Animated Imagination Studios ᵃ ᴮᴴ ᴼʳᵍ ᶜᵒᵐᵖᵃⁿʸ

Concept Art: "King Cassino"

Added 2025-07-01 00:36:29 +0000 UTC

Back when we were developing "Atraco Arriesgado", I knew this would be the introduction to the "Six Mafia Families" that represent organized crime in the Villainous world. I wanted each family to represent a "time period" of organized crime, along with an emblematic "illegal activity" from the mafia, represented all over the media. One of my favorite families was the "Gambling Family"; I knew I wanted them to represent "gambling" and the "vintage" 50s mobsters.

The head of the family needed to be an embodiment of gambling, so "King Casino" was born. When I first started designing the character, he was some kind of "living slot-machine" with a dice head; the idea was that each expression/emotion was on a side of the dice and it turned to use the one that reflected his current mood, much like the Mayor from "Nightmare Before Christmas" but with extra steps. In the end, we decided to do a more human form for Cassino because he was supposed to be the opposite of Porccini, who was no longer human; Cassino needed to keep his humanity. Also, if he didn't, all the families would be led by strange creatures, so in the end, I decided to make Cassino a human with a special power that wasn't visible but was present all the time. He kept the Pachuco look, though.

-Alan I.