It's an Enchanted world after all
The moment Kevin Lima received Preston Blair's
Animation book as a present, he knew he wanted to be a Disney
animator. He was just five years old at the time. Almost twenty
years later, his wish came true. After spending several years
working with community puppet theatres, his first big project
at Disney was animating the character of Fagin for Oliver & Company.
Over the next few years Lima worked on The Little Mermaid,
The Rescuers Down Under and Beauty and the Beast
to name a few. He eventually moved into directing (A Goofy
Movie, Tarzan, 101 Dalmatians). Enchanted,
which stars Patrick 'McDreamy' Dempsey, Amy Adams and James Marsden,
is his latest film and given his background, he's probably the
only person who could have directed it. The story is an irreverent
fairy tale that pokes fun at the stereotypes that have become
Disney's stock in trade and for it to work, it needed a true "Disney
geek" to do it justice. Gaynor Flynn caught up with the director
at the recent Rome International Film Festival.
Was
the idea of this film to be a respectful mockery on the Disney
trademark?
Yes from the very beginning I thought of this film
as sort of a loving homage to Disney. The Shrek movies
had already been made. I didn't want to repeat that format so
I tried to come up with another way to tell the stories and I've
grown up with Disney all my life. From the time I was five years
old I wanted to be a Disney animator so there's no other way in
my blood to tell the story in a loving way.
But like Shrek this story also turns
things upside down, especially the cliché in fairytales. Was it
difficult to realise after Shrek?
This movie was originated nine years ago, that
was before the Shrek movies ever came about and it took
a long time to develop it because they were trying to find the
right level of homage or parody to do with the film and it just
so happens that Shrek came along and took its original thunder
so it took a long time for Disney to come to terms with how do
they then make fun of themselves, create parody of their own work?
Did you choose Patrick Dempsey because he's
now the famous McDreamy?
Yes he had already done one season of Grey's
Anatomy and the trade I made with the studio was that I would
cast an unknown girl in the role of Giselle but in order to do
that I told that I would also cast stars ad the role of Robert
was one role I thought of casting a star in and Patrick just happened
to be the perfect sort of wounded modern man, like a modern Prince
Charming.
Why did you want to cast an unknown female
lead?
Because I really felt that it was important that
the audience relate to the character of Giselle in a pure way
because she's a very innocent, joyful character. I didn't want
the audience to be thinking about what the actress had had for
dinner last night whether or not she had been arrested for drunk
driving. I didn't want any of that to obscure the ability of the
audience to love the character. I can't say any names. So it was
very important to me to find someone of Amy's calibre. Amy had
done some work but she's not a star. It was hard to find her.
It was very, very hard to find a girl to play this role. I think
I saw 300 girls.
The story, as with most of Disney's films,
is all about believing that dreams will come true. What's your
take on that?
I think one of the things that the movie says about
dreams is that you can still have dreams in the modern world.
That maybe you can't have them in the same way you get them in
a Disney movie but if you have dreams and hold on to them and
have hope and perseverance that you can have happily ever after.
In terms of my dreams coming true, well in some way its getting
to do what I do is a dream come true. That I started as a five
year old kid wanting to be an animator and I've taken that path
from being a very poor child in Rhode Island and sort of fought
to be where I am today.
I
suppose you also believe in happy-ever-after?
Absolutely (laughs). I think it's more important
to believe in it today than ever.
Who is this film aimed at?
My goal really was to make a movie for everyone.
A movie that plays both for children on a more simplistic level
because they tend to take it as it is presented to them and for
adults who see a deeper level of parody or meaning to the piece.
I think its one of the great things about the movie is that we've
been able to achieve this dual sense within the piece that you
can look back on your own childhood when you're watching and either
have a good laugh or go on a sentimental journey or you can sit
there with your kids who are having an equally good time. I think
its rare nowadays that you get a movie that all audiences can
enjoy actually. I mean, I'm like a 14 year-old boy. I'm like Peter
Pan so truly I made the movie for myself and it just so happens
that I fit right in between those demographics.
You mentioned Peter Pan do you have some of
his complexes that help you as an artist?
I truly believe it's the only way you can make
these kinds of movies is if you're still in touch with the child
within you. We've all seen movies that are meant for children
that are incredibly boring and stiff and lifeless and I'm not
saying which ones, so I think its really important to sit here
from the world that I believe in in order to make these movies.
I should add that it's something I enjoy its not something my
wife enjoys.
Is it becoming more difficult for Disney to
hold on to their audience in the 21st century do you think?
I think what's happening at the studios is that
they're trying to find a way to tell the Disney type classic movies
to a modern day audience, they're going on that journey of discovery.
They're having a hard time, its hard to figure out what the threshold
of today's audience is with classic Disney story telling. I think
they feel like that one genre they were very successful with was
the pirates movie and that becomes sort of a modern day Disney
movie in a sense. I think this movie makes them think about Disney's
past and try to translate it for the contemporary audience.
Which is the scene that you enjoyed making
the most?
It was probably the scene that was the hardest
to make to be quite honest. It's the song in the park. It was
very very difficult scene to pull together, it has very many moving
parts so to speak. It had 150 dancers, 300 extras, women screaming
constantly for Dr McDreamy it was very, very difficult to put
all the pieces together but at the same time it's the most rewarding
because you feel like you've truly accomplished something. When
I watch it on the screen it looks effortless to me and I know
it wasn't.
I would also add that there's another scene I'd
like to talk about and I really think it sits at the heart of
this movie and it's the scene where she gets angry for the very
first time. I sort of felt in that moment as a director I had
grown up in some ways. I feel like it's a very interesting complex
emotion for an animated character to have. I mean the one thing
about the animated character is they typically have one thought
or one emotional state at any given time and to create that complex
moment for an animated character was quite an accomplishment and
I still feel strongly proud.
There
are so many film references in your film, can you talk about a
few of them?
The references in the movie go very deep. If you
know the classic Disney films you can notice very simple quotes
like the old hag or the poisoned apples which all come very simply.
On a second level there's actual cinematic quotes in that I quote
the film language of some of the movies, like the rhythms of the
cutting from Snow White when she bites the apple to the
old hag, to snow white to the old hag to finally the hand falls
and it rolls out. On a third level which is probably only a level
that pure Disney geeks will appreciate there's things like the
law firm, is called Churchill, Harlan and Smith and that's the
name of the three song writers from Snow White so it
goes very, very deep.
There's also a King Kong on the Empire State
Building reference isn't there?
It wasn't intentional but it happened to work out
that way. But what I was trying to do was create a homage to the
Disney endings. You've got Beauty and the Beast with the beast
holding Gaston over the ravine and he falls to his death that
was truly the quote I was going for. I guess you can't help but
associate it with King Kong because any time a creature goes on
a building now, it's King Kong.
Growing up were you one of those kids locked
away in your room watching Disney films all day long?
Well when I was a kid they didn't have video so
I went to the theatre every week and anticipated the new Disney
releases. My mom was really good about buying me the records,
so I had a lot of records when I was a kid so I use to pretend
and draw so I had a pretty rich Disney childhood.
Which particular Disney film does this film
reference the most?
Not one specific one. I tried to really make it
a homage to Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping
Beauty, it was really the place I kept going.
Gaynor Flynn
