Where you take four or five ideas to John Lasseter?
Is it as brutal as it sounds?
BH:Hes not as brutal as you might think!
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RM:Johns mom was an art teacher.
So John really has that talent of picking out something nice about everything that someone does.
Ive never heard John… we went to art school, and we had some brutal teachers.
But John, hes not one to say this sucks.
Hell say I like this and I like that.
Ive never seen him tear something apart.
BH:He might say I like this part of the idea.
But when he lands on something, his eyebrows pop up.
And there was one where he was up and down.
Like he wascravingit, so into it, that he wanted to bite it!
BH:John Lasseter wanted to eat my film!
Its too soon for us.
Were almost 100 years old, but were the younger studio from the Ed Catmull/John Lasseter point of view.
I think Disney Animation is too young to be having those kind of meetings.
But were still young.
Were at least half that since John and Ed came in.
BH:Were just stretching our legs.
Were getting used to this idea of how it works, and I think you see it withTangledandRalphandFrozenandBig Hero.
It feels like the films keep building.
BH:That was the first film that John saw from start to finish at Disney.
And John was a very present mentor throughout that whole film.
And now were brutal and honest about these stories.
I think we trust each other with the fact that we dont take offence at what people say.
BH:Oh right, right!
BH:[Laughs] Its true!
But can you take us to the nub of whatactuallyhappened?
BH:It was screening five, I think.
The fifth version, with Nick as the lead.
All through development and the treatment stage, and our table reads, Nick was the main character.
And he still is: principally, the characters are the same.
He didnt like it, he didnt feel like people supported him.
And we thought that was a huge problem.
My involvement with the project early on was just as support, as part of the Story Trust.
I dont like how it treats Nick, and Im learning everything about the world through Nick.
In fact, I want him to leave Zootropolis.
A world that could make life that bad for Nick?
I dont think thats a world that I want to be a part of.
BH:A little of both.
RM:It never was intended to be a utopia hiding a dystopian underlayer.
That it felt authentic, not as a storybook place.
Do you all feel that is wasnt working at that point?
BH:It felt like it was a struggle.
That the story was swimming upstream, really putting your weight into a storm.
It was harder than it should have been.
RM:you’re able to tell.
Why does he feel like this?
RM:Whats he struggling against?
His comedic edge was falling off.
RM:I love that movie!
He should have been Oscar nominated.
One of the most striking performances of last year for me.
RM:I know.
To cast him in that film.
I was like, dude, you deserve the Oscar nomination for that!
Let her character introduce us to the city and this world.
And suddenly, all that struggling and trying to make traction into this story was done.
Good news: we figured it out.
Bad news: its late in the game!
But, as with Pixar, at Disney Animation, story is king.
We cant put up a movie that looks beautiful, but doesnt have substance.
The tough decision was made to make the story change.
We were all in agreement, and John Lasseter was saying youve got to do it.
And thats when he asked me to co-direct.
It was going to be a very tough year to make it happen, to practically finish the movie.
We had this much vision to be crunched into a schedule.
The cynicism point is an interesting one.
I was looking into how well American comedies travel around the world.
The cliche is that it doesnt travel.
Actually what I found is that crude comedy tends to travel.
If you go R-rated, youre on much safer ground.
RM:Thats why Adam Sandlers such a big hit in Germany!
For a family comedy to work, youve got to have something for me, and my kids.
RM:Yeah, yeah.
Can I zero in, then, on the trailer where you showcased Flash the Sloth?
RM:I think Pixar did withBrave?
But I cant think of another Disney example?
I think the sloth scene is a masterclass in universal comedy.
And it strikes me that one scene is all about timing, isnt it?
Thats, what, a less than a quarter of a second.
How do I notice that?
RM:You would, you would.
So can you talk about the physicality and nuance of the comedy in that scene?
RM:That was a scene that was conceived and born in a flash.
It happened very quickly.
And Jim said what about sloths at the DMV?
Theyre notoriously slow, and embody the frustration with bureaucracy the world over.
And John lit up!
Did his eyes slowly open and bulge like Flashs?!
RM:Yeah [laughs]!
We must have gone through it about three times, just to cement it in our brains.
It was born like that.
Then began the long process of nuancing it, and recording it, working in the editorial room.
I have never worked harder or longer on one scene like that sloth scene.
Adam McKay is exactly right.
And thats live action!
Five frames in live action makes a big difference.
In animation, one frame 1/24th of a second can make or break something.
This was something that, onThe Simpsons, I learned.
It was down to theframe.
We thought it was already too long, and they were telling us it needed to be longer.
It basically the same joke, and it carries on for four minutes!
Most people would say you never could do something like this.
As long as its funny!
[We get the signal that were out of time.
Last question, then.
Do you have a favourite Jason Statham movie?
RM:Ummm, I lovedThe Expendables 3[laughs!]
BH:I loved him inSpy!
RM:Yeah, that was good, that was good.
You know, I loved what he did inGnomeo & Juliet.
I loved his performance in that!
Rich Moore and Byron Howard, thank you very much!
Zootropolisis in UK cinemas from Friday.
