Computer Graphics World

niversal Pictures' fi rst animated feature, e Tale of Despereaux, is a fairy tale, not a 'toon. A real fairy tale, with action and emotion, sweetness and horror—not a fractured, gag-fi lled, pop-culture satire of a fairy tale. It's a drama about forgiveness and honor, and the consequences of mistakes and mistaken intentions. And, every inch of the CG fi lm looks the part. "I feel lucky we were able to tell an animated story with cinematic aspirations," says writer and producer Gary Ross. "We were able to aspire to things visually that usually aren't seen in the genre because of the dramatic intentions and themes in Kate's book." "Kate" is Kate DiCamillo, the author of the books upon which e Tale of Despereaux is based: the stories of a rat and a beautiful princess who discover the power of forgiveness, and a mouse and a maid who long for things that those with more experience know they couldn't possibly achieve. us, they do. As did the crew. Ross knitted the separate stories into one screenplay that opens with the rat Roscuro (Dustin Hoff man) making a serious mistake that causes the happy Kingdom of Dor to become monotonously gray and gloomy. Soon after, we meet Pea, a beautiful princess (Emma Watson) who longs for something else, even rain; Miggery Sow, a home- ly maid (Tracey Ullman) who wants to be a princess; and Despereaux (Matthew Broderick), a heroic little mouse with enormous ears who lives with his timid brother and his fearful parents. Framestore debuted its new animation division by bringing all these CG characters to life. Evgeni Tomov, who had been production designer for the 2D animated feature e Triplets of Belleville and has received an Annie nomination for Despereaux, worked initially with Triplets director Sylvain Chomet at Studio Django on concept art for the fairy tale's environments and on character design. When Chomet left the project, the production moved to London. Tomov moved, too. Despereaux was the fi rst 3D fi lm Tomov had worked on, and he welcomed the challenge. " ere are limitations in 2D animation," he says. "If you push the environment to a believable, immersive level, the characters look cutout because they're fl at and not aff ected by the lighting. But in 3D, especially with contemporary tools, you can create the immersive atmosphere that live-action fi lms have. I hadn't seen it in the animation world, but that was something I tried to implement, to make the audi- ence feel like they're part of the action and that they can walk between the characters." Tomov's instinct blended well with Ross's expertise as the Oscar-nominated writer, director, and producer of Seabiscuit and other live-action fi lms. In many ways, Ross approached the making of his fi rst animated feature as if it were a live-action fi lm, and the result rippled through the production. Shot List for an Animated Feature When Despereaux moved to London, director Mike Johnson (Corpse Bride) replaced Chomet for a short time, and contributed additional concept art and early character development. In May 2006, animator Robert Steven hagen came onboard as head of story. en, after Johnson returned to Los Angeles, di- rector Sam Fell (Flushed Away) joined the project, Stevenhagen moved into position (Emma Watson) who longs for something else, even ly maid (Tracey Ullman) who wants to be a princess; and Despereaux (Matthew Broderick), a heroic little mouse with enormous ears who lives with his timid brother and his fearful parents. Framestore debuted its new animation division by bringing all these CG characters to life. Evgeni Tomov, who had been production designer for the 2D animated feature e Triplets of Belleville Despereaux, worked initially with Despereaux, worked initially with Despereaux Django on concept art for the fairy tale's environments and on character design. When Chomet left the project, the production moved to London. Tomov moved, too. Despereaux the challenge. " ere are limitations in 2D animation," he says. "If you push the environment to a believable, immersive level, the characters look cutout because they're fl at and not aff ected by the lighting. But in 3D, especially with contemporary tools, you can create the immersive atmosphere that live-action fi lms have. I hadn't seen it in the animation world, fi lm, and the result rippled through the production. Shot List for an Animated Feature When Despereaux replaced Chomet for a short time, and contributed additional concept art and early character development. In May 2006, animator Robert Steven hagen came onboard as head of story. en, after Johnson returned to Los Angeles, di- rector Sam Fell (Flushed Away January 2009 19 CG I ■ ■ ■ ■ Despereaux, the bold little mouse with big ears (at right), stands out from the rest of the pack in mouse world (at left).

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