I’m so excited that my son is finally reaching an age of appreciation for Disney XD and the Disney Channel. He’s always been heavy into Minecraft and video games. And now he’s finally starting to appreciate the adventure in film. I started him off right too with films like; The Goonies, Indiana Jones, E.T., the Karate Kid and The Neverending Story. Which is why I’m really pumped for the new show MECH X4 on the Disney Channel. I know he is going to LOVE this show! It’s like The Goonies meets Transformers, E.T. and Star Wars. It’s just awesome!
During my recent press junket to Los Angeles for the #DoctorStrangeEvent, I had the chance to visit Disney Channel for an advanced screening of their new serialized live-action series MECH X4. After screening it, I sat down with the filmmakers and talent to talk about production and what it’s like to be a part of such a fun show at such a young age.
A few questions for the filmmakers of MECH X4
Where did this idea come from?
It started with, hey, wouldn’t it be fun to do a show about, four kids that just happen to have to work together with a giant monster-fighting robot. Then every step of the way through development, it sort of evolved. Like, wouldn’t be fun to actually have great special effects? Wouldn’t it be great to do it single camera and make it look like a movie?
Wouldn’t it be great in this day and age where storytelling is binge and serialized? Wouldn’t it be cool if we could do a long story over a season? So it started with an idea, Disney went for it, and then all of a sudden, this great team started coming together and bringing everything to it. Anupam Nigam comes from a world of serialized storytelling and the director, Zach, has a passion for the nostalgic Goonies, ET vibe, that’s sort of an Amblin feel of it all. And it all just became this thing through collaboration and really talented people.” -Steve Marmel
What about those epic monster combos? Where are those coming from?
There’s usually a method to the madness to why the monsters are made a certain way. They usually have a specific sort of mission to accomplish. We can’t really say too much. When we’re talking about it in the room, it’s a little random fun time. Like, wouldn’t it be cool… to do this. We have amazing concept artists in Vancouver because sometimes we just say, well, what does an octopus and an anaconda look like together?
We also look at what unique skills the monster has that can hurt the robot.” -Anupam Nigam
We get four versions and maybe we’ll use that one. But I would say that the monsters do have a purpose. The purpose of a monster will be built into it, and then we just sort of geek out and try to come up with the coolest version of what that purpose would be.” -Steve Marmel
My Interview with the MECH X4 Squad
It’s not every day I get to interview child stars. This was a cool opportunity to get to know more about why they chose the role, how they can relate and what they’re doing beyond film. Check out what they had to say: