Oniria Pictures in Luxemburg has something very special
cooking. Renart the Fox is a CG film that looks like
a beautifully executed hand-drawn film or even an illustration
in motion.
But lest you think it's all pretty pictures and no story
backbone, it will do you good to know that Oniria was smart
enough to engage the services of writer David Reynolds (The
Emperor's New Groove and Finding Nemo) to help them polish
an already time-tested story. This is the story of a fox
who goes on a Robin Hood-esque, fantastic, slightly larcenous
adventure through trials and tribulations to earn money
for the poor kids.
There is great material at the Renart website... just enough
to whet your appetite for the release of this film until
you are lucky enough to have it come to your town. As for
me, I'm really pulling for this to hit the States.
Any distributors out there listening?
CLICK
TO GO TO THE RENART THE FOX WEBSITE
This
movie has entirely been produced in Luxemburg by Oniria
Pictures and is a completely independent production which
has taken two years to create. It is based on a very famous
European story "Le Roman de Renart" which has
continued to entertain European children and adults alike
since the Middle Ages. It was brought once to the cinema
by Ladislas Starevitch in 1929 with animated puppets. This
was the first animated feature to be done.
"Renart
the Fox" is part of the history of animation. This
colourful and modern adaptation of the tale is bringing
the character of Renart to the big screen once more for
today's audience. It combines adventure, fun and emotion
for a hilarious and moving experience at the cinema.
I
had the idea of making this movie since 1991. It's only
ten years later that I was able to start a new script through
my own company, founded with my partner Sophia Kolokouri,
who is also the movie's producer. We worked on the script
with Canadian writer Erika Strobel and started preproduction
on the film, bringing to it a fresh graphical treatment.
As a studio we had a strong, experienced team of artists
who had worked on a previous feature. The animation is top
notch thanks also to the new tools available on the market
today. These new tools simply are increasing the possibilities
for independent production houses like us.
My background is in the traditional animation field and
I collaborated as animator and supervising animator to movies
like Fievel Goes West, We're Back from Amblin
and Quest for Camelot for Warner Bros. I know from
these experiences how difficult and time-consuming it is
to make a hand-drawn animation film. I have a long-standing
hobby in computer graphics, something I've pursued right
from the early days of the Commodore 64 and the Amiga, and
I quickly saw the potential in these toys. I knew that it
was only a question of time til they would give independent
artists enough flexibility and power to match what the major
studios were doing. Since that time I concentrated on refining
the processes and learning the right software to bring my
dreams to life.
For
this film, I didn't want the typical 3D rendering we see
in most CGI features. It had to be something different in
order for the audience to identify it as belonging to Oniria
Pictures. So I tested different solutions and came up with
this type of illustration look for the characters that fits
with the hand painted backgrounds. It looks like illustrations
from a children book are coming to life. And the result
on the big screen is stunning. It has a graphical feeling
to it that belies the fact it was done with CGI.
CLICK
TO GO TO THE RENART THE FOX WEBSITE
But
the right tools and good artist are not enough. The crucial
aspect of making an animation film is to make certain you
have the best possible story on the subject you chose. So
we worked a lot on this aspect and even involved a script
doctor, David Reynolds, famous now for his work as a writer
on "Finding Nemo", to help us improve all aspects
of the storyline and dialogues. What convinced us to work
with him at the time was his great and funny work on The
Emperor's New Groove from Disney which he wrote alone.
Renart the Fox tells the hilarious yet moving adventure
of cunning Renart, an outlaw constantly at odds with the
feudal laws of his society, who is characterized by a "liberal
attitude" towards the property of others. However,
the motivation for his pursuit of riches is simply to make
a decent living for children. His quest for a better living
will start while meeting an ugly and fat sewer rat named
Rufus, who will become a companion and eventually a friend.
The treasure they will look for in their adventure will
not be the one they imagined, and they will discover many
values along the way that could be more important in life
than all the riches in the world. In this quest for the
elusive treasure, Renart has ample opportunity to demonstrate
how a quick mind can triumph over brute strength, despite
the congenital incompetence of his motley gang of associates.
The
overall result is surpassing our expectations. The graphic
quality, the constant high level of animation and the story
make it a movie that has the potential to reach the US screens.
It's just a question of finding now the right distributor
who will believe in it.
Up
to now we have pre-sold it in 15 territories including major
European countries, and theatre releases in these countries
will start from December on.
--Thierry
Schiel, June, 2004
