Bee Movie (2007)

MY AFFECTION FOR DreamWorks Animation has definitely grown over the last five years, thanks to more deeply developed offerings such as the Kung Fu Panda films, How to Train Your Dragon, and last year’s Rise of the Guardians.

But before that, DreamWorks’ output lacked the depth and imagination that Pixar was providing in droves. And 2007’s Bee Movie is (hopefully) one of the last installments of that earlier time.

Barry B. Benson (Jerry Seinfeld) is a college grad who’s eager to begin his career as a worker bee in his hive. Since bees have a short lifespan, he knows he has to make his career choice count – once a bee picks a job in the hive, they’re stuck with it for the rest of their (abbreviated) life. While out collecting pollen, Barry befriends Vanessa (Renée Zellweger), a human who values all living things, including Barry. When Barry is outraged that people have been “stealing” bees’ honey for years, Vanessa helps him file a lawsuit against the human race.

Bee Movie is pollinated here and there with make-you-smile cleverness, but out-loud laughs are few. Many jokes will go over kids’ heads, but the punchlines won’t satisfy the adults who get them. (It really took four writers to come up with this?)

In addition to uneven humor and lack of character depth, the film demands huge suspensions of disbelief. The fact that Vanessa accepts and befriends a talking bee after only a few moments is hard to swallow, not to mention the swarms of people in the courtroom during Barry’s lawsuit trial who also seem unaffected by Barry’s ability to speak. It’s also tough buying the seasoned, “lemme tell ya” voice of 53-year-old Jerry Seinfeld as a recent college graduate. (If you’re dying for a Jerry/Puddy reunion, Seinfeld’s Patrick Warburton voices Vanessa’s arrogant and jealous boyfriend, Ken.)

Bee Movie starts with a promising premise – questioning the idea of having one monotonous job your entire life (a la Wreck-It Ralph) – but soon devolves into a much less engaging plot involving a courtroom trial that kids won’t care about, much less understand. Uneven and too clever for its own good, Bee Movie provides occasional glimpses of inspiration, but ultimately not enough sting.

Rating:

What did FilmBoy and Jack-Jack think?

FilmBoy stayed with Bee Movie for the first hour, but then his attention waned and he started looking at his Pokemon cards. His final verdict: “It was okay.” Meanwhile, Jack-Jack soaked in every bit, getting visibly animated at much of what was going on.

Is it suitable for your kids?

Bee Movie is rated PG for "mild suggestive humor."
Language: A bee accuses Barry of “making out” with Vanessa. When he needs to go to the bathroom, Barry declares he needs to “drain the ol’ stinger.” A bee says of a female co-worker, “She’s hot!” Barry describes a character as being “very Jewish.” In a low moment, Barry and Vanessa jokingly discuss a “suicide pact” and how they would do it. One mention each of “drag queen,” “poo water,” and “heaving buttocks.”
Violence: Vanessa stabs herself with a fork to make sure she’s not dreaming. Barry has a dream where Vanessa crashes a plane she’s piloting and it bursts into flames. There are several scenes of slapstick punching and slapping. Ken tries to swat, smash, and light Barry on fire during a fight.
Adult Themes: There’s an ongoing theme, though handled lightheartedly, of dying and death due to the bee’s short lifespan.
Smoking: A human passerby smokes a cigarette.

Will your FilmMother want to watch it?

The images and premise of Bee Movie may appeal to her, but she may balk at the pedestrian humor and questionable adult material in such a child-targeted film.

Wow – that's one honey of a serve!
(Oh, boo-hiss to you, too.)

Bee Movie
* Directors: Steve Hickner, Simon J. Smith
* Screenwriters: Jerry Seinfeld, Spike Feresten, Barry Marder, Andy Robin
* Stars: Jerry Seinfeld, Renée Zellweger, Matthew Broderick, Patrick Warburton, John Goodman, Chris Rock, Kathy Bates, Eddie Izzard, Alan Arkin, Megan Mullally, Rip Torn, Larry Miller, Barry Levinson
* MPAA Rating: PG



Rent Bee Movie from Netflix >>

Interview with Rise of the Guardians director Peter Ramsey

FOLLOWING THE RECENT home video release of DreamWorks Animation’s Rise of the Guardians – in which Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman, and Jack Frost come together to battle Pitch, aka The Boogeyman – I spoke with the film’s director, Peter Ramsey.

