Cody's Crew, the computer animated video starring Cody the giant excavator and his crew of construction vehicle pals is now available at select retailers and online at www.CodysCrew.com. The official CodysCrew site also features a new print-out activity every day!

Like most parents Malcolm Marcus and Lisa Wiseman spent many hours at neighborhood parks playing in the sandbox with their kids - the real Cody and Rachel.

At first they were amazed at how long the kids could spend playing with their trucks and diggers in the sand - how the kids could be so interested in construction they'd almost forget to go to the bathroom.

Then it dawned on them. If kids love construction vehicles so much why not create a group of characters that are construction vehicles?

Construction video for kids
It was the beginning of Codys' Crew - the computer animated adventures of Cody and his crew of construction vehicle pals.

Totally self financed, it would be almost 2 and a half years before Cody's Crew - The Big Building would be completed.

At first it was just Malcolm in the basement doodling and playing with plasticine as he worked on designs for Cody the giant excavator.

Later, as the story for The Big building came closer to being ready for production Malcolm and Lisa realized that there were a few details to sort out:

Computer animation, No computer
They had no computer, no animation software, and no one who knew what to do with it if there had been.

They needed voices for the characters, photo reference for just about everything and detailed storyboards needed to be done. And that was just for starters.

"Well, at least we knew what we didn't have...!" Laughs Lisa.

"We knew we needed terrific voices for the characters - because we're working with characters that are based on things, not animals or people. We had to make sure the voices had the personality we needed to help bring the characters to life" says Malcolm.

FisherPrice tape recorder
Over the next number of months and with the help of their kids FisherPrice tape recorder they listened to almost a hundred auditions - mailed in, in response to an ad placed in a local free newspaper.

They also auditioned their family GP, and an artist friend and even tried out themselves. Eventually they ended up hiring a great bunch of people - all with little or no previous acting experience, including a former co-worker of Malcolm's - Rob Grumbach who is the voice of Cody.

"We're small and this is our first project. It's been fun and lots of hard work. We're really excited to have completed this fist episode of Cody's Crew and can't wait to get it out there for the kids!" Says Lisa.

Top seller at Top Banana
After only 5 weeks on the shelf Cody's Crew - The Big Building had become the top selling video at Top Banana.

Available here
Cody's Crew the Big Building is available at quality local Toronto area retailers Mastermind and Top Banana. It can also be purchased on-line through MastermindToys and Cody's Crew direct, the Scotia Bank secured section of www.CodysCrew.com