Atomic Betty: Defending the Universe and Trying to Find a Home on TV
According to Bentley, "At Atomic we try and develop our shows in an open, 'everybody throw out some ideas' kind of environment. We all brainstormed the specific details and the final colors. One of our goals is to stay true to the 'classic' style of animation while combining it with today's sensibilities. We love the old UPA shows of the 1950s. We really wanted to use the Chuck Jones timing and we wanted to get a touch of anime, at least as far as the pacing during the action sequences." Casalese agreed: "I was heavily influenced by Chuck Jones. So many aspects of the designs that I did drew upon his stylings." Betty in many ways captures the spirit of Chuck Jones' famous daydreamer Ralph Phillips, who starred in the 1954 Academy Award-nominated short From A to Z-Z-Z-Z. In this cartoon, Ralph transforms his classroom into an imaginary arena of action and adventure, driving his teacher to distraction in the process. Bentley also recalled another feature of the character's design: "With Betty we combined two opposite personalities; one being a shy, reserved Earth girl, and the other her space alter ego, strong and confident." Casalese confided that: "Betty is based on a real person, but her identity will remain a secret."
The idea, however, was too good to keep secret for long.
Finding Strong Partners




Trevor Bentley (top left), Rob Davies (top right), Mauro Casalese (bottom left) and Olaf Miller: The Atomic Betty brain trust.
In a way, Phil Roman had much in common with Atomic Cartoons. He had also founded a new production company in 1999 (Phil Roman Entertainment) with an eye on developing new animated properties. Atomic's executive producer Samantha Daley remembers: "During one of our trips to Los Angeles we met with Phil Roman and showed him some artwork containing Betty. He was very intrigued and wanted more. We solidified a presentation pack and sent it off to him. We had a solid working relationship with Phil Roman prior to pitching the idea to him, having provided pre-production on several projects for Phil Roman Entertainment. Not only did he really like the work we provided, but he realized the quality of work Atomic Cartoons will always provide. After seeing the artwork and hearing the storyline he voiced his interest further, suggesting that we all work together on it. And thus we worked out a contract attaching Phil Roman as the executive producer on the show." Roman's credentials are impeccable. In 1985 he founded Film Roman, one of the world's foremost producers of TV animation. During his fourteen years with the company, Phil served as executive producer of The Simpsons, King of the Hill, and many of the popular Garfield specials; he was uniquely qualified to help prepare Atomic Betty for stardom.























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