Before "Team America" and "Robot Chicken" there was "Unspankable". I was watching Trey Parker & Matt Stone on Charlie Rose when they said that they had made filmed a sex scene with action figures thus somewhat inspiring their film Team America.

This makes me feel a little less weird about making a porno starring action figures. Often after seeing Unspankable someone will inform me that I have too much time on my hands or more often they will just look at me weird and stop talking to me for a while. I can't say I blame them. I'm a little worried about my own sanity. While making the short film I was constantly having waves of doubt as to whether this was anything other than just plain weird. My doubts were silenced the first time I showed it to a group of people. The unanimous reaction was absolute

pandemonium. I had to show it twice before the group of ten would quiet down. I was vindicated. Thank god. The alternative would have probably found me locked a padded room somewhere.

I have been collecting toys (G.I. Joe, Star Wars, Johnny West) for years and had already made several short films with action figures including "That 70's Matrix" (a 'The Matrix' spoof starring G.I. Joe, The Six Million Dollar Man, & Johnny West), "Blitzkrieg Europe" (a realistic re-creation of WWII news reels complete with pyrotechnics), "Dude, Where's My Toy Yoda?" (a Star Wars spoof featuring a combination of action figures and live action), and "Poop" (a story about an anatomically correct Pinnochio doll that has to pinch a loaf).

I performed all of the characters' voices and used

audio editing software to raise the pitch of my voice for the female characters. I must admit that it was a little bizarre when my wife woke up in the middle of the night and came into the studio to see what I was moaning and panting about. She didn't really get the concept ( like I said this was before Team America ) and just shook her head. I think she was worried that the man she had married had lost his marbles as well as his self respect. It wasn't until we watched it on Thanksgiving this past year with a room full of friends that she saw the value in it. The room was filled with laughter and several friends pleaded for copies of it insisting that they had to show it to other friends.

I am presently scripting a sequel that will be a grand saga incorporating nearly 200 action figures from Star Wars to The Fantastic Four. The working title is "The Tatooine Brokeback Fiction Massacre".