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JIMMY NEUTRON:
BOY GENIUS
Jimmy Neutron was animated using relatiely simple, off-the-shelf
software.
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Do you think we are going through a golden age for animation?
Oedekerk: I think we really are. Unfortunately, as Hollywood works, golden ages are usually caused by how much cash people make. The good side of it is we will get a lot of animation now, and we’ll have a lot of people trying to top each other. That’s always good. It’s always great when there’s competition and more talented people working. It’s really is a wonderful time for animation.
Davis: Things are so cyclical and they have a renaissance every few years. Animation in the seventies was kind of hitting a low period. Then suddenly Disney really came back into their element with The Little Mermaid all the way through Lion King - everything had a real resurgence. Then it kind of started to slow a little bit until 3-D came along. Then suddenly there are these really good 3-D films being made. Now here we are, coming in as kind of the next phase of that - which is more like a digital independent film, almost, even if we were a Paramount movie.
Is traditional animation dead?
Oedekerk: It’s so not dead! The only negative that could happen out of this is that people swing away from the magic of traditional cel animation. That would be a very sad thing.
Davis: The public and the industry are really excited by the new technology and what 3-D can offer. It’s like getting a new toy: you want to play with it a lot. You’re going to push the others aside momentarily and focus on it. The other reason is that the 3-D films that have come out recently have really good stories. That’s really what it all comes down to.
Hecht: Each project has its own home. That’s the important thing: embrace what’s right for that project. Our slate next year is Hey, Arnold and Wild Thornberries - both traditional, cel-animated movies. Wild Thornberries is wonderful. In fact, we’re even throwing back to an old style of big, wide-screen Cinemascope to shoot that movie. There’s CGI for certain animation and action sequences, so a lot of CGI is creeping to cel. And cel is creeping to CGI. CGI is creeping to live action. Live action’s creeping to animation.
Oedekerk: People really respond to story and quality first. Whatever method of animation or production is attached to that is definitely a second.
YOLK SHOP
Main picture, Jimmy and his pal, Carl, with the egg-centric King Goobot. Inset, Patrick Stewart (right) laying down the Ooblar voice-track with Martin Short, who provides the vocals for his sidekick, Ooblar.
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Why do we need an Animated Film category at the Oscars? Some people say animated films should have to compete with live-action films.
Davis: It’s great that it finally has its own category, because there are so many animated films being produced now. It gives more focus and exposure to them.
Oedekerk: The more categories there are, the better: contests are hard enough as it is! I did stand-up comedy for 13 years. I’d go to some restaurant that had a talent show. I’m doing stand-up, somebody else is doing magic, some girl is playing an accordeon. How do you rate an accordeon against telling jokes? I think it’s the same with feature films.
What does the future hold for Jimmy?
Hecht: He’ll have a special on the Nickelodeon Network, then his series starts. Then we’re hoping to do another feature.
Davis: We’re talking about doing Jimmy Neutron 2 for summer 2004 release. We’re in the story development stages. We went into outer space the first time, so we’re looking at another big canvas for him to explore. I can’t say too much right now, because we don’t have enough locked in. But it’ll be a very exciting experience that will give us the ability to play with the characters even more than we did on the first one. In the first film, we were trying to set up and establish a lot. With the second, people are going to know the characters. We’ll concentrate on having a lot of fun with them.
Oedekerk: Jimmy’s going everywhere: he’s going into outer space; he’ll go back in time; he’ll go to the centre of the Earth. Anything anyone would want to do, hopefully Jimmy will become their vehicle.
With A Beautiful Mind and the Boy Genius both getting Oscar nominations, does this mean that Hollywood is finally placing brains above beauty?
Oedekerk: Hey! Jimmy’s smarter than the guy from A Beautiful Mind. And he’s not psychotic. Seriously, that would be nice. But I don’t think it will ever happen. There might be little windows that open up where brains are above beauty, but I think beauty will always have a strong hold in this business.
Hecht: One of the things Nickelodeon always said to kids is, ‘It’s cool to be smart’. I guess Hollywood is catching up.
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JIMMY NEUTRON: BOY GENIUS
Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies present an
O Entertainment and Nickelodeon Production
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Prod: Steve Oedekerk, John A Davis, Albie Hecht; Exec prod: Julia Pistor, Keith Alcorn; Co-prod: Gina Shay, Paul Marshal; Dir: John A Davis; Scr: John A Davis, David N Weiss, J David Stem, Steve Oedekerk, from a story by Davis and Oedekerk; Prod des: Fred Cline; Ed: Jon Michael Price; Mus: John Debney; Mus super: Jeff Carson, Frankie Pine.
With the voices of Debi Derryberry (Jimmy Neutron), Patrick Stewart (King Goobot), Martin Short (Ooblar), Andrea Martin (Miss Fowl), Megan Cavanagh (Judy Neutron), Mark DeCarlo (Hugh Neutron), Jeff Garcia (Sheen), Carolyn Lawrence (Cindy Vortex), Candi Milo (Nick Dean), Rob Paulsen (Carl Wheezer), Crystal Scales (Libby), Frank Walker (Special vocals).
International distribution:
Paramount Pictures/UIP
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