Archives for the 'Interviews' Category
Interview with the director of Disney’s Enchanted
The folks over at Animated Views got a chance to interview Enchanted’s director, Kevin Lima, and executive producer, Chris Chase.
Animated Views: You’re well-known for being one of the key-artists in Disney’s revival during the 90s. How do you see that period now?
Kevin Lima: I’ve never quite thought of myself in those terms. I think what we, as a group were trying to do, really, was making movies that we loved, and I think, for most of us, that goes back to redefining what we looked at when we were children. And it’s especially true for me. I know that I mostly make movies about things that affected me as a child and things that I fantasized about when I was a child. I’m trying to put that into what I do as an adult and I think that’s really what we all tried to do: look back to our past, remember what we loved when we were children and try to put that on screen.
Head on over to Animated Views to check out the lengthy interview.
Interview with legendary Disney animatior, Andreas Deja.
The folks over at UltimateDisney were lucky enough to interview Mr. Andreas Deja, a legendary Disney animator who has overseen the development of many classic Disney characters such as King Triton, Gaston, Jafar, Hercules and Lilo.
UltimateDisney: 101 Dalmatians has returned to DVD… how much do you look to Cruella and the Disney villains of her era in creating a modern Disney villain?
Andreas: Well you look to these characters for their high standard of excellence, in terms of animation and design and entertainment, but you’ve got to do your own spin on things, you know, because what these old animators always said is that you’ve got to be personal in your work.
So I wouldn’t look at these characters to steal a certain idea or a graphic shape or even a character concept, I would… try to let it come out of the material that I’m given and just be personal with it. Like when I did Scar for The Lion King, I didn’t watch The Jungle Book at all because I had seen that movie so many times and I know that if I would look at the tiger and study the tiger again and again, it would have a way of influencing my work… So I didn’t look at The Jungle Book for a whole year. I just looked at real lions; I studied Jeremy Irons in his movies and made that sort of the source of what Scar became.
Head over to UltimateDisney to read the entire interview.
Interview with Peter & the Wolf’s producer, Hugh Welchman
We had the wonderful opportunity to interview Hugh Welchman, producer of the Oscar winning Peter & the Wolf. Below you’ll find the complete interview:
1) Hello Hugh, how are you today? Could you please introduce yourself to our readers? (What’s your title, what exactly were you responsible for, etc…)
I’m Hugh Welchman, a producer from BreakThru Films in London. I assume when asking what I was responsible for, you mean in relation to Peter and the Wolf. I was responsible for the project happening. I was the first person working on the project, and I will no doubt be the last person to stop working on it!
2) How did it feel when Owen Wilson announced that Peter & the Wolf had won the Oscar for best animated short? How did it feel to be on stage in front of millions of people?
It felt amazing. I was instantly floating, and a grin broke out on my face that took one week to subside. I thought I would be nervous going out in front of a live audience of (we were told 800 million prior to the ceremony, and told over a billion after the event) millions, but I was just very happy, and very relaxed. I have accepted many awards on behalf of different films, but none of them felt like this, it felt totally different.
3) Did you get to meet any of the other nominees in both the feature length and short animation categories?
We met them all.
4) What part of Peter & the Wolf was your favorite?
My favorite part is when the cat is standing on its hind legs on the tree, after snapping its branch. It makes me laugh every time I see the film and I have seen the film hundreds of times!
5) How long did it take to complete the short (include pre and post production)?
Developing and financing the project took 3 years. It was a real struggle, we almost lost heart at a couple of points. Pre production was 7 months, and production/post production was 6 months. Recovering from production/post-production was 18 months!
6) How have children reacted to Peter & the Wolf? How have adults reacted?
We made this as a family film. We aimed it at 7-11 year olds and their parents/aunts/uncles/grandparents. Many people thought our version [was] very dark, but we were convinced that the film needed to be dark and scary as well as light and funny, as this is how we felt about the Prokofiev music. Our first test screening was actually our world premiere at London’s Royal Albert Hall in front of 5,500 people! We finished the film at 6:00pm, and had it there for a 7:30pm screening. We sat there watching the film, completely terrified, until 7 minutes in we heard a ripple of giggles from the children in the audience, which soon turned into belly laughter from the adults and children alike, at that point we made a collective sigh of relief and knew everything was going to be alright.
I have been very surprised as kids as young as 3 have really enjoyed the film, even those that find it frightening. I have had many parents write to me saying that there young children watch it repeatedly (some of them from behind the sofa). Also we have a teen following which I didn’t expect.
7) Will Peter & the Wolf be released on DVD in the USA?
It is being released by Magnolia later this year, but we also have an on-air exclusive to thirteen (PBS) for the 26th March broadcast, an it is also available on i-Tunes.
8.) Have you always been involved in animation? What is your background?
