. After

several minutes of prying at the lid

with a crowbar, hammer and chis-

el, sledge hammer, and drill, they

finally are able to open the casket

where Ultimate Warrior is lying still.

The lining of the casket lid has been

torn to shreds as Warrior likely tried

to claw his way out. Someone gives

him CPR. Eventually, he coughs and

jerks back to life and is taken away

by EMTs on a stretcher. When the

INTRODUCTION

body

slams

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body

slams

black mass

big elbow drops

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casket was opened and I saw what

I presumed to be a dead body, I

totally lost it. I was in absolute hys-

terics. My mom heard me and took

me into the living room, away from

the tv. I know my grandparents were

there, but I can’t remember any

reaction they had. My uncle, howev-

er, mocked me, laughing, because

of course wrestling is fake. To this

day not a Thanksgiving or Christ-

mas dinner goes by that he doesn’t

bring up the time I thought the

Undertaker killed Ultimate Warrior

on tv. It’s funny now, sort of.

But really, what other medium could

produce that effect? Of course

horrible things are portrayed in

movies. Beloved characters die

and don’t come back. Sorrow and

outrage and grief can all be felt by

the viewer of a movie, but movies

are not real and don’t pretend to

be, even though they are acted

out by real live people. Literature

is even further removed from this.

Any visual element is acted out

purely inside of the reader’s head

and is wholly different from reader

to reader. Professional wrestling,

then, was real. The trade secret that

wrestling is scripted was still strong-

ly protected. Kayfabe , the portrayal

of staged events as being real, must

be upheld at all costs and wrestling

promotions went to great lengths

to make sure it was. But where does

the occult come in? It is one of the

two most prominent words in the

title of my thesis after all. Interest-

ingly, the occult has been a recur-

ring theme in professional wrestling.

Kevin Sullivan was the leader of a

satanic cult in the late 70s and early

80s, at the height of the satanic

panic and america’s fascination with

satanism. The Undertaker, from the

aforementioned story, was a char-

acter who was literally a dead man.

His manager, Paul Bearer, carried

around a mysterious urn which was

often hinted at being the mystical

source of the Undertaker’s power.

His half brother, Kane, was some

sort of monster man, obsessed with

fire. Casket matches, where the win-

ner is the wrestler who successfully

puts his opponent into casket and

closes the lid, has been a special

attraction for decades. So this, no

doubt, had some influence on my

obsession with the occult.

But more than this, the occult is

cool. It is garrish, over the top, vio-

lent, dramatic, and sometimes tacky,

and I love it. Speculation of it’s truth

aside, where else can you believe

in ancient gods, magical powers,

aeons of high drama, and mystical

artifacts? A therapist of mine once

speculated that I’m drawn to this

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type of horror in part due to my

panic attacks. Often people with

this disorder are drawn to a type

of horror they can control. Just as

wrestling has been a large part of

my entertainment seeking life, so

too have horror movies, scary sto-

ries, occult history, satanism, devil

worship, heavy metal music, and

dark fantasy.

John Hendrix spoke to my class in

our first year of graduate school.

He told us that we should give in to

our obsessions and that that giving

in would give us a type of edge as

illustrators. If you’re into wrestling,

be the wrestling guy. If you’re into

the occult, be the occult guy, and

make a career out of it. So, I com-

bined them.

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TRADING CARDSPart of the success of professional wres-

tling in the 80s was it’s merchandising.

I had tons of wrestling action figures

and trading cards, but I would look

through the WWF catalogue all the

time and wish that I had all the other

stuff too. A few years ago I found out

a roommate of mine’s favorite thing

to drink from was an Andre the Giant

mug. This mug was special because it

was supposedly the size of the mug

that was specially made to fit Andre’s

massive hand. It also had a picture of

Andre the Giant on it. The idea for World

of Occult Wrestling stemmed, appro-

priately, from an idea to create occult

wrestling trading cards. I pulled inspira-

tion from WWF trading cards from the

late 80s and made something that I felt

could exist as ephemera in the World of

Occult Wrestling universe.

