Lupita Nyong'o, Mark Hamill, Catherine O'Hara & the Cast of 'The Wild Robot' on Creating the Emotional Animated Film | Variety Studio at TIFF 2024 - video Dailymotion

Variety

Voice actors Lupita Nyong'o, Mark Hamill, Catherine O'Hara, Stephanie Hsu & Kit Connor, along with director Chris Sanders discuss 'The Wild Robot' at the Variety Studio at TIFF.

Transcript

00:00What would you say to people who are worried about just, like, ugly crying and the emotion they're going to feel when they see it?

00:05Embrace it.

00:07Crying is healthy. Crying is good.

00:10It's cathartic.

00:20Sometimes, to survive, we must become more than we were programmed to be.

00:29Chris, I wanted to start with you.

00:31How did you first come across this book?

00:33And when you were reading it, did you picture it as a movie?

00:36How did you know that it needed to be adopted in this format?

00:39You know, I was just looking for my next gig, and I dropped into DreamWorks to see what was in development.

00:44And they laid some things out on the table.

00:46Amongst them was the book The Wild Robot.

00:49And the briefest description of it let me know that that would be the right thing for me to do.

00:55And so, as I read it, I immediately saw the imagery in my head and knew that it was the scale that we needed.

01:04The scale was going to be huge.

01:06And yeah, that's how it started.

01:09And for the cast, how does your preparation differ for animation as opposed to live action?

01:15And is there anything specific you do to get into character?

01:18Lupita, if you want to start.

01:21Well, I think animation is a much longer process, a much more sporadic process.

01:31So, I think for me, the preparation was ongoing, kind of, with every iteration of the script.

01:40And I found myself really relying on instinct and intuition in order to know what to do every time.

01:49It's sort of like, hold on tightly, let go lightly.

01:53Things are going to change and you just have to go with the flow, right?

01:59I depended on Chris.

02:01Chris directed every line I said.

02:04And I really appreciate it.

02:06Because, you know, you do prepare.

02:08You prepare as much as you can.

02:10But as you say, it's over a long period of time.

02:13And you do prepare and you try to make the right decisions for your character.

02:18But in every scene, Chris just made it, for me, funnier and more interesting.

02:25Because Chris so knows what he wants.

02:28It was lovely to be able to trust somebody.

02:31Wonderful.

02:34I suppose I would also say that because of the fact that it was such a long process,

02:39you do find yourself sort of adjusting the character as well over time.

02:44Sometimes Chris would say, maybe now Bright Bill wants to sound more like a robot or more like a goose.

02:53So it's kind of like a slight adjustment in that sense.

02:58I feel like one of my favorite aspects of animation and also this process is the symbiotic duration of time.

03:07As you're finding the character, there's also a camera in the booth.

03:12So the animators as well are kind of starting to adapt to the physicality that is naturally coming through you.

03:19And there's kind of a marriage that starts to happen.

03:22And then you get to see sketches for the first time and see how different characters are moving.

03:27And that sort of informs how you want to deepen your character too.

03:31That's one of my favorite parts of animation.

03:33I read the book and I thought, if they can capture even a fraction of the appeal and the charm,

03:42this is so wonderful an experience.

03:47The ultimate fish-out-of-water story of this high-tech robot dropped into the wilderness.

03:53But as you say, the director has everything in his mind.

03:58You really have to rely on his vision.

04:01And a lot of times you record together.

04:06In this instance, I never met anybody until it was finished.

04:11So each animated project is different.

04:16And Stephanie, you kind of alluded to how your voice performances shape the characters.

04:22But I'm wondering for all of you, do you feel like there are little ways in which you ended up influencing the character you played?

04:29Maybe that wasn't on the page when you first read the script?

04:33I think you can't help. It's all you have.

04:39It's hard not to bring yourself into it, I think.

04:42In my character's case, it was fun.

04:46For me, anyway.

04:48For me, when I was considering doing this project,

04:53one of the questions I asked Chris was, why me?

04:57And he spoke of what he appreciated about my voice.

05:04And about the texture and dimensions that I could bring to the character.

05:11At the end of Roz's arc, she sounds a lot more like me.

05:17And so it was kind of like reverse engineering where she comes from before she has adapted to this island.

05:24Before she's evolved into the more individualized being that she becomes.

