With their high powered multimedia computers, sophisticated CD software, video and sound capture devices andstoryboards, the creative team at Living Books doesn't really look like the pioneers so often depicted in history books. But pioneers is what they are. These are pioneers in the art of interactive storytelling, says George Consagra, executive producer of Ruff's Bone, a Living Books multimedia software title. These pioneers rely on high-tech multimediagadgets rather than antiquated items like the hand ax or the horse-drawn Conestoga wagon.

"We are pioneering interactive storytelling. While there are similarities in CD-ROM production to film production, theCD-ROM medium presents a multitude of new possibilities that really inspired our creative team," Consagra says.

Living Books is the children's multimedia market company formed in 1994 by Random House, Inc. and BroderbundSoftware. Ruff's Bone is the vision of Clio-award-winning videographer and author Eli Noyes, head of (Colossal)Pictures. The comedic title tells the tale of Ruff, an enterprising pup which takes kids of all ages on a capriciousjourney in search of his bone.

Worlds of Ruff

The work, a 12-screen story narrated in both English and Spanish, was the first CD-ROM produced for Living Books by the San Francisco-based (Colossal) Pictures, which also develops and produces music videos, television commercialsand other film projects.

Unlike many companies in kid's software publishing, Living Books was created with a strong, in-house foundation of experience in each element of the business, from creation to production and marketing, says Kimberly Dempster, Living Books' public relations manager.

Pairing for Excellence

Product development, production, marketing and publicity are all coordinated at the Living Books headquarters in San Francisco, while assembly and shipping is handled by Broderbund's facility in Petaluma, California.

Noyes, who served as designer/director on the Ruff's Bone project, says he was inspired by another Broderbund title, Just Grandma and Me by Mercer Mayer, which first hit store shelves in 1992. "When I saw that," he says, "I realized CD-ROM was the perfect modern-day medium for all my previous experience creating children's projects."

Just Grandma and Me, based on Mayer's best-selling children's book of the same name, represented the Broderbund company's initial attempt to "erase the line between learning and playing," says John Baker, Broderbund's vice president of product development for educational and entertainment products.

Ruff's Bone builds on that idea, as well. Consagra says that the CD-based publishing effort is vastly different from paper publishing projects. During the Ruff project, he says, "We learned that interactive storytelling is more like film production. With the director, Eli, as the hub, valuable contributions are made by the supporting roles."

Democracy in action

Consagra characterizes the Living Books creative process as a very democratic one which involves all members of the creative team. Ruff's creative team consisted of Stuart Cudlitz, Colossal's New Media Division Creative Director (who concieved the project); Anne Ashbey, senior producer; Catherine Magerin, animation director; Beth Segal, animator; Dave Wise and Jonathan Levy technical directors; Greg Jones, musical director and sound designer Jim Le Brecht, in addition to Noyes and Consagra.

"The main interface designs came from Stuart, then as Eli would draw layouts for the different worlds" Consagra says. " and then we'd all work on the gags asking questions like, "What happens if he touches the rocks?" Or, "what should the moon say when you touchit? "

Ruff's Bone functions two ways, both as a traditional storybook, with linear progression from beginning to end, or as a more comparmentalized experience where children can pause to investigate the various worlds of Ruff, which include a jungle, a cave, outer space and the depths of the ocean.

The secrets behind the scenes

In Ruff's Bone, the storyteller will read the story to the child, or the child can choose to explore the screens at his or her own pace, using the mouse to click on words or hot spots that trigger animations. Click on the blinking stars in one scene, and they croon old show tunes; click on a crab in another scene and it will snap its claws like castanets to a Flamenco music accompaniment.

The title is indicative of Living Books' other products, which include Marc Brown's Arthur's Teacher Trouble, an adaptation of Aesop's classic The Tortoise and the Hare and a book of poetry by Jack Prelutsky, The New Kid on the Block. The latest release from Living Books is The Berenstain Bears Get in A Fight, by the married writing team of Stan and Jan Berenstain.

The future is now on CD

In April Living Books announced that it had acquired the rights to the works of Dr. Seuss. The first interactive book inthat series, Dr. Seuss' ABC, is set to debut this month.

Jeffrey Schon, chief executive officer and president of Living Books, says he's extremely proud of the product line whichis setting a standard for excellence in the children's software industry. "Now people can stop speculating about what the future holds for animation and software" he says.

Living Books
A Random House/Broderbund Company

Ellen Adams is a freelance writer in Thornwood, New York. Her articles have appeared in Computer Gaming World, Emmy Magazine, Electronic Musician and others.