From the same writers as “Toy Story,” the adventures of a puppet and a teddy bear who escape from a theater in search of other real roles are coming to theaters on Thursday.
It seems that rebellion is brewing in the land of puppets. At least, those at the old Central Park theatre are a little tired of being confined to the same roles during all the shows. Especially the puppet Don, who is used to playing the clown while only dreaming of one thing: being a hero… This is the starting point of “The Inseparables”, the new family adventure from the Brussels studios of nWave since their previous success, “Fly me to the Moon” in 2008.
Written by the same creators as “Toy Story,” Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow, and directed by Jérémie Degruson, it is “a celebration of true friendship and the liberating power of imagination, with a special focus on captivating children and families in the process,” according to executive producer Mattiew Zeller.
“It is above all a story of adventure and friendship, an ode to imagination, which invites us to leave our comfort zone in search of magic,” warns the director.
Don knows how to use his imagination. “At first, he uses it to escape from his reality, to reinvent himself. But little by little, he will also learn to use his imagination to help others achieve their goals,” says Degruson.
“It is above all a story of adventure and friendship, an ode to the imagination”
The filmmaker highlights the setting in Central Park for the possibilities it has given them to tell the film with images: “You have vegetation and the mineral side behind. This gigantic side creates a very beautiful image, and Central Park has an enormous cinematic quality. We recognize it immediately, with its mass of vegetation and the mineral that stands out. It is an incredible contrast and a very beautiful illustration.”
The film has been released to rave reviews, especially for its combination of different textures and animation techniques.
“There are different treatments throughout the film. We stay in a realistic register when we follow the characters in their ‘real’ lives, but when Don goes into his fantasies and gets lost in his imagination, the look of the film changes completely. 3D mixes with 2D, which creates something quite surreal and very colorful. Don mixes reality with things he’s read in books, so we had to create a unique world, completely his own, completely about what’s going on in his mind. A broom can turn into a troll, a manhole cover can turn into a whale, a mini-golf windmill transforms into a dragon… The film is lightheartedly inspired by Don Quixote, with Don in the role of the knight, DJ Doggy Dog as Sancho Panza and Dee as Dulcinea,” says the director.
When it comes to the biggest challenge of this project, Degruson doesn’t hesitate: “The biggest technical challenge for us was the scenes imagined by Don, which are in 2D. It’s not something we were used to working with at nWave, where our specialty has always been 3D. We did a lot of research to find visual elements that we liked. And of course, there were the special effects scenes, with water, fire, smoke, food, even confetti, which are hell in terms of animation.”
The essence of “Toy Story” is imprinted on the project, and the director confesses that he has been naturally influenced by this film, which is partly by the same writers, although he had other sources of inspiration. “I am also very inspired by Terry Gilliam’s films, Brazil, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. As we are also inspired by Don Quixote, connections are created. And in Don’s fantasies there is something very surreal, very Belgian, a bit like Magritte meets Tolkien.”
Producer Matthieu Zeller talks about what Belgium can bring to world cinema: “’The Inseparables’ is an animated film made in Belgium. At nWave Studios, 150 people work all year round on films that travel around the world and are shot in Brussels. Our talents come from all over the world, people from 17 nationalities work in our offices. This is already the studios’ tenth film, and our first feature film was also the world’s first stereoscopic 3D feature film, ‘Fly Me To The Moon’,” he emphasises.
On how the studios have evolved since that film, Degruson, who joined the company in 1993 as an intern, said: “The Dead Ringers is our tenth feature film. Mindsets have evolved over time. In the beginning, especially with Ben Stassen, our goal was to make ‘pull’ films that told a story. Now we are moving more and more towards full-blown animated films, but still retaining dynamic moments, perspective and substance in the staging.”
