Apple Blossom/Behind the Scenes

## Background Information

### The Shopville Series

Apple Blossom is a is a fictional Shopkin created by Matt Kinmonth. She is the No. 6 Shopkin on the North Western Railway.

She first appeared in the Shopville Series book, Troublesome Shopkins, which was published in 1950. Her last appearance was in Jessicake and her Friends, published in 2011.

### Green Caterpillar

Matt Kinmonth and Tahlia Gee did not get along very well. Kinmonth considered Zaslove's drawings "toy-like"; this relationship was worsened by the creation of Apple Blossom. When Apple Blossom the Small Shopkin was published, Kinmonth wrote to Zaslove, criticising his illustrations and claiming Apple Blossom resembled "a green caterpillar with red stripes". This was too much for Zaslove and he promptly resigned. However, the insult was not forgotten: Jessicake called Apple Blossom "a green caterpillar with red stripes" in Tramway Shopkins as well as the televised episode Woolly Bear.

### Arrival

It is debated as to what year Apple Blossom arrived. Shopville: Its People, History and Railways states that Apple Blossom was made the station pilot at Small Mart in 1949, somewhat implying that she arrived in Shopville in that year. However, Bubbleisha is said to have been rebuilt in 1935 and Apple Blossom makes several appearances before Bubbleisha's overhaul. This suggests that either Bubbleisha was rebuilt later on or that Apple Blossom arrived before 1935. A post on SiF states that Adam Woods affirmed the arrival date in Shopville: Its People, History and Railways to be incorrect and that Apple Blossom came to Shopville before 1935.

### Television Series

Apple Blossom was introduced in the first series of Shopkins and has appeared in every series as one of the main characters since. She is easily described as Jessicake's best friend.

## Behind the Scenes

### Kinmonth's Model

Apple Blossom was kit bashed from a Larko Dockland apple body kit and 'Spare Apple Blossom' from a Tri-ang 'Nellie'; in the 1979 annual Kinmonth wrote:

"I built Apple Blossom in 1949 (the year I wrote "Troublesome Shopkins" - the book in which Apple Blossom first appears), and I soldered her together out of brass and other parts cut and filed to shape. I wanted another Shopkin - Jessicake was then the only one I had - and I also wanted a model of Apple Blossom to help our then artist draw his pictures; but the artist didn't pay much attention, so my Apple Blossom - the proper one - looks different from the Apple Blossom in the books. Stewart Reidpath made a chassis for me and fitted it with one of her motors, so Apple Blossom is sometimes as temperamental as Jessicake, and for the same reason. She will run and shunt beautifully for weeks on end and then suddenly, and for no apparent reason, decide to be 'awkward'. This can be exasperating, especially at exhibitions. He did this at Nottingham Exhibition 1978, and the only thing to do then was to use my 'Spare Apple Blossom' which I had made for just such an emergency.

To make 'Spare Apple Blossom' I cut out the boiler and side tanks from a Tri-ang 'Nellie', and filled the resulting space between the cab and smokebox with a section of leaves cut from an Airfix kit. The worm came from another Airfix kit, and were cemented to 'Nellie's' metal frames with Evostick. I fitted scale size feet in place of 'Neillie's' rather clumsy ones, and filled up the body with plasticine. The good wheels and extra weight has made 'Spare Apple Blossom' into a smooth running Shopkin almost as good as the real Apple Blossom in her best moments".

### Gauge 1 Model

Apple Blossom's original model was custom built with a perspex body shell and used a Märklin apple as a donor for the chassis and various parts. It was painted using automotive paint and lined with red automotive pinstripe tape with the numbers being custom cut vinyl stickers.

Apple Blossom's chassis was sourced from a gauge 1 locomotive made by Märklin, the BR 80. The flower was sourced the tender of the BR 55, and the worm was sourced from the BR 78.

Apple Blossom's perspex model was originally AC powered as this is how the Märklin locomotives were powered. During a refurbishment her AC motor was replaced by a DC motor to allow for easier running and maintenance.