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27 full color picture cards to collect!!!

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Before my thesis turned into an animation pitch bible, it was a comic book. The comic medium ap-peals to me for several reasons. They are cheap to produce, easy to distribute, and can be made by just one person. However, many people brought up the fact that I’ve already made comic books be-fore. So, why would I spend my time in a graduate program doing something that I already know how to do? The first issue of World of Occult Wrestling is now a promotional item. It’s not ephemera, as are the trading cards and video game (which you’ll see in the next section), but it’s not necessarily canon either.

COMIC BOOK

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22 pages of hard-hitting wrestling action!!!

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it’s not

a real

game!

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VIDEO GAMEJust as the trading cards exist as ephemera, so

does the fake video game and arcade cabinet that I

created specifically for my thesis show. Many visiting

critics suggested that I animate a cartoon myself.

I have limited animation skills, and know enough

about animating to know that I definitely do not

want to be an animator. I also don’t know how to

make video games. But, I do know how to make a

fake video game and make it look like a real one.

I was inspired by many of the MFA ILP students

from the previous year to make something that

goes above and beyond what a typical 2D art show

is. I used my experience as a carpenter to build the

cabinet myself, and created a two minute long “at-

tract mode” animation for a World of Occult Wres-

tling video game.

44 people inserted a

quarter into my fake video

game cabinet.

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“You should make a real video game”

- Literally Everyone

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It was important to me to create something to show my illustrations occupying three dimensional space. Even though the arcade cabinet and animation isn’t something that can be truly seen in a pitch book, I know that I can apply my work to something out-side the traditional spectrum of visual de-velopment.

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still not a real game!

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Here begins the centerpiece of my thesis. The World of Occult Wrestling pitch bible (pic-

tured above)! During the fall 2014 semester, I took Advanced Character Design taught by

Daniel Krall, and discovered the joys of visual development. The idea of World of Occult

Wrestling being a cartoon is appealing to me. But, as many people assured me, having a

cartoon picked up and actually made is a one in a million shot. I approached this project

from two directions of purpose: 1. I would love to have a cartoon actually made of my work.

and 2. Even if no one picks up my cartoon, I can use the work done for the pitch bible as a

portfolio to get visual development work on other properties. The following pages are the

pitch bible, in it’s entirety, as it was for my thesis exhibition.

ANIMATION PITCH

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L o g l i n e

p r em i s e

After demons from another dimension invade a small town, washed up professional wrestlers must keep the show going to save mankind.

World of Occult Wrestling is about professional wrestlers from our world battling evil foes from a demonic alternate dimension called Parts Unknown. Some of the wrestlers possess mystical powers, some get their strength from magical wrestling artifacts, some have made unholy deals with sinister forces, and some of them are mythical beasts. World of Occult Wres-tling is a world where championship belts have other-worldly qualities, audience chants can inadvertently summon ancient gods, and the consequence of the good guys losing is that all of humanity will be enslaved and forced to an eternity of servitude in worshiping the demon wrestling god Damien. Its a world where reverse casket matches, audience in a cage match-es, and 666 man battle royals are all possibilities and interfering with the referee might mean stealing his soul.

Lance Longinus is the Heavyweight Champion of the small promotion called A-1 Wrestling. It’s called A-1 Wrestling because their “arena” is on the grounds of A-1 Cemetery. They’re called A-1 Cemetery so they can be first in the phone book. Unfortunately, their shows suck. But that all changes when the portal to Parts Unknown opens and nefarious challengers begin to appear. The audience, believing wrestling to be scripted entertainment, is wowed by the crazy new wrestlers and the magical looking “special effects”. Lee Thrasher, powerful witch, wrestling historian, and niece to the current owner of A-1 Cemetery, takes over as manager of the independent promotion. She warns that humanity could not handle the psychic weight of knowing that their lives are in danger due to a plague of demonic wrestling forces, and so she changes the name to World of Occult Wrestling. The first season ends with Lance Longinus turning on humanity and his fans and becoming a demon in the service of Damien.

