24 Nov 2014 9:56 AM PT
by Christina Radish posted 24 Nov 2014 at 8:56 AM PT
Even though it’s based on a novel, called The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex, the animated feature Home (due out in theaters on March 27, 2015) creates a world that feels wholly original, beautifully inventive and fun. After checking out select scenes from the film, it’s also clearly a story of family and friendship that will tug at your heartstrings.
Collider was invited over to the DreamWorks Animation campus for a presentation from director Tim Johnson (Over the Hedge, Antz) that previewed a handful of scenes that gave a glimpse into the world that the film is creating, along with its rather unique inhabitants. Hit the jump to find out what we thought about the footage, what you should know about the film, and a Q&A with voice actors Rihanna, Jim Parsons and Steve Martin.
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Home tells the story of what happens when Earth is taken over by the overly-confident Boov, an alien race in search of a new place to call home, and all humans are promptly relocated while the Boov get busy reorganizing the planet. But when a resourceful girl named Tip (voiced by music superstar Rihanna) manages to avoid capture, she happens to stumble across a banished Boov named Oh (voiced by The Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons), and the two fugitives quickly realize that they may not be as different as they first thought, as they embark on the road trip of a lifetime.
I have to admit that I went into the presentation knowing nothing about the story, and came away from it absolutely wanting to see more. Even with the animation not fully finished (they still have five to six weeks of work to complete) it was very clear that this post-apocalyptic alien buddy movie has charm, laughs and tears, and aspects of the story for all ages, along with some great music. Here’s what the actors had to say about what attracted them to the project:
Question: What is it about Home that spoke to you and made you want to be a part of the project?
RIHANNA: I’d never done an animated film, but the story just spoke to me. It was so real and there were so many parallels in it. I felt like I identified with Tip. She’s essentially a role model. For me, it was strange to read a character that you can look up to. I was very excited. I had never done an animated film. I did Battleship before, but this was different. You learn so much when the camera is not there. Especially for me, being from Barbados, I have an accent. Learning to speak American, you just realize that there are 20 different types of American. There are all these different types of accents, and I didn’t know. I was learning all over again, and not just with the accent, but how to act with just my voice.
JIM PARSONS: I was approached about it, and I had never done one before either. Even before I knew what the story was, I was very excited about the idea, just ‘cause I wanted the chance to do an animated film. And then, once we talked about it, I just liked the little guy that I was playing, so much, even the way he looked. I held it up to a friend and said, “Could I voice this?,” and they said, “Oh, yes!” And then, once we got involved, it has really been the biggest reward. It’s the most interesting playtime I’ve ever had, as an actor. It’s really got this feeling of going down a mysterious but joyful black hole, where there’s nobody else there and directions are being thrown at you by Tim [Johnson]. Once you relax for 15 or 20 minutes, and really go, “I don’t care if I look like an ass,” it’s really fun to see what happens. You know that nothing is being visually judged, in that way, thank god. I never left without being a sweaty mess, ever.
STEVE MARTIN: I love the animated process. It’s like writing a play, where you can try it out, change it, and go back and experiment 70 different ways. When I saw the first animated sequence, I was really astounded. I thought it was beautiful. So much emotion can be brought in an animated film that’s very hard to get in a live-action film. I haven’t quite put my finger on why, but it might be because the characters can make facial expression that, if you made them in a movie, they’d call them corny. I find animated movies very touching. They reach an audience that’s hard to get with a live-action film. I’m just thrilled to be in a movie that is so affecting.
Jim, what themes really attracted you to this story?
PARSONS: Through the process of working on it, you discovered what’s at the heart of it, more than I knew, going into it. The little guy that I play – O, the alien – really comes in with a set of ideas about how the world is supposed to be, and he thinks that’s all good and right. And he meets the character that Rihanna plays, Tip, and he really understands what it is to accept other people who have different ways of doing things and whose beliefs may be different than yours, but you can still be very, very close. That really resonates with me, in our own lives. I’ve thought a lot about being a gay person while making this movie, and it has nothing to do with that specifically, at all, but just being judge by something that people may not identify with or understand or have certain beliefs about, and then they get to know you and who you are. And that’s just the one that I personally identify with, obviously, in that regard. It could be a million things. It’s important to take people at a different level than that, and let them be who they are in their heart.
Rihanna, how did you find the experience of working with Tim Johnson?
RIHANNA: I was blessed with the opportunity to work with Tim Johnson. He is such an incredible director. I know a great director, only because I have no experience in this world. I can think of a line one way, and then he would just put a word in my head. He knows exactly how to get whatever emotion needs to be in that moment out of you. We had a lot of emotional moments in this film that I didn’t really expect because it’s an animated film and you think it will just be fun, but I so connected to the characters. There’s one specific point in the movie that really wrecks me, and I feel like it’s gonna kill everybody. When I was watching it for the first time, it was just stick figures. It didn’t even get to the point of all of the animation yet, but I was balling my eyes out and I was like, “Oh, my god, I’m so embarrassed right now! I’m crying at stick figures.” But by the time you get there, you feel every inch of each of our sides, with O and Tip. At first, you pick a side, but by the end, it’s so emotional.