_ How I created an animated character that lets women laugh a little bit._
I have always had a funny name for that time of month. I called it a visit from the ‘Period Fairy.‘ I never thought much about it until a couple years ago when I was writing scripts for an ad agency and had to work on femine hygiene products. Just for the heck of it I submitted an idea about her. To make a long story short, they killed the idea and nothing happened. I’m extremely grateful for that now, because I realize she could be much bigger and better than selling feminine products.For months after that this idea of ‘The Period Fairy’ was always nagging at me. I wanted to create ‘Her’. I thought that there such a taboo surrounding women and their periods and maybe I could create a character that would let women laugh a bit at it. I didn’t want to be crass or gross, because frankly, that’s easy and been done. I knew her personality would have to be upbeat, resilient and funny. She’s been around forever and heard it all before, and with a job like hers, I felt she had to have a sense of humor.
I started thinking that the truth is, every women everywhere, without regard to race, creed or political affiliation, have this time of the month. She does not discriminate. And then I thought, she’s bigger than just a period. She’s the one thing that connects every woman past or present on the planet. She’s been around since the dawn of womankind and will continue to be around...forever.
So I started writing funny scripts about her and the women she visits. And then it dawned on me, she’s been around since the beginning. Eve was her first client, (or perhaps a cavewoman, who knows) but she knows all the secrets. She’s been there. Who else has been around and worked with every woman in history? No one. No one but the Period Fairy.
I wrote the pilot script, which just touched on her and set it aside. I was lucky enough to have a sister who is a great artist and she did some illustrations of her. Suddenly The Period Fairy was coming to life. I posted them up around my office and waited for more inspiration to hit. I really wanted to shoot an episode of her and start her ‘coming out’ party, but I had no money and I thought people would think I was weird anyway for creating such a character. So I just said if something comes to me I’ll roll with it, but in the meantime, I’ll just write about her.
