Animation Guild | We are 839 Digital Magazine
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"Because [the animals] were traveling so much and so quickly over the course of the film, it was super important for our audience to get, 'Okay, we're here now." – kendal cronkhite CITY GETAWAY MADAGASCAR 3: EUROPE'S MOST WANTED DreamWorks Animation Production Designer: Kendal Cronkhite Landscape: European Cities In the third installment of the Madagascar franchise, the zoo animals leave Africa for New York via a sweeping tour of Europe including stops in Monte Carlo, Rome, Switzerland, and London. Production Designer Kendal Cronkhite calls it "a huge travel film." This meant a 10-day research trip to shoot reference material, with the first stop being Monte Carlo. "When the main characters [arrive] up out of the water, that's where … we get a view of the whole of Monte Carlo," Cronkhite says, describing how she and her colleagues went out on a dock that extended far into the water. From there they were able to get a complete view of the Bay of Monte Carlo, a reference they used often. Because this was the third Madagascar film, the design for the "cartoony stylized look" was already locked in. "Although for each one, we tried to adjust it slightly to be even better," says Cronkhite. "There's a lot more of a hand-drawn line in Madagascar 3." When it came to the cityscapes, they were looking for authenticity. Along with the team's reference footage, Cronkhite says that travel and Grand Prix posters from the 1950s and '60s were a source of inspiration. They were also influenced and inspired by the work of Japanese illustrator Tadahiro Uesugi because they loved his beautiful cityscapes, and by illustrator Miroslav Šašek who created the This is… series of books featuring cities around the world. While researching in Monte Carlo "we knew there was going to be this rooftop chase," says Cronkhite, revealing that she and her team were actually allowed up onto the roof of the famous casino where not many people have access. "We walked all over that thing. It was its own landscape, and it was really fascinating," she says. They used what they found there pretty much verbatim in the movie. In fact, the glass skylight that the animals crash through and the casino room they fall into below is based closely on reality. F E AT U R E 20 KEYFRAME