Shawn Smith of Shawnimals
For October’s feature, FOUR tweets with artist, creator and founder of Shawnimals, Shawn Smith. After nearly a decade he has grown hand sewn toys into a cultural movement within the art, licensing and gaming sector. To understand the Shawnimals world, each character lives within a community which revolves around a story such as his latest Mr. Fliggins series, Vampire Pants. Recently he showcased the Shawnimals brand with the first ever, Kid Robot’s Dunny series.
Original Interview Sept 17, 2009
mushiikloth - Hi Shawn! Thanks for spending your busy day
shawnimals - No problem, happy to be here.
mushiikloth – So lets get started, how should I address you an artist, toymaker…or businessman?
or all above
shawnimals – Ha! Well, depends on the day I guess, but all of the above works for me. At the end of the day, I like being a creative guy.
mushiikloth – n’ha! I shall call u Shawn lol, so u just had a show with @KidrobotRules for Dunny. Is this an annual event for you?
** My Kind Of Town, Rotofugi Gallery in Chicago, Illinois
September 25 – October 11, 2009 @ 7pm CST **
shawnimals – I’d like it to be 
But no, being part of the Dunny series is a first for me, and isn’t automatic.
In any case, we are very very excited to be a part of it.
mushiikloth – oh wow so this is a special series then! Where can you get a Shawnimals Dunny (if they r still in stock)? **
shawnimals - Definitely a special release. The Dunny series is a limited run, so eventually they’ll be out of stock… if not already.
mushiikloth – hopefully that will lead to another Dunny year Now, ur known for the Ninjatown series, is that ur most popular 2 date? **
shawnimals – Absolutely. NinjaTown has consistently been popular, maybe because of they’re Ninjas & more recently of course because of the DS game
Ninjatown is also our most developed world (or neck and neck with Professor Island). People realize that and get into the world
People can either enjoy it on a topical level, or they can dig deeper and see all of the details and hilarity
mushiikloth – now the Nintendo DS Ninjatown game, did they contact u or was this something you always saw in the future of Shawnimals?
shawnimals - I used to work in the gaming industry as a game reviewer (R.I.P. EGM) so because of that made some connections and talked games.
Fast forward to some friends at Pickle King Productions introduced us to Jeremy Pope and Southpeak and we worked out the deal
We then worked with @VenanEnt the game developer for almost a year on the game. They’re a great team & made an amazing game
mushiikloth – oh wow, so u where already tapped into the mindset of a gamer. So is it safe 2 say more games pitched for ur other series?
shawnimals - Games make sense so we always have that in mind. An NT game sequel is a no-brainer, but we have nothing to report at this time.
mushiikloth – so why ninjas? lol and for that matter what makes you come up with these characters? Because alot of them are pretty clever
- Pocket Ninja vs Pocket Devil
** Check Out The NinjaTown Series **
shawnimals - Thanks! We started with the original Wee Ninja in 03 as part of a smaller plush series. We liked the Ninja & kept brainstorming
We really continued developing it into 2005, and then as we moved into 06 and 07 it picked up a lot of momentum
Finally, humor is in a lot of what we do, so even the core idea behind the Wee Ninja is CUTE ASSASSIN. We really ran w/ it. 
Even though we make stuff here, in essence we’re a character design studio. As such we continue to develop characters & worlds.
mushiikloth – so with the WeeNinja http://bit.ly/jufjD, I’ve seen it everywhere & it appears 2 be licensed with a lot of ppl besides Nintendo
shawnimals – Not A LOT but we try to work with key players. SouthPeak for the DS game, Devil’s Due Pop for the Geeky Ninja and NT comic.
Also adFunture in the past, as well as @mimobot on our LOVE/HATE Ninja mimobot drives. We also like making our own stuff.
mushiikloth – so, u mentioned working for gamer review EGM, take me to the moment u realized Shawnimals is ur future
shawnimals – Sure: I left EGM in 2000 to continue my college degree. During that time studying painting, I saw some import plush and…
…loved them. I thought well these weird characters in my sketchbook aren’t bunnies or teddy bears & might work well as plush
That was in 2001, so we’ve been doing this a while!
