Disney Junior PJ Masks Director Christian De Vita talks to Con and Fin

Disney Junior PJ Masks Director Christian De Vita talks to Con and Fin

Why did you choose an Owl, Gekko and a Cat? (Fin age 6)

The choices were made by the author of the original books, Romuald Cioppo. He came up with the whole idea of the characters being superheroes at night and having the powers of a cat, an owl and a lizard. The differences between the characters makes them unique and together they form an unbeatable team.

Who was your favourite super hero when you were a kid and why did you like them? (Con age 8)

When I was young my favourite was Spiderman. When I grew up I started to like Batman and the Flash more, but in my childhood through to my teens I preferred Spiderman because he was just a kid like me. Peter Parker gets his powers when he’s just a teen and still going to school, so he had to manage being a superhero while still finishing his homework on time or having to deal with school bullies or trying to get a date. It made it feel more part of a world I knew. Also I always liked spiders even as a child… I was often in my garden looking for a radioactive spider for a friend!

Why did you make it about PJs? (Fin age 6)

There’s something magical about nighttime, when you close your eyes and go to sleep anything can happen in your dreams. We wanted to take this idea one step further and create a fantasy world where normal daytime rules don’t apply and your PJs have the power to turn you into a superhero. I think Romuald had this in mind when he wrote the books.

If you could be one of the PJ Mask characters for a day – goodies or baddies who would you be and why? (Con age 8)

I would like to be Catboy so I could go at super speed, finish all my work early and have the rest of the day off. I’d then run superfast any place I wanted to go to.

How did you make Owlette’s eyes red and do the super powers? (Fin age 6)

The red eyes are a special effect we apply when all the animation is finished. It’s a process of animation called VFX, in which we place over the animation an animated shape, then we make it glow and we blur it a little until we have the effect we want. We think it looks pretty cool.

Will the baddies ever win in an episode of PJ Masks? (Con age 8)

Ha Ha – They can keep on trying but our PJ Masks superhero team work so well together that I think they will always manage to save the day!

What power would you like when you put your PJs on? (Fin age 6)

The power to stop my wife from snoring. Or the power to fly… I’m not decided yet!

I’d like to be a PJ Mask character – how did you choose the Kidz that play them? (Con age 8)

Choosing the right actor for the role took some time. First we listen to several recordings from child actors given to us by different agencies. When we have made a shortlist we invite them to read for the character in a recording studio, and these recordings go to the broadcaster, the producers and myself. We then discuss our favourites and a decision is made. I think we absolutely picked the right voices for each character- all our actors are amazing and help bring Catboy, Owlette, Gekko, Night Ninja, Romeo and Luna Girl to life.