Greetings Hawk-tropicans! This is Giant Hawk speaking, and I’ve got some spooky news for all of you.
Over the course of the past few days, the Poptropica Creators have been releasing early concept sheets from some of their eeriest islands on their Twitter. So let us journey together, if you dare, into the world of the initial and the uncanny…
Our first concept art is from the early stages of Vampire’s Curse. And as someone who loves the creepy architecture of this island, I must say – this sheet is pretty great! I find it interesting, however, that it is listed as Dracula’s castle…
Our next piece hails from Ghost Story, and appears to be a preliminary representation of Prisoner 24601’s jail cell. Maybe it’s just the color and shading, but I think this is my favorite of these concept pieces. The eerie message is a nice touch too.
Next, here is an early sketch from Monster Carnival. Clearly, what we’re seeing here is some original character models for the Monster Duck Hunt Carnie. I do like his current form the best, but seeing these other possible appearances of this creature is fascinating. Which form is your favorite? Comment below with your opinion!
Now here’s a little something extra for you! Here we have some concept art from Great Pumpkin, which depicts the early days of a few of this island’s mini-games. To be specific, we have ‘Find the Biggest Pumpkin’, which takes up most of this art, and ‘Apple Bobbing’. I do love both of these games, so it does intrigue me to see their humble beginnings.
On Halloween, the Creators tweeted several sketches from the spooky-themed islands of Vampire’s Curse, Great Pumpkin, Ghost Story, and Monster Carnival respectively.
So there we go! Whether or not the Creators decide to post any more of these (update: they have, and they’ve been added to this post) I must say they are all visual treats. But most importantly, they help us fans peer into the making of these islands and assist us in really beginning to appreciate the work that goes into each one. And for that alone, I sincerely believe that they are worth our viewing time.
Until next time…
– – Giant Hawk
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Great first official post, GH! 😀 The sketches are pretty cool. Interestingly, Count Bram (who owns the castle in Vampire’s Curse) is a reference to Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula.
Figured that out while playing the island. The Creators didn’t probably want to go all in-your-face with the vampires, so they toned it down and made “Dracula” “Count Bram,” and it was subtle enough for some people (like you and me) to notice. They made the name how I like my puns: subtle
Part of the reason they wanted to change the name, I feel, is because the Creators wanted to go a direction with the character that doesn’t really fit Dracula’s well known character.
Good point 😛
I love that book! I don’t like Mary Shelley’s “Frakenstein,” though. My favorite version of the duck guy is either the squid or sea horse. Mostly the squid, since it reminds me of Squid Hair (a comedy anime which I love) and it has a mustache!! And GH, I must agree, my brother in arms, fellow Musketeer, that the Ghost Story artwork is the most eerie and likeable piece.