Before joining DreamWorks Animation in 2004, Ramsey amassed an impressive resume as a storyboard artist and illustrator for live action films, including Minority Report, Cast Away, Fight Club, Being John Malkovich, Men in Black, and Backdraft. He was also second unit director on films such as Godzilla, Higher Learning, and Poetic Justice. Ramsey spoke about the impact of Guardians on adults as well as children, the importance of nailing Jack Frost’s character, how he got his start in animation, and what’s next for him and the Guardians.

Congratulations on the home video release of Rise of the Guardians.
Thank you very much.

The film does a tremendous job of stressing the importance of children to believe in the Guardians. Do you feel it gives adults a chance to relive that childhood feeling of believing as well?
If all the people who’ve spoken to me after tons and tons of screenings is any indication, then yeah, I think so. I can’t tell you how many people have come up and said, “You brought me back to my childhood,” “You made me feel like a kid again,” and variations on that idea. I knew going in to this project that dealing with and embracing these characters might have that effect, but I was kind of surprised by how much it actually did.

In a way, the film really focuses on one character’s rise to the level of Guardian: that of Jack Frost. Was his journey always the focus of the film, even in the early development stages?
It took a while from the time Bill [Joyce, author of the Guardians of Childhood books] first brought us the project to get to that point. When I came on, I felt pretty strongly that we needed one character to track through this incredible fantasy world. You need to have an emotionally relatable idea that you can hold on to in the midst of Santa Claus, and the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy, and all that stuff. If you have one character you can experience it with, who can be the audience’s eyes…that’s really important. Pretty early on, we all felt we should do that through Jack.

Jack is introduced to many aspects of the Guardians’ world at the same time as the audience. Do you see him as a sort of surrogate for the viewer?
Oh, yeah. Very much so. In the beginning of the film, it’s pretty clear he’s not up to the level of these legendary figures. He’s just a normal kid who wants to go out and have fun. He doesn’t want a lot of responsibilities, yet he has questions about his place in the world. All of that makes him a pretty good audience surrogate.

The film also does a great job of establishing a truly challenging villain in Pitch. He really embodies the classic animated villain: He's scary, sinister, condescending, resentful, smart, and even a bit of a sociopath when trying to convince Jack to join him.
Yeah, exactly. In the way that the Guardians each have centers that are positive things, Pitch’s center is fear. We modeled that fear after what kids fear in the real world, how they react to it, and what fear does in terms of limiting or preventing you from living a full, rich life. Kids deal with fear every day of their lives. They know it’s real, they know it exists, and they look for ways to deal with it. To not take the “fear” part of the story as seriously as the “wonder and hope” part felt like a cop-out. A story like this is only as good as its villain. If [the Guardians] don’t have something real to push against, their stature is going to be diminished as well. So we dealt with the theme that while there’s fear in the world, there are also forces out there that are going to help you deal with it if you open up to them.

With Pitch and Jack Frost, they’re literally the black and white of the situation – the dark and light sides of the same personality.
Yes, that was another important point for me. We have Jack Frost, who has these powers and can do amazing things, but he doesn’t have a context or a real picture of who he is. He’s ultimately shown that he has a choice: You come into the world, you have things to offer, but it’s up to you which path you’re going to take. So we dramatized that between Jack and Pitch to demonstrate that, once upon a time, had Pitch done things differently, he could have accomplished what Jack does. We tried to keep the story clear yet entertaining, but there’s a lot of stuff working underneath in the same way that the old fairy tales do.

You started out working on live action films, then moved to animation with Shark Tale in 2004. What prompted that transition?
Actually, the film [where I started in animation] was Shrek the Third. I only worked a little bit on Shark Tale, maybe a week, while I worked on Shrek the Third for about a year. What happened was, in my live-action days, I worked with a producer named Aron Warner on a movie called Tank Girl. He went on to produce the Shrek films. Several years [after Tank Girl], he called me and asked if I’d be interested in animation. He said I should check out [DreamWorks], that they could use a guy with live-action experience. So I checked it out, I liked what I saw, and I starting learning the craft of animation. It was the beginning of the journey that got me in the director’s seat for Guardians.

Rise of the Guardians was your first time directing a feature film for a major animation studio. So, no pressure, right?
[laughs] Yeah, right [sarcastically].

