Talking Miikshi with Puppet Series Creators Lindsay and Justin T. Lee
By Yvonne Villasenor
Miikshi is a STEM-themed children’s series that follows a genius sheep who loves science, going on adventures with her best friends, and her much cherished quiet time. Whether she’s saving the world with a new invention or simply standing up for herself, Miikshi always provides inspiring lessons that promote learning.
The action-adventure show is a TVOkids original series co-produced by Gazelle Automations and Shaftesbury Kids and the show was supported by the Shaw Rocket Fund. Each episode is seven minutes long and jam-packed with action, entertainment, and cuteness that viewers of all ages will love!
Jump To Section
- Thunderbirds Meets Lamb Chop in Miikshi
- Imagining the Miikshi World
- Creating the Miikshi Characters
- Building Miikshi’s Adventurous, All-terrain Vehicles
- Making Mibukiville
- Using Tactile Art in Storytelling and Filmmaking
- Filmmakers Lindsay and Justin Lee’s Advice to Young Creators
(Two passionate puppeteers: Justin T. Lee with Chickelyna and Lindsay Lee with Miikshi.)
The creators behind this fun, educational show are Stan Winston School of Character Arts students, Lindsay and Justin T. Lee! The wife-and-husband team completely immersed themselves in creating the Miikshi universe. Lindsay is the showrunner, lead performer, and puppet builder for the main characters. Additionally, she contributed to some of the model building. Justin is the director, a puppeteer, and visual effects supervisor. He also built sets and worked on post-production. Each of them and all of their talented team members dabble in doing just about everything it takes to make the show.
Miikshi was partly inspired by Lindsay’s shy, introverted childhood experiences. According to the Miikshi website, her hope is “that today’s shy kids can relate to Miikshi and feel good about being themselves, even if they do it quietly.”
SWSCA co-founder Matt Winston chatted with Lindsay and Justin to discuss all things Miikshi — from inspiration and advice to character, miniature, and set builds.
Thunderbirds Meets Lamb Chop in Miikshi
(The Miikshi crew featuring Dr. Crumpet, Miikshi, and Mayor Percy Diem.)
Lindsay and Justin first became fascinated with puppet-making, set building, and storytelling when they were kids. Their mutual passion for practical effects is what led them on their journey to create a sci-fi-action kids show of their very own.
“When you are exposed to practical effects in [movies like The Terminator and Jurassic Park] when you're little, there is something even a kid's brain can kind of feel — it's tactile, physical, you can feel the warmth from that,” Justin says. “The other thing that I grew up on was: they were rerunning Thunderbirds in Canada when I was a kid. Every single thing on screen — the characters, the models, and the backgrounds — everything was made. You could feel that it was all real.”
Lindsay grew up watching Canadian kid shows that often used hand puppets, like Lamb Chop’s Play-Along.
“I had this obsession with that show, with Shari Lewis, and the way that she performed the characters. I've always been into anthropomorphic animals. That's always really spoken to me,” she says. “So, combining that with more of a Thunderbirds’ style model and miniature world was sort of the genesis of Miikshi itself.”
Imagining the Miikshi World
(Early sketches of Miikshi, Chickelyna, and JJ by Justin.)
Prior to Miikshi, Lindsay and Justin worked on Thunderbirds: The Anniversary Episodes for ITV in the UK in 2015. There, they learned puppet and miniature filming techniques.
“We were working with people who worked on the original show, and we were also working with some really crazy-talented makers,” Justin says.
One of those makers was puppeteer and special effects artist Richard Gregory (Terrahawks, Doctor Who, The Dark Knight). Gregory was not only a mentor but someone who became a friend.
“He would teach the two of us — because we were building puppets and building props and things — he would show us how to do things in a way that just gave us the confidence that we could do it,” Justin says. “It was just something about how he had all these skills, and then he would show us and then say, ‘Now, you can do it.’ And then we thought, ‘Well, sure, we can do it!’”
