Voice cast of the animated film “Unknown– director of “Cryptozoo's” Dash Shaw – will be presented Tim RothBarbara Sukova, Angeliki Papoulia, Larry Fessenden, Robbie Crandall and Sabrina Sickler.
In the film, little Rory needs to save her father, who disappeared while searching for treasure during an unsuccessful encounter with a dragon. Luckily, weasels or mysterious creatures called Shapes come to the rescue.
“Tim was my hero. 'Reservoir Dogs' was the reason I went to film school. I really tried not to get carried away with Tim Roth in the recording studio,” said Kyle Martin, who produces “Electric Chinoland” and “Mubi” with Jane Samborski and Emily Woolver.
“When Tim came in and started doing his weasel act, we thought, 'Oh my God, this is not what we thought it would be. And boy were we wrong.” This is exactly what this caress should sound like. We had been working on this for years at this point, and yet it completely changed the meaning of the scenes. Tim is just such a performer.”
The entire cast brought their own ideas, he said, emphasizing that Shaw wanted to stay away from “broad, cartoonish voices.”
“He really likes an interesting voice, with a texture or an accent. Angelique, Tim, Barbara – they all check that box. As performers, they come from very different backgrounds, and they bring something to the characters that definitely adds depth. It breathes life into them.”
Martin added: “When you watch it, and the same thing happened with 'Cryptozoo,' you really feel for these characters, you know? That was the goal.”
And yet “The Unknown”, presented at Tauron American Film Festivalindustry event USA in progress“very different” from the festival hit “Cryptozoo.” Also visually.
“Cryptozoo” was rated R. There was nudity. That's not it. “It's a PG-rated film and a fantasy adventure,” Martin said. “Cryptozoo,” which won an award at Sundance, focuses on people who go out of their way to protect endangered mythical creatures.
“We want The Unknown to be more of a family film for children. Dash and Jane [Samborski] did this with their daughter Castle in mind. They wanted it to be something they could share with her, and that was incorporated into the character as well.”
The director agreed: “When you're 10 or 11 years old, it's your first time seeing an unusual animated film. Maybe it's your first non-Disney movie – something like 'The Secret of Nîmes' or 'Spirited Away' – and it's like a 10-year-old's version of discovering the French New Wave,” Dash Shaw wrote in Diversity.
“It’s like, ‘Wow, a movie could be like this? Nobody told me.” “The Unknown is the film we made for our daughter.”
According to Martin, “The Unknown” was born from “the legacy of Miyazaki's films and the independent alternative.” animation”
“Also from a narrative perspective, because many of his films [made for Studio Ghibli] there is a young female protagonist who is on a coming-of-age journey. The dream should be considered in the same category,” he said.
“International audiences are more familiar with it. It just doesn't exist in the US. There's the big studio stuff from Pixar or DreamWorks, and nothing else except the foreign films that are imported. There's really no independent English-language animation there, so in a sense it's in its own lane.”
During her journey, Rory will come to realize that those she once admired unconditionally are, after all, only human.
“It's about wealth and greed, but it's really about the experience of learning that the people you look up to as a child, your parents, your elders, have their own problems and their own flaws. They may not be the best role models,” Martin said.
“For me personally, it's a sad realization, but everyone goes through it and relates to it. It may be a little melancholy, but the film gives hope.”