05:31And finding that as well.

05:33So it was nice to search for myself in the character.

05:40Did anyone else want to add?

05:43Yeah, I suppose the youthfulness of it was...

05:46I think I auditioned when I was maybe 17.

05:50And I think that you can't help but put your own spin on it.

05:56And I'd imagine what led to me getting chosen for it

06:04was just the youthfulness and the awkwardness of the character.

06:10It probably just came through.

06:14You did it so well.

06:15That's me.

06:17Wonderful.

06:18So endearing.

06:19I was sorry I didn't get to work with Matt Berry.

06:22Because I worked with him on What We Do in the Shadows.

06:24And this guy is hilarious.

06:26He does the lines, but then he adds improv.

06:30Usually horribly obscene dialogue.

06:33And you're meant to keep a straight face.

06:35Because my character loathed him in the story.

06:38But Mark Hamill finds him hilarious.

06:40Although, I think it's too bad you didn't consider another actor.

06:46Because it would have been so great to say,

06:48and Jerry Mathers as the Beast.

06:51Yeah.

06:52But Matt's wonderful.

06:54That's great.

06:55Chris, you have such a long history in animation.

06:58And I'm wondering how the medium has evolved over the years.

07:02What have you noticed has changed?

07:05I was really fortunate to start this whole thing

07:07when it was much more traditional.

07:09And everything was drawn by hand.

07:11And then CG came along.

07:13And we got so many more tools.

07:15The least of which is the ability to move a camera in space.

07:17This is something we couldn't do before in traditional.

07:19And the emotional impact of that is huge.

07:24But we lost touch with some things as well.

07:28There's an analog warmth that you get from a hand-painted, hand-drawn thing.

07:32That we were obligated to leave that behind.

07:37And for quite a while now,

07:39we've been doing our best to try to fake it.

07:41But with this particular film,

07:43DreamWorks had reached a point in their technology

07:46that we could get away from wrapping geometry with textures

07:50and go back to hand-painting.

07:52So the technology allowed our artists to hand-paint things dimensionally.

07:58And so underneath the characters, there's geometry.

08:02But they are also coated and completely covered by hand-painted textures.

08:06So every single thing in this is hand-painted.

08:10And so we have now, I really think,

08:12come full circle with this film.

08:15And rejoined something that we left behind.

08:17But we've kept all the wonderful things that we got with CG.

08:21But now we got back to the analog warmth

08:24that we used to have with films like Bambi.

08:26So it's really a technological achievement

08:30that allowed human beings to reconnect with everything.

08:34Well, and that process is so meta for the movie too.

08:39I feel like it's such a beautiful joining of nature and technology

08:43and what is naturally available to us artistically.

08:46And these shapes and the advancements in technology that we have.

08:50That's what I love about the film so much.

08:52It feels nostalgic as well as futuristic at the same time.

08:56So I am not a parent myself, but I spoke to some parents

09:00who are worried to see the movie

09:02because they think they're going to be an emotional wreck when they see it.

09:06So what would you say to people who are worried

09:08about just like ugly crying and the emotion

09:10they're going to feel when they see it?

09:12Embrace it.

09:13Crying is healthy. Crying is good.

09:16It's cathartic.

09:20What I love about it is its appeal is across the board.

09:25As a father of three who took them to see

09:28so-called children's movies as a kid.

09:31And you'd suffer through some horrible moments.

09:35I never would say to that because they were loving it.

09:38And you want them to.

09:40But this one effortlessly appeals to every age.

09:44The parents will have as good a time as the kids.

09:48And that's rare to hit that sweet spot.

09:51And maybe bring a pack of tissues if you need that.

09:54Tissues and gummy bears.

09:58Gummy bears? Why not?

10:01I'm thinking of a certain kind.

10:03Yeah, yeah, yeah.

10:05Mine was more innocent.

10:11I've watched it only one time.

10:13But it was heartwarming at the end of the day.

10:16And that kind of cry is worth it.

10:19And unlike so many children's films,

10:22the soundtrack doesn't tell you what to feel.

10:26You just feel it.

10:28And also just bringing out children's compassion

10:32is a lovely, beautiful thing.

10:36Yeah, tolerance, understanding what you don't know.

10:41Again, and it's not hitting you over the head.

10:43You just glean that experience from what happens in the film.

