Goosebumps: Haunted Halloween takes us on a new monster-filled journey with Slappy the
Ventriloquist's Dummy getting up to all kinds of mischief again!
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers, it's Jan here, and today I'm revealing the secret truth about
Slappy and Goosebumps 2, including loads of freaky facts you need to know about the movie!
Make sure you stay to the end to find out where Goosebumps author RL Stine appears in
the sequel and hit the bell to keep up-to-date with all my new videos!
Slappy the Dummy is one of the most popular characters in the Goosebumps series.
And although author RL Stine was nearly 50 years old in 1993 when Slappy made his first
appearance in Night of the Living Dummy, the inspiration for the creepy puppet actually
goes back many years earlier to Stine's childhood.
As a young boy, Stine loved listening to his mother read him The Adventures of Pinocchio,
not the Disney animated version but the original, much creepier book.
That dark tale of a wooden puppet which comes to life was Stine's favourite book as a kid
and left a profound mark on him as an adult.
And the classic British horror film, Dead of Night, which Stine watched as a child and
which featured a ventriloquist who believed his dummy was alive and trying to make him
to commit murder was also hugely important for Stine's creation of Slappy all those years
later.
By the way, Stine says he enjoys writing books starring Slappy as he's a really fun character
to write because of how much he insults everyone!
In fact, Stine even has a Slappy dummy in his office where he creates all his Goosebumps
books!
For the first Goosebumps movie, the filmmakers wanted Slappy's face to look like actor Jack
Black because not only did Black star in the film as author RL Stine, but he also did the
voice of Slappy!
However, in Haunted Halloween, Jack Black only makes a little cameo appearance as Stine.
Indeed, according to the real-life RL Stein, initially, Black wasn't even in the script
for the Goosebumps sequel because the actor was too busy filming another horror movie,
The House With A Clock In Its Walls.
Apparently, it wasn't till late in the shoot that Black found some time in his schedule
for Goosebumps 2, so a small on-screen part was created for him.
All of which means that Jack Black isn't voicing Slappy this time.
So, who is?
Well, the new voice of Slappy is provided by voice actor Mick Wingert, who you may well
have heard in the animated TV series Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness where he
voiced Po the Panda, another character previously made famous by none other than Jack Black!
And it's no wonder the Goosebumps 2 filmmakers hired Wingert as he does sound uncannily like
Black!
"I thought that maybe we should do something really fun.
"Right, papa?"
"I love a good holiday sale!"
In Haunted Halloween, Slappy is absolutely desperate to be part of a family, so when
things don't work out for him with a human family called the Quinns, he decides to create
his own kind of family by bringing all his monster friends back to life!
And how does he do that?
Well, he repeats a famous phrase from the Goosebumps books:
"Karru Marri Odonna Loma Molonu Karrano!"
In the books, those magic words mean "You and I are one now" and when they're spoken,
they give life to inanimate objects such as Slappy.
So, it's fun to see Slappy use the phrase himself in the movie to make a whole variety
of freaky creatures and ghoulish objects come alive!
In the sequel, Slappy's physical movements are controlled on set by a team of puppeteers
led by Avery Lee Jones, just as they were in the first film.
And there were actually four different Slappy puppets used during filming.
The first one was a fully mechanical version with eyes, neck, and face that could be moved
by remote control and a head that could rotate all the way round 360 degrees.
This particular Slappy's legs and arms could also be moved using a rod, and his fingers
could be placed in different positions.
The second Slappy puppet was partially animatronic and had a mechanical mouth, as well as eyes,
eyebrows and eyelids that could be moved into various poses.
There was also a "stunt" puppet that looked just like the other versions of Slappy except
it had no mechanics and was made completely of rubber which meant it was light enough
for the young actors to operate when necessary during a scene and it was also tough enough
to withstand any force without breaking during filming.
And finally, there was also the original working ventriloquist doll from the first Goosebumps
movie!
Just like the original film, Haunted Halloween uses a combination of CGI and practical effects
including special make-up and costumes to create the monsters we see on screen.
Among the creatures that Slappy brings to life are a bunch of mummies!
And while you may think their costumes look pretty simple, creating them was really rather
complicated and they were actually some of the most elaborate costumes on set.
So, what does making a mummy costume for Goosebumps 2 involve?
Well, first of all, the movie's costume department cut hundreds of individual pieces of fabric
into strips.
Then they aged each strip, after which they sanded them down, and finally, they applied
those sanded-down, aged strips layer by layer to form a mummy.
As there were so many pieces of fabric and steps involved, each mummy costume took a
team of people more than four days to put together!
When Slappy says his magic words to bring some monster friends to life in the pharmacy,
a mask also gets attached to the store's manager Walter who turns into an ogre that becomes
Slappy's sidekick!
Actor Chris Parnell who plays Walter had to spend more than three hours in make-up to
transform into the ogre.
That included having a full foam latex cowl cover his shoulders to the edge of his face,
as well as having silicone lips and a facial prosthetic applied.
And to cover up any exposed skin, a foam silicone hump and ogre arms were also added.
In the original Goosebumps movie, real-life author RL Stine had a fun, very meta cameo
as a drama teacher called Mr Black, who appeared late on in the film, waving hello to Jack
Black's fictional RL Stine in the school corridor.
And, if you're a fan of the real-life Goosebumps author, then you'll be glad to hear that Stine
is back for the sequel!
Make sure you keep a look-out towards the end of the new film for Stine's blink-and-you'll-miss-it
cameo appearance as Science Award Presenter, Principal Harrison!
Now, if you've seen Goosebumps: Haunted Halloween, what did you think?
And who's your favourite monster in the movies or the books?
Let me know in the comments below!
By the way, I've got a new giveaway for First Man out this weekend: You can win this amazing
wireless reflecting telescope.
Click the Gleam link in the video description to enter!
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Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers!