Recently, Animation Magazine got a chance to take an early peek at the work being done on Imagi Studios’ upcoming CG-animated Astro Boy feature.
The film, due out Oct. 23, is the second animated feature from Imagi after TMNT in 2007. Based on the classic manga and anime by Osamu Tezuka ‘ known in Japan as both the god of manga and the father of anime ‘ the new feature film brings a decidedly global approach to the property.
Imagi Studios was founded about seven years ago by Francis Kao and has offices in both Los Angeles and Hong Kong that allowed almost continuous production on the film.
CEO Erin Corbett said that while the Los Angeles office did most of the front end work ‘ writing, editorial, character design, etc. ‘ the Hong Kong office did most of the back end work, including most of the animation, visual effects and lighting.
The time difference between cities made for continuous collaboration, she said. ‘We get here in the morning and we work until about 4:30 ‘ actually we work until about 10:30 ‘ but we work until about 4:30 when our Hong Kong friends wake up. And then for the next three hours we overlap with Hong Kong.’ Then work is handed off to Hong Kong while the L.A. crew is off and then the cycle begins all over again.
Maryann Garger, line producer on the film, said at its height the California office had about 80 people working on the film, with around 400 working at the Hong Kong office. ‘You’ll notice it’s a little quiet here and that’s because the front end departments have wrapped,’ she said.
Directing the film is David Bowers, a Brit who directed the 2006 DreamWorks feature Flushed Away. He calls the story being told in the film a ‘classic superhero origin story’ that explains who Astro Boy is and where he came from. While Astro Boy is a huge phenomenon in Japan and all around the world, there are countries where the story of a scientist who creates a super-powered robot boy in the image of his dead son is less well known.
Bowers says he wanted the film to have a really strong emotional core. ‘I really went back to the father-son relationship between Astro and his father,’ he says.
The film also features a cast of well-known Hollywood actors, including Freddie Highmore of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as Astro Boy; Nicolas Cage as his father, Dr. Tenma; Kristen Bell as Cora, a new character introduced in this film; as well as Nathan Lane, Eugene Levy and Bill Nighy.
With the film being done in a 3D, CG-animated style, the world of Astro Boy needed a makeover from the iconic, 2D images of Tezuka. Character designer Luis Grane said translating the 2D style into 3D was the toughest challenge of working on the picture. Grane looked at a wide range of art for inspirations, including everything from pre-Colombian sculptures to the art of Tezuka himself.
For Astro Boy himself, there were a few changes to his classic look. ‘They wanted to make him a little bit older than the original one, they wanted to appeal to a broader audience,’ say Grane. A few early attempts went too far and made the character look like an adult, but eventually the right look was found.
They also had to consider what the character would wear and what powers he’d retain. ‘There were concerns about seeing a boy flying in underwear through the city,’ says Grane. ‘In the original manga, he has some clothes, but they’re a little old fashioned. So we came up with something different and tried different costumes.’
Most of his powers are what fans will consider the core, classic powers ‘ even if they seem a little odd to today’s viewers, such as the machine guns that come out of the robotic boy’s behind.
‘For me it’s completely normal,’ says Grane. ‘I grew up with it! Of course he has butt guns!’
A few of the characters that worked in 2D had features that were hard to translate, such as Professor Elefun’s big nose. New characters, such as Cora, had to be designed to look like they belonged in the same world as Astro Boy.
There were a few instances where the actors influenced the look of the character. Animation director Jakob Jensen says they did a test of Freddie Highmore’s voice ‘ taking a short bit of audio from one of his other movies and putting it in the mouth of Astro Boy ‘ as a way to show the actor what they had planned and get him to sign on. They also altered the appearance of Ham Egg ‘ a Fagin-like character ‘ to resemble Nathan Lane, who provides the voice.
The Imagi presentation ended with a showing of some footage from the film, which is in post-production and awaiting final scenes, a few elements and a score from John Ottman. The new Astro Boy is heavy on the action and has an adventure-oriented look that benefits from some very good animation work.
While the final result won’t be in theaters until October, fans can get a sneak peek at the film at Comic-Con International, where Imagi is hosting a panel Thursday from 10:45-11:15 a.m. in Room 6BCF with Highmore, Bell, Bowers and Garger on hand to show some footage and answer questions from fans.