I studied Politics at Oxford University, but I knew before I left there that I wanted to work in film. I worked as a History and Politics teacher while I gained experience in film, and then I applied to and got into the National Film and Television School in UK. It was here that I was introduced to animation, and worked on both animation and live action films. When I left film school I aimed to be involved in both live action and animation, and this I have done. The majority of our films are live action, but our biggest finished film, Peter and the wolf, is animation.
9) Any words of advice to our readers? (some of which are current animation students and some of which are thinking of getting into the animation field).
My advice would be generally to those wishing to pursue a career in the creative fields. There is a choice between being an author/initiator of projects and working as a creative person for others on projects. The second path is much easier, less angst ridden, normally more stable in terms of pay and life-style, and is often very rewarding. Examine what kind of person you are. I would say only take the route of an initiator/author if you are compelled to, as it is often a very tough route. If you have, like me, to be a author/initiator make yourself as informed as you can about the art form you are working in, and get yourself good mentors, and work out what you want to make and why you want to make it. Once you have worked that out, and you are informed with good support from people with experience you will be able to make your projects how you dreamed they would be.
10) What does the future hold for you? Any future animation projects in the works?
Future is the same as the past, making films that we are passionate about. We have 3 films we are working on. Two are live action: Sh - which is about a virus that spreads through sound, Cu -a warrior epic set on the Celtic fringe of the Roman Empire, and one animation/live action film, Alex - based on a cartoon strip and a successful west-end play we were involved in.
Thank you very much for your time Hugh and much success in the future!
Rotten Tomatoes interviews Brad Bird
The fine folks over at RottenTomatoes have interviewed Mr. Bird again. This time they talk about his recent Golden Tomato award and Ratatouille’s 5 Oscar nomations.
RT: You spent several years on this film, when did it feel like it started to come together for you?
Brad: I think somewhat towards the end. But when you’re going through it, particularly with sort of a sped-up schedule that we had, you turn your attention from one fire to another. As soon as one fire is solved, you don’t go, “Wow, I really put out that fire.” You swivel your head around and go after the next one. You keep going until there are no more fires. Suddenly, you look back and there’s a movie behind you and you go, “Wow, when did that happen?”
Check out the interview at RottenTomatoes.
Marjane Satrapi - Persepolis interview
RottenTomatoes.com has an interview with Marjane Satrapi (director) on Persepolis with exclusive clips and photos.
Here’s one of the questions she was asked:
RottenTomatoes: Persepolis and Ratatouille are the favorites for being nominated and winning the Animation Oscar and it’s interesting that they’re both, in one way or another, connected to French culture. Have you seen Ratatouille?
Marjane: Yes, it’s a nice one. I really like it a lot. I watched it with two kids and they were so excited. I was more excited by their excitement.
I don’t know, if we could have the Oscar for Best Animation and Best Foreign, that’d be a record. Yes! Why not? I worked for it. [Laughs.] I’d be a liar if I said I don’t care. I do care. I hope. At the same time, this is just a competition. It’s surreal. If it doesn’t come, it doesn’t come. But I hope it will. [Laughs.]
For the entire interview, click here.
Matt Groening discusses Simpsons game
Check out this interview of Matt Groening discussing the new Simpsons game along with the origin of Homer’s world famous “D’oh!”
Tons of Ratatouille video interviews
The folks over at Collider were lucky enough to sit down with various people from Pixar including Brad Bird and John Lasseter who are out promoting the upcoming DVD/Blu-Ray release of Ratatouille.
Check out the interviews:
Brad Lewis - Producer
Michael Giacchino - Composer
Brian Dennehy (Voice of Djano) and Andrew Jiminez (Animator)
Brad Bird (Director) and John Lasseter (Executive Producer)
Matt Groening on Late Night with Conan O’Brien
Here’s another interview of Matt Groening, this time conducted by Conan O’Brien of Late Night with Conan O’Brien, which airs Monday through Friday at 11:35 PM EST on NBC. This interview was conducted to promote the upcoming July 27th release of The Simpsons Movie.
Matt Groening on The Daily Show
Here is an interview of Matt Groening conducted by Jon Stewart of The Daily Show, which airs Monday through Thursday at 11PM EST on Comedy Central. This interview was conducted to promote the upcoming July 27th release of The Simpsons Movie.
Interview with Brad Bird
The folks over at ComingSoon have published a very informative interview with Ratatouille director Brad Bird. Here’s a sample question:
ComingSoon.net: You weren’t involved with this project from the beginning. When did you come on board?
Brad Bird: It started with Jan Pinkava who won the Oscar for a short called “Geri’s Game” and he was working on it when I first came up to Pixar in 2000 to do “The Incredibles” and was developing it through the whole time I was making “The Incredibles.” As part of Pixar’s sort of story group, we look at each other’s work during the times that films are being developed to give each other fresh eyes. So I was aware of the film and participated in the development of the film from that sort of perspective the whole time it was being made. But, a little over a year and a half ago, everyone loved the film, they loved the idea of the film, they loved the world and the collection of character types. But, the story was not coming together the way they wanted it to.
To read the full interview, which I highly recommend, head on over to ComingSoon.
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