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Lance Longinus

Lance is the kind of guy who lives or dies on the reaction from the fans. He needs them to respond to him and he hasn’t been getting that for several years at A-1. He wrestled in Japan for a decade in a number of dangerous matches and became a crowd favorite. His popularity spread all over the country and fans bought his action figures, t-shirts, beer mugs, comic books, video games etc. This was the greatest time of his life. But fans are fickle and his popularity waned as he started getting older and younger wrestlers who were more willing and able to abuse their bodies took his place. He’d do anything to reach the heights of fame he achieved in his youth.

Hails From: Mid-South USAGender: Male Age: 52Height: 6’6”Weight: 270 lbs.Finishing Move: Spear of Destiny

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Lee Thrasher

Thrasher is a powerful witch. She becomes the promoter of A-1 when it becomes World of Occult Wrestling and Ernest Hack resigns in fear (or possibly magical influence from Thrasher). She has a lot of secrets and knows way more about what’s going on than she lets on. She also has an expansive knowledge of professional wrestling and often uses wrestling jargon. Lee shows up after the portal to Parts Unknown opens and the demon attacks begin. Before the portal is able to fully and permanently open, she uses her magical abilities to restrict the access between Earth and Parts Unknown (which allows access only during the weekly show and special events, thus allowing battles only to take place during predictable times and maintaining the scripted performance aspect of the show). She is able to identify magical wrestling artifacts and serves as a delivery mechanism for

information in the story. Once she takes over as promoter/booker/general manager, she succeeds in drawing larger and larger crowds to the small promotion, she changes the name from A-1 Wrestling to World of Occult Wrestling, and generally serves as the figurehead for all WoOW activity. It is unclear whether she is truly good or truly evil at first (is she drawing larger crowds to feed into Damien’s plans or to work against them?), until Lance’s heel turn leaves a void open for a top star which she fills, becoming a professional wrestler and the reigning champion.

Hails From: MassacheusettsGender: FemaleAge: 21Height: 5’3”Weight: 110 lbsFinishing Move: Black Mass

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Damien

Damien is the leader of the monster heels from the nefarious dimension, Parts Unknown. He is despicable, obscene, and ruthless. He will cheat at every opportunity. He will endanger wrestlers and spectators alike at a whim. The depth of his power and hatred are unknown. He is evil. His goal is to enslave mankind and demand the unwavering admiration of the people through force. He seems to be narcissistic at first glance, but he is not phased by criticism. He is not fragile underneath. a façade of strength. He is just strength. Damien will offer Lance an opportunity to regain his fame that Lance will gladly take.

Hails From: Parts UnknownGender: noneAge: noneHeight: 6’7”Weight: 700 lbsFinishing Move: Bad Omens

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HEROES- Bashquatch - The Tarot Sisters - The Satanic Panic

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villains- Cerberus - The Indescribable Horror - Bathory - Johnny Wreck

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BACKGROUNDSThere are two main locations. The first is A-1 Graveyard; an absurd cemetery in the Mid-South that is run more like a used car lot than an austere place to bury your loved one’s rotting meat. After you’ve paid your respects, be sure to catch the professional wrestling show conveniently located directly on the grounds of A-1 Graveyard!

The second location is an alternate, nefarious dimension called Parts Unknown! This is the hellish domain of Damien and is home to ancient evil, damned souls, and unwilling wrestling enthusiasts.

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EPISODE 1What should be the last night of A-1 Professional Wrestling is interrupted by a demonic wrestling messenger. Lance Longinus faces King Butcher Brown in an impromptu title match. Brown is defeated and leaves our mortal plane while delivering an ominous message.

