Parents of pre-schoolers
will already be preparing for the predictably frenzied Christmas
dash for merchandising of this year's latest television craze -
ITV1's Boobahs. Touted as the toddler's replacement for the Teletubbies,
the Boohbahs are five colourful characters sporting names such
as Humbah, Zingbah and Jumbah. The kiddies format was devised by
production company Ragdoll but it is Vin Burnham's vision that
has provided possibly the most essential contribution to the character's
popularity. She made the characters come to life by designing the
wacky costumes worn by actors in the show. Despite a passing similarity
to Tinky Winky et al with their fat bellies and bright colours,
Burnham feels the Boobahs have a unique quality.
She says: "Those
costumes are very original, unlike anything I have made before.
I am lucky
because a lot of the costumes I make are different from anything
made by anyone else."
Never a truer word said, for Burnham
is a well-known television and film costume designer specialising
in creatures, animals and .... atoms, which is apparently what
the Boobahs are. Pride of place in her credits is Aslan the lion,which
was commissioned by the BBC for the family favourite the Chronicles
of Narnia back in 1989.
Burnham also designed costumes
for Catwoman, the Penguin and Batman in Batman Returns - where
she had the enviable job of glueing Michael Keaton into his suit.
"I think he found it very
claustrophobic but it was the only way to do it because the costumes
were made on a body cast of the actor - they were made to measure," she
says.
The designer's latest project
is the costumes for the BBC's Fungus the Bogeyman, starring Martin
Clunes.
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But
how did she come to be one of the most well-respected creature
costume designers?
Burnham
grew up surrounded by the theatrical glitterati, she was "born in a trunk" as
she describes it, with a mother and father show were both on the
stage. But rather than a desire to be in front of the curtain,
Burnham always felt more comfortable with work that went on behind
the scenes.
"There
were three of us, me and my brother and sister, and all three
went to work backstage.
I think this is probably because we saw through our parents how
precarious the business is. We wanted more security than being
an actor or actress could bring."
Burnham's
appetite for designing was whetted when her father used to bring
home the mini models
of the set which she adapted into her own special doll's house.
She had an unconventional education, realising she was "more
creative than academic" shortly before she was expelled from
school at the age of 14 for her wild-child antics - getting drunk.
She then went on to art school but got itchy feet and left to get
her hands dirty in the world of work.
"I
decided that I just really wanted a job so I wrote to all the
theatres and managed to get
a job in the props department at the Covent Garden Opera House."
And this is where Burnham really
learned her trade, playing assistant to opera and ballet designers
such as Nicholas Georgiadis and David Walker.
"Working
with those designers was a foundation for what I am doing now.
They were the key people,
if I hadn't worked for them I would not have turned into the sort
of designer who is able to both design and
make.
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'The Costumes I make are different
from anything made by anyone else'
Vin Burnham
Usually
there is a split and it is difficult to move from one job to
the other."
But it was
landing a job working for the well-known creator of The Muppets,
the late Jim Henson,
that had the greatest influence on Burnham. She says: "I spent
an awful lot of time working with Jim creating puppets and monsters
for Labyrinth, NeverEnding Story and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
It was her that I learned all about animatronics and puppets. He
was a fantastic person to work for and he made me realise what
amazing things can be achieved."
Burnham
also designed the cloak worn by David Bowie in Labyrinth and
describes him as "a nice
straightforward man with very much a manufactured image."
It is Henson's
influence that has led Burnham to want to develop her own programmes
for children.
Television company Top TV has just brought an option for her first
pre-school idea titled A Dog Called Pogo, with a view to developing
it for TV. "Hopefully that will be on television soon and
I have lots of other ideas," she says.
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