10:49It's really wonderful.

10:53So if you had to be stranded on a deserted island

10:56with another character that you've played,

10:59who would it be and why?

11:01Sharp turn.

11:05I wanted to be the fox.

11:08Any role that you've ever played.

11:10That you've ever played.

11:12Oh, I would want to be with Roz.

11:15That sounds like a good show.

11:17She could do a lot for me, including building a shelter.

11:19That's true.

11:20Which I can't do.

11:22Okay, copy. Roz.

11:24Yeah, never played Roz.

11:26Character you've played.

11:28We're doing that thing where you ask us a question,

11:30but we're actors, so we're going to answer

11:32a completely different question.

11:34And we're all choosing Roz.

11:36Right, we're staying on brand.

11:39No one, come on.

11:41Oh, God.

11:45Stuck on a deserted island?

11:47None of the characters I've ever played have skills like that.

11:51But maybe they're a good time to be around.

11:55A last hurrah before impending doom.

11:59Yeah, yeah.

12:03I don't know.

12:05I played a young Elton John once,

12:07so maybe Elton John on the island would be fun.

12:09He'd just sort of, you know,

12:11sing me into oblivion. That would be fun.

12:13This movie, as you all mentioned,

12:15does have a lot of heartwarming themes.

12:17When you were making the movie,

12:19and maybe even watching it for the first time,

12:21were there any life lessons that you took away

12:23that have stuck with you?

12:25Go.

12:27No, you.

12:29Well, I think what I love about this story

12:31is I, myself,

12:33find, I don't know, technology

12:35to be really scary

12:37and overwhelming and sometimes

12:39overly nostalgic of a time

12:41that we're no longer in.

12:43And I feel like the themes of this movie

12:45and just following the character of Roz

12:47in the wildness

12:49is a really important

12:51togetherness and symbiosis

12:53of where we are,

12:55how we are currently evolving

12:57as a society.

12:59And that, in itself, brings me

13:01so much peace and comfort

13:03to where we are currently at.

13:05That it's not like a one or the other,

13:07but maybe it's a together.

13:09That's great.

13:11I think the journey that Roz goes on

13:13as this robot

13:15that finds herself

13:17with the task of being a mother

13:19kind of illuminates the fact

13:21that every parent

13:23is doing it for the first time.

13:25And there's a learning curve

13:27that every parent is going through.

13:29They're living their lives for the first time

13:31and we see that projected

13:33on Roz, who

13:35has that sort of

13:37naivete of a child

13:39but

13:41in the role of a parent

13:43that we expect to know everything.

13:45I just think it's a lovely story

13:47that gives grace to what it means

13:49to become a parent.

13:54It's funny that you relate

13:56to the robot

13:58because

14:00there's no one else to relate to.

14:02You imagine, what if I was

14:04dropped into

14:06the wilderness?

14:08It's curious

14:10that of all the characters

14:12she's the one that's most relatable

14:14to me anyway.

14:16How would I survive?

14:19But

14:21what do I know?

14:27When we first

14:29started the project, my first call was to

14:31Peter Brown who wrote the book

14:33and one of the things he

14:35revealed to us was that while he was writing

14:37the book, the thing that was guiding him

14:39the guiding principle that was on his mind

14:41was the idea that kindness could be

14:43a survival skill. And it was something that was never

14:45written down in the book and I immediately wrote that down

14:47and said, I'm going to get that up on screen.

14:49And so the heart and soul of this

14:51story is about a character

14:53who has this unrelenting

14:55kindness and what that does

14:57and without

14:59Roz has no agenda to do

15:01anything but complete a task

15:03but in the completion of it, I think it

15:05is that kindness and her willingness

15:07to go off script

15:09and to change her programming

15:11that changes the culture of the entire

15:13island. And I think that for me was the most

15:15the lesson that I took away

15:17from this whole thing that I still think about now

15:19because we had this long journey together

15:21but this whole story

15:23is infused with the idea

15:25that kindness is strength.

15:29Well, thank you guys so much for being here.

15:31It was great to have you at our studio.

15:33Thank you very much.

Lupita Nyong'o, Mark Hamill, Catherine O'Hara & the Cast of 'The Wild Robot' on Creating the Emotional Animated Film | Variety Studio at TIFF 2024

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