|
|
 |
| 首頁 Home | 電影 Films | 評論 Opinions | 戲院 Cinemas | 資訊 Information | 網站地圖 Site Map |
首頁 ->
電影 -> 香港每年上映電影
->
Home -> Films ->
Films Released in Hong Kong by Year ->
| 開畫日期 Release Date | ||
| 片長（分鐘） Running Time (Min.) | ||
| 級別 Category | ||
| 上映戲院（首週） Cinema Line-Up (First Week) |
華納影片公司貢獻
湯漢斯監製
茱莉亞羅拔絲、尼古拉斯基治、梅莉史翠普
群聲出動
反 斗 百 厭 星 縮 水 變 蟻 丁
頑 童 大 改 造 蟻 世 界 歷 險
奧斯卡金像獎導演尊戴維斯John A. Davis 編、導、監製
尊尼高John Nickle 原著劇本
<北極快車> 加利哥斯曼Gary Goetzman 監製
<受難曲> 尊達尼 John Debney音樂
8月24日橫行霸道
www.theantbully.com
由《北極快車》監製湯漢斯及加里高士文再度攜手，聯同金像提名導演尊戴維斯合力炮製的動畫《小蟻霸》 (Ant Bully)，將於暑假上映。
影片講述10 歲大的小尼高，自搬到郊區的新居後非常孤獨，常被區中的頑皮小子欺負，他將所有怒氣發洩在後園的沙丘上，惡意?壞，殊不知卻驚動了活在沙丘下的「居民」──小螞蟻。
小螞蟻群家園被毀，決定展開大報復，蟻魔師發明了神奇的縮水藥水，只要一滴藥水就能把小尼高縮小成螞蟻一樣大小。
小尼高被蟻后判罪，要接受螞蟻勞役，但善良的蟻護士卻出手幫助，令小尼高明白更多的做人的道理，並在眾蟻鼓勵下，與外來侵略者展開驚險鬥法……
《小蟻霸》橋段奇特，豐富多采，並雲集荷里活眾多巨星聲音助陣，包括尼古拉斯基治、梅莉史翠普及茱莉亞羅拔絲，星光熠熠，絕對是暑假最令人期待的電影之一
蟻眼看世界
《小蟻霸》的導演尊戴維斯是位滿腦子奇想的大細路，他不諱言說道，他天馬行空的創作靈感很多時候來自一些童年時曾有過的狂想。在《小蟻霸》中，導演要求觀眾運用小孩般不受羈絆的想像力：「試想像一個你對它一無所知，但又每天將它踏在腳下的世界。這片神秘精彩的新天地，竟然就位於你家的後園。」
要看清一個滿是地下秘道和密室的螞蟻世界，必須先要擁有一個像螞蟻般細小的身體，而這正是《小蟻霸》主角小尼高一連串離奇遭遇的開端。這位10歲的小男孩常常被惡霸欺負，於是把他的怨氣發洩在後園的小螞蟻身上。每次他被鄰家的小霸王拳打腳踢之後，便會向蟻窩實行大肆破壞，以洩心頭之恨，卻沒有想過他的行為會為小螞蟻帶來極大的災難。
被搞得雞犬不寧的小螞蟻找來蟻魔師（尼古拉斯基治 配音）研製出魔法藥水，令尼高的身體縮得像螞蟻般細小，然後把他押到螞蟻世界做苦工。尼高第一次從這種全新的角度看世界，才知道螞蟻國王殊不簡單，螞蟻們不但勤奮團結，更像人類般有思想和感情。
導演這樣說：「你起初從尼高的角度看螞蟻，他們只是一些毫不起眼的小生物，就一般常人眼中的螞蟻一樣。但當你縮小至地面一個小點的角度來看螞蟻，他們一張張感情豐富的臉孔便變得完全不一樣。這一點正是這電影其中一個最吸引我的地方：在平凡之中創造出一個完全新穎的世界，讓觀眾窺探當中的奧妙。」
湯漢斯、金像獎導演攜手泡製
《小蟻霸》這部電影的誕生，實有賴湯漢斯把那本大受歡迎的原著兒童故事書介紹給戴維斯。「我讀幼稚園的兒子從圖書館借來一本書，就是John Nickle的《小蟻霸》。」湯漢斯憶述：「我跟他一起閱讀，還未讀到一半，我已經知道它可以成為一部美妙的電影。當時，戴維斯的電影《Jimmy Neutron》剛剛面世，我想，他的才華與這個精彩的故事簡直是絕配。」
戴維斯在2001年推出的《Jimmy Neutron》可謂來頭十足，這部由他一腳踢包辦編劇、導演、監製的大熱作品，為他贏得奧斯卡最佳動畫電影的提名。後來，戴維斯更把這故事製作成一套大受歡迎的電視卡通片集，片中造型出位的主角令觀眾一看難忘，他那種獨一無二的動畫風格，在《小蟻霸》中將有更加精彩出位的展現。
「湯漢斯把《小蟻霸》的故事交給我看，然後我便想：如果我要把它拍成一部電影，我必會用自己一套獨特的方法。」戴維斯不久便與湯漢斯和他的監製拍檔Gary Goetzman會面，他在2004年曾與Robert Zemeckis合力為觀眾帶來另一部精彩的動畫電影《北極快車》。Goetzman說道：「我第一次跟戴維斯見面已深深感受到他的熱情和決心，他懂得如何將這故事電影化，是最佳的導演人選。今天，很多兒童動畫電影都塞滿了成年人才看得懂的笑話，戴維斯那種極具娛樂性的合家歡處理手法很是清新，能讓觀眾投身另一個截然不同的世界，踏上一次驚險的冒險之旅。」
