EYRIE PRODUCTIONS, UNLIMITED proudly presents: NEON EXODUS EVANGELION BONUS THEATER!! [COMMERCIAL] [EXTERIOR DAY. Caption reads "EYRIE PRODUCTIONS COMMISSARY PATIO, 11:32 AM, FRIDAY". EVA-01, EVA-00 and the Third Angel sit around a table with cups of coffee, the remains of lunches on trays in front of them. EVA-01 is smoking a cigarette.] 00: Y'know, we don't get too much press, but when you get right down to it, we're the core of the show. 01 (gesturing with cigarette): That's right, and I for one think it's about time people recognized that fact. Is the title of the show "Neon Exodus A Bunch of Screwed-Up Kids"? No! It's "Neon Exodus" [points at chest] "EVANGELION". But does anybody ever want to interview us? Nooooo! 3RD ANGEL: At least you're in almost every episode, bright eyes. Me, I was practically a walk-on AND I got my arms ripped off. Not even any lines, although I was integral to the plot of the premiere episode, if I do say so myself. 00: Ah, I can't complain. The kids are great to work with. 01: Well, you're right there. That's another misconception I read a lot about. The truth is, this is the happiest set I've ever worked on. Everybody really likes each other. I just wish we kaiju-types could get a little more credit once in a while, is all. 00: Yeah. 3RD ANGEL: Mm-hmm. 01: Maybe we should form a union. ALL: ... Nah. [CAPTION: This is Evangelion. (E P U)] [END COMMERCIAL] INTERVIEW WITH THE WATERFOWL: A CONVERSATION WITH EVANGELION'S FAVORITE PENGUIN by Christina Lansing, "ShowBiz Deluxe" [I interviewed Sir Alistair Warden-King, better known to EVA fans of all persuasions as Pen-Pen, at his home in suburban London, shortly after production wrapped on season 2 of "Neon Exodus Evangelion" and Sir Alistair was able to return home.] Q. Thank you for allowing us to come into your home and share some time with you, Sir Alistair. A. Delighted to have you, my dear. Delighted. Q. Tell us how you originally got involved in "Evangelion". A. Quite by accident, really. It seems when Anno [Hideaki Anno, director of the original series "Neon Genesis Evangelion"] was getting ready to produce his series, the front office [at Gainax, where NGE was made] looked at the outline and said, "It's good, but it needs a funny animal of some kind." Well. Anno is a very jealous man, artistically, and he was furious that the studio would dictate something that was so obviously not part of his vision, so he agreed to find a funny animal, but he did on his terms. He decided that, rather than a dog or cat or something such as one might expect, he'd get something a bit more exotic. He asked [character designer Yoshiuki] Sadamoto to get him a penguin. We've established that Antarctica has been destroyed, so we'll have a penguin. I thought that was rather cleverly perverse of Anno. At any rate, Sadamoto immediately thought of my dear friend Joe Kingman, of 'Wallace & Gromit' fame, but Joe was busy with a promotional tour of the Low Countries and couldn't get away, so he referred them to me. Q. For a classically trained Shakespearean penguin, a series like "Evangelion" must have seemed like a real risk to take. A. I suppose so, but at my age [Sir Alistair is 68] one can afford to take a few risks. I was very intrigued by the outline Sadamoto sent me, and even though my part is fairly minor, I thought it was a worthwhile effort, and I had always wanted to visit Japan, so I signed on. It was worth it, if nothing else, for the opportunity it gave me to stretch my creative wings, so to speak. Q. How so? A. I had the opportunity to play a completely different kind of penguin, something I'd never tried before - in fact, I don't think anyone had ever tried it before. You see, Pen-Pen in Evangelion is a Macaroni penguin, whereas I myself am a King penguin. Q. ... Oh. It must have been difficult working for Anno when he didn't want your character on the show in the first place. A. I dare say it would have been difficult working for Anno had my character been his favorite son. Don't mistake me - he's a very dedicated artist and a top-notch professional, but by his very dedication he can be a bit... well... intense. Q. What about the