Chicken or Egg?

I’m working on a project to make some toys.  I can design then, and write about them and even make cartoons about them.  I’m spending so much time working on the toys that I haven’t done all of the animation and other supporting components.  BUT WAIT!  What comes first?  The cartoon or the toy?  The animated movie or the Happy Meal toy?  I think that things go both ways.  There’s a huge community around vinyl toys that have a wonderful cartoon or animated look that exist solely as toys.  It’s a fairly large expense to make your own toyline so I’ve been wondering if it’s really worth it.  I’ve been wondering if I can make the money back, whether it’s good business.

Then I watched this interview with a young filmmaker named George Lucas over at Binary Bonsai.  He said that “Making film is an art. Selling film is a business.”  So I guess that as long as I start with the art, and I make something that I like and want, then I can share that with others.  If I make something just to sell it, I don’t think I’ll be as successful as if I make it for the art.  Lucas commented that he once got into an argument with someone who thought that the phrase “Filmmaker” simplified the art of making movies to something akin to a toymaker, to which Lucas replied, “I like being thought of as a toymaker who makes films.” 😀

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