Prior to directing, you worked on dozens of films as a storyboard artist and illustrator. How far were you able to immerse yourself in the storyboarding for Rise of the Guardians while still dedicating yourself to the responsibilities as director?
Not as much as I would have liked, but I had a pretty good dose of it early on when we first began digging into the story. It was a very small story team. I did some of the initial storyboarding just to get the ideas rolling and the feel of the film. For the first four or five months, it was just me and Hamish Grieve, who’s head of the story department [at DreamWorks Animation]. But later on, there were spots where I would come back in, board something myself, and take it to the layout team and the animators. I definitely jumped in wherever I could.

My family watched Rise of the Guardians together for the first time last week, We all enjoyed it immensely, then my nine-year-old son ran off with it and immediately watched it two more times.
Oh, wow. That’s great! That’s so cool.

So when I asked him if he’d like to ask you a question, he instantly blurted out, “Will there be a sequel?”
[laughs] We all want one. We’ll have to wait and see what the moon says.

In the meantime, what’s next for you?
I’m trying to figure that out. I’ve got a couple of projects I’m thinking about, but it’s all in the very early stages. We only finished Guardians at the end of October, then it was three straight months of press, publicity, and awards season. It’s only been within the past month that I’ve been able to actually stop working on it. I’m talking to a bunch of different people. Nothing firm or definite yet, but that’s kind of nice.

Thanks for taking time to speak with me today.
Thank you. I’m so happy your son enjoyed the film. Tell him from me.

Rise of the Guardians (2012)

What is your center?

That’s the question posed by the imaginative and inspiring Rise of the Guardians, where Santa Claus (Alec Baldwin), the Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman), the Tooth Fairy (Rango’s Isla Fisher), and the Sandman try to recruit the reluctant, wayward Jack Frost (Chris Pine) to join them in the fight against Pitch Black (Jude Law), a malicious spirit determined to take over the world and destroy the innocent beliefs and dreams of children.

Granted, the idea of Santa Claus as a Russian émigré with tattooed forearms, or a six-foot Easter Bunny who wields boomerangs and an Aussie accent, is an acquired taste. But director Peter Ramsey soon puts those concerns to rest by giving us deep, fleshed-out characters to believe in without having to delve into their origins.

Our guide to this world is the apprehensive Jack Frost, as we follow his quest and internal struggle to determine if he has what it takes to become a Guardian – in other words, to stop making mischief and recognize his true calling.

What’s at stake here, as Pitch is quite aware, is that if kids don’t believe in the Guardians, they will cease to exist. With the help of a young boy named Jamie (Dakota Goyo) as their unwavering believer, our heroes attempt to prove that even the scariest of boogeymen is no match for the bravery and beliefs of children.

The film features enthralling, breathtaking animation in which Ramsey and his team take full advantage of the 3D without going overboard or making it seem like a retro-fit. The battles between the Guardians and Pitch’s army of nightmare creatures are truly amazing, including a show-stopping finale involving more characters than you can shake a freezing staff at.

With Rise of the Guardians, it’s another crowning achievement for DreamWorks Animation (How to Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda 2) as they pull even further ahead of Pixar and its recent lackluster offerings (Cars 2, Brave).

If you didn’t experience Rise of the Guardians in theaters, here’s your chance to see what an amazing film you missed. Your kids will believe. And so will you.

Rating:

What did FilmBoy think?

He had high hopes going in to Rise of the Guardians. His verdict? “It was even better than I thought it would be.” In fact, after our whole family watched it, he ran off with the disc and immediately watched it two more times. Can you say “ringing endorsement?”

Is it suitable for your kids?

Rise of the Guardians is rated PG for “thematic elements and some mildly scary action.” The idea of Pitch turning kids’ dreams into nightmares may be scary for very young children. Pitch kidnaps Tooth’s fairies and later threatens to crush one of them in his hand. Santa wields two large swords when doling battle with Pitch’s army. One of the Guardians appears to be destroyed by Pitch. Jack’s actions inadvertently cancel Easter. Jack’s backstory (shown in flashback) involves him drowning after falling through the ice on a lake while rescuing his little sister. The Tooth Fairy (ironically and comically) knocks out one of Pitch’s teeth. There’s no inappropriate language, aside from the Easter Bunny’s occasional use of the Aussie adjective “bloody” and Pitch tells the Easter Bunny to “go suck an egg.”

Will your FilmMother want to watch it?

