Rob Lee is a writer and artist who has worked on children's shows such as Joshua Jones and The Shoe People. He was a writer and creator of the characters from the classic Fireman Sam episodes. He also writes books and does conceptual art.
Career[]
After hearing about David Jones' idea of a vocational character, Rob Lee liked the idea, as he felt like everyone would want to be a builder or policeman or fireman. Lee also felt Jones' enthusiasm was enormous, as he was determined to get their attention.
Lee was given the task to write the storylines, and he did not envisage beyond 10 episodes. Then he realised that if he wrapped it around a strong cast of civilian characters, the series could have the feel of a soap opera. Lee felt there was almost a social realist tone to it. It was not two-dimensional emotion – fear v bravery – there were also lots of grey areas. Lee believed that if there was a malaise or sadness in the story, you felt it. In the US, they say they really like the show's morality.
The naughty boy, Norman, was unashamedly derived from Dennis the Menace from The Beano. The touchstone for Dilys was Hilda Ogden from Coronation Street, a nosy old lady; Carol Vorderman once told Lee she loves her. Trevor was a bus driver and, because they were a bit short of cash for extra models, also a subsidiary fireman.
They all counterbalanced the inherent goodness of Sam. It was important he looked approachable, and strong, but also have a sense of vulnerability about him. Lee stuck a quiff on him – otherwise all the characters looked the same when they had helmets on. Lee believed it to be like with Mickey Mouse: if you can recognise them in a black and white profile, you have got a good character.
Lee believes that the CGI has a cool sheen that distances you from it, but you get something quaint and warm with the stop-frame animation, like old slippers. You become part of the story, instead of observing it. It was a bugger to make, though. Getting the models to walk was hard to do; floods were even harder.
Lee has said that you had to be very careful about any water or snow in the animation. Christmas scenes had to be in Snow Business, because once the snow was on the building they could not get it off again. Lee once wrote a windy-day episode titled The Kite and wanted a can to roll down the street. The animators were awake half the night trying to figure out how to do it. Lee did not go over to the animation studio very often – it was too tense.
Lee has said that several children's lives have been saved as a result of Fireman Sam. Kids have put out shed fires, or rescued their brothers or sisters, because of what they had seen on the show.[1]
Gallery[]
