Simon McKay

formerly named: Reuben Forest, Michael McNab, Simon McNab,
Simon MacKay

~"A famous philosopher, Popeye, once said, 'I am what I am, & that's all that I am'" - Simon to Alex
- El Dorado ~

The ultimate toy maker known as The Wizard.

Inventor. Philanthropist. Musician. All around genius. Cockeyed optimist. Broad minded. Positive thinker. Infinitely imaginative. Simon patented his first invention at the age of 7 & his name would end up on more US patents than any other inventor in the world. He spent several years as a cabin boy on the high seas living a grown up life when most other children his age were just being children.

Many people are denied a childhood for various reasons. Some of those people choose to destroy the innocence of others in revenge. Simon's answer was to not only create the childhood he was denied, but also use his genius & imagination to help children everywhere enjoy theirs even more. To preserve & protect innocence rather than destroy it.

Once it was known that he had achondroplastic dwarfism, Simon's parents decided, if he couldn't grow up physically, they would make sure he would grow up mentally - & fast. They packed him off for a life at sea where he was fortunate enough to befriend Tillie Russell. Tillie became like a surrogate mother to Simon & helped him through his life as a cabin boy & the always difficult task of growing up.

It was Tillie who first influenced Simon to notice the wonders of the world around him & the importance of never letting those wonders pass him by. With no other children to play with, Simon kept himself immersed in books. Learning from books is great, but Tillie taught Simon to learn from the world around him, as well. To savor each ingredient in the stew that is life, the universe & everything.

Not much is known about Simon's formal education. He did attend school & eventually earned a doctorate. His favorite class was an archeology course he took at the age of 13. The course was taught by his hero, Professor Jeremiah "Jake" Saunders. The carpet duffel bag, which would become so closely identified with Simon McKay, was Simon's way of paying homage to the professor, who was never without his leather duffel bag.

Simon eventually went to work for the United States Pentagon in technological weapons development until 1978 when a single incident changed - & nearly ended - his life. It was while working on a new satellite that Simon discovered another scientist by the name of Troyan had been paid to sabotage the project. When Simon thwarted those plans, Troyan set a trap to kill Simon, but ended up caught in his own trap only to suffer the radiation poisoning that Simon narrowly escaped. Simon decided that it was time to rethink his whole life & did what he did best - the seemingly impossible.

~"The Pentagon has five sides & I suddenly found myself opposite most of them." - Simon to Alex - El Dorado~

For the next 6 years, every major government on the planet sent their best intelligence agents out into the field to track down Simon McKay. None succeeded. Imagination trumps intelligence every time. As Simon would later tell Alex Jagger, "I'm good at hide & seek." That was about all Simon would say about his disappearing act after he just as mysteriously resurfaced in 1984.

He did eventually admit to Tillie & Alex Jagger that he spent a year & a half in Tibet. It was in a monastery, high in the Himalayan mountains, that Simon befriended one of the other greatest influences in his life, Anthea. It was Anthea, a mystic healer whose age & origins remain a mystery, who helped Simon to look inside himself & find his way to the path of toy maker.

After reappearing from thin air, Simon settled down in a beautiful house in California, USA to begin life as a toy maker. The ultimate toy maker who would become known as The Wizard. The Wizard of Elm Street.

~"Well, Eric, I thought there were enough serious geniuses in the world. 'Bout time we had a funny one, isn't it?" - Simon - Trouble in the Stars~

The U.S. government, however, wasn't very settled at all. Besides the unnerving fact that this man seemed to vanish from the face of the earth & then reappear without so much as a by your leave, they knew that other governments - especially the USSR - wanted to take control of Simon's genius. There were evil-doers everywhere who wanted to use Simon's powers for their own twisted purposes. The government wanted to not only protect the secrets Simon already knew from his previous work, but also the work that he would occasionally agree to do for them after his reappearing act. Even though Simon refused to have anything more to do with weapons development, the technology he did test & develop for them was just as important. To that end, CIC agents were assigned with the sole purpose of keeping Simon out of enemy hands. It began as an uneasy alliance that would end up forming a deep & lasting friendship between Simon & CIC agent Alex Jagger.

Simon did have one particular weakness - CANDY. Cookies were also a major part of this food group. He attributed this late in life, insatiable sweet-tooth to his missed childhood. Simon even created a safe in his private workshop to hold a secret stash of his "inspiration". He did try to limit the amount of candy & cookies he consumed, but Simon was only human.

~"Most people have a sweet tooth. I seem to have a mouth full of them." - Simon to Bryan - El Dorado~

Even though his toys were state of the art, Simon made certain that it took the users imagination & creativity to make those toys work. Everything from the Helicopters with hand's free remote controls to the Stringless Yo-Yo to an assortment of voice recognition Tranimals such as owls, bears & even guide dogs needed user interaction to reach their full potential.

~ Alex: "How do you think up these things?" Simon:"It's a gift." - Twist of Fate ~

When any of Simon's toys & inventions, such as Jumpy, were ready to be put on the market, they were sold by Bream Toys.

Simon drove 2 vehicles, a Citroen & a Ford Bronco. The blue/gray Citroen, a popular car in Europe, is only seen in El Dorado. The red Bronco seemed to be the vehicle of choice & was outfitted with all kinds of gadgets & inventions. Customized car alarm, oversized suction cup concealed in the front bumper, safety hook & chain concealed under the rear bumper, customized seat controls, customized sound system, etc.

The clothes of Simon McKay were as individual as the man himself. He favored jeans & sneakers, usually Converse All-Star hi-tops, suspenders & hats. He had many pairs of sneakers in different colors, a lot of the time choosing to just go with black, but even those got the McKay treatment every once in a while. For special occasions he would paint a glittering rainbow on those black hi-top All Stars.

written by The MGT. Updated January 27, 2008

Image from The Michael Berk Collection

Image Copyrighted by 20th Century Fox 1986 - 1987

email: themgt@thewizardtvfansite.com

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Simon McKay

formerly named: Reuben Forest, Michael McNab, Simon McNab, Simon MacKay

formerly named: Reuben Forest, Michael McNab, Simon McNab,
Simon MacKay