Just a boy and his toys
Seth Green has the job you always wanted.
He has free rein to play with toys for a living. He makes silly voices. He mocks celebrities, world leaders, even Biblical figures while tapping his seemingly bottomless reservoir of pop-culture knowledge.
And he earns good money and fans’ adoration.
Since childhood, Green, 34, has traveled a roundabout career path, leading to lots of different cool jobs. But “Robot Chicken” – a kooky, stop-motion-animated sketch-comedy cast with dolls and action figures – has blossomed from a sort of side venture to a showcase for his myriad skills.
It premiered in 2005 on Cartoon Network’s late-night Adult Swim (where its 15-minute segments continue to air), with Green juggling several balls as a creator, producer, director, writer and performer. Filming has just begun on the 20-episode fourth season.
“It all began as just this crazy experiment,” he says, “and it’s become something I love so much.”
The characters on “Robot Chicken” are mostly off-the-shelf dolls and action figures modified, often painstakingly, for the camera. They’re familiar to viewers, but also laughably transformed when given cinematic life.
Or, as Green puts it, “Because they are toys, there’s just a bit of disassociation.”
“Robot Chicken,” of course, isn’t the only item on Green’s to-do list.
It also includes TV and movie appearances as well as other film projects he’s developing, plus the couple of hours per month he spends voicing Chris Griffin, the deranged teen on Fox’s animated hit “Family Guy.”
These days, he’s busy promoting what, thus far, is probably the crowning achievement for “Robot Chicken.”
A year ago, its half-hour “Star Wars” spoof aired. Now this twisted yet startlingly faithful homage is out on DVD, just days after being nominated for an Emmy.
“We love to emphasize the mundane in the extraordinary,” Green says, “and ‘Star Wars’ was perfect for that.
“You have something that’s intergalactic, and yet there’s got to be some textural machinations of day-to-day business: How can you run an industry that large without paperwork? And where are the bathrooms?”
His mastery of “Star Wars” lore (which will help inspire another batch of sketches for a second “Star Wars” special, airing in November) is based more on the films’ product line than the films, Green says.
“I’ve only seen ‘Empire’ maybe 10 times, the original ’Star Wars’ maybe four or five times,” he says. “But I was cuh-razy about those toys. That’s why I know the names of even the super-obscure characters. I know their names and can describe their outfits.
“I had Boba Fett and Barbie go out on a date once – my 12-inch Boba Fett and my sister’s Barbie,” he recalls.
And who could fault Fett for being smitten?
“It’s hard to resist her,” says Green, grinning impishly.
The birthday bunch
Cartoonist Jim Davis (“Garfield”) is 63. Actress Linda Kelsey (“Lou Grant”) is 62. Actress Sally Struthers is 60. Actress Georgia Engel is 60. Actor Michael Hayden (“Murder One”) is 45. Actress Elizabeth Berkley is 36. Singer Afroman is 34.