With “The Wild Robot”, the creator of “Lilo and Stitch” creates an unmissable animated film

With “The Wild Robot”, the creator of “Lilo and Stitch” creates an unmissable animated film
With “The Wild Robot”, the creator of “Lilo and Stitch” creates an unmissable animated film

Adapted from the best-seller by the American Peter Brown, “The Wild Robot” follows the encounter of an intelligent robot with the animals of an island where he was stranded.

This tale of great poetry is based on beautiful visuals which should surprise audiences at the cinema from this Wednesday, October 9.

Director Chris Sanders, to whom we owe “Lilo and Stitch” and “Dragons”, shares with TF1info the secrets of making this “moving painting”.

Her name is Rozzum 7134 but she will quickly prefer Roz. This heroine like no other is just waiting to meet the French public this Wednesday, October 9 in theaters. It’s her The Wild Robot of Dreamworks which establishes itself as a serious contender for the Oscar for best animated film against the juggernaut of Pixar Vice-Versa 2 . Here too, it is a question of emotion in all its forms. But it is in the wilderness, far from humans, that everything plays out in this universal tale born from the imagination of author Peter Brown.

Released in spring 2016, the illustrated novel The Wild Robot has become a must for American schoolchildren. “My daughter read it in class”explains director Chris Sanders to TF1info. “But I didn’t remember it until I went to Dreamworks to see if they had anything interesting for me. Of all the projects they showed me, there was this book”he smiles. Crazy poetic, the work tells the story of how an intelligent robot and the animals that inhabit the island where it was stranded after a shipwreck manage to tame each other.

“Do you need assistance?”insists Roz who, in her quest for answers, opens an infinite field of questions by coming across an egg that hatches in front of her. Making her in fact the acting mother of a cute gosling named Joli-Bec. Director of Lilo and Stitch and of DragonsChris Sanders shaped for three and a half years this learning story for the whole family which brandishes kindness as a survival skill, speaks with tenderness of the power of family ties whatever they may be, of our relationship with the environment that surrounds us and the will to fight for what we believe in. Sweet, funny and moving, the whole thing is enhanced by remarkable hand-painted animation. The Wild Robot unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.”assures us the American filmmaker during his visit to . Meeting with an exciting enthusiast.

We’ve pushed the technology far enough that there are no more structures under objects. It’s like I’m painting in the air

Chris Sanders

It’s not every day that we see on screen an altruistic robot who becomes a mother by accident, in a territory that is completely foreign to her. Would you say that the most beautiful poetry is born from the unknown?

100%! Peter Brown’s story contains a very unusual wealth of truly powerful elements to relate to. Roz is in charge of a gosling without having any idea what that means. She repeats that she “doesn’t have the right program.” New parents will perfectly understand this feeling of overwhelm. Then you have Pinktail, a possum that has three litters a year. For her, the wonders of motherhood have long since evaporated. She reassures a slightly frightened Roz by telling her: “It’s going to be okay, you’re going to get through this!” You have all these different perspectives on parenting. But we’re also all someone’s children, right? So you also have this point of view.

We wonder for a long time whether this is a live action or animated film as the realism is striking, especially during scenes including water. You define The Wild Robot as “a work by Hayao Miyazaki painted by Claude Monet”. What techniques did you use to achieve this effect?

When we started making films with computer graphics, we had to create a structure to draw objects and then cover it with texture. For a tree for example, you first had to create a shape and then cover it with colors and patterns. You literally had to create a million sheets to put on top of them. We painted ours. We’ve pushed the technology far enough that there are no structures underneath anything. Only the characters have one, it’s a necessity for special effects. But they are 100% covered in paint strokes. It’s like I’m painting in the air. I saw a demonstration of an artist working on a tablet. The paint trails he created were displayed on the screen. He turned the tablet while continuing to paint. It’s literally a moving painting. Traditional CG images had the quality of a photo but never looked real. While the painted environment looks eerily realistic. It’s that same magic that happens when you look at a really beautiful painting.

Did you use real paint?

No, it’s still a digital effect but it’s pushed by a human hand. Every little touch! Only the crowds were duplicated by computer, after being painted. This is the case for a scene where nearly 80,000 butterflies move at the same time.

I think Stitch would drive Roz a little crazy, that’s what he does!

Chris Sanders

You talk about character structure. Roz’s is more imposing than in Peter Brown’s book. What did your very first drawing of the robot look like?

The wonderful thing about Peter Brown is that his style is very graphic. Many things are very well described. Roz’s design had to be refined to get her moving. So we all got involved! My design looked like something straight out of the 1950s. Huyn Huh, the head of modeling, came in with his and everyone was like: “Okay, let’s stop! You’ve hit the nail on the head, it’s our Roz!” His sketch had beautiful, simple shapes, everything was based on spheres. He was able to capture the cohesion and harmony of the character. But he retained the proportions established by the author, such as the very high torso and long arms.

Roz imitates her surroundings in the same way that animators imitate the world with their drawings. You worked on Bernard and Bianca in the land of kangarooswhose heroes were Disney mice. How has the way of drawing animals evolved since the 1990s?

We all look for proportions that are pleasing to the eye that create a believable creature. I think the big difference is that we wanted to push those proportions and the shapes more to give the impression of an even more stylized world. Because we don’t really want to be photorealistic, we just want it to be believable. Escobar the fox is a very good example of this. I love its design. It has a huge tail that is almost as big as the rest of its body. It’s a little more important than a real fox but above all it’s very pleasant (laughs).

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You are also the creator of Stitch, the Disney hero who you will voice again in a live-action film next year. What would happen if he met Roz?

Oh no! (laughs) I think Stitch would drive Roz a little crazy, that’s what he does! He behaves a bit like me. I would say it is neutral in chaos. He causes as much trouble as he is useful (laughs).

>> The Wild Robot by Chris Sanders – in theaters October 9


Delphine DE FREITAS

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