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When someone utters the hallowed name of “Mike Mignola,” the thing that invariably comes to mind is Hellboy — and for good reason. The paranormal investigator with devilish horns and a dependable love of cigars is, without a doubt, the most successful (not to mention popular) of all Mignola’s comic book creations. Case in point: no less than four live action movies centered around the demon known as Anung Un Rama have been sanctioned by three different production entities over the span of two decades.

As we speak, a cinematic translation of the acclaimed Crooked Man storyline (written by Mignola and illustrated by Richard Corben) is gearing up for a wide release sometime this year.  Perhaps it’s time for Hollywood to give Big Red a well-deserved rest and focus on Mignola’s other children, such as Lobster Johnson, or the focus today’s discussion: The Amazing Screw-On Head.

First introduced to readers in 2002 by longtime Hellboy publisher Dark Horse, The Amazing Screw-On Head represents the apex of the one-shot comic book art-form. Wildly inventive and effortlessly funny, it leaves you wanting more stories about a sentient robot head fighting the forces of evil on behalf of Abraham Lincoln in the late 1800s. That’s exactly how Bryan Fuller felt when the acclaimed writer behind Pushing Daisies and Hannibal set out to develop the title for an animated series at SYFY (then formatted as Sci Fi) in the mid-2000s.

“I think that there was such a fundamental kind of procedural aspect to it, with The Amazing Screw-On Head being a sort of superhero civil servant to Abraham Lincoln,” Fuller tells SYFY WIRE over Zoom, later adding: “Mike Mignola created such a wonderful world that was historically inaccurate, but somehow authentic, and gave us the opportunity to build out that world.”

Unfortunately, the show, which — like most works of misunderstood genius — was simply ahead of its time and never made it past the pilot stage. Here’s what happened!

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First Look: Step inside the maniacal mansion of ‘Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: The Secret of Chesbro House’

A Brief Oral History of SYFY’s Amazing Screw-On Head Pilot

The story of The Amazing Screw-On Head‘s incredibly brief presence on the small screen began with producer Jason Netter, founder of Kickstart Entertainment, who had a relationship with Mark Stern, former President of Original Content at SYFY, after the two collaborated on the network’s short-lived adaptation of the Painkiller Jane comic by Jimmy Palmiotti and Joe Quesada.

“All of it really came together pretty organically … just based on relationships and interest in the material,” Netter recalls. “We were able to talk to Mike, feel out his interest in translating this [for animation]. He was a little bit protective in the beginning, wanting to make sure that if it was adapted into something, it was something he could get behind creatively.”

He continues: “If I recall, the idea came from Mike because he was in a toy aisle, or something, and saw all of these different action figures and had the idea, ‘What if I had a head and could just add different bodies to that head?’ It was just something where we’re like, ‘Well, we don’t have anything that we’ve ever done that is this out there.’ We always thought the concept itself was pretty funny. We liked the blend of comedy with action. It just checked a lot of boxes from an interest standpoint.”

Mignola remained involved throughout the creative process, with Netter starting to flesh out the project alongside Fuller and director Chris Prynoski (co-founder of Titmouse), though they knew from the get-go that it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park, as the project was a weird and ambitious concept to try and explain, especially with the network eyeing more of a programming lean into live action at the time.

“We tried to make the best version of it that we possibly could,” Prynoski remembers.

“There was something about the perception of animation, that [it] was of a lesser quality or lesser dedication than live action,” Fuller said. “But everyone who came to work on the project didn’t treat it like that.”

In writing the script, Fuller needed to figure out a way to expand the bare bones comic into a full-blown universe capable of sustaining an entire television series, though he insists the lack of mythos made the process a lot easier. “[It] gave us such a platform to launch from, because everything else was in its rudimentary form,” he explains. “It was a comic, it was about the style of the world, and the broadest aspects of the story being Screw-On Head being able to screw-on to a variety of bodies. It was really exciting, just doing my job as a screenwriter to adapt the work and filling it with all of these characters who then could go on and have more stories.”

“It wasn’t like we had a ton of mythology and multiple versions [across] 60-70 issues, like some of the other things we’ve adapted in the past,” Netter says. “But I think the concept was so different. There was a hook there, it was something we just thought was commercial enough that if we found the right people to help, we could probably sell it.”

Fuller built upon that foundation by creating a slew of new characters (some based on single panels found within the original comic) and concocting backstories for Screw-On Head and his greatest nemesis, the undead Emperor Zombie. The world they inhabit is an alternate version of the United States, circa 1862. In Fuller’s own words, “There’s something about taking history and mashing it up with the best of the genre monsters that felt like a really rich, expansive toy box that was delicious … We were taking all of these historical aspects of the narrative and just pounding them with werewolves and vampires and zombies in a way that made me more interested in history.”

“It’s so odd, in a good way, and so timeless,” muses Prynoski. “It doesn’t really feel dated. It’s this unknown, steampunk-y 19th Century-ish time period. You can watch it at any point and it still feels the same. Not dated like it would be if they’re all using Blackberries instead of iPhones or whatever.”

The pilot director also remembers a pleasant “surprise” on the part of Mignola: “I remember meeting with him for the first time and he was like, ‘I’m really surprised anybody wanted to make this into anything. I can’t see how this could be expanded beyond this thing.’ But he was happy that Bryan was involved. He was like, ‘I think what he’s doing is great and he surprised me by figuring out a way to make it bigger and longer and make some kind of sense.’”