Yes. Rise of the Guardians is full of tremendous storytelling, amazing animation, and the theme of keeping children’s beliefs alive. Make it essential viewing for Family Movie Night.


Rise of the Guardians
* Director: Peter Ramsey
* Screenwriter: David Lindsay-Abaire
* Stars: Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Jude Law, Isla Fisher, Hugh Jackman, Dakota Goyo
* MPAA Rating: PG


Rent Rise of the Guardians from Netflix >>

Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)

WITH PIXAR AND DREAMWORKS BOTH RELEASING animated films this summer, it’s impossible not to compare them.

I’ve already expressed my disgust and disappointment with Pixar’s Cars 2. But will DreamWorks’ 2011 summer sequel, Kung Fu Panda 2, fare any better?

Plot:
As the legendary Dragon Warrior, kung fu master Po (Jack Black) guards the Valley of Peace alongside his allies, the Furious Five. When a frightful new enemy emerges, Po and company embark on a perilous journey to save China and the art of kung fu.

Critique:

Like most “part two” sequels, everything in Kung Fu Panda 2 is on a bigger scale than the original, and director Jennifer Yuh Nelson keeps everything epic without being excessive. The gorgeously drawn landscapes offer the ideal backdrop for the many action sequences involving Po and the Furious Five versus the vengeful peacock Shen (Gary Oldman) and his army of wolves. (Po’s master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) is relegated to a bit part, showing up mostly at the beginning and end.)

The fight sequences, while sometimes too fast for their own good, are still amazing to watch. Other action scenes are just as entertaining, including a hysterical rickshaw chase between Po and one of Shen’s henchmen.

A reigned-in yet still-funny Jack Black returns as Po, who, in addition to being tasked with defeating Shen, yearns to find inner peace – which is played out in a touching storyline as Po learns of his adoption and the truth behind his real parents. As Po’s nemesis, Gary Oldman is perfectly cast as the voice of Shen, a completely different (yet just as formidable) adversary compared to the original film’s baddie, Tai Lung.

Kung Fu Panda 2 has great storytelling, exciting action, endearing characters, and even a surprise ending. It’s infinitely more clever, engaging, and emotionally involving than Pixar’s Cars 2. And it marks the first time I’m saying this about the latest DreamWorks film I saw, rather than the latest Pixar film: I immediately wanted to see it again.

Rating:

What did Dash and Jack-Jack think?

They were highly entertained by Kung Fu Panda 2. Dash and I laughed at a lot of the same jokes and gags, and we all got caught up in the action as it intensified in the third act (FilmMother included).

Is it suitable for your kids?

Kung Fu Panda 2 is rated PG for “scenes of martial arts action and mild violence.” There are several mentions of killing and a few implied deaths; a character is killed off-screen by Shen’s cannon; Shen’s army of wolves can be menacing at times; and a major character is killed by a falling boat mast.

Will your FilmMother want to watch it?

With its great combination of humor, emotion, and action, I think she’ll really enjoy Kung Fu Panda 2. (Oh, and the bunnies. Can’t forget the bunnies.)

Yes, this is Po as a baby. You may commence "awww"-ing.

Kung Fu Panda 2
* Director: Jennifer Yuh Nelson
* Screenwriters: Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger
* Stars: Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Gary Oldman, Seth Rogen, Jackie Chan, David Cross, Lucy Liu, Dustin Hoffman, James Hong
* MPAA Rating: PG


Rent Kung Fu Panda 2 from Netflix >>

Interview: Hans Dastrup, Lead Animator, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

I recently teamed up with Surfer Jay to interview his brother, Hans Dastrup, a lead animator at Blue Sky Studios for such films as Robots, Horton Hears a Who!, and the Ice Age series. His latest project, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, opened in theaters last month.

Surfer Jay: How did you get hired by Blue Sky? Is it true you animated a large singing and dancing sperm to get the job?

Hans: Uh...no, that is not true. There was no singing or dancing involved. Just a talking sperm quoting a line from Better Off Dead. That little sperm was my pride and joy at the time. Now it's just embarrassing.

I was hired at Blue Sky right after college. I got lucky! I first heard of Blue Sky when I saw the first Ice Age during my senior year at Cal State Fullerton. Before then, I was focusing mostly on traditional hand-drawn animation; but once I saw Ice Age, it was very clear to me what I wanted to do. I wanted to work at Blue Sky.

