Santoonie Corporation was adopted in 1988 in a small town of Virginia called Colonial Heights by practically one person, Tilli. Tilli began his senior year knowing he only needed four credits to graduate so he began drawing cartoons in four out of seven classes. Having already been accepted to an Art University, V.C.U., this time period became the roots of Santoonie Corporation as we know it today. The toons became a underground sensation especially among a small group of devoted fans who would later be known as the Tilli gang. They were: Tilli, Baron, Lipe, Chink, PattyJudy, Mooch, Satan, Ferretface and more. In later years, Chink would be replaced by Chico and Ferretface ousted by Etchoman. These changes are irrelevant to you, but nonetheless a sociable hierarchy of importance to Santoonie Corporation during it's early years. All forms of artistic products were produced ranging from cartoons, to short stories, camcorder footage and one novel, "The Other Mission", with all of these things having one criteria in common....comedy. And to this day, comedy is the product of Santoonie. We hope you enjoy the years of doodling, provided to you on this day by Santoonie Corporation.
Tilli Toons
The first product offered by Santoonie Corporation, Tilli Toons, are a cartoon based on the doings of several real life characters. The stories often were depicted on monumental occurences within the character's lives. These toons were usually drawn in pencil sideways on a loose-leaf 8.5 x 11" paper within a cartoonish grid. The grid was indirectly influenced by another local artist named Chico who was loosely drawing his own toons known as the 'Mutants Always'. His grids were elaborate and Tilli became fond of them though the toons never became popular out of a crowd of four to six personal acquaintances. Tilli's toons really took hold in the later part of his senior year. Students would hide the toons in desk drawers for others to view, with new toons replacing old ones nearly on a daily basis. The editing of the toons was done during a morning study period in the central library by Tilli and one known as Baron. Baron would become the single most influential partner in the creation of the toons. The toons became less after the high school years, but the characters and artwork have matured to a professional level.
Short Films
Before camcorders became a household name, Tilli was approached one morning in the school's cafeteria by a friend known as Lipe. Lipe brought great news to Tilli that could catapult his imagination. With one word he muttered, "Camcorder." Tilli, having never heard the word before, questioned Lipe on this. "What do you think it is?", asked Lipe. Tilli's response was a 'car part'. After rounds of laughter by all in attendence, Lipe's new idea became the next best thing for Tilli. After a few Saturdays of toying with zooms and 90 degree pans, the Tilli gang was ready to produce its first full feature film, "Pumaman". "Pumaman" was instantly a hit, with several copies made and distributed around town. Pumaman was so successful that "Pumaman II" was short to follow. By this time, the set had become an elaborate production and in the third movie, the police were called in to investigate. Escorting several camera men out, the film would not be complete for several months. Soon, the first night shots were taken in a sequel to "Pumaman III" and the production got trickier. The camcorder was not just limited to the makings of Pumaman, but was also used to document the doings of the Tilli gang at the time. Everything from tree jumping, to runway( trying to enter a car while moving) to train adventures( heading into the woods to the sound of a strange distant train ). The movie making portion has become a logical extension of Tilli toons and thrives to this day.
Interactive Fiction
Tilli was always fond of video games and decided to download Zork in 2001 so that he could play during working hours. Since it was not a graphical adventure, it could pass as work by passing coworkers. He enjoyed it so much and logically thought that there had to be some way of creating text adventures by now, after all it was 2001. So the search began and TADS, or Text Adventure Development System was discovered. Though several other systems were about, TADS included an easy to use tutorial for a first time programmer. But TADS was not 'that' easy, so Tilli was forced to call up the forces of Santoonie Corporation. Santoonie Corporation at the time was embellishing its golden product, Tilli Toons, as well as some short lived Role Playing excursions and was not immediately available for the adoption of text adventures. So another company was contacted called AOV Services who specialized in programming for video games. AOV Services contracted out several employees and eventually teamed up with Santoonie Corporation who became more available in the early year of 2002. The mutual bond of the two companies created its first epic text adventure rather quickly entitled, "Amissville". Amissville was created directly for the amusement of the old Tilli Gang but introduced to a society of interactive fiction goers who congregated in a usenet group known as r.a.i.f. or rec.arts.interactive-fiction. The game did not resemble anything that group had seen before and was introduced in a rule breaking fashion and thus was shunned by most community leaders. Not really understanding the structure of the group, Santoonie Corporation drudged on to finish two more games, Isis and Delvyn which was entered into the 2003 IFComp and scored in 23rd place! Congratulations to Santoonie Corporation for it's solid contribution to interactive fiction!
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