This short was a lot of fun to do, and one of those cases where it totally took a different turn in direction than originally planned. I have been wanting to make a short featuring Captain N for a really long time, but just never really got around to it. When I planned out a bunch of ROM episodes, this was one of the first ideas I came up with, because ROM finally gave me a reason to visit this character.

The joke was always that an old retired Captain N was desperate to return to Video Land, and as a result, a faulty NES would get the best of him. Originally I wanted the short to begin with a camera panning across a shelf with a bunch of pictures, showing Kevin growing older and having children. It would eventually settle on Kevin, complaining about how much he hated his married life, thus making him long to return to Video Land. When I started boarding this, I wasn’t quite happy with how things panned out for Kevin. I didn’t really like the idea of him hating his own children and his wife, so I rethought things.

I started this episode as the TV series Lost was wrapping up. With Lost on the brain, I started to relate Kevin’s longing to return to that of Lost’s hero Jack Sheppard. I thought it made for a really good parallel, and decided to model Kevin after Jack’s appearance in the pivotal episode ‘Through the Looking Glass’. As I took this path, things started to sort of spiral out of control and before I knew it I was in full on Lost parody. The intro of the short is almost shot for shot right out of Through the Looking Glass, and I essentially turned Kevin into Jack. It was a lot of fun putting more focus into Kevin’s obsession with returning to Video Land, instead of him just being tired of life.

One thing I didn’t want to lose sight of is that this joke was about Captain N. It might be skinned in Lost’s clothing, but I’m hoping that the original idea and gag still hold up. If you’re a fan of Lost, I hope you enjoyed the extra layer of in-jokes that came along with it. Thanks for reading and watching the short. See you all next month!