I’ve always liked writing, but I loved making things and drawing, etc. So that’s pretty much when I knew. I needed to be visual
mushiikloth – now u mentioned make, a lot of the plushes are sewn, did u start off with a needle and thread or did you work with ppl?
shawnimals – Started with a needle & thread. The 1st few Shawnimals were hand-sewn, then my brother found a sewing machine at a garage sale.
Once I moved to the machine, I used it like a drawing tool basically sewing shapes on fabric that looked good as characters
We made everything by hand until 2006. My wife Jen, then two staffers and interns then we had some of the popular characters (Ninjas and moustaches) manufactured.
We live in a time when you can have a handmade, designer line, and a mass-produced line as well. And I can make studio art.
mushiikloth – u seem 2 be a pretty good businessman as well. 2001 & then boom? Or was there a lot of reworking and marketing before the boom?
shawnimals – Definitely a long time in the making, but most of all we love what we do. THAT comes through in our work. That’s why it’s loved
I used to fight the idea of being a businessman because I felt it was souless and anti-art, but that was silly and naive.
mushiikloth – oh wow, so this was a true labor of love. how many characters are now in the Shawnimals community?
Satellite View of Shawnimaland
shawnimals – HUGE labor of love. Over 400 characters in our world now.
mushiikloth – so what was ur big break for the Shawnimal brand?
shawnimals – We’ve kind of had a few: Daily Candy wrote us up in Dec 2002. Then we were mentioned in Ent Weekly thanks to Lupe [Fiasco] & New York Times in 07
We also owe a TON to our fans for spreading the word & always showing us love. We would be unknown w/o them & the internet
All of this stuff combined showed that we were the real deal and had some serious creativity and design behind our stuff
mushiikloth – so it seems than within 8yrs you’ve gotten a lot accomplished. Have you had a good team working with You?
shawnimals – The team is more recent. As we grew, like any business, we needed help. Sometimes that was outsiders, but then we brought on a couple of great people. Monte and Eric. Really creative, multi-talented guys. And of course ever-changing interns.
mushiikloth – so with all of these great things that resulted from love & hard work, what can be the icing or at least the greatest addition?
shawnimals – The DS game by far. Loving & playing games, and creating character and stories… seeing that in game form solidified so much.
It was surreal to get the production copy of the game & see everything come together. Games are the ultimate creative medium.
mushiikloth – what’s ur take on forgery? & artist integrity? Do the same rules apply for the toy world as in the graffiti world?
shawnimals – Absolutely. Death to biters! There’s no room for it. If it’s an honest mistake, so be it. But all too often people try to front
Mike Judge said it best when asked about Beavis and Butthead. It might be a simple, silly idea but he did it first.
mushiikloth – I think I have a new tagline lol gotta love Mike Judge
shawnimals - (sorry I had to pull out the Beavis and Butthead reference…) LOL!
mushiikloth – lol video games “now” seem to be the sure avenue instead of movies, cartoons? or dare I say a Professor Fliggins quiz game?
shawnimals - @pfliggins can go a lot of places next. Cartoons, games, books, etc. But yeah, games are very unique in what they do
Something about the combination of animation, interactivity, sound… When it’s done right, it’s an amazing thing.
mushiikloth – So last question, & once again thanks for spending time out of ur busy workday. Four things that keep Shawnimals possible & most of all fun
shawnimals - Let’s see… 1) Creativity 2) Humor 3) Hard work 4) Purpose
mushiikloth – any new shows for you this October or for the rest of 2009?
shawnimals – Yep, have a few things: Chicago show @rotofugi some customs including a giant Munny, and a mural for a store in Oak Park
But to be clear: Munny show is different than the Rotofugi show.
mushiikloth – Oh okay, I’ll be sure to make note when the event gets near for those in the Chicago area! Thanks so much shawn enjoy ur day!
shawnimals - Likewise!
******* End of Interview *******