Mignola’s only mandate, Pryonisk notes, was that the pilot emulate his unique art style. “I was like, ‘Alright, I’m gonna make it look like the book as much as I possibly can.’ A lot of comic styles have a lot of lines and you gotta figure out, ‘Okay, how are we going to make this work for animation?’ And even though he has a lot of form in his drawings and there’s an underlying structure, a lot is hidden in shadow. He uses a lot of dark blacks for his shadows and a lot of black shapes. So, that actually worked really well for animation, because it was a flat color. It’s not a lot of painted textures and things like that. There was already a reduction in the character to a more graphic sensibility. There’s a lot of dark shadows to employ in a cinematic technique.”

Fuller echoes that sentiment: “The almost wood carving style of some of the frames was so different than what anybody else was doing in comic books. It was so signature, that I was really excited to be part of the project … I considered [our adaptation to be] a love letter to his work and really wanted him to feel thoroughly respected.”

The Voice Cast for The Amazing Screw-On Head

The most impressive part of the whole thing is the unexpectedly A-list voice cast Fuller was able to assemble. A post-Sideways Paul Giamatti and Hellboy alumnus David Hyde Pierce led the charge as Screw-On Head and Emperor Zombie, respectively, while Patton Oswalt, Molly Shannon, Mindy Sterling, and Corey Burton filled out the roster of supporting roles. “It’s so much easier to get a great voice cast than it is to get an in-person cast,” admits Fuller. “They were all our first asks. That’s rare when you get the initial people that you want.”

“The underlying material, it’s so different. Bryan’s voice is so strong and Chris is a great director,” Netter adds. “So, I feel like we had the creative package to at least approach talent and see who got interested in it. We really got an amazing cast.”

“When we did the record, Giamatti comes in with a a stain on his shirt,” Prynoski remembers. “And he was like, ‘Man, is there a bathroom or somewhere I can wash my shirt off? Because I don’t want to be going into the booth with David Hyde Pierce. He’s like a real actor and I’m embarrassed that I’m coming in with a stain on my shirt.’ I remember thinking like, ‘Damn, you’re a real actor, too!’”

You can check out the infamous stain below…

Fuller loved dipping his toes into the world of animation because it gave him the ability to make eleventh hour changes that would be impossible in a live action setting. “One of the most fun things about the experience for me, was sitting in the editing room with Chris Prynoski  and saying like, ‘Oh, we need a shot that does X,’ and then he would draw it. He would scan it in and he would put it in two minutes later. It was such a fun, phenomenal process. We didn’t have a ton of money, it was very kind of low-key.”

“This opened up a new new world of thinking for him,” Prynoski adds. “It’s always interesting to work with people who haven’t worked much in animation to work on an animated project. And certain things are way more laborious, but then there’s this amount of very specific control you have over it that you don’t have in a live action production.”

“The whole process wasn’t one of those ones where you’re pulling your hair out and wanting it to end at all,” Netter says. “And quite frankly, I think all of us secretly thought we had a shot at going to series, which also keeps the positivity amongst the production. Because all of the animation productions or live action productions are [usually] somewhat near death experiences while you’re in the process. So, doing something where everyone was having a good time, makes that journey better.”

The Amazing Screw-On Head pilot (which not only maintained the spirit of its source material, but also enhanced it in many ways) debuted in July 2006 on the SYFY website along with a survey asking fans whether they’d like to see the show picked up for an entire series. But sadly, the project was eventually shelved, as the network pushed into more live action fare with projects like The Dresden Files, Sanctuary, and Warehouse 13 in the development pipeline.

“So unfortunately, the opportunity to go to series went by the wayside with what the channel wanted to do, content-wise,” Netter confirms. “We always have hope that things change. Once we we put together such a good cast, there’s always that hope that something cool, something different, the firepower of Bryan and Chris and Mignola … You always hope, but unfortunately, it never came to fruition.”

Details on the “lost” episodes of The Amazing Screw-On Head

Had the project moved forward, Fuller already had three subsequent episodes loosely outlined if the show received a green-light. The pilot ending beautifully sets the stage for more adventures, with President Lincoln and Screw-On Head agreeing to investigate supernatural threats west of the Mississippi under the guise of The Homestead Act of 1862.

“It wasn’t like scripts were written. It was all little paragraphs of, ‘Alright, this could be an episode, this could be an episode’ that Bryan was working out,” Prynoski continues. “Working on the art side, it was fun to brainstorm about what kind of crazy bodies you could screw his head into. That’s about how far we got. It didn’t get much further than that.”

What were those other episode ideas, you ask? SYFY WIRE is pleased to exclusively reveal them for the very first time!

“The White Men Must Be Crazy” — in which Screw-On Head finds himself mixed up with the Sioux Uprising of 1862.

“The Frog President” —  in which Former President William Henry Harrison is still alive and plans to rule the country forever with an army of evil frogmen.

“Anti-Social Darwinism” — in which Emperor Zombie attempts to convince Charles Darwin that being undead is the next step in evolution.

While everyone involved with the obscure pilot (available on DVD if you’d like to give it a watch) has since moved on to other things over the last 18 years, the core team still holds out hope for getting another shot at adapting the wonderfully bizarre IP. “If anybody ever does want to revive it, I’ll work on it again,” pledges Prynoski.

“We would love to do more,” agrees Netter, voicing his wish that this article brings old fans out of the woodwork, while introducing the pilot to a brand-new generation of fans. “I would just hope that people could chat and build some momentum. So, if we do go to buyers down the road … then we could also be able to show the excitement behind-the-scenes with the fan base.”

Fuller, meanwhile, would love to see the comic realized as a live action movie modeled after the first two Hellboy films. “Guillermo del Toro has created such lavish worlds that are true spectacles in this arena,” he concludes. “I would love to take a swing at doing a live action story of Amazing Screw-On Head. I just don’t know who would finance it.”