Writer/director Jorge Gutierrez and producer Guillermo del Toro were at Comic Con Friday afternoon to promote their upcoming animated film, "The Book of Life". Joined by stars Channing Tatum, Ron Perlman, and Christina Applegate, the pair discussed the film, which is a love story with mystical overtones influenced by the Mexican tradition of the Day of the Dead. It tells the tale of Manolo (Diego Luna), who is in love with Maria (Zoe Saldana) - as is his best friend Joaquin (Channing Tatum). This romantic triangle becomes the focus of a bet between two spirits, La Muerte (Kate del Castillo) and Xibalba (Ron Perlman). As a result of the wager Manolo is transported to the "land of the remembered", and he must complete three heroic tasks in order to return to his beloved. Based on its trailer, which is fast-paced, funny, and filled with sparkling detail, "The Book of Life" is set to dazzle.
Their common Mexican roots guided the creator and producer to shape the unique look, feel, and content of the film. Said Mr. del Toro, "We wanted to make the movie eminently modern, but steeped very much in our roots, and to celebrate what the Day of the Dead is about, which is life: celebrating life and celebrating those who came before us."
Mr. Gutierrez observed that the stand-alone nature of the film, and the fact that it is the product of a new studio, allowed for creative freedom. "We didn't have all these legacies that we had to live up to, so we could really create something unique and different and try to tell a different story that you hadn't seen before, with a look that you hadn't seen before. As a lover of animated films I always wondered, 'When's the Mexican story going to happen?' So all of those things I didn't see growing up, I wanted to put up there. And we don't want to look like the other movies, we don't want to sound like the other movies, feel like the other movies, we want to be unique." Mr. del Toro added: "We tried to be very specific to our culture and who we are."
Asked about what inspired him to cast Channing Tatum in the role of the main character's romantic rival, Mr. Gutierrez described what he was looking for in the portrayal: "He had to be the handsome quarterback that everyone loved, the super-iconic, charming, over the top guy. When we pitched it to Channing, I told him, "You're gonna be Captain 'Latin' America." And he just jumped in."
Christina Applegate joked about what drew her to the project: "I like doing voiceovers because I don't have to wear makeup. I don't have to shower. And - sorry Jorge - I sometimes didn't brush my teeth." On a more serious note, she said, "I like the process of going in and saying a line and having to imagine this person in your mind and the way they move, the way they carry themselves. You haven't seen any of it (the animation), so you don't know yet. And then you finally get to go in three months later to finish the dialoge and you see it come to life. It's such an incredible feeling." Ron Perlman shared these thoughts: "I've always loved voice work because it's an invitation to come in and give a full-blown performance without all the bullshit (i.e., process) that you sometimes go through. You're working on an incredibly instinctive level. There's not a lot of analysis going on. You're going for the brass ring immediately. It's pure performing, for performing's sake."
Mr. Tatum said of working with director Jorge Gutierrez, "Coming in and sitting with Jorge, he has such an energy and a life to him, it's like working with a net, physically: you can't do anything wrong. You can try absolutely anything - and I did! Anything and everything; it's a really fluid process. And these guys are artists of the highest regard."
Putting the film together does indeed seem to have been a fluid process. When asked about what drew her to the script, Ms. Applegate responded: "Well, there wasn't one (a script). I've actually never seen one. Jorge came over to my house; he wanted to do a presentation because there was no script. But there was some of the artwork, and he put the artwork up on the screen and talked me through it and I was just mesmerized. I had chills because of the storyline, and the passion that he had for the story he was trying to tell. Just the idea that no one ever dies, love never dies; it's always living, whether in our memory or in the belief that love never dies. It's just a beautiful love story, and I'd never seen anything like it, so I said yes right away."
Asked for one word descriptions of the film, the panelists offered a variety of impressions: "Life", "a journey", "spicy", "magical", and "dazzling". If any of these pique your interest, you can check out "Book of Life" when it debuts in theaters in October.
"The Book of Life" was produced by Reel FX Creative Studios and is being distributed in the US by Twentieth Century Fox.