well-publicized feud between Anno and Misato Katsuragi? Word has it that by the end of the series they weren't even speaking except through their agents. A. You'd have to ask one of them about that, I'm afraid. Anno was my employer and I still work with Misato, so, well, one owes a bit of discretion. Q. Rumor has it you weren't very happy with the direction the series took toward the end, yourself. A. Well, since this speaks to my -own- opinions, I can answer it: I wasn't. I thought it wound up being terribly dark and nihilistic. I don't think I would have done "Neon Exodus Evangelion" except that Gryphon [NXE director Ben "Gryphon" Hutchins] promised me he was taking a different line. Q. Given the firestorm of international controversy* sparked by that directorial difference of opinion, I think it'd be safest if we avoid that topic and move on... A. Oh, I agree. I'm sick to death of the whole subject, to be frank. Q. With the worldwide success of "Evangelion" in all its forms, are you worried about type-casting? Every time we see you, you're playing a comedy penguin, after all. A. I get asked that a lot, but really it doesn't concern me. You see most of my really successful work has been on the stage; television and film has really always been a sideline for me. And on the stage I certainly haven't any worries over typecasting. During my time with the Royal Shakespeare I was actually knighted for my Lear, you know. Q. Who are the greatest influences in your work? A. There are so many! My hero, of course, has to be the incomparable William Emperor Barrett, better known to Americans as Chilly Willie. He was the pioneer, the innovator. He opened the door for penguins in show business, and for that I and my colleagues - Larry Watson-Ross, the Bud Ice penguin, and Joe Kingman, of course, to name just a couple - must be eternally grateful. I actually had the opportunity to work with Willie, briefly, toward the end of his career, and he was a -wonderful- chap, as well as a simply brilliant physical comedian. Q. What draws penguins to comedic roles? A. Oh, we're natural comedians. I never met a penguin without a terrific sense of humor. We're just inherently funny people. I've always wanted to work on an all-penguin production, not just to advance the cause [Sir Alistair is a champion for penguins' rights], but because I think it would be a tremendously fun project to work on. Shoot a few scenes, have some fish, go out and slide around on the ice for a while; it doesn't get any better than that. Although some of my non-penguin co-stars on NXE are quite adept at the ice-sliding thing themselves. Q. There -have- been rumors of some strange goings-on at the Eyrie studios lately. A. Well. I probably shouldn't tell you this, but it's easier to get forgiveness than permission. It happens that they're shooting an Undocumented Features piece - part of the 'Twilight' arc, I believe - on the stage complex neighboring our Geo-Front set. Tremendous thing, giant setup for some kind of arctic war scene. Snow and ice as far as the eye can see, it's just wonderful. One night a few of us sneaked over there and did what I can only describe as a bit of cavorting. I can only wonder what the 'Twilight' crew thought of all the slide trails and such when they went back the next morning... Q. It's a fun series to work on, then? A. Marvelous, marvelous. Of course most of us know each other from the Japanese EVA series, but the new people have blended into the cast so well that it's just like being back home again. [He looks around at the comfortable sitting room.] Although I must admit, at my age there's nothing like the real thing. Q. Thank you for your time, Sir Alistair. A. Oh, not a bit of it, thank you. I've had a lovely time. /* J.P. Sousa "The Liberty Bell" */ NEON EXODUS EVANGELION BONUS THEATER!! was conceived, written and performed by Ben Hutchins John Trussell Rei Ayanami Asuka Soryu-Langley DJ Croft Jon Ellison Gendou Ikari Ritsuko Akagi Maya Ibuki Misato Katsuragi and featured Pen-Pen as himself and Sir Alec Guinness as the voice of Pen-Pen * I can call it that. I got flamed by a guy in China. --G. (c) 1998 E P U (Colour)