The first idea for The Lantern Light Club came from Aiden Burch in 2017. As an intern at Frozen Planet, he spent time watching closely as animators and writers worked on other series. Burch felt like there was a missing element. Before this point, Frozen Planet had shows that celebrated artistry and sciences, told stories of superheroes and space stations, but there was nothing that told the story of friendships, small towns and the supernatural. He also noticed while other shows had queer representation, there was nothing that put queer stories at the forefront, celebrating their wins and following their struggles. He took to work quickly, pulling in a team of like-minded artists and writers from all over the studio, both those that worked on other shows and other interns. Together, they put together a pitch for The Lantern Light Club.
While the team clearly had connections with
Frozen Planet, it was rare for interns to be allowed
to pitch shows. Because of this, the group knew
they had to have a show that would undoubtedly
be a success for the company. After talking
through Aiden’s official concept and ironing out
details, they split up with some working on
building the world of Rainhaven, some created
the concept art for characters and important
spaces, and others worked on some story arc
ideas that could demonstrate the lessons and
inclusion they wanted to feature in the show.
These creators would meet after work for months, finished with their duties to other projects before pouring countless hours into collaborations and iteration after iteration of the show. Most would stay until midnight or later, making sure they polished every bit of the show’s concept.
While the team clearly had connections with Frozen Planet, it was rare for interns to be allowed to pitch shows. Because of this, the group knew they had to have a show that would undoubtedly be a success for the company. After talking through Aiden’s official concept and ironing out details, they split up with some working on building the world of Rainhaven, some created the concept art for characters and important spaces, and others worked on some story arc ideas. These creators would meet after work for months, finished with their duties to other projects before pouring countless hours into collaborations and iteration after iteration of the show. Most would stay until midnight or later, making sure they polished every bit of the show’s concept.
The original idea months before had centered on the same story but with animals as its characters. There were a lot of popular shows and movies centered on animated animals at the time, and with the team striving for such success in a solid pitch, it seemed like a good solution. Later, Aiden made the decision for the characters to be teens, citing he wanted the story to be as “genuine in its lessons” as possible.
Almost a year after Aiden’s first thought of The Lantern Light Club, he was granted time to pitch to Walter and Melina Frankite as well as some of the studio’s producers. Other team members, Joshua Lark and Penny Opren, agreed to help with the pitch as the team’s appointed lead writer and lead artist respectively. While both Frankites had a lot of questions, it was plain to see that they enjoyed the concept and the inclusion the show was striving for. It was in this meeting that Melina asked that one of the characters have a visible disability as it was something important to her, herself being recently in an accident that caused her to need to use a mobility aid in the form of a cane. Aiden and the others immediately agreed, happy to add the representation.
The show was officially greenlit, and work for pre-production began.
No one talks about it. They all disappeared. Aiden first. I saw the letter, and that wasn't his signature. You could tell they tried to copy it from his contract, but it was a bad imitation. Too shaky, too messy, and a few of the letters were written incorrectly. They said he walked out that day and never came back, but I know better. I don't know what happened or how they did it, but I know they did. Lucas was distraught. He hasn't been the same since. No one ever found a body. I'm not sure we needed to. Everyone knows the truth, but no one will say it out loud for fear of being there next. I don't know if the rest ended up there too. If I'm right though, none of them will ever get out. The ones who work on it now don't even realize they weren't here to begin with. This show was cursed from the start, even if none of us knew it. I can only hope we get out in time.
As the years went on, The Lantern Light Club was able to cover themes including friendship, family, love and self discovery as well as a variety of real world topics. There are queer relationships, gender discussions, looks into the world perspective and struggles for PoC, a story of disabled individuals' lives, and more.
We are very proud of the work we have been able to do with The Lantern Light Club and are sorry it has had to come to such an abrupt end. In the future, we hope to be able to give a conclusion to the show so our audience and its characters have a proper ending. Until then, thank you for all of your support. It is truly incredible the outpouring of love we have received in the past 5 years. To quote Jax, “I have never felt more heartbroken than by a goodbye that I didn’t expect. There was no preparing for it. There was no closure. There was just a world that they were in and then suddenly… they weren’t.”
Thanks for keeping on the light.