Building the world
Concepting
Most of the buildings in the film were based on scenes or locations in other movies. When there was not a direct reference we would make a quick sketch which was always subject to change. This building is one of the first we see in the film. It was based on Louie's Restaurant from the first Godfather film.
The Devil's in the Details
There are almost too many movie references to count in this film. The team had so much fun adding little touches such as these into the film. These details not only build out the world but also are a fun little side project for the production team that allows them to add their personal touches to the world of Detective Toaster.
The cars
Tackling This Challenge
Believe it or not, the movie was 2/3 the way through filming before the cars were even figured out. The production team went through diecast models, fully custom built, and even considered cutting the cars out of the film entirely before seeing this off-brand American Girl Doll Jeep and recognizing their potential as a base for the vehicle.
Multipurpose Cars
When making the cars we had to have three categories fulfilled for the movie. There was a police car, a gangster car, and the detective's car. The police car and gangster cars were the same but with the doors switched out. The detectives had their own dark green car. For the full-size car, the same interior was used but the exterior was swapped out. The total amount of cars made was one full, three medium, and three small-sized.
Three Different Cars
For the film, we created three different car sizes. The characters could fit in and was made fully from scratch. The driving car is made from an off-brand American Girl Doll Jeep. This is the one seen next to the characters. The smallest is a Barbie Jeep used for special effects.