After finishing the project and returning to Canada, Lindsay and Justin continued talking about creating Miikshi — an idea the two had frequently discussed wanting to pursue.
“When my mom passed away in 2016, both of us talked about how a big life event kind of makes you rethink, ‘What do we want to do?’” Lindsay says. “And we thought, ‘We really want to do this. We really want to just actually make Miikshi.’”
So Justin, who was working in advertising as a VFX artist, and Lindsay, who was working in book publishing, quit their day jobs to set up shop in the back of a pizza shop to bring Miikshi to life.
(Lindsay and Miikshi hanging out together on set.)
“We were in the back room of a little, tiny pizza shop where it was hot because the oven was so close to us,” Justin recalls. “And that's where we started making Miikshi — the back of a pizza shop where our landlord would be walking through the shot with pizza.”
Lindsay and Justin made five pilot episodes of Miikshi — which they now call short films — in the pizza shop. They would stay in the back of the shop for a year and a half before relocating to a larger studio space.
The duo shopped Miikshi around to broadcasters and production companies. Soon after, they landed with a Canadian production company, where their dream of distribution for their show would officially come true starting with 10-episodes.
Creating the Miikshi Characters
(Chickelyna pedals away to generate power during a power outage in Mibukiville Harbour.)
Miikshi stars anthropomorphic animal characters who each add their own charm to the series. The show is not only a nod to Lamb Chop, but also to Jim Henson — specifically, Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas.
Justin describes the characters as “somewhere between a puppet and a fully realistic animal.”
“Kermit the Frog is clearly very cartoony-looking, very kind of caricature,” he explains. “The Emmet Otter puppets didn’t quite look like puppets, and they didn’t quite look like real animals. That’s kind of where we said, ‘That’s what we want to aim for.’”
The characters on Miikshi include:
- Miikshi (sheep)
- Chickelyna (chicken)
- Gord (spaniel)
- Dr. Crumpet (hamster)
- Mayor Percy Diem (pig)
- Tiger Mercer (tiger)
Before Miikshi, Lindsay says the only puppets she had ever built were simple cloth hand puppets. But she had a certain look in mind for Miikshi that would require a foam understructure.
(Justin's sketch of Miikshi's head from all angles.)
“We were thinking about the aesthetic of Miikshi, and Justin had done some preliminary drawings of the size and the shape of the head,” Lindsay says. “Miikshi’s head is kind of a diamond shape … that shape is not something that you can achieve with fabric and cloth alone. You need something stronger underneath.”
Lindsay wanted to emulate Jim Henson’s foam puppet style, but she had never done it before.
“This is where the Stan Winston School really comes in,” she says. “...I signed up for the Stan Winston School and watched the Hand and Rod Puppet course series with BJ Guyer. I must have watched that 10 times in total. Sometimes, to this day, when I’m working on other stuff, I still refer to it … I couldn’t have done it without it.”
(Miikshi's early test head with eye whites, later removed.)
Lindsay says she followed Guyer’s patterns exactly to make her very first foam puppet. Along the way, she learned:
- What type of foam worked best
- How to pattern with foam
- How to work with Barge cement
(Baa-hind the scenes shot of Miikshi between takes.)
After completing the test puppet, Miikshi herself would be Lindsay's second-ever foam puppet. Miikshi went through several iterations and is described by Lindsay as her “messiest” puppet. Though we would note that Miikshi seems very put together for a shy, sheep scientist who’s constantly saving the day!
After making Miikshi, Lindsay incorporated various puppet styles with the other characters.
(Lindsay getting her favorite journalist Chickelyna ready for camera.)
For example, Miikshi’s best friend, journalist Chickelyna, was simply and carefully constructed with a big round ball shape for her head.
Gord, Miikshi’s spaniel assistant, is not foam fabricated, but rather, a simple cloth hand puppet. Gord wasn’t originally intended to be a part of the Miikshi cast, but due to the amount of love he received on social media, he earned himself a spot on the show!