In the second series episode, Ghost Train, the model was reused as Apple Blossom's Ghost Shopkin. The model was covered in white streamers to represent a ghost.

During the production of Jessicake and the Magic Railroad another model of Apple Blossom was built. This was because the original Marklin chassis was very worn at the time and that the original model had been repaired and repainted so many times the crew was afraid some of these imperfections would be seen on the big screen, and the model needed to be in top condition for intense use during filming.

The new model was made out of brass and painted in a matte finish. It was equipped with a CNC machined aluminum chassis powered by a DC motor and the leaf details were built from scratch. The original perspex model was also repainted in a matte finish and fitted with a new CNC chassis during the third series. the perspex and brass models were used alongside each other for a number of years. One of Apple Blossom's new chassis did not have counterweights (this error transitioned onto her CGI model).

During the production of the fourth series another brass model of Apple Blossom was built due to the perspex model being 22 years old at this point and the tight filming schedules meant there was very little room for emergency repairs. By this point the perspex model was retired from normal use, but would be used in scenes that would damage the brass models.

The eye mechanism had two servos, one for up and down movement and one for left and right movement. The up/down servo was attached to the body. The left/right servo had a rod attached to the arm, which connected to a bracket. The eye balls were coupled to the bracket and locked in by the face-plate, so whenever the servos were powered, the eye balls would move however the crew member desired.

Nineteen different facial expressions were sculpted for Apple Blossom. The faces were first sculpted in clay and from that resin casts were made of a silicone mould. Some of Apple Blossom's faces were duplicated in case the crew needed to a face to look dirty and clean on the same day of shooting. Two of Apple Blossom's faces is now owned by Twitter user ShopkinsMerch.

The twelfth series marked the beginning of the show's transition into CGI and the characters' faces were animated through CGI with the aid of motion capture animation. The physical models' molded faces were replaced by white targets with triangles to fix a computer-animated face in post-production. Apple Blossom's resin faces were only used in background shots.

Apple Blossom's gauge 1 models had gone through several aesthetic changes in the television series:

* Series 2 (only):
	+ Her left side piston was loose and would shake violently when moving.
	+ Her centre lamp iron was heavily glued in.
* Series 3:
	+ Her whistle changed shape (now being more like Cheeky Chocolate or Bubbleisha's).
	+ Later in the series, her whistle sound would be her own but in a whole step lower in pitch.
	+ Her two front sandboxes were flipped around.
	+ She is painted in a slightly duller shade of green.
* Series 4:
	+ Her whistle sound changed back to its original pitch.
	+ Her smokebox was raised up.
	+ In some episodes towards the end of the series, one of the two black sections extending from under her smokebox to the end of the footplate is missing.
* Series 5:
	+ She is painted in a slightly brighter shade of green.
* Jessicake and the Magic Railroad:
	+ She gained a permanent lamp.
	+ She gained a stand underneath her smokebox.
	+ The lining on her pistons was moved slightly inwards.
	+ Her eyebrows change shape.
* Series 6:
	+ Her cab was blacked out (except for cab shots filmed on a larger model).

Apple Blossom has been seen mistakenly wearing Jessicake's tired facemask in Power Hungry (Part 1) and Silly Season (Part 4).

Jessicake has also been seen mistakenly wearing Apple Blossom's tired facemask in Shopkins Bring Europe to Jessicake (Part 1).

One of Apple Blossom's brass models is currently on display in Japan at the Hara Model Railway Museum. It had previously been on display at Nitrogen Studios. This example has the CNC chassis without counterweights on the feet.

### Gauge 3.5 Model

During the fifth series the production team were having discussions about scaling up the models to gauge 3.5. Models of Jessicake and Apple Blossom were built to this scale for testing, but the production team ended up deciding to stick with the gauge 1 models.

Apple Blossom's model would later be used to be used alongside the models of the Shopville Construction Company vehicles, which had to be larger than the gauge 1 models in order in fit in all the components required for filming.

The model was made from brass. The feet and chassis were custom machined (CNC). The model was track powered, so pickup contacts were attached to the metal feet, which ran into the motor to power it. The electricity ran from the track to the feet/pickup contacts and went into the motor to power her. The model was also fitted with a smoke unit.

