Co-Creator Tom Boto Talks About the Values Behind the Owlegories Series

Owlegories is a new animated series and interactive digital app that teaches kids about God through the amazing things found in nature and revealed in God's Word. Thomas Boto and his wife Julie, with the help of their four young boys, are the creators of Owlegories and the original interactive storybook app on which the animated series is based. "You can tell a lot about an artist by what he creates" is the premise behind Owlegories.

Taking inspiration from the series banner verse, Psalm 19:1-4, Owlegories addresses the important theme of creation and explores the nature of God as the Creator of the Universe through the use of allegories, metaphors and analogies. The animated series, which follows a group of student owls as they travel on adventures learning about nature, faith and God, was brought to life with the help of Producer Chad Gundersen and Co-writer/Co-director Keith Alcorn, co-creator/ producer of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and executive producer of The Ant Bully.

For all of the latest information on Owlegories and the launch of Owlegories Vol. 2 - The Ant, The Fruit, The Butterfly, go to http://www.owlegories.com/, https://www.facebook.com/Owlegories and https://twitter.com/Owlegories.

We are previledged enough to chat with co-creator Tom Boto:

Hallels: What values does Owlegories teach? Why is this important for children to learn them?

Children can learn about teamwork, perseverance, respect, and honesty among other values. For example, in Volume 2, the students learn about hard work and good priorities from the diligent ants that God created. We believe it is important for children to learn good values like these and also know where those values ultimately come from. Biblical truths are something that will stay with children throughout their lives.

Hallels: What Bible verses or Bible stories does it use to relate the overall message?

Here are the key verses for our latest episodes: The Ant: Proverbs 6:6, "Go to the ant, you sluggard - consider its ways and be wise." The Fruit: Galatians 5:22-23, "The Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." The Butterfly: 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away behold, the new has come."

Hallels: Do you have a target age range of children that this DVD is most suitable for? And will this work for Sunday school children in churches, too?

The age range is about 3-7 years old, but we have heard that older children enjoy Owlegories as well. Yes, Owlegories would be great for Sunday school children in churches. We have already heard from several churches that they are using the Owlegories apps, DVDs and episodes in Sunday school. We plan to also create curriculum to go along with each episode, and we are really excited about the memory verse app that we are working on.

Hallels: How did you come up with the concept?

My wife and I love to read to our boys each night before they go to bed. A couple years ago, we tossed around the idea of creating our own story for kids. We initially thought we would do a book, but the more we thought about it, the more we liked the idea of creating an interactive digital storybook app. We brainstormed some ideas, but kept coming back to the idea of combining our love for the outdoors with our love of Christ. We thought it would be fun to use the elements of creation as a metaphor or allegory for the characteristics of God. We kept throwing around the word allegory and thought it would be fun to do a play on the word and use a cast of adorable owls to tell our story. So that is how we decided to call it Owlegories. Once we created the characters, we knew we wanted to eventually turn it into an animated series. We got connected to film producer Chad Gundersen who introduced us to Keith Alcorn, the creator and executive producer of the show Jimmy Neutron. They were instrumental in helping us bring the concept and characters to life for our show.

Hallels: Who are the key Owlegories' characters and what roles do they play?

The key characters are the student owls in the show. It's a class of five young owls (Joey, Nora, Gus, Violet, and Twitch) who go on an adventure each episode to learn about creation and truths from God's Word. Joey is our overconfident and sometimes misguided leader. Nora is our bookworm. Gus is our lovable country barn owl. Violet is our prim and proper snow owl, and Twitch is an owl that was raised by bats. The class is guided and taught by Prof. Owlester. Also, in each episode, the nefarious Devlin and Fink (a misguided hummingbird) try to thwart the assignment the Professor has sent the class on.

Hallels: Tell us a little more about the Owlegories team - such as the writers, directors, producer?

I am so thankful for the Owlegories team. They are incredible. Chad Gundersen is our producer. He has produced a number of faith-based films and always strives for quality in everything he does. He has a lot of great experience in the entertainment world, and he has put us in contact with a number of people who have helped us on this journey. One of those was Keith Alcorn (Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, The Ant Bully). Keith is an amazing writer and director. We co-write and co-direct each show, but really I feel like I am more of an apprentice to Keith trying to absorb all of his animation and storytelling knowledge. Keith also introduced us to Mark Menza, our music producer, and our animation team, which is led by Aaron Werntz and his wife Andrea. I think Mark, Aaron, Andrea are brilliant at what they do. Their creativity and innovation is inspiring. I am sincerely grateful to work with such an amazing cast and crew.

Hallels: What makes a biblical worldview so pertinent in light of today's media culture, especially as it relates to Owlegories' overall mission?

Our goal is to provide a tool for parents to use with their children to prompt conversations about the Bible. Children love watching TV, and technology keeps their attention. We aim to provide not only safe content that parents can trust, but apps and shows that educate them about the world around them while also teaching them about their Creator. Our kids are going to be faced with so many choices and worldviews. It's important to teach them at a young age where they can find truth: God's Word.

 

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