(Dr. Crumpet holding a balloon...about to talk about how great he is.)
Dr. Crumpet, Miikshi’s rival, was a last-minute build inspired by BJ Guyer’s course covering head patterns. Lindsay says she adopted that pattern as her template that she would make modifications to for each puppet. Dr. Crumpet’s triangular head and appearance is inspired by office workers and poindexters from the 1960s, right down to his bowl cut hairstyle.
Grace Braniff built Mibukiville's ex-movie star Mayor, Percy Diem. Lindsay and Justin gave this peppy pig his name after their cameraman said the expression on his face made him look like he was just there for his per diem!
(Miikshi's robot, 58, under construction.)
58 is Miikshi’s robot. Justin sketched 58's design and frequent collaborator, Ben Craig, built it. The robot character was primarily 3-D printed to appear identical to Justin’s drawing. 58 is a special character whose name pays homage to Lindsay’s mother who passed away before they made the show. Lindsay used her mother’s birthday of December 31, 1958, and includes the numbers from those dates in other places in the show (e.g. on the tail of the Hay Ewe). It was Lindsay’s mother who fueled her passion for Lamb Chop as a kid. Her mother’s passing, Lindsay says, was “the impetus” behind making Miikshi in the first place.
Other characters on the show were collaborative builds and only four had to be rented due to Lindsay and Justin running out of puppets and needing more.
Miikshi incorporates a variety of approaches and styles in its puppet characters, giving each puppet its own distinct appearance and personality.
Building Miikshi’s Adventurous, All-terrain Vehicles
(The crew in the Hay Ewe.)
Miikshi is a scientist who invents practical (and stylish) vehicles. These brilliant vehicles are a highlight of the show, especially Miikshi's Hay Ewe jet plane.
But it almost wasn't part of the show, Justin reveals.
“[The Hay Ewe] wasn’t even going to be in the show originally,” he says. “We were in discussions with TVO, and they said, ‘What if we added a bit more action to the show?’ and then we were like, ‘What if she had a rocket jet plane that took off from her roof?’”
(Prepare for blastoff!)
Justin wanted the Thunderbirds-inspired Hay Ewe to function just like those marvelous spaceship models from the 1960s. That style was perfect for any action moment in the show. Justin conceptualized certain aspects of the rocket jet plane after looking at farm equipment. The final design combined the look of the ‘60s Thunderbirds, The Jetsons jet plane, and a tractor.
The cockpit area, in particular, recalls a 1950s John Deere tractor, as do the exposed gubbins on the side, and the tool wheel on the front, with grain silos inspiring the engine hubs. The Hay Ewe was 3-D printed by Richard Ashton and partly constructed using an Airfix girder bridge kit that was also used in the 1960s on Thunderbirds.
(The Hay Ewe: from concept to reality.)
For the Cosmic Silo, Justin wanted to create a grain silo as a rocketship. He and Lindsay were inspired by the way Wallace and Gromit would “take something ordinary and put a crazy spin on it.” Justin based his sketch on the appearances of both a grain silo and a 1960s rocketship. Ben Craig built the model.
“The other big vehicles that we built were the barrowcars that drive through town, and even through the water, because they’re amphibious,” Justin says.
(Weathered amphibious barrowcars, as seen in episode 4: "Crime is a Drag.")
Justin and Lindsay initially thought they should try making the barrowcars out of fiberglass, but then went with polyurethane resin-cast parts with the top part vacuum-formed so that you could have see-through windows. The barrowcars also had working headlights and individual sponge suspension on all wheels of the vehicle — which Justin says was, again, heavily inspired by Thunderbirds. All action shots using any kind of vehicle on Miikshi were done by pulling the models on tungsten wires.
The Hay Ride Transit is mostly made out of styrene sheets. Justin says the idea dated back to their days at the pizza shop. Lindsay and Justin are both fans of public transit, and always envisioned Mibukiville would have a subway. So they found a way to advocate for public transit in the show by having Miikshi ride the subway!
