For director Anthony Stacchi (“The Box Trolls”), re-energizing the 16th-century Chinese novel “Journey to the West” for Netflix’s animated feature “The Monkey King” meant turning the titular character into something very modern: an antihero. This was supported by executive producer Stephen Chow (“Kung Fu Hustle”), who previously directed a live-action version of “Journey to the West.”
“Stephen Chow has made a career of making heroes out of really unlikeable jerks,” Stacchi told IndieWire. “And you stick with ’em on their journey ’cause you know why they are the way they are, and you’re hoping for them to redeem themselves. So we did that here. He is a selfish, arrogant jerk from the beginning, and that way through the end. But you understand why he’s fighting for acceptance, you know where his anti-authoritarian attitude comes from.”
They also emphasized a goofy tone throughout the journey, in which Monkey King...
“Stephen Chow has made a career of making heroes out of really unlikeable jerks,” Stacchi told IndieWire. “And you stick with ’em on their journey ’cause you know why they are the way they are, and you’re hoping for them to redeem themselves. So we did that here. He is a selfish, arrogant jerk from the beginning, and that way through the end. But you understand why he’s fighting for acceptance, you know where his anti-authoritarian attitude comes from.”
They also emphasized a goofy tone throughout the journey, in which Monkey King...
- 8/18/2023
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
With The Willoughbys, writer/director Kris Pearn adapted a beloved children’s book of the same name by Lois Lowry, looking to be as faithful as possible to the “subversive” nature of her story, while bringing to it his own personal touch.
Pearn’s second feature, following 2013’s Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2, centers on the Willoughby children, who grew up with parents who could not be more disinterested in them. Exploring the sometimes-wide gap between the families we’re born into and those we choose, it watches as the kids send their selfish guardians off on vacation, setting off on a globetrotting adventure and forging new connections.
In conversation with Deadline, Pearn breaks down his narrative and visual approach to the feature—which debuted on Netflix last April—a clever, darkly comedic parable, through which he hoped to say “something real.”
Deadline: How did you come to direct The Willoughbys?...
Pearn’s second feature, following 2013’s Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2, centers on the Willoughby children, who grew up with parents who could not be more disinterested in them. Exploring the sometimes-wide gap between the families we’re born into and those we choose, it watches as the kids send their selfish guardians off on vacation, setting off on a globetrotting adventure and forging new connections.
In conversation with Deadline, Pearn breaks down his narrative and visual approach to the feature—which debuted on Netflix last April—a clever, darkly comedic parable, through which he hoped to say “something real.”
Deadline: How did you come to direct The Willoughbys?...
- 3/2/2021
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
“‘Grey Gardens’ meets ‘Arrested Development'” probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when you’re conceiving an animated film for children, but that was exactly Kris Pearn‘s pitch for his adaptation of Lois Lowry‘s book “The Willoughbys.”
“It immediately struck me as that kind of ‘Arrested Development’ dysfunctional family story and yet there was an element of wildness of those kids that I could relate to in terms of being a father to my own children [in the entertainment industry],” Pearn tells Gold Derby at our Meet the Experts: Film Animation panel (watch above). “That idea of these odd children finding their way in our modern world — that was kind of what I pitched back. It’s kind of like a ‘Grey Gardens’ meets ‘Arrested Development’ for kids, and they latched onto that.”
Pearn, who’s helmed “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2” (2013), himself latched onto the “subversive,...
“It immediately struck me as that kind of ‘Arrested Development’ dysfunctional family story and yet there was an element of wildness of those kids that I could relate to in terms of being a father to my own children [in the entertainment industry],” Pearn tells Gold Derby at our Meet the Experts: Film Animation panel (watch above). “That idea of these odd children finding their way in our modern world — that was kind of what I pitched back. It’s kind of like a ‘Grey Gardens’ meets ‘Arrested Development’ for kids, and they latched onto that.”
Pearn, who’s helmed “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2” (2013), himself latched onto the “subversive,...
- 12/28/2020
- by Joyce Eng
- Gold Derby
“The Willoughbys,” Netflix’s whimsical animated feature about four unloved siblings breaking free from their toxic home (based on the children’s book by Lois Lowry), couldn’t arrive at a more opportune time during the global pandemic. And the irony isn’t lost on director Kris Pearn (“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2”), who infused his aesthetic with a hand-made, retro quality filled with tactile textures and bright colors.
“The world we’re living in is really hard to imagine,” said Pearn, who made his movie at Vancouver-based Bron Animation while partnering with Netflix, which provided crucial financing and creative support as part of its new auteur-based culture for indie animation. “But the theme of Lois’ book — you can’t build a wall to keep ideas out — is timely for wanting to bust out right now.”
More from IndieWire'The Willoughbys' Review: Netflix's Animated Charmer Spoofs Kids-in-Peril Stories with...
“The world we’re living in is really hard to imagine,” said Pearn, who made his movie at Vancouver-based Bron Animation while partnering with Netflix, which provided crucial financing and creative support as part of its new auteur-based culture for indie animation. “But the theme of Lois’ book — you can’t build a wall to keep ideas out — is timely for wanting to bust out right now.”
More from IndieWire'The Willoughbys' Review: Netflix's Animated Charmer Spoofs Kids-in-Peril Stories with...
- 4/23/2020
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
Annecy, France — A significant part of the future of the world new global streaming platforms will depend on their appeal to family audiences. So it’s no small matter that, in the space of eight hours at France’s Annecy Festival, Netflix will unveil for the first time ever to a discerning industry audience a string of clips from its first two original animated movie films: Sergio Pablos’ “Klaus,” out this Christmas, and Chris Pearn’s “The Willoughbys,” scheduled for a Spring 2020 bow.
Both are major steps for Netflix. A few days out from Annecy, history looked to rest lightly on the shoulders of Pearn as with a massive enthusiasm – he’s a self declared optimist, he says – and at an antic pace he fielded questions from Variety on his much anticipated title, which will help shape a public perception of Netflix’s animated movie ambitions.
Currently in production at Bron Animation in Vancouver,...
Both are major steps for Netflix. A few days out from Annecy, history looked to rest lightly on the shoulders of Pearn as with a massive enthusiasm – he’s a self declared optimist, he says – and at an antic pace he fielded questions from Variety on his much anticipated title, which will help shape a public perception of Netflix’s animated movie ambitions.
Currently in production at Bron Animation in Vancouver,...
- 6/12/2019
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
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