You’d think an alien race with the ability to control gravity would know a thing or two about, let’s say, a kitten purring, dancing and the English language, but that’s not the case with the Boov of Home.  After shutting off the Earth’s gravity and conquering the human race in a matter of seconds, the Boov move in.  But the thing is, it’s not malicious.  The Boov genuinely think that they can improve the quality of life for Earth’s “native savages,” so they restrict all humans to Australia and pack the continent with white picket fence houses, amusement parks, big screens and loads of high fructose corn syrup drinks, everything we could possible need – from the Boov perspective at least.

Shortly after screening some footage at Home’s New York Comic-Con panel, I got the chance to sit down with director Tim Johnson to discuss adapting Adam Rex’s book, The True Meaning of Smekday, working with characters that change colors when they emote, loading up his cast with familiar voices including Jennifer Lopez, Jim Parsons and Rihanna, and much more.  Hit the jump to check it all out in my video interview.

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Image via DreamWorks

Tim Johnson:

  • 00:00 – Finding the book The True Meaning of Smekday and what spoke to him about it.
  • 00:33 – Why change the title?
  • 01:08 – On the 700 different titles they considered.
  • 01:28 – The unique Boov technology.
  • 02:15 – The Boov can control gravity, but they can’t understand how a box of tissues works.
  • 02:47 – What it means when the Boov threaten to “erase” someone.
  • 03:08 – Recruiting Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna, Jim Parsons, Steve Martin and Matt Jones to voice the main characters.
  • 03:55 – Working with recognizable voices; the musical quality animated voice work requires.
  • 04:47 – Human voices versus Boov voices.
  • 05:27 – Finding inspiration for the Boov design at San Diego Comic-Con.
  • 06:30 – The variations of Boov designs.
  • 07:06 – When the Boov emote, they change color.
  • 07:44 – Using more close-ups than ever before.
  • 08:25 – Incorporating the actors' recording sessions into the animation.
  • 08:42 – Johnson's hope to spend more time with these characters.
  • 09:25 – He's responsible for films like Antz and Over the Hedge, but Johnson is particularly proud of Home.

 

 

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