 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Casual flirtation...or something more? Now before you accuse me of being sick and twisted regarding the characters within a family film, you should know that many adult fans have already...shall we say...taken this encounter to the next level...
Don't ask me how I know. Just go to google.com and do and internet search for all the NIMH sites out there...
Don't say you weren't warned.
Actor Peter Strauss provided the voice of Justin. He won an Emmy for Michael Mann's TV movie THE JERICHO MILE, and starred in RICH MAN, POOR MAN, A WHALE FOR A KILLING, SPACEHUNTER, and NICK OF TIME, among many others... |
|
|
|
AM: I wanted to ask you about how you cast the film. Though the likes of Elizabeth Hartman, John Carridine, & Peter Strauss were respected figures at the time, only Dom DeLuise was "the name" star to filmgoers... I always wondered how you went about finding and casting the film, as all of their voices were so wonderfully, wonderfully realized. After all, the direction of an animated film not only pertains to images and movement, but -- and this point is often overlooked, even by movie fans -- working with actors and helping them to develop realistic characters when they face the challenge of not knowing what their characters and the world around them is like.
DBS: We really tried to analyze the characters in the film, then relate each character's personality to an actor or actress or a role that they had played before. Dom DeLuise was chosen, unanimously, when Don, Gary and John Pomeroy were all watching the movie THE END on TV. They tried to call each other on the phone, thinking that Dom was the perfect voice and could do the personality of Jeremy. Each of their telephone lines were busy because they were all calling each other at the same time. Strange! |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
LEFT TO RIGHT: Comedian Dom DeLuise provided the voice of Jeremy the crow; the late Paul Shenar gave Jenner his menace; Arthur Malet voiced the crotchety Mr. Ages. DeLuise and Malet were the only returning cast voices for MGM's direct-to-video sequel in 1998. |
|
|
|
|
| DBS: We thought of Peter Strauss from his work in the "Rich Man, Poor Man" mini-series and the telefilm The Jericho Mile. None of the actors had ever worked on an animated motion picture. Peter was a method actor and was fairly uneasy about just working with a microphone. He was used to feeding off other actors, knowing his motivation for every line was extremely important to him. Elizabeth Hartman was very shy and insecure at the first couple of recording sessions. Don (Bluth) was able to guide her through it. She was very excited about the script and her role as the mother, Mrs. Brisby. |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
"I am NOT drunk! My eyes just look a little glazy from the overgrown mouse I ate last night in Anaheim..." |
|
|
|
|
|
| DBS: The choice for the Great Owl was similar. We all felt that John Carridine had a great voice and his background was as a Shakespearian actor. That, and with all the movies he had done, gave us a terrific actor with great experience in both acting and with life. ... John Carradine arrived at Parmount Studios about an hour late. We rented their recording facility to record Mr. Carradine's voice. When he arrived, he appeared to be intoxicated. We called his agent. His agent told us the Mr. Carradine suffered from acute crippling arthritis and that he was on pain killers. Since the recording session was in the afternoon he may have stopped for lunch. And, if he had a Martini, the combination of the drug and the drink would cause him to appear pretty much "sloshed". His agent was right. So, we spent an hour and a half providing him with black coffee and asking him questions about his old Hollywood experiences. All of a sudden, he became dead serious and very sober. "Well, we better get on with this. You're not paying me for an interview." He delivered every line in one take. If we wanted alternates he would inform us that we have gotten the best that he had. No retakes, no alternates. Wow! Good thing he gave a great performance. One thing of particular interest, John's hands really showed the pain of his affliction. His knuckles were over-sized and looked gnarled in the pose he assumed as he read his lines. When he shook your hand, he could not really clasp your hand properly. He joked,"If you think my hands are bad, you should see my feet". We all looked down at his neatly polished dress-shoes, imagining the condition of his feet and his discomfort in the confinement of the shoes. John Pomeroy used this fact about Mr. Carradine in the final design of the Great Owl's feet and the way that the owl walked (with a limp). We also used a cracking sound effect as the owl rotated his head, before he spoke to Mrs. Brisby. |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Before solving incomprehensible scientific babble with THE NEXT GENERATION, or pulling leeches out of his shorts in STAND BY ME opposite River Phoenix, a young Wil Wheaton provided the voice of Martin Brisby. (Oh yeah, and George Hamilton's ex-daughter-in-law was the voice of Theresa...) |
|
|
|
|
| DBS: Teresa, as you know was one of Shannon Doherty's first roles in film, long before "Beverly Hills, 90210". Paul Shenar just has a great villain's voice and, he was very strong at the recording session. Like Carradine, we got everything in one session. Wil Wheaton was a regular little professional. He wanted to please and took every direction from Don, very seriously. The crew did some of the crowd voices. We even brought in the Chairman of UA , Europe, Norbert Aurbach and the then L.A. Times Film Critic, Charles Champlin, to record two of the the incidental voices in the film. Naively thinking that we would get more support from studio marketing by having the Chairman of the company vested in the film. Also, we secretly hoped that Charles would be given the assignment to review the film. Whoa, what were we thinking? One of our favorite choices was Mr. Ages' voice, Arthur Malet. He had been in Mary Poppins and Bedknobs and Broomsticks. We just thought he was a great character actor. His stammering line-delivery helped sell the cranky, absent-minded scientist character. It was, overall, a great experience. All of the actors took a very serious approach to this film and gave it their all. Thanks again for the questions. |
|
|
|
PREVIOUS PAGE |
|
|
|
MAIN MENU |
|
|
|
www.ADAMMcDANIEL.com |
|