Review: DreamWorks Animation’s ‘Home’ – Jim Parsons & Rihanna Take You On A Wild & Entertaining Ride

By Melody Star  7 Mar 2015

 

Review

had the good fortune to attend the Boulder International Film Festival’s screening of DreamWorks Animation’s Home starring Jim Parsons, Rihanna and Steve Martin. The film sold out within moments of being announced it would be available for screening. The theaters overflowed to where some stood along the walls in the theater to watch. But we all put on our 3-D glasses and went on quite an adventure. Following the screening there was a Q & A session with Tim Johnson (see below). The introduction to the film was made by Gary Sharp from RealD 3D, Chief Technology & Innovation Officer. I only wished he had joined Johnson on stage at the end for the Q&A for I would loved to have asked him some questions as well.

The story, based on the children’s book The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex, is about an alien population looking for a new Home because they continually escape who they believe is their mortal enemy Gorg. The Boov leader, Captain Smek chooses Earth as their new destination home and they set course to land. Before landing and inhabiting the planet, they remove all the humans to a new location and they take over the rest of the earth. Only they left one human behind, a little girl named Gratuity “Tip” Tucci and her cat. Separated from her mother, Tip is determined to hide from the Boov and find her mother.

Rihanna plays Tip and she brings vulnerability to the character, yet a tough-as-nails, no funny business side to her as well. She is intelligent, witty and sadly had been a social outcast before the humans were all removed to another part of the planet. As she tries to escape she stops in a convenience store, where it just so happens a Boov named Oh is also hiding. He is hiding out because he accidentally sent an invitation to everyone, meaning everyone in the universe, including Gorg, to a party, thus revealing what planet they were on to Gorg, resulting in all the Boov coming after Oh.

Tip and Oh meet in the convenience store (now abandoned since all the humans had been moved elsewhere). They make an uneasy alliance to track down Tip’s mother, or in Oh’s case, to escape other Boov. After all, running away is what Boov do best. While on the run, Oh reveals the threat of a possible invasion by Gorg to Tip which makes their journey even more timely and important, of course not without some peril involved.

The animation in this film is a wonderful escape journey. It is colorful, vivid, cheerful and creative. The Boov population are a unique representation of aliens compared to most films in that they are highly flexible, not robotic in nature and have more ability to “feel” things than normal film aliens, yet even the Transformer-like Gorg is fun as well and a nice contrast to the Boov.

Tip, the human pre-teen, was adorable and very relate-able (in artwork and in Rihanna’s interpretation.) Just everything about her look was spot on. I liked her cat Pig and most of all her car. It was such a fun and creative car. The 3-D work was well balanced, not overpowering, but was used well. It was beautifully crafted by RealD 3D which is located domestically in Beverly Hills, CA and Boulder, CO.

The alternate world they created through the Boov was delightful and I enjoyed how they changed color depending on their moods (red when angry, yellow when afraid or “chicken” about something, blue when sad and feeling blue, and green when lying.) It just added more color to the creative artwork.

The cast list was small since the number of speaking roles was small, even though there were thousands upon thousands of characters visually seen at times. Jim Parsons brought charm to Oh. From reading commentary on the trailer of the film on YouTube, while many may try to compare Oh to Sheldon Cooper of The Big Bang Theory, there were definitely distinct differences. I can say I honestly never even thought of Sheldon once while watching because of Parsons’ voiced Oh, but there was a single scene where the people placement machines put some adults in a ball pit, and because of the similar visual to Sheldon in a ball pit only did I flash Sheldon across my mind, not because of anything related to Parson’s portrayal of Oh. Rihanna’s character has been compared to Penny in The Big Bang Theory as well in trailer commentary, but again, I didn’t think of Tip at all as being “Penny.” I only mention this because I have read comments on the internet from the trailer that many felt that it was just Sheldon and Penny on the screen, but they are quite different and are clearly unique characters. Tip is an 11 year old vulnerable girl feeling alone and wanting her mother back. Oh is a vulnerable alien, completely opposite of Sheldon, who so desperately wants friends and to have social interactions. I hope everyone will walk into the theater with an open mind and realize that Parsons and Rihanna gave these characters a lot of soul and endearment that it is hard for me to imagine anyone else playing their roles.

Parsons and Rihanna appeared as if they had been given a lot of latitude in improvisation of their characters and even if they had not, there was a lose nature to the characters and the voice work that felt easy and natural and real. I know Tim Johnson spoke to and worked with both actors in their roles, and whatever he did worked for there was a total ease that came from both as a result. It is pretty stunning when you realize that Parsons and Rihanna recorded separately for almost their entire script with the exception of one day that they were able to record together for a few hours.