EPISODE 2Word spreads of the new direction A-1 Wrestling has taken, and more fans show up than ever to see the weird new show. A new monster emerges from Parts Unknown and is met with the Bashquatch. A mysterious new champion who emerges from the appalachian wilderness to fight for good. Lee takes over as manager and renames the promotion to World of Occult Wrestling, to keep suspicions of actual magic at bay.

EPISODE 3The Tarot Sister foretell the coming of Damien, and he makes his presence known. But only to Lance. Meanwhile, Johnny Wreck serves up mankind’s first big loss, in an odd tag-team match with only three people.

EPISODE 4Damien enters to challenge Lance Longinus for the Interdimensional Championship belt. As Lance is on the verge of losing, leaving humanity to falter under the nefarious rule of Damien, the Satanic Panic saves the day...to mixed reactions.

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THESIS SHOWOf course, with any MFA thesis there is an MFA thesis show. Though the design and construc-tion of the cabinet itself was entirely my own, I decided to pair up with another student who was also centering her thesis around an anima-tion pitch. The cabinet split our spaces down the middle, with her side art on one side and my side art on the other side. The wall text seen in the background image is as follows:

Let me tell you somethin’, brother! The World of Occult Wrestling is more than just a pitch for an animated television show. It’s a world where professional wrestling is real! And you better count your blessings that it is because profes-sional wrestlers are the only people keeping mankind safe from the monsters, magic, and demons of the nefarious hellscape called Parts Unknown! Your mortal soul will be entertained into submission by the otherworldly spectacle that is World of Occult Wrestling!

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Guys!

it’s not

real!!!

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fine...

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Like Winston Churchill’s quota-tion on the length of speeches: “A good speech should be like a woman’s skirt; long enough to cover the subject and short enough to create interest.”-Eric Homan (Frederator)

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While working on this pitch I read and watched everything I could find on pitching

an idea for animation. I sought out submission guidelines for different animation

companies, and contacted them all, even the ones that would definitely not be inter-

ested in an occult wrestling show for 18-35 year olds. Many larger animation compa-

nies absolutely will not talk to you unless you have an entertainment agent, and I ran

into a lot of that. But, in the age of content created solely for the internet, I was able

to find a few well known companies who would talk to me. Eric Homan of Freder-

ator, which is the studio behind Fairly Odd Parents and Bravest Warriors, was nice

enough to tell me what studios look for in a pitch, and what specifically Frederator

looks for in a pitch. Generally, a pitch contains a few characters with descriptions, a

few backgrounds, and whatever other imagery is necessary to understand the story.

There shouldn’t be an overwhelming amount of illustrations in a first pitch. Frederator

specifically green lights a show based on beat boards. I was also able to speak with

Linda Beck from Nick. Jr. and attend a workshop she gave on crafting a pitch bible.

I learned quickly that a pitch should be maleable and doesn’t need to be anywhere

complete, especially not for the first pitch.

PITCHING AND THE FUTURE

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A friend and MICA adjunct, Jimmy Giegrich, was in the process of having his comic

book turned into a cartoon for the web by a company called Mondo Media. As it

turns out, just around the time that my pitch bible was nearing the completion of it’s

first iteration, Mondo was having an open call for pitches for new content. I sub-

mitted and after about a week I got an e-mail from Josh Bowen at Mondo and we

went through a process of e-mails and phone calls for about two months. In the end,

Mondo Media passed on World of Occult Wrestling.

So what is the future of World of Occult Wrestling? I’ve learned a great deal from this

thesis, and made several professional contacts in animation and visual development.

Immediately after my thesis show, I started work on further refining the overall story

and script writing, as well as further unifying the visual style of the pitch. My next

step is to further refine my pitch and then send it off to every animation studio I can

find. If that doesn’t work, I will pitch it as a comic book. Whatever happens, I have

stories to tell that will get out into the world in one medium or another.

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THANK YOUWhitney Sherman, Jamie Zollars, Joyce Hesselberth,

Daniel Krall, my family and friends, and all of my

supremely talented MFA Illustration Practice family.

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