Dear Insane Children, 

One of the side projects we’re working on that I’m really excited about is “Scruffy Bumps” the revenge-murder-cat. He fits into a category I’ve started calling “Educational Horror” and is designed to teach people (children) to be nice to animals… OR ELSE!

You can watch us talk about Scruffy Bumps during the last Live Stream via THIS LINK (goes to Twitch). 

But what wanted to share today is the audio track linked above (main image). That’s a theme song done by our friend Tom Resnick – musician, voice actor, video director, and all-around creative guy. You may remember him from the excellent “Out of the Woods” marketing trailer we released a while back (see it on YouTube). 

This track has me smiling ear to ear. I can just imagine this playing as the credits roll on a Scruffy Bumps horror film. It gives me bumps… chill bumps to hear it! An excellent mix of Harry Potter, Thriller, and Nightmare Before Christmas. All my favorite things! 

We’re also working on aspects of the Scruffy Bumps lore… like his connection to an ancient Egyptian cat god (goddess?) – Maybe Bastet or Sekhmet? From the Wikipedia article about Sekhmet… 

Sekhmet was considered the daughter of the sun god, Ra, and was among the more important of the goddesses who acted as the vengeful manifestation of Ra’s power, the Eye of Ra. Sekhmet was said to breathe fire, and the hot winds of the desert were likened to her breath. She was also believed to cause plagues, which were called her servants or messengers, although she was also called upon to ward off disease.

What if Scruffy Bumps is the reincarnation of Sekhmet – returned to seek revenge on those who might cause suffering or injury to cats and dogs? She can possess any dog or cat as needed but primarily resides in the form of the black cat (with white) tail we’ve designated as Scruffy Bumps. 

Why the white tip on the tail? Yan added that as a visual mark of distinction – just to make the design something more than a pure black cat. After that, I had the idea that Scruffy Bumps was once a white cat… but that someone murdered him by dipping him in a can of oil (paint?) – so that he turned black except where he was being held by the tail. Dark! I know. But he’s a horror cat. What do you expect?!

Let us know in the comments below what you think of Scruffy Bumps. Do you have ideas on how we might improve his legend? Let’s Crowd Design some more dark ideas! 

From Shanghai with Scruffy Bumps, 

-American

Dear Insane Children, 

A quick reminder that there will be a Live Stream in a few hours… 

And the best place to join is over on my Twitch Channel:

twitch.tv/americanmcgee 

If you miss the stream live or don’t have Twitch, you can also check it out live or view the post-stream recording over on YouTube: 

youtube.com/americanmcgeeofficial 

There will be PRIZES but you can’t win them if you’re watching on YouTube!

Today we will discuss the latest BD, art, and story developments on Alice: Asylum. 

We’ll also have a look at some Plushie Dreadfuls. 

And I’ll be terrible at Madness Returns. Again.

From Shanghai with Lava, 

-American

Dear Insane Children, 

All aboard! Or… all under-board? What do you call a train that rides… on you? Justice? 

That reminds me of one of those old “In Soviet Russia, trains ride you!” jokes. 

Anyway, we’ll ponder all this and more during the Live Stream later this week!

Live Stream Woo WOo!

The usual time and place. 7 PM on June 23rd if you’re in the USA (West Coast). 

And you can join via Twitch or YouTube… 

twitch.tv/americanmcgee 

or 

youtube.com/americanmcgeeofficial 

Though if you want to WIN PRIZES you better join via Twitch because… reasons. 

And, yeah, that latest image from Adam Narozanski is amazing! 

If you like pina colada’s and pushing men under trains… 

See you later this week! 

From Shanghai with The Man in the Moon, 

-American

Dear Insane Children,

Over the course of pre-production on Alice: Asylum we’ve frequently made reference to Shadow Alice, the arch-nemesis of Child Alice and the force of darkness threatening to destroy Wonderland. And we’ve also seen a variety of interpretations of this aspect of Alice’s character. A few of those are shared below… 

This burnt-face interpretation came from Joey (image above). 

As did this child-like version (image above). 

Harvest Dress images from Omri – not exactly Shadow Alice but… (two images above). 

These variations on the Harvest Dress (and visuals effects) could certainly scare you into thinking you’re looking at Shadow Alice (two images above). 