(Filming the subway station.)
The look of the Hay Ride Transit was based on ‘50s tractors and was built by Thunderbirds set builder and model maker Hilton Fitzsimmons. Fitzsimmons cut out all the windows and did the rub-on transfers. While the subway may appear to be large on the show, it’s actually a miniature. Lindsay and Justin weathered it and filmed it with a wide angle lens and at 120 frames per second to make it seem larger.
When it comes to filmmaking, you can use just about anything to make something. This was certainly the case for 58’s pirate ship. Soo Hon Kim built it by taking a piece of styrofoam and gluing a whole bunch of popsicle sticks to it. Knowing that Justin, like Kim, was a huge fan of The Simpsons, Kim added purple drapes to the ship, just as Ned Flanders would have done.
Making Mibukiville
(The Mibukiville miniature skyline.)
Mibukiville is a town with an aesthetic that is best described by Lindsay as “Tokyo meets farm.”
The skyline seen in the Mibukiville establishing shots was made with a combination of paper, model kit parts, and laser-cut parts. To create the lake in front of the town, Lindsay and Justin filled a large storage tub with water. Then, they draped a piece of canvas between the edge of the set and the edge of the tub. From there, they dressed it model-train-style using chinchilla dust, tempera paint, and powder to make it look like a sandy, rocky shore.
(Modelmaker Jeffrey Mackey filling the Mibukiville skyline lake.)
For establishing shots, the exterior of Miikshi’s modern apartment building was made out of paper and hardboard. They describe the process beginning with Justin’s sketches, then a basic shape laser cut, with painting, weathering, and other finishing touches added to give it character. A friend made tiny planters from pieces of paper and gathered weeds from outside to stick into the planters, creating a nice detail for the building's exterior.
(Lindsay weathering the interior of Miikshi's apartment.)
David Tremont, a senior model maker at WETA Workshop and a Thunderbirds colleague, told Lindsay and Justin how broken pieces on set tell a story. They applied his advice to make everything seem more authentic with painting and weathering. They used clear plastic for the windows. And since every story of the apartment has a balcony, they made drapes out of accordioned tissue paper and put lights behind them. As for the show’s overall lighting scheme, the duo says that’s all thanks to Jeffrey Mackey.
Crumpet Laboratories was designed by friend Robert Findlay, whose aesthetic is described by Lindsay and Justin as “industrial,” “dystopian,” and also somehow “cute.” Dele Nuga built the miniature.
(Animator Dele Nuga assembles the Crumpet Laboratories miniature.)
Lindsay and Justin love making miniatures because it incorporates the same techniques used to create an elaborate, full-scale environment — without all the tedious set building.
But even building miniatures can be more labor-intensive than is necessary. “When people build a model railroad at home, you do detailing on every nook and cranny that you can see," Justin says, "The thing that's so cool about shooting miniatures, especially in an establishing shot, is that you only have to dress to what the camera sees. There's a bunch of areas with nothing there.”
(Jeffrey Mackey preparing to shoot street shots.)
Lindsay and Justin also learned forced perspective from veteran special effects artist Brian Johnson (Thunderbirds, Alien, The Empire Strikes Back). Johnson visited the set of Thunderbirds one day and recommended ways they could push the apparent depth of their shots using forced perspective techniques.
“With the Crumpet Laboratories miniature, we were really trying to do that with big rocks and big details at the front, then really small buildings in the background,” Justin says.
Using Tactile Art in Storytelling and Filmmaking
(Lindsay with a clay Dr. Crumpet maquette and Justin with Chickelyna.)
When it comes to creating magical realms of their own, Lindsay and Justin revel in making real-life objects seemingly come to life on screen.
“Thunderbirds was made in the ‘60s, and it ran several times between then and now, and kids of every generation responded to it the same way going, ‘My toys are alive on screen,’” Lindsay continues. “I think that’s the feeling people get when they see miniatures. It’s so cool to see a real thing that you could play with. It’s quite an immersive experience watching miniatures. But there’s obviously also a time and a place for CG.”