I spent the next few months getting my demo reel ready. An animator's demo reel consists of two to three minutes of their best work, and usually submitted on a DVD. That summer, with over 20 demo reels in hand, I went to a huge convention in Texas where all the animation studios were represented, including Blue Sky.

I wasn't sure what to expect. I thought at best I would get a handful of callbacks from small start-up companies. But to my surprise, my work caught the interest of Blue Sky. They called me back, I interviewed the next day, and it went great! I had one semester left before I graduated, so I spent that time animating day and night, finishing the last two animations that I submitted to Blue Sky, which sealed the deal.

FilmFather: As a lead animator, what are your roles and responsibilities?

Hans: My responsibilities are split between helping supervise other animators and animating my own shots. We have two supervisors and two leads. The supervisors often need assistance overseeing the 40-70 animators in our department (the number changes depending on the stage of production).

As a lead, people can come to me for creative advice. I'll also assist in hiring new talent, representing animation on interdepartmental issues, supervising animation and imagery for marketing, etc. I recently directed the animation on a McDonald's commercial featuring Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs characters.

It's nice being a lead. I get experience in different areas, and I still have time to do my own work as an animator.

Surfer Jay: You use to be a tan California lifeguard who spent all his time on the beach checking out chicks with your binoculars, saving lives, sporting a yearlong tan, and surfing all the time. Now, you’ve turned in your surfboard to become a desk jockey. The last time I saw you, you were whiter than my 12-month-old baby’s powdered butt, sporting a farmer tan, wearing skinny jeans, and flabby as the marshmallow man. But of course, now you are making awesome animated movies. So was turning in your lifeguard trunks and surfboard worth it?

Hans: The California beach lifestyle sucked. I hated waking up in the morning on a beautiful sunny winter day, just to ride my beach cruiser a few short blocks to the beach, hop out on my board and surf a nice NW swell with offshore wind. And as far checking out chicks on the beach, I'm married and have been for the last ten years. What hot chicks on the beach? I never noticed any. Also, I prefer to be fat and butt-white. I like the soft ivory skin look. Chicks dig it.

Even though I have missed many things that I loved back in California, it has been worth it for these last 6 1/2 years that I've been here. But I'm excited to say that we are finally coming back! I just got a job at DreamWorks and I start this November. Woohoo!!

FilmFather: Blue Sky Studios is based in Greenwich, CT (just outside New York City). What are the advantages of working on the east coast versus California (the land of Disney/Pixar and DreamWorks)? Any disadvantages?

Hans: The east coast is quite different from where I grew up in southern California. The only potential advantage about working on the west coast is as an animator, you have more options in terms of employment. There are tons of studios to choose from in California. It's not quite the same on the east coast. There are not many animation jobs in feature film animation over here. Actually, there's only one: Blue Sky. But there are plenty of jobs if you want to work in commercials or kids’ television shows.

FilmFather: In your films like the new Ice Age movie, are you part of the recording sessions when the actors create their voices?

Hans: We aren't usually a part of the recording sessions, but I did have the chance to sit in on a few with Simon Pegg via satellite, as he was recording from Britain. That was very cool to see. He is a great actor! He has so much range in his voice and he's quite creative in the choices that he makes. He voiced Buck in Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. I had a chance to meet Simon when he came to our studio. He sat down with me as I showed him all the work we were doing with Buck. That was a cool experience!

Surfer Jay: Your previous animation work on Ice Age: The Meltdown, Robots, and Horton Hears A Who! was spectacular. So given your talent and expertise, do you ever think about creating your own cartoon?

Hans: I've thought about that a lot. I think one day I will want to create something of my own, but as for now I am very happy doing what I'm doing. I love being involved on big feature film projects.

Surfer Jay: It’s apparent that in the Ice Age movies, you gave Crash the opossum blue eyes because you wanted him to look like you. How much creative control do you have over the characters, such as their movements and stunts, their facial expressions, and the camera angles?

Hans: I get quite a bit of creative influence over the characters’ look and performance. But the truth is, there are many people involved in creating the final product. The character's personality begins taking shape when the script and story are being developed. At that point, a character designer comes in and begins to develop what the character will look like. The character gets sculpted in clay and then built digitally in the computer.

During this design process, my input is very important. I have to make sure the design of the character is going to allow me, as animator, to achieve the performance and personality the director is looking for. If I feel something isn't going to work well, the design will need adjusting. As an animator, we concern ourselves mostly with things relating to how the character moves, how they walk, talk, run, and interact with other characters.