Steve Martin was humorous as Captain Smek and you would not have recognized it was him playing the part. He was quite amusing. Matt Jones who played “Officer” Kyle held up well against the big-name celebrity stars. His character was fun and he brought a lot of life to him. Jennifer Lopez played Tip’s mother, Lucy, who had a very small part in the film, but her character was pivotal to the overall story.

While the story may be somewhat predictable to adults (it is a children’s story after all), it still was worth watching and you didn’t even mind the predictability because of the entertaining characters and visual enjoyment you got while watching the film.

One of the things that impressed me was how well balanced the music to dialog was. Typically you sit in a theater and the music is always so loud you can barely hear the dialog, but that was not the case in this film. You were able to get a good sense of both without either overpowering the other. Kudos to the sound engineering and mixing departments.

Rihanna’s association with the film went beyond acting. It is clear she was instrumental in the overall “groove” in the film and contributed her musical talent and music to the film. The animated movements to the music was spot on, which I suspect was heavily influenced by Rihanna.

I also enjoyed how the animation included the vibration lines in the characters when they felt vibrations. It was a nice added touch, along with the multiple colors that spread through the characters as they realized they were unsure what to think about moving and dancing to the music.

I can say that as I sat in the audience when the film ended, the applauding and the cheers had feel good to Tim Johnson who was present at the screening. Children who viewed the film laughed and giggled and were totally engaged in the picture, even very young children. There was enough movement, color, delightful sounds, and music that they were totally engaged. Adults as well appreciated the cute story and by the enthusiasm in their faces as they left the theater I believe they gave it a solid two thumbs up!

Five Stars (out of 5). Film ideal for all ages and is a great positive message and feel-good film. The film is up for the “People’s Choice Award” at the Festival.

MPAA Rating: PG
Running time: 94 Min
Released by 20th Century Fox
Produced by DreamWorks Animations
Cast (voices):

Cast (voices):

Jim Parsons (Oh)
Rihanna (Gratuity ‘Tip’ Tucci)
Steve Martin (Captain Smek)
Matt Jones (Kyle)
Brian Stepanek (Brian/Gorg)
April Winchell (Toni)
Nigel W. Tierney (Child A)
Derek Blankenship (Additional voices)

Crew:

Produced by Mireille Soria, Suzanne Buirgy, Christopher Jenkins;
Directed by Tim Johnson;
Screenplay by  Tom J. Astle, Matt Ember, based on the novel “The True Meaning of Smekday” by Adam Rex.
Camera (color, 3D); RealD 3D
Head of Lighting, Betsy Nofsinger;
Editor -Nick Fletcher;
Music – Lorne Balfe, Stargate;
Production Designer – Kathy Altieri;
Supervising Sound Designer – Randy Thom;
Supervising Sound Editors – Tom Myers, Briam Chumney;
Re-recording Mixers – Gary A. Rizzo, Scott R. Lewis;
Visual Effects Supervisor – Mahesh Ramasurbramanian;
Head of Story – Todd Wilderman;
Head of Character Animation – Jason Reisig;
Head of Layout – Mark Mulgrew;
Character Designer – Takao Noguchi;
Animation Supervisors – Mark Donald, Marek Kochout, David Pate, Carlos Fernandez Puertolas;
Casting – Leslee Feldman, Christi Soper Hilt

 

 

 

 

Q & A With Director Tim Johnson

As mentioned above, immediately following the screening, Director Tim Johnson, double Annie Award winner from DreamWorks Animation, stayed for questions and answers. While his session was short, it was informative.

Johnson did talk about how the film was based on the book by Adam Rex (see above under review) and how he had read it aloud to his children and could not put the book down himself. He found the story amazing and entertaining. Adam Rex did some original drawings, but DreamWorks Animation took a lot of liberty in creating the characters.

Johnson loves Comic-con, calling himself a geek. One year Johnson went down to Comic-Con in San Diego and just studied character design. He said he was fascinated and really got into analyzing and understanding the entire process of character design.

When asked about the legs of the Boov, he said the legs nearly drove him crazy because they are three times harder than doing two legs.

Home was the first 3D film ever to be shown at BIFF and one of the few domestic screenings of the film and the very first place where people paid to see the film.

Johnson revealed he had spent seven and a half years working on the picture. About three and a half years ago a green light was given to make the movie and different designers and animators were brought onto the project, swelling to over 400 people about two years out when the animation team came on board. Rihanna’s last line was recorded two days before the film had to be in imaging, bringing the project down to the wire, taking all night to animate after her last recording. “We were really lucky we got 5 seconds done a week, so we are very patient men,” Johnson laughed.

The host asked about editing, if it occurred throughout the animation process. Johnson said the entire process is put on pencil and paper drawings via storyboards and that the dialog is created and actors brought in to lend voices. He said the fun of being the editor is you get to be part of the creative process throughout; you get to develop the film throughout the production process as opposed to having to wait until the filming is complete. At any given time you have say 36 scenes and only a few of them are at any given time in production. “You can change scenes while other scenes are in production. We were changing the opening for about six months until now.”