The main image (top of page) was sent by Alex today. He’s asking the art team to help establish a clear and consistent look-feel for Shadow Alice throughout the game. So he’s showing a potential progression from start to finish (going from left to right across the image). The left-most version is what we’d see reflected in the Dark Lookingglass at the start of the game. 

Crowd Design Time!

Which version is your favorite? Or do you have something else in mind. 

Things to remember about Shadow Alice:

First off, she’s the Alice you know best. Because she’s the Alice who you traveled with through “American McGee’s Alice” and “Alice: Madness Returns” – she’s the fighter, survivor, adventurer who made her way past all those obstacles, enemies, and boss encounters. 

Next, she’s the Shadow Self. But she’s also the dominant personality within Alice’s psyche.

Also, at this stage in the game, she’s in a form (age, size) closely resembling Adult Alice. Because she’s grown up alongside Alice and been through (guided?) everything Alice has been through. 

Lastly, she’s a little bit Rock & Roll, knives out, stilettoed boots, black mascara, … and for fun, she pushes guys under moving trains. 

Personally, of the images presented here, I like the floaty-hair, white-eyed, devil lady from Omri’s Harvest Dress sketches. But maybe we use those as a starting point for a new round of exploration? 

Let us know in the comments what YOU think!

From Shanghai with Black Goo,

-American 

Dear Insane Children, 

What is your favorite piece of dark or moody classical music?

As I am writing the end of the Alice: Asylum narrative, I am listening to a mix of Chopin and Beethoven – Nocturne No. 20 and Moonlight Sonata specifically. And I’m thinking about how music from these artists – and others of the era – might influence the soundtrack, theme, and mood of Alice: Asylum.

Let me know in the comments what pieces spring to mind when you think of the Alice series – keep in mind our story takes place in 1876 and Alice can online imagine music that she might have heard in the years prior.

We had an emphasis on cello music in Madness Returns – partly because it’s one of my favorite musical “voices,” partly because I myself play cello – but I think maybe we’ll focus on piano music for Asylum? There’s something more “mature” about the cello as a voice. And piano can, I think, better convey a child-like tone. Our main character in Asylum, young Alice, is only 13. Maybe piano is more her sound?

And here’s a new piece from Joey – I don’t think I’ve posted this before? – where we see Young Alice exploring the Memory Mines. 

Also, anyone else think Trent Reznor kinda looks like Frederic Chopin? Or is that just me?

Anyway, let us know in the comments what you think!

PS: This question DOES NOT mean we’re doing anything crazy with the direction of the music in Alice: Asylum nor that Chris Vrenna can’t be involved or anything like that. Influence for things like music comes from many places. Liking one thing does not mean we can’t have other things. 

From Shanghai with Grrr Face, 

-American

Dear Insane Children, 

Normally we’d have a Live Stream tomorrow at the usual time – we try to host them every other week. But I’d like to request that we skip this one. Why? Well, Yan is taking Lucky and Grandma on a short trip to nearby Suzhou. Martin is apartment hunting. And I am deep in Umbraland, sorting out the ending of the story for Alice: Asylum. If we skip the Live Stream tomorrow it means I can have a day on my own (alone!) to focus on writing. And Martin can continue his search for the next Font Manor. 

So… no live stream tomorrow! 

But we will be back next week on the 24th (23rd in the USA). 

In the meantime, our art team continues to crank out beautiful illustrations for the scenes we’re writing. The latest from Omri (main image, above) shows The Vale of Tears under the influence of Shadow Alice (Umbraland). 

Adam is working on an illustration capturing the moment Alice pushes Bumby under the train. This will be relived in the Memory Mines by Child Alice. It’s obviously a critical scene so there was a bit of discussion about which variation might be best… 

Let us know in the comments which is your favorite – A? B? C? or D?

And Joey is working on The Memory Tree – an important location in the Vale of Tears where all of Alice’s imagination springs forth. 

We can review all of this stuff – and maybe even have a narrative overview for review – when we do the next live stream. Yay! 

Oh… 

Shy Rabbit was launched over in the Mysterious Shop for those of you interested in her. 

You can check her out HERE. 

Jen and Yan are doing some really fun stuff for the upcoming Plushie Dreadfuls. Will share their design ideas soon. 

From Shanghai with Quiet Days Ahead, 

-American