Elyse Castro’s goal is to make you laugh, make you squeamish—or both! Get to know the brilliant mind behind The Summoning cartoon—soon to be a graphic novel—in this candid interview.
We have been long-time admirers of Elyse’s work. She is a fantastic artist, a thoughtful storyteller, and a true original!
FredFilms has been lucky enough to work closely with Elyse for years and we have spent many hours playing in the world of The Summoning with her.
Elyse is one of the hardest working creators we have ever met! Delivering an abundance of work in every meeting, she’s an absolute dream to work with!
We are excited for fans to be able to return to Ridgewood this October and spend some more time with Claire, Edgar, Flufftops, and some exciting new characters!
For now, we are pleased to share this interview with Elyse in which she discusses how she creates her characters, her long-time inspirations, and how she views the world through story.
-Flip Sarta
First off, tell us about yourself. What’s your story?
That’s a big question. I am a person who lives in Australia. It's a hard question to answer because you want to distill it. Am I my job? Am I what I do? So I would say I am an artist, and I've always loved art and cartoons.
I jumped into the world of tattooing, loving that land. And then I jumped into the world of education, loving that land too. And now I make comics. Just a little guy, making art.
I like it, people like it, it’s good!
What is one of the earliest pieces of media that made you think “I want to make something like that one day?”
Holy crap. I already know a million things. Number one is Grug. I don't know if you know Grug.
[We did not know Grug]
Grug by Ted Prior
Grug is a book series and he has lots of adventures. I think he's Australian. He’s made from a Burrawang tree, so that's pretty Aussie! I remember when I was a kid, I just loved it. I wanted to be Grug.
I love old claymation stuff too, like Postman Pat. I would have stabbed someone to work on that show. I love making things with my hands, and that show was all clay and felting and fluffy stuff! That’s what I remember most, thinking “I want to do that! I want to make that! I want to tell little stories and do art!”
Why do you tell stories?
Well, originally, it was just to make my sister laugh. Growing up, we had two main stories. Looking back now, they are both pretty f***ed up.
One was called Baby Magnum (pronounced like Bibi Mangmun). And Baby Magnum was kind of a killer, but living as a baby, and they were going out and kill other babies. It was really weird.
And the other was in a far off distant land. We based it off our distant relative, who wasn’t that nice – so I can’t tell you the name of the story because it would be too obvious.
We would tell these bedtime stories all the time. My goal was always to make her laugh or make her squeamish or get any reaction out of her. I think that’s where it started and my audience just got larger from there.
Now I teach and I want to make my students laugh...or feel squeamish...I’m a really good teacher, I swear. I’m really good at teaching. Haha!
Claire, Edgar, and Flufftops
How has storytelling shaped your worldview?
I don't think I've ever not told stories. It’s hard to answer because storytelling has always been part of my existence. My mum would tell you, even growing up I would pretend I was other people and not respond to my own name. You’d have to call me the name I decided I was that day, just making up the story. It would drive my mum crazy.
My sister and I played a lot of Barbies, we had a room dedicated to it. My Barbie land wasn’t “let’s put on a dress,” it was “We’re fighting to the death!” It was like Barbie Mafia, but I was only 5! I don’t know how I knew all these things—it’s kind of worrisome, oh well!
I can’t remember a time when storytelling wasn’t part of my life. It’s just so important. Not just important for your imagination and creativity, but also to develop a perspective and compassion and understanding of other people. I think the world needs a bit more of that.
So maybe more people should try telling stories. And seeing things from someone else's point of view, because then you realize “Oh. That's dumb, that I think that,” or that everyone just wants to be loved.
How do you connect with the characters in your story?
I think it's a combination of seeing myself and seeing others in them. I try not to write anything that's too far removed from a lived experience or feeling or emotion.
For instance, Flufftops is inspired by my sister. She has that intensity and rigidness but also that crazy silliness as well. It’s easy that way to be like “Yeah I know what they’d do,” because I’ve got one.
Flufftops Attacks!
Then it’s a bit of yourself mixed in. Or maybe the person that you imagined you wanted to be, but don’t anymore. It’s got to feel authentic, really authentic - that’s the main thing to me anyways.
How do you measure the success of a story?
That's a dangerous game to play and I don't really like playing that game.
I think success is if I'm happy with it. Did I laugh? Did it make sense to me? Did I make someone happy?
Success is an intrinsic feeling, if we start looking for external reinforcements, I think that's when people get caught up in the negative.
Our motto is Creators First, Original Always - is there a new creator or a new thing you’ve been into recently?
I’ve been pleasantly surprised by Mythic Quest. It’s the guys from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia but it’s about a game studio. I must have tried to watch it a few years ago and got 10 minutes in and was like ‘meh’. But I tried it again and I’m really glad I did! It’s really awesome and funny.
But the best thing ever at the moment is Severance! I literally wept the other day about it, it’s so good! I can’t believe that Zoolander is the director.
I also want to shout out some more indie creators. Some that come to mind are @femtasia who is one of my favorite artists and @viktoria_volcheg who makes the most awesome soft sculptures.
If you haven’t seen The Summoning cartoon watch it HERE
If you want to find out more about The Summoning graphic novel, read more HERE
Creators First: Spotlights is a new interview series in which we interview creators about their lives, their work, and what they love! Stay tuned for more from artists, writers, musicians, comics creators, executives, and other friends of FredFilms!
I’ve been following your story for about ten years now. Seems so incredible to see you still working at it! I wish you the best.