Jim Parsons, Johnson called a “no brainer” for the part of “Oh”. He was the first person cast in the film and joined the production three years ago. Parsons brings an “on paper unlikeable” character in The Big Bang Theory to become a very likeable Sheldon. The character of Oh is an invader, but Johnson wanted people to like Oh. So he immediately thought Parsons fit the bill. He is able to bring likeability to someone who should be disliked because he is invading the planet.

Johnson said Parsons loves to act and looks continually for roles and is in fact finishing taping The Big Bang Theory and two days later will be beginning rehearsals for his summer play on Broadway (An Act of God) and when that wraps in late July, it ends on a Sunday and he reports back to The Big Bang Theory Monday.

Rihanna was far more comfortable coming in to record than the actors who were more used to costume, make-up, lighting and blocking. But in animation they could arrive in sweat pants and just record. Rihanna knows how to “dance with the microphone” and is so comfortable recording. The thing with her was working on having her reach in and feel deep enough, according to Johnson. “But luckily Rihanna has two younger brothers” and Johnson would just tell her “imagine yourself in a never-ending car ride with your little brothers, and she would get it immediately.”

In Adam Rex’s book, Oh’s name is J.Lo and initially they wanted to use it and Jennifer Lopez was even flattered by it. But merchandising people came in and explained about all the issues so the name was changed to “Oh”. Good decision in my opinion, because it worked well with the standing joke of how he got his name.

The host asked if he had advice for the young people in the audience on how to get in the animation business. He advised all the young people who doodle instead of doing their homework to stick with drawing, and to get their homework done of course, but never stop drawing because that was his love, drawing. His drawings became his characters and friends. Filmmaking and animation is a “just do it” thing. “Draw, write, create, paint and you might find yourself doing it for a paycheck.” Later, during the audience question time, a child showed her picture to Johnson that she created. He was so kind and encouraging to the child.

Johnson felt that reading a story to his boys about a 11-, 12-year old girl that was so strong was an inspiration to his boys. For his own young boys reading about a girl (who at the time the story was read was older than them) who was the heroine of the book was very inspiring to them. Johnson said he cheated on the boys in that he read them two chapters and then bailed on them and kept reading until 2 in the morning because he could not put the book down. But even today, his teen boys still like him to read aloud to them and create all the character voices and bring to life the characters.

When asked about the way Oh talks, if that was created by the writing team or was that originally in the book, Johnson said it came from the book, but it was direct from the book that they brought it to script. It is what makes Oh such a charming character in such a strange land.

An interesting part of the process, Johnson revealed, was that they would record things a couple of times and re-record, where Johnson would read the dialog himself. He said he would just stumble and it would come out so awkward. When Parsons came in the first time on a cold read, he completely nailed it every time.

One of the audience questions was whether Johnson had worked on How to Train Your Dragon. Johnson produced it and helped translate the adaptation. He talked about how it is tricky to turn a book into a movie and to make it beautiful and wonderful. That was his job, to help them translate the book to movie.

Another audience member asked if Oh changed colors in the book. Johnson said no he didn’t change colors in the book, but that they came up with the idea because they wanted a way for Tip to know that every time Oh lied. Originally Oh would only blush, but then they came up with the idea to have the Boov be able to change colors depending on what they were feeling, nearly killing the animators. Luckily new technology was released around the time the discussion took place that allowed them to more easily perform the task. He said they had similar problems with the animators and technical team when they wanted Tip’s hair to be different, for her to run her fingers through her hair and pull it up in to a pony tail and then to have it blow in the wind and then to move this way or that, about seven different hair styles because it is more real for long-hair to be pulled into different styles on a girl. Johnson laughed that they were all passed out at the suggestion. But the beauty of animation is you can always have new technology developed and create new things as a result. The fact that they were able to not only give Tip curly hair, but then have her hair change depending on her mood, was a really powerful part of the story telling.

An audience question came in asking what books Johnson would recommend for children today that are positive influences, complimenting him on the fact that the films from DreamWorks were great stories and not full of violence, language and sexual innuendo and she was looking for similar kinds of books. Johnson replied that he was very drawn to books where girls or young women were strong, independent and heroines. He said a lot of male protagonists beat the villain by combat, but female protagonists beat the villain by empathy, intelligence and trickery to figuring him out. The book Johnson is currently reading is The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making [by Catherynne M. Valente and Ana Juan].

Following the Q&A there was a brief time for autographs.

Note: I walked away with a poster and an “Oh” doll, but I sure would have liked to have had a “Tip” doll as well. I can well imagine she would sell well in stores if they made her up as a doll. She is adorable!