Puppeteer and webcomics pioneer Steve Troop is finally realizing his dream of producing a feature length independent movie of his long-running Melonpool webcomic.

Melonpool began life as one of the first Internet comics back in 1996, but since then Steve – who designed the puppets for Nike’s popular puppet campaign a few years ago – has been slowly transitioning the series in to a puppet show for the past several years. The Melonpool characters have been regulars at comic conventions, book signings and have been regularly featured on Kevin Smith’s Quick Stop Entertainment web site.

Steve recently launched a crowdfunding campaign for the film on Kickstarter and he’s already exceeded the campaign’s $3,500 goal and is now trying to take the film up to the next level by raising $10,000 to upgrade special effects, sets and building a motion control rig to film miniatures.

You can see more of what Steve has his collaborators are cooking up on the Melonpool Facebook page, where you’ll find additional videos and lots of behind-the-scenes photos.