Animation: Busting Blocks Big Time. - page 2

10-06-2006 09:54

The star - and man who played several characters - was Oscar winner Tom Hanks.

However, far from believing processes like this will put people like him out of work, he welcomes the evolution of the process.

At the time, he said: "You can play different roles in the traditional manner with different hair and make up. Peter Sellers has done it, Robin Williams has done it, Jerry Lewis has done it. But the fact that I played an eight-year-old kid here is a good example of the freedom and the possibility that the technology will allow."

He added: "You will no longer be limited by your size, shape, skin colour, gender, none of that is going to matter. If you have the interpretation that the director wants for the role then you can play any role. I could play Florence Nightingale or Abraham Lincoln, and Meryl Streep could do the same thing. That can be very, very exciting for a number of actors who would never get the opportunity to play certain roles. This technology will allow that."

However, ‘Ice Age 2’ voice-star Queen Latifah isn’t so sure it’s a good thing. ‘Playing’ Ellie made her realise how much harder being an actress could get from now on.

She revealed: "Doing this, I never felt so insecure on a job in my entire life. I’m telling you, these things are so hard because you do the scenes and voices so many times and you’re not sure if you’re giving them what they want.

"I kept saying to Carlos the director, ‘Do you need it this way? You want me to do it that way? OK’."

"It’s like working in reverse, working in a vacuum. But when you start to see it come together, you see the magic of the animation and what’s actually happening on screen, you start to feel more confident about what’s going on. You see it all making sense. Then you feel better about it. And now that I’ve seen the movie, I’m cool. I love it."

As long as audiences’ love affair with the genre continues, the future likes more than vibrant... it looks positively animated.