FilmFather: Does your work require you to be away from your wife and kids for extended lengths of time? How do you balance your work with family life?

Hans: I don't usually travel for work; once in a while, they fly us somewhere to recruit new animators. But balancing work and family life can still be difficult. For the last few years, we've been working 60+ hours a week for six months a year. During the last few months of Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, it got even worse; we were working around 80 hours a week. It was insane. I definitely didn't get to spend a lot of quality time with my wife and kids. But even when I work a lot of hours, I make sure I see my kids every day. The best part of my day is playing with my two kids, Annika and Eli. They are a ton of fun!

Surfer Jay: For every movie you’ve made, you give your brothers the company shirts, which were made by and for the animators only, and not sold to the public. But I can’t help and wonder: Why don’t you send your favorite brother more free movie loot? I mean, you have access to all the character toys and posters and clothes and bobbleheads, and you don’t even send me anything. What’s up with that?

Hans: I hoard it all. I have a HUGE stockpile in my basement. One day when it's worth millions of dollars, I will sell it for an early retirement. Maybe I'll give you first dibs.

FilmFather: What's your next project?

Hans: Our next project is called Rio, which centers on a nerdy parrot who leaves the comforts of his cage in a small Minnesota town and heads to Rio de Janeiro. I'm not allowed to say much more than that.

Surfer Jay: Do you think it’s okay to mislead our kids into believing that dinosaurs are real, that llamas can talk, and wooly mammoths sound like Kermit the Frog? Okay, scratch that: How are you going to convince fathers to spend ten bucks a pop, not including popcorn and a soda, to go see your new movie?

Hans: You should take your kids to see our movie because they will learn that sloths can talk, not “llamas." And you don't buy movie popcorn and soda at the movie theater. Buy it for half the price at the nearby convenient store and smuggle into the theater. That tip just saved you ten bucks.

FilmFather: If you had to animate your brother Jay in one of your projects, what direction would you give your team?

Hans: Animating Jay would be easy. Now that he's Mr. Mom, he plays all day with his cute chubby baby, and also plays video games while his wife goes out and earns the dough. So I'd tell my animators he's good with a joystick. Not a bad gig, if you ask me.

Somehow he stays fairly muscular, even though he never exercises. He has a talent for breaking surfboards. He has a shoulder that dislocates on command. He has a really great artistic eye, and he has used that talent to become an accomplished, award-winning photographer. He's a creative writer and I'm sure will take advantage of that skill someday. And growing up, he learned how to defend himself from his four older brothers. He has a really hard left kneecap and will use it as a shield if you try to punch him in the stomach. Beware, if your fist makes contact with his knee, your knuckles will shatter into pieces. And it friggin’ hurts! Well, that's what I heard.

Surfer Jay: I’ve asked you several times to send me your rough, unfinished, top-secret animations during the making of your movies so I can post them on the net. Why don’t you ever hook a brother up?

Hans: I'll hook you up, if you promise to provide my family with free room and board while I search for a new job.

Surfer Jay: One of the really cool things about being a part of these films is that you get to have your name in the credits. Your kids’ names are also in the credits, which is also really cool. Being immortalized like that must be exciting for them. How did that happen?

Hans: All they had to do was be born during the production of one of our movies. Every film we make, we save a section at the end of the credits for the all the "production babies." It's really special. I love that our studio does that.

Surfer Jay: I remember you as a kid always acting like a cartoon character. You would sing, dance, and make goofy faces, making noises and mimicking movie characters and voices. Even now, you talk in funny character voices as if you were one. So when will you realize that you were destined to do character voices, and animating is merely a gateway to get into that? Jim Carrey’s got nothing on you. When will you start being in the movies you animate?

Hans: I'm glad you enjoyed my singing, dancing, and silly voices. I thought I was just an annoying kid. I would love to do voiceover work one day. I did have a few opportunities to do voiceover for some of our movies "in progress," but nothing I did ever made it into the final films. They hire only SAG members for that. Although, one time on Robots, my voice made it into a movie trailer. That was exciting! Honestly, it's very tough to make it as a voice actor, especially in animated films. You have to be a famous celebrity to make into feature film animation.

Read FilmFather's interview with director John Wildermuth (The Taking of Pelham 123)