From June 2008 for 10 weeks, we were very fortunate to have our friends
over at theprivateuniverse.co.uk  host a season of our Sci-Fi films.
Here is a list of the films shown during that time :-

Week 1 - Monday 9th June Halo - The Toy Wars ( intro by Paul )

Using characters from the popular Halo video game series, Halo: The Toy Wars was released last year in the middle of Halo 3 pre-release fever. Since then, our tale of a group of stop motion animated soldiers investigating a seemingly abandoned spaceship has gone on to receive over 100,000 hits and viewed in over 120 countries.

With some rare Joyride Halo action figures, a set built from old computer parts (!) and a specially created Halo inspired rock soundtrack from Alex Pritchard, we hope you enjoy the first movie in the Penny Mix Films Sci-Fi Season: Halo, The Toy Wars.

Week 2 - Monday 16th June : Bo Pepper - Draggin Me Down (intro by Paul )

We created this sci-fi themed music video for our friends in the unsigned London band Bo Pepper. Set in the Action Figure Theatre, with an audience ranging from Squidhead to Starbuck, we see a packed house enjoy a rare live performance. With Slave Leia on vocals, Hammerhead on bass, Chewbacca on guitar and Ephant Mon on drums.

Our videos for the band have seen us hit the top of the Youtube charts, featured on legendary showbiz website www.Perezhilton.com 3 times and on television for Big Brother’s Little Brother. This video ended up getting half a million hits in America last year. Featuring the largest set ever built by Penny Mix Films and the only one to have a royal box!

Please checkout the band at myspace.com/bopepper, there is a feature on them due in The Sun’s Bizarre pages any day now. You can buy their songs on iTunes too!

Week 3 - Monday 23rd June - Monster ( intro by John )

This movie was our first foray into the world of Doctor Who videos. At the time (2006), our cast was limited to a range of vintage figures by Denys Fisher and DAPOL and a very small selection of new toys just being released by Character Options. There are a couple of points of interest. The first is the setting of Blackpool as a location. This has now become something of a trait for Penny Mix Films. Lord knows where we would be without the Queen of the North! Secondly, the appearance of R2D2 and C3P0 was a nod back to their roles in our first ever animation.

Finally there are two joyous moments of dance in the film – the Tom Baker and Cyberman tango and the lengthy Dalek Disco sequence which took a whole afternoon in the garage to complete. We filmed the monster montage straight after using stills from old Target paperbacks and Who magazines. The song seems to suit the piece really well and it remains one of our big successes!

Week 4 - Monday 30th June - Bill's Nightmare (intro by Chris Walsh )

Penny Mix Films recreates a Twilight Zone classic for Mego Shorts 3: Bill's Nightmare. Inspired by the scariest episode, Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, William Shatner finds himself trapped on an airplane as a Gremlin tries to destroy the aircraft. Shot in black and white with Megos and incorporating elaborate audio effects, Penny Mix Films adds a new sense of terror and humor that Shatner can unleash upon his victims.

Week 5 - Monday 7th July - Dr Who & The Sunday Karaoke (intro by Paul)

While everyone is still in Doctor Who mood (I hope!), here is a look back at the first in our series of Who themed singalongs. Taking place in a British pub, a cast of well known characters take turns to sing in front of a drunken group of Slitheens.

If you can work out why the Doctor is singing 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go' by The Clash with The Empress Of The Racnoss, I’ll give you a bonus point!
It was followed up by a Christmas Karaoke video late last year and we have plans to film a final episode sometime soon.

Week 6 - Monday 14th July - Where No Man Has Gorn Before (intro by Paul)

The ever smiling William Shatner figure gets another airing for a battle with the legendary character ‘The Gorn’. Based on the Trek episode ‘Arena’, this short tribute includes a battle sequence as good/bad as the original, which was voted one of the worst on screen battles ever!

For those wondering why The Gorn looked more like Marvel’s ‘The Lizard’ toy sprayed brown and kitted out in a Klingon’s outfit, I can’t blame you. The Gorn Mego figure was one made by cutting corners and costs, it really looked nothing like the on screen Gorn.

This is the first time we used the excellent ‘Crazy Talk 5’ software to give the figures facial movements and appear to talk. £30 well spent.

Week 7 - Monday 21st July - Dr Who - Travel Through Time (intro by John)

We wanted this film to have a real "vintage" feel and that comes across with the 1970s Weetabix figures we used. It was something new to try and animate with pieces of paper and that was reflected in the Who title sequence used at the beginning. Quite a challenge - luckily there were two Tom Baker cut outs so that added a bit of range for the Doctor's expressive output!

 The use of Dapols in the middle section was meant to represent some sort of transformation device that turned the paper characters into plastic ones and back again. The Werewolf bursting through the walls of the old Blackpool Exhibition is a neat bit.  Oh and Tony Harts "Morph" is in the film somewhere but don't blink....or you'll miss him!   One of our first films, from back in 2006.

Week 8 - Monday 28th July - A Night At The Toy Museum (intro by Paul )

We were asked to take part in the 2007 GI Joe Festival and created this oddity! Starring a wide range of animated figures from Turtles to Tron and at least one Action Man (UK equivalent of GI Joe).The story follows a group of Action Force (favourites from the 80’s) as they patrol the Toy Museum. Things start to come to life when Action Force aren’t watching as closely as they should.

Featuring the strangest music and effects ever put into a Penny Mix Film (it came from a 1960’s Dalek soundtrack), A Night At The Toy Museum didn’t win any prizes but did get a showing in front of a packed house at the Festival last year.
 

Week 9 - Monday 4th August - Dr Who Monsters In The Exhibition (intro by John)

As a child I spent more time in the old Blackpool Exhibition than was healthy for a young boy. Of course in those days home videos were a very expensive affair so this video was a heartfelt attempt to recreate the place I knew and loved so much but was never able to capture at the time. I really enjoyed building the sets for this and if you look close enough there is a Hitchcockian glimpse of my younger self standing by the Tom Baker poster. I am most pleased with the shop at the end of the exhibition although the wobbly wall behind the Dapol Master is a bit dodgy. Least successful part of the vid has to be the monitor footage - back in the day it was a fantastic looped sequence of the Fourth Doctor thanking people for visiting. The original is available as an Easter Egg on one of the Tom Baker DVDs. It's a blast from the past well worth looking for. Which I hope this film is too!

Week 10 - Monday 11th August - Dr Who Monster III ( trailer / preview ) ( intro by Paul )

A preview of our forthcoming Doctor Who Monster III film. Monster I and II have been seen by almost 100,000 people over the last 2 years and the third in our annual Who Monster adventure is almost ready.   You might have seen us queuing up in Argos fairly earlier a few weeks back to get hold of some of the new Who figures! Well we managed to bag most of them just for this film.  

This time we see the Doctor and Rose on the run in Blackpool of all places. Chased by some well known faces including the Sontarans, Sea Devils and Daleks. A visit to the seaside will never be the same again. Mostly created using actual location photos that were turned into semi-3d models. 

Thanks for watching over the last 10 weeks, we hope you enjoyed our films.

Paul and John from Penny Mix films. See you in the toy shop.