I've been a big ZOOM fan for as long as I can remember, and, with the success of my Sprout fanfic, making a just-as-big ZOOM fanfic seemed like a no-brainer.
While I can't get into Muppet Central, I still go on there from time to time, no, change that to A LOT! In 2007, prior to founding The Muppet Mindset, Muppet fan Ryan Dosier (theprawncracker) made a few fanfics on Muppet Central, including "Sometimes It's Better to Go'' and the Sesame Street fanfic "Street Smarts." In both stories, the villain plans to demolish an iconic location, the characters have to go their separate ways, but are later called back together. Similarly, ZOOMing Out, which takes place during filming of Season 3 in 2000, is about ZOOM getting canceled due to PBS funding cuts, the ZOOMers and ZOOMCrew having to go their separate ways, and the ZOOMers getting together to defeat an evil troll and save the day (SPOILERS(!)). ZOOMing Out mainly takes inspiration from "Street Smarts," as it includes some of the same scenes and even the same songs.
Now for the characters. I did not have Harold the Troll be the bad guy at first, but, as soon as I realized I needed a villain, I made him the villain at the last minute. I gave him a song, plot, and a wonderful defeat, all things a good movie villain should have, making him a perfect villain. Now, if ZOOMing Out were a movie, it would mostly be in live-action, but Harold and the other trolls would be in CGI. As I mentioned in my commentary, the trolls living in a small cupboard/cabinet-like door is inspired by the ones in my Uncle Jim's house I believe trolls live in, I can see Matt Dillon playing Harold, whose name just came up in my mind.
Every movie or at least story needs a good heroine. In the fic, Rachel's new space camp friend Stacia helps the ZOOMers stop Harold, save WGBH, their show, themselves, and the day. Without her, it would be clear the ZOOMers would've lived in fear forever! I could see Jennifer Aniston from FRIENDS playing her - something else I said in the commentary.
I thought it would be nice for Buzz to be in a little kids' camp since it seemed like he was very childlike, and I thought Rosie, the teacher, would be a nice person to guide him and the little kids around. Like Harold, the name Rosie came out of nowhere and came up in my head - probably after Rosie O'Donnell(?). If ZOOMing Out were a real movie, as I said before, Rosie would've probably been played by Courteney Cox, also of FRIENDS.
The DOOMers, the thug ZOOM tribute band Eric performed with in Richmond, were (obviously) inspired by The Moopets from the 2011 film The Muppets, who also inspired "Sproot" (the Reno tribute channel) in my Sprout fanfic. Performing with the DOOMers would be a great job for Eric after the ZOOMers broke up. The DOOMers were based on the Season 2 cast (Caroline, Kenny, Zoe, Alisa, Ray, Jessie, and Claudio), since Season 3 was already in production at the time and Season 2 was already on the air. I can see a Dave Grohl-like person playing "Koony."
