With Mr. Binek’s Class: The Fields of Flavor now online, it has occurred to me that I released this episode during Binek’s 10 year anniversary. It’s probably not widely known, but Mr. Binek’s Class isn’t a new idea. In fact, as the title of this article suggests, it’s 10 years old! This is pretty surprising to me for two reasons. Number one, this means I was able to take an old juvenile high school idea and turn it into something substantial. And two, I’m getting old. Where the hell has all the time gone anyway?
The Evolution of Binek - From Doodle to Animation (Click for larger image)
Ten years ago (around March of 2001), I was an angry kid in high school who sat down and made a short movie based on one of my high school teachers. The character had no resemblance of my teacher in anyway (except for his temper) and this was especially true given the medium I used to create this movie (Microsoft’s 3D Movie Maker was an old program used to create primitive, but decent for its time, 3D movies). Within an evening, Mr. Binek’s Class was born. The first episode was about Mr. Binek verbally abusing his students and flipping someone off. A classic indeed. You can check out one of episodes below:
Something weird happened with this because I kept making episodes. How do you base a series off of an angry man who flips kids off? I’m not really sure, but it involved magical dancing hot dogs, time travel, aliens and weed. By the time I was finished I had made 33 episodes, which is quite a lot, even considering the sloppy quality of the series. The series didn’t see an internet release until way later (due to not having a proper venue during it’s development), and even then I did it just for archival purposes.
In 2002, I discovered Flash and resurrected Binek in 2D animated form. Mr. Binek’s Class (later renamed to Mr. Binkee’s Class), ran for 14 episodes in Flash. Given it was my first vector based series (and I was a lazy high school kid), the quality lacked considerably. And in the end, I basically tried to emulate the formula of Mr. Binek’s Class: 3DMM. Most of the episodes even share the same plot lines. For me, the series never sparked. Again, it may have been due to trying to relive the past, or the complete lack of quality, or a combination of those two. Check out episode 12 from the Flash series below:
In 2005, I started tinkering with the idea of making a new series based on the lovable teacher. My first idea was to make Binek: The College Years where Binek lives with one of his high school students and antics ensue. I was actually thinking of doing that one in 3D Movie Maker, to bring back the old feel of the first series. Well, when that idiotic idea came and went, Binek: K-6 was next up on the list. This series took place after the events of the Flash series and followed Mr. Binek (Binkee) being released from jail to teach a grade school class. This probably sounds familiar as in the new series I am developing, Mr. Binek teaches third graders. But this version was different in that it was a sequel (not a reboot), featured aliens and a completely different feel. Here’s a snipit from the old script:
BINKEE So, what do you want ya bastard? PRINCIPAL I want to talk to you about the alien incident. BINKEE What’s there to tell? I save the world and get a life time sentence in jail! PRINCIPAL Well, not anymore. The state has granted you a full pardon. Binkee gets bug eyed and spits cheetos all over the Principal. BINKEE What?! PRINCIPAL That’s right, a full pardon. Under one condition. BINKEE And what’s that? PRINCIPAL You start teaching again. BINKEE No! Never! Binkee throws the bag of cheetos on the ground. PRINCIPAL But Mr. Binkee, there’s a shortage of teachers! We need you back! BINKEE I will never step foot in that high school again! PRINCIPAL Oh no, no. I’m the elementary school principal! We want you to come teach second grade! BINKEE Second grade eh? Well, I guess that would be different than those high school’n bastards.
After poking at this idea for a while, I set the script down and never touched it again. From around 2005 – 2009, Binek was given background roles in my work, whether playing a road construction worker in Walk’n With Walken, or simply hearing a version of his voice in various works, it seemed that Binek’s time in the spotlight had come to an end. But then as 2010 came to a close, I got a weird itch again (boy that sounds sexual).
A shirtless Binek celebrates to Walken's music in "Michael Jackson Beats Off".
Rebooting the series was quite a process, bigger than I anticipated it ever being. First, the idea was to simply modernize the formula, but if there was one thing I learned with the first Binek Flash series, it was that copying the past simply doesn’t work. The 3DMM series had a very “random” feel to it. I tried to recreate that in Flash the first time and it didn’t work. I think this is why it took me so many years to re-approach this material. I was trying to fit pieces together that simply were not right. I’ve always felt the Binek universe could be something special if tackled right. Sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s “right”, especially when it comes to artistic works. Once I got the premise down, the next snag in what was “right” came to the forefront: how should I make this series look?
An early concept drawn in Flash
I first started with designing in Flash. However, I wasnt’ really feeling it. While I am well versed in Flash (obviously since I teach it), I’ve always had a hard time designing things in the software. This is not that Flash is bad by any means. it’s just difficult for me sometimes. So I decided to give Anime Studio Pro a try based off of a friend’s suggestion. This made a huge difference and options seemingly started to open up. I tinkered for a while, changing line types (eventually settling on the “sloppy” lines you see in the episode), even trying a 2D Binek meets a 3D world test, and eventually made the transition over to Anime Studio. And after some tinkering with the script and having my friend Damian Winter edit the cigarette commercial seen in the episode, I was ready to animate.
2D Binek Meets 3D
Everything else just sort of came together. While I was nervous, due to the negative reactions Walk’n With Walken got, I kept plugging along. When I got done, I wasn’t looking at the same Binek I created 10 years ago. In exchange of the “randomness” was a sense of controlled chaos. While I made some throwbacks to the old series (Pakaday’s voice over the intercom, the “sudden attack” music when something startling was revealed), this was a new Binek for a new generation.
Reinventing this series 10 years later has been quite an experience. I am confident that I am now in a position to tell the stories I have always wanted to with this universe. My only hope is others find these stories to be enjoyable too. Happy birthday Binek!
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[...] return. The idea to reinvent the old series sparked way back in 2006, which I have documented in a special 10 year anniversary article. The first episode began actual production way back in January of this year. I would slowly [...]