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How did you invent Captain Underpants? |
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I invented Captain Underpants back when I was in the second grade. I was
the "class clown", and got in trouble constantly for making my friends laugh.
To punish me, my teacher would send me out into the hallway. Before long, I was
spending so much time in the hall that my teacher moved a desk out there for me. I
had a lot of spare time on my hands sitting out there in the hall, so I began drawing
pictures, writing stories, and making my own comic books. Quite a few of those
comic books were about a super hero named Captain Underpants.
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Why "underpants"? |
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Oddly enough, my second grade teacher gave me the inspiration. She
happened to use the word "underpants" during class one day, and everybody in the
classroom laughed. She got mad and said, "Underwear is NOT funny!" This only made us
laugh harder. At that moment, I discovered that underwear was a powerful thing:
not only could it make my friends laugh, but it could also make my teacher very angry!
What fun! I think it was shortly thereafter that I decided to make up a super hero whose theme
was underwear.
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If you saw a bald man wearing only underpants and a cape running down the
street yelling "Tra La La" what would you do? |
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I would run as fast as I could... away from him!
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Do you still have any of the stories/comics you did from when you were a
kid? |
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Unfortunately, I don't have any of the Captain Underpants comics. Many
of them were ripped up by my teachers, and others were "borrowed" by my friends.
They'd take them home and lose them, or spill stuff on them, and bring them back
weeks later with pages missing and stuff. The only comics I still have were about
another super hero I invented called "Water Man". My parents wouldn't let me bring those
comics to school because they knew they'd get trashed. I'm glad they made me keep them in a
safe place, because I still have all 20 issues!
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Your main characters always get in trouble. Is that what you were like
in school? |
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Unfortunately, yes. I was labeled as a "bad kid" because I was always
goofing off. But I wasn't really a bad kid. I was just trying to make everybody
laugh. There's a BIG difference.
That's why I'm so fond of George and Harold. They're not
bad boys — no matter what all their teachers say about them — they're actually very
clever and good-hearted. They just have a "silly streak". I think most kids do.
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Do you pull a lot of pranks as an adult? |
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Yeah. I play pranks on my girlfriend a lot. It's pretty funny... (at least I think it is!)
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Did you get much encouragement as a writer/illustrator? |
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Not until college. I had an english teacher who thought I was a really
good writer and loved my cartoons. She was the first person who ever
encouraged me to write children's books.
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What inspires your stories? |
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I think much of the inspiration comes from watching a lot of cartoons
when I was growing up... I really liked "Rocky & Bullwinkle" and "The Underdog Show".
They were so well written, and funny on many different levels. I guess I
want my books to be that way too.
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Which of your books are you most proud of? Why? |
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I think I'm most proud of the Captain Underpants books, the Dumb Bunnies
books, and Kat Kong and Dogzilla. They're my funniest books.
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Why did you decide to have the battle scenes done in flip book style, and
not just describe them? |
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I thought the "Flip-O-Rama" would be cooler than just a "blow-by-blow"
description of the action. When I was a kid, my friends and I used to make
"Flip-O-Ramas" all the time in school (but back then we called them "Flip-Actions"). We
thought these pictures were funny, but they used to really irritate our teachers.
My dream is that kids everywhere will learn to make their own
"Flip-O-Ramas", and use them to annoy humorless grown-ups throughout the
world!
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Is the principal in your books based on a real person? |
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Yes. Mr. Krupp is a combination of several evil teachers and principals I had
growing up.
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Where did you come up with the names George Beard and Harold Hutchins? |
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"George" and "Harold" were taken from children's book characters I liked
when I was a kid ("Georgie the Ghost" and "Harold and the Purple Crayon"). Their
last names were borrowed from Stymie and Wheezer, two kids who were in the old "Little
Rascals" films. Stymie and Wheezer's real names were "Matthew Beard" and "Bobby Hutchins".
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What's your advice for kids who want to be writers? |
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Spend as much time as you can daydreaming.
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What's your dog, Little Dog, like? |
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She's the coolest dog in the whole world! She's brave (she's fought off
mean dogs who were more
than four times her size), she's loyal (she almost never leaves my lap---
she's sitting on it now as I write this),
and she goes almost everywhere with me (I made a special bag that she can
fit into, and I like to sneak
her into places where they don't allow dogs... like the grocery store,
restaurants, and my friend's apartment building). Her favorite thing is
going on kayak rides with me. Sometimes we paddle up close to the geese and
she gets to bark at them and make them fly away. She loves it!
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Does your dog help you write? |
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No, but she does all my typing for me.
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Have you personally ever fought crime while wearing only your underpants
and a cape? |
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No, but last April I got locked out of my house (it's a long story), and
had to run down the street to my girlfriend's house in my underwear... I'm
surprised nobody called the cops on me!
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Is there any villain Capt. Underpants couldn't defeat? |
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Nope. Underwear conquers all!
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Who is your favorite superhero (other than Captain Underpants)? |
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Underdog.
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Favorite thing to read? Why? |
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I like cartoon books and humorous short stories/essays. Why? Because I
have a short attention span.
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What do you say to people who don't like your books because the
characters "misbehave"? |
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I don't say anything to them. I just stick out my tongue and make rude
noises.
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