The books started as bedtime stories told when their two daughters, 11-year-old Inna and 8-year-old Scarlett, could not sleep. However, they continued to make additions to the story as it went on.
“I was just bored, and I was asking my dad for a story,” Inna said. “He’s like, ‘How about we name him Marlin?’ and I’m like, ‘[No,] Marlin Walnut,’ and I’d ask for the same story over and over again.”
As these stories became more complex, the family agreed to expand the universe of Marlin Walnut, giving him friends such as Sharron the sloth, Boris the dinosaur and two overly cheery axolotls named RV and TV. Michael and Rebekah make sure to include their children in the planning process.
“I would be working with my daughters [and ask], ‘Is this how we envision the axolotls to look like?’” Rebekah said. “And they’d be like, ‘Oh, no, we need to have bigger eyes. They need to be little.’ They had a lot to say about what the characters look like to them.”
Two books are currently in the making. The first introduces the characters, and the second, “The Crew Gets Ice Cream,” Sharron puts many disgusting things in hers.
Sharon “doesn’t remember anything for some reason,” Scarlett said. “She always asks Marlon what is he doing and calls him on the phone and asks him, ‘Who is this number?’ … She’s really funny. That’s why I like her.”
During the design process, Rebekah illustrates, and Michael writes.
“I sit down somewhere quiet and try to think about what I want the story to be about,” Michael said. “Then I go page by page, and I use a rhyming dictionary sometimes when I rhyme. I don’t like to jump around a lot, I try to just start from the beginning and go to the end.”
The process of creating “The Adventures of Marlin Walnut” has brought the family closer together. Once printed, these books will be interactive to capture that collaborative experience for families.
Different pages will have tabs that flap open, “and you can talk to your kids,” Rebekah said. “‘Have you ever had a dream where you go out to have an ice cream? Describe your dreams, and then you can even write your answer,” directly on the pages.
Rebekah promotes the series and further developments through her website, “The Pink Platypus Art Studio.”
“I had to do this when I was a grad student,” Rebekah said. “[The website] has my illustrations. I work for a brewery, so those [promotions] are in here, and then I have photography, ceramics, fine arts, sketches [and] contacts.”
The Pilipaitis family plans to use sites such as GoFundMe or Patreon to pay for publishing and shipment through Amazon.
“I would love, ideally, to have this become a franchise, and Disney [would] pay me for the characters and the rights and royalties, and I’d become a millionaire and have a TV show called ‘The Adventures of Marlon Walnut,’” Rebekah said.
While also benefiting the whole Pilipaitis family, the creation of these stories has helped Micheal find perseverance.
“I learned that I can do things that I thought were hard as long as I just try and don’t give up,” Michael said. “My kids love when I tell stories, and when I read them the finished story, they were really excited. They still ask for stories almost every night.”
Updates and previews on “The Adventures of Marlon Walnut” can be found at https://thepinkplatypusartstudio.com.
