Klay Hall, Sean Lurie on Disney - Interview
Disney Brings Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure to DVD
Oct 20, 2009
In Part #3 of our exclusive interview with Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure director Klay Hall and producer Sean Lurie, they talked about the creative working conditions at Disney, and how they used colour to support a scene.
In this installment, Hall and Lurie discuss how they think this movie will change audience's perceptions of Disney's direct-to-DVD animated films.
S101: Disney’s animated, direct-to-video movies have a certain reputation among animation fans; ‘dreck-to-video’ as they were popularly called–
Klay Hall: “We’re out to change that perception.”
S101: How?
Hall: “I think, if you look at this film, you could put it out against anything that’s out there and it will hold its own. And truly – this isn’t something that we’ve been pounded into saying, this is what we actually feel – we’re out to tell the very best story and make it visually appealing. Hopefully, our sincerity comes through. However it comes out, to us it’ll hold its own.
“There’s an opportunity for the Disney audience to really watch this at home all the time, so it’s a win-win for us. Like you said, those people who saw all the other stuff Disney produced in the 1990’s, if they saw this film, I don’t think they’d come away feeling disappointed.
S101: But this film is supporting a consumer franchise: the Disney Fairies line. How do you balance the demands of commerce versus making great art? Either way, you have to sell toys: how do you deal with that?
Hall: “To be perfectly honest with you, we don’t think about the commerce side of it. That’s someone else’s job. Seriously, we are out to tell a story that entertains us, and hopefully entertains everyone else. And that’s how we approach the film: we weren’t saying, ‘Let’s put a troll scene in there so we can sell troll dolls.’”
Sean Lurie: “Besides, troll dolls don’t really appeal to Consumer Products very much!” (laughs)
Hall: “Honestly, that never even entered the equation, and part of John Lasseter’s mantra is: ‘Don’t go there. Focus on the story’”
Lurie: “If you have compelling characters that kids can identify with and fall in love with, the rest of it will take care of itself. For me, I’m a fan of Cars, and when I buy those toys for my boys, I’m buying them because I love those characters. So that stuff takes care of itself.”
Hall: “We’re not doing sequels, we’re doing individual, stand-alone films. I think word’s going to get out about how great these movies are, and the perception will change. It will take a little time, but I think when people see these movies, they’re going to go, ‘Wow.’”
Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure comes to DVD on October 27th.
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