‘Your Monster’s’ Creature Design Was Inspired by ‘The Wizard of Oz’

Makeup artist David Anderson is no stranger to sculpting and applying prosthetics. “Death Becomes Her,” “Batman,” “The Nutty Professor” are just some of the characters he’s had to apply makeup on.

When producer Kayla Foster called on Anderson to watch a 15-minute short “Your Monster,” he had thoughts. While Tommy Dewey’s performance was impressive as the titular Monster, the makeup was lacking.  Anderson had honest first reactions for Foster, he says, “It was theatrical, the wig looked cheap and the makeup looked underwhelming.”

Foster, along with writer-director Caroline Lindy was turning the short into a feature-length film, which opened Friday in theaters.

The story follows Melissa Barrera as Laura, an actor who, after battling cancer and a breakup, returns to her childhood home. There, she discovers a monster (Dewey) living in her closet. As they bond, the monster helps Laura confront her ex and reclaim a promised Broadway role.

“Your Monster” was not like Anderson’s other projects — the budget was going to be tight, but he was in love with Monster and he took on the task of bringing the character to the feature with “more polish and make him real to the naked eye.”

Lindy had little to no budget when making the short, but she had a vision of what Monster could be. “I had this amazing actor playing this character, but we were only 50% there. My dream was to work with Dave, and Kayla figured it out.”

Lindy met with Anderson and talked about her vision.

Anderson’s initial concepts resulted in a Fabio-type monster complete with long, blowing hair. “As we got more into it, I kept thinking it was too clean and needed more grit,” Anderson says.

Multiple tests included a black wig and black hair on Dewey, but once they applied it, it felt wrong.

Anderson went through another iteration, this time putting the facial appliance on and blending his face, but with no hair. “I went into Photoshop and started putting other layers on and playing with other textures and other hairs, and developed that illustration with a hairline.”

An image of a boxer dog with scars inspired Anderson. “He had scars on his nose from fights, and he looked rough. It was just what Monster needed, evidence of combat and this tough life.”

He then added dirt to Monster’s hair and face, and the look was starting to come together.

However, the unexpected inspiration came from the 1939 classic “The Wizard of Oz.” Anderson had a photo of the film’s main characters, Dorothy, Tin Man, Scarecrow and the Lion in his workshop.

“In coming up with this design, I was inspired by all of those characters. I think he dresses like the Scarecrow, looks like the Cowardly Lion and acts like the Tin Man,” says Anderson.

When Lindy saw the final image of Monster that looked part Tin Man, Lion and Scarecrow, she said, “That’s exactly what was in my head. We found him. He’s a little bit magic, and a little bit sinister, but there’s so much heart.”