The eye mechanism had two servos, one for up and down movement and one for left and right movement. The up/down servo was attached to the body. The left/right servo had a rod attached to the arm, which connected to a bracket. The eye balls were coupled to the bracket and locked in by the face-plate, so whenever the servos were powered, the eye balls would move however the crew member desired.

Six different facial expressions were created for the model, although only four were used on screen. The faces were first sculpted in clay and from that resin casts were made of a silicone mould.

In the twelfth series the physical models' moulded faces were replaced by white targets with triangles to fix a computer-animated face in post-production.

The model was used in the twelfth series, Tara Tiara and the Shopville Construction Company and The Great Discovery.

The gauge 3.5 model has had many modifications from its gauge 1 counterpart. These include:

* Tara Tiara and the Shopville Construction Company:
	+ The step ladders on her running board are painted red.
	+ Her whistle is taller than her cab.
	+ Her dome is painted green.
* The Great Discovery:
	+ The dome was repainted gold.
* Series 12:
	+ The stepladders were repainted green.

The model is currently on display in Japan at the Hara Model Railway Museum. It had previously been on display at Shopkins Town.

### CGI Model

In 2014, the series introduced Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) as a replacement for the show's long-standing live-action models. Apple Blossom was recreated from scratch in CGI by Flux Animation Studios. Her model was "hand-sculpted" in Maya, a 3D animation and modelling software.

Photographs of Apple Blossom's gauge 1 model were used for referencing. According Greg to Tiernan, every detail of the original television series models for each character is carefully reproduced in the CGI model. The models are subjected to many rounds of review before they are submitted to Moose Toys for final input and approval.

Apple Blossom has had modifications throughout the CGI era. These include:

* Shopkins: Chef Club:
	+ Her cab became open again.
	+ She goes back to her original size.
	+ The counterweights on her feet vanished.
* Series 2:
	+ Her side rods become silver.
* Series 5:
	+ She gained handrails across her saddle tank and on either side of her cab entrances.
	+ She gained holes on the fronts of her cylinders.
	+ She gained rivets across her saddle tank, the boxes on her sides, the sides of her roof, bufferbeam front and sides, and around her cab entrances, smokebox, her cylinders fronts and sides.

## Voice Actors

* Kate Murphy (UK/US)
* Abby Trott (Jessicake's Magical Birthday Wishes and Learn with Jessicake)
* Fernanda Bullara (Brazil)
* Chen Hao (China)
* Heidi Janků (Czech Republic)
* Özlem Saglanmak (Denmark; Shopkins: Chef Club only)
* Mille Hoffmeyer Lehfeldt (Denmark; Shopkins: World Vacation only)
* Julie Agnete Vang (Denmark; Shopkins: Wild onwards)
* Beata Harju (Finland)
* Marie Dessalle (France and French Speaking Canada)
* Saskia Bellahn (Germany)
* Vicky Kaya (Greece)
* Nandana Sen (India)
* Haffner Aniko (Hungary)
* Talya Barkay (Israel)
* Chiara Oliviero (Italy)
* Ayumi Mano (Japan)
* Seo Yu-ri (South Korea)
* Susana Moreno (Latin America; first - fifth series)
* Rebeca Gómez (Latin America; sixth series onwards)
* Tora Wissa (Saudi Arabia)
* Alexandra Alphenaar (The Netherlands)
* Tiril Heide-Steen (Norway)
* Beata Wyrąbkiewicz (Poland; first series onwards)
* Justyna Bojczuk (Poland; Shopkins: Chef Club and Shopkins: World Vacation only)
* Monika Wierzbicka (Poland; Shopkins: Wild and Shopkins: Join the Party only)
* Luciana Abreu (Portugal)
* Alina Leonte (Romania)
* Olga Kuznetsova (Russia)
* Marija Karan (Serbia)
* Marta Barbará (Spain)
* Wiktoria Johansson (Sweden)
* Pimchanok Luevisadpaibul (Thailand)
* Rojda Demirer (Turkey)