(Lindsay constructing a test foam head.)
Using tactile art in filmmaking and storytelling clearly has a special place in Justin and Lindsay's hearts. “A thing we talk about a lot is how we want to spend our lives as artists,” Lindsay says. “Do we want to spend them in front of a computer? Sometimes. Then there’s — even from a crew perspective or creation perspective — something really nice about working with your hands and actually building something.”
Lindsay and Justin say the type of art — physical or digital — can even affect the energy of the crew. They explain that there is a palpable feeling of excitement when you’re able to handle real props and dress the set versus being on a blue screen or green screen stage.
“When you do this type of filmmaking, it’s so communal, there’s no way you can’t talk to people, or play a loud stereo so everyone’s listening to the same song," Justin says. "You’re building stuff together and you come up with a little in-joke about something you’re sticking on the set.”
(Clockwise from top left: Ben Craig assembles the Hay Ewe hangar, Grace Braniff and Ben Craig work on Mibukiville building facades, Soo Hon Kim builds a barrowcar interior, and Jeffrey Mackey puts the finishing touches on Miikshi's science table.)
Lindsay believes this kind of storytelling is why broadcasters responded to their idea. “I think what they responded to is the knowledge that Miikshi is going to stand out, especially in the realm of kids’ television nowadays,” she says. “This is going to look original. This is going to pop and feel different.”
Having built up their skills in the practical crafts, Lindsay and Justin knew if they built the set physically versus via CG, the physical version will still look good on camera 10 years later.
“It’s a very difficult thing to make something that’s digital really sell as photographically real, especially something fantastical like the stuff in our show,” Justin says. “So, while we do mix CG in with it sometimes, it’s not realistic for us to think that we can make something and honestly compete with big studios that have dozens of CG modelers and animators. We can, however, invest ourselves into making something physical, photographing it, and using it.”
Filmmakers Lindsay and Justin Lee’s Advice to Young Creators
(Miikshi in space, from episode 9: "In the Heat of the Moment.")
Lindsay and Justin’s journey to creating Miikshi is a reminder that passion, hard work, and believing in yourself can quite literally make your dreams come true. Like Miikshi, they learned that imagination is the only limit.
The pair’s exposure to practical art as children set them on a path to immerse themselves in creation — a path that would lead them to create a world of their own with Miikshi, a show that entertains, educates, and inspires.
Their advice to young creators who also want to pursue their dream is simple: follow your passion and embrace your inner geek.
(Miikshi and her favorite robot pal, 58.)
“If you want to make something, we are so fortunate to live in a time where there is something like the Stan Winston School, this amazing resource online. I live in Canada, but you’re still able to learn from these amazingly talented makers online about how to do stuff,” Lindsay says. “If you don’t know how to do something, there are so many ways to find out … no matter what it is you want to do, there’s a way to learn it. I think there’s nothing stopping you from learning. Just do it — make what you want, make the things you want, make things with heart, and then take it out into the world and share it with people.”
She continues, “I think the thing about Miikshi, in particular, was that everybody who worked on the project really cared about the project... So, I think having that spark behind anything you create will always come through in the final product.”
“Any makers out there, anybody who’s an artist or creator: if you’re into something and you’re a geek about it, don’t be shy about it,” Justin adds. “I think anytime you see, especially people who are successful, I think of Maurice LaMarche, the voice actor, who said when he was a kid, he would annoy everybody with his Daffy Duck impression. But he didn't care and he just kept doing it. Now, [doing character voices] is his career. If you’ve got something that you’re really geeky about, lean into it. Just embrace it. Find out everything there is to know about it.”
WATCH SEASON ONE OF MIIKSHI ON:
- miikshi.com (worldwide)
- TVOkids (Canada only)
VISIT THE GAZELLE AUTOMATIONS WEBSITE