So March Break 2016 wraps up and I'm at the Chapters Store by the Mic Mac Mall helping out with Hal-Con's "Invasion,” and raising money for Kids Help Phone and stuff. Awesome, always happy to do it. But then while I was there, somebody has to go and show me, the book. It's a book called "The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend," written by some guy named Dan Santat and published in 2014. The thing seems cute and innocent enough, but here's the thing. Take a look at the cover and see if you recognize anything:
I suppose it's just a coincidence, but there is no way that that isn't one of my people. I could've been ok with this. If Santat had been honest about his inspiration for Beekle, thrown a bit of cash my way for use of my people's likeness, we'd have been cool. I mean, there's no doubt about it. That's an Adipose. It literally can't possibly be anything else. Unless you ask Dan Santat.
The way Santat tells it, he went through this big long process of developing Beekle. Drawing inspiration from his kid and other different places, he outlined on his tumblr the whole process using big long words so he could sound super smart. I got three words for Dan Santat:
Bull. Fucking. Shit.
The Adventures of Beekle came out in 2014. My people first showed up on Doctor Who in 2008. So basically Dan Santat expects people to believe that he went past multiple designs that were more complicated to draw, but clearly original, in favor of an easy to draw knock off for his final creation. Really?! He expects people to believe that for SIX YEARS, pretty much the entire publishing process, not once did ANYONE (assistants, lawyers, quality control people at the publisher) go "Hey Dan, this story is great, but the design you gave us for the main character is going to be a bit of a problem. It looks an awful lot like an alien from this popular tv show..." Really?! At no point did they get a call from the BBC saying that they'd ripped off one of their copyrights for the book? REALLY?!
Obviously this isn't the first time this has happened. I mean, my people are merchandise machines!
There's Beekle, the Gudetama (that sentient egg yolk thing that, let's be honest, is a yellow Adipose. I've seen sentient egg yolks. That isn't what they look like), the list goes on and on. Our image gets used in random appearances as random creatures on a pretty regular basis. That small adorable alien thing you saw in the back of a panel of your favorite comic book? Probably one of us.
You know what? I honestly could be ok with this to. It's like you humans say, "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," and obviously it's flattering when humans recognize the benefits of my people. I'm ok with that. But you know what I'm not ok with? Not being given credit. Not getting my cut. You wanna use my people to sell your product? Base your story's main creature around our image? Alright cool, show some respect and ask permission to use our likeness!
When World Wrestling Entertainment (then Federation) wanted to launch a guy by the name of Terry Bollea into superstardom, they had to pay Marvel comics a fair bit of money. Why? Because Marvel already owned the rights to three quarters of "The Incredible Hulk Hogan" and flattery doesn't pay bills. If I use any of Senpai's photos in my own work? I make God damn sure humans know whose work it is!! It's not that hard a concept! Again, go ahead and use my people's likeness to sell your products. We're cool with it, just admit to doing it!
The funny thing here, after all is said and done, is the book's title. The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend. It just screams "irony” doesn't it? A book called The Unimaginary Friend that centers on the least imaginary character imaginable. Again, unless you ask Dan Santat.
The way Santat tells it, he went through this big long process of developing Beekle. Drawing inspiration from his kid and other different places, he outlined on his tumblr the whole process using big long words so he could sound super smart. I got three words for Dan Santat:
Bull. Fucking. Shit.
The Adventures of Beekle came out in 2014. My people first showed up on Doctor Who in 2008. So basically Dan Santat expects people to believe that he went past multiple designs that were more complicated to draw, but clearly original, in favor of an easy to draw knock off for his final creation. Really?! He expects people to believe that for SIX YEARS, pretty much the entire publishing process, not once did ANYONE (assistants, lawyers, quality control people at the publisher) go "Hey Dan, this story is great, but the design you gave us for the main character is going to be a bit of a problem. It looks an awful lot like an alien from this popular tv show..." Really?! At no point did they get a call from the BBC saying that they'd ripped off one of their copyrights for the book? REALLY?!
Obviously this isn't the first time this has happened. I mean, my people are merchandise machines!
There's Beekle, the Gudetama (that sentient egg yolk thing that, let's be honest, is a yellow Adipose. I've seen sentient egg yolks. That isn't what they look like), the list goes on and on. Our image gets used in random appearances as random creatures on a pretty regular basis. That small adorable alien thing you saw in the back of a panel of your favorite comic book? Probably one of us.
You know what? I honestly could be ok with this to. It's like you humans say, "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," and obviously it's flattering when humans recognize the benefits of my people. I'm ok with that. But you know what I'm not ok with? Not being given credit. Not getting my cut. You wanna use my people to sell your product? Base your story's main creature around our image? Alright cool, show some respect and ask permission to use our likeness!
When World Wrestling Entertainment (then Federation) wanted to launch a guy by the name of Terry Bollea into superstardom, they had to pay Marvel comics a fair bit of money. Why? Because Marvel already owned the rights to three quarters of "The Incredible Hulk Hogan" and flattery doesn't pay bills. If I use any of Senpai's photos in my own work? I make God damn sure humans know whose work it is!! It's not that hard a concept! Again, go ahead and use my people's likeness to sell your products. We're cool with it, just admit to doing it!
The funny thing here, after all is said and done, is the book's title. The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend. It just screams "irony” doesn't it? A book called The Unimaginary Friend that centers on the least imaginary character imaginable. Again, unless you ask Dan Santat.
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