既然一拍即合，三位大男孩隨即坐下來為電影的細節費煞思量，他們三人不約而同決定把重點放在故事的冒險部分。他們都認為，小尼高跟螞蟻們連手決戰大黃蜂的畫面將會非常刺激，還有四處深險的所見所聞，這些都是孩子們到戲院電影時最希望看到的東西。
拍攝動畫電影絕對難不倒導演戴維斯，一談起拍攝過程時，他簡直是如數家珍：「動畫電影的拍攝方法和真實的電影很相似，同樣要注意鏡頭和燈光運用的方法，電腦軟件能夠模擬真實的環境，不過在動畫電影中可以很容易創作出很壯觀的畫面。」對戴維斯而言，動畫就是一個讓他大展娛樂天份的機會，也可以讓他超越平常的種種規限。《小蟻霸》的世界並是像紀錄片般真實，但肯定充滿無限想像力和獨特的風格，導演這樣說：「片中的設計並不講求真實性，但我們對細節的執著，令電影感覺栩栩如生。」
向螞蟻學習
導演和監製都希望在電影中帶出一些令孩子受益的人生道理，但又要避免長篇大論的呆板教訓。導演這樣說：「首要的事情，肯定是要製作一部有趣好看的電影。但與此同時，故事也要有啟發性，讓家長和小孩子有點點得著，否則觀眾一踏出戲院便會把電影忘記得一乾二淨。」
身為動畫迷的導演戴維斯，知道動畫電影必定要有一定的複雜性才會有吸引力：「孩子能夠看懂很多成年人以為他們不會明白的東西。當我是小孩的時候，我知道甚麼時候大人在向我說教，實在非常討厭。事實上，小孩子是很聰明很懂事的。」因此，導演在製作期間不時會邀請工作人員的孩子到來看片，然後聽聽他們的意見。其中一次，甚至因為孩子們的意見而對電影的結局作出修改。
「在《小蟻霸》中有幾個重要的主題，小尼高在冒險過程中學會團結、友誼、勇氣、還有群體生活的意義，他也學會濫用權力帶來的災害。當他變成螞蟻的大小，親身感受自己造成的破壞，便真正學會自己不應胡亂對別人動粗。」導演繼續說：「在電影中，小尼高有時是受害者，有時是破壞者，他一直交替著扮演這兩個對立的角色。這種情況可以放在尼高和鄰家的小惡霸身上，也可以套用在世上其他人和事之上。即使你擁有過人的權力，並不等於你便可以運用它來令別人受苦。」
蟻聲蟻戲：尼古拉斯基治、茉莉亞羅拔絲、梅麗史翠普聲音演出
《小蟻霸》其中一個焦點，當然是它星光匯聚的配音員名單。這電影集合了奧斯卡最佳女主角茱莉亞羅拔絲（《伊人當自強》）、影帝尼古拉斯基治（《兩顆絕望的心》），兩獲奧斯卡金像獎的梅莉史翠普（《蘇菲的抉擇》、《克藍瑪對克藍瑪》）、曾獲奧斯卡提名的Paul Giamatti（《擊動深情》）、Tony Awards得獎者和得過奧斯卡提名的Lily Tomlin（《Nashville》），與及曾演《Ray》的Regina King等等猛人，同為片中角色獻上觀眾熟悉的聲音。
戴維斯坦言：「對動畫而言，配音是至為重要的。配音者的聲音可以引導拍攝過程，為本來只存在於畫紙上的人物賦予生命。」每位配音者都在電影中歇盡所能，讓每位銀幕上的動畫人物都有自己鮮明的風格，讓大朋友和小朋友同樣一看難忘。
在電影中，蟻魔師Zoc的藥水令小尼高身體縮小，幕後為這位討人喜歡的魔法師配音的，正是鼎鼎大名的尼古拉斯基治。導演認為Zoc這角色有點像尼古拉斯基治在《兩顆絕望的心》中的角色，他能把這種憂心忡忡的角色演得恰到好處，惹人憐愛。Zoc的女友是位性格樂天的俏護士Hova，背後為她配音的是茱莉亞羅拔絲。這對情侶性格南轅北轍，Hova相信人性本善，處處協助被判罰做苦工的小尼高；Zoc則認為人類永遠不會學懂螞蟻一族友誼和團結等傳統美德，又擔心女友與人類交往會受到傷害。
至高無上的蟻后，雖然眼見國土被尼高製造的「洪水」破壞，但她並沒有傷害縮小了的小尼高，反而判罰他在蟻窩中與所有螞蟻一起工作，從工作中學習改過。能作出這種明智決定的蟻后，自然要由同樣美貌與智慧並重的梅莉史翠普來配音。「這實在是英明的決擇。」梅莉史翠普這樣說：「沒有這個決定，故事便不會發生。」
至於故事的主人翁小尼高，則由擁有豐富動畫配音經驗的Zach Tyler 獻聲。他對今次配音的經歷興奮不已：「這電影充滿了緊張刺激的動作場面，小尼高在片中流露出非常豐富的情感，不止看起來有趣，配音時也樂趣無窮。我見小尼高造型的初稿時覺得他簡直可笑，但實際的完成品卻是棒極了！」
打造螞蟻世界
《小蟻霸》的導演戴維斯是位自學成才的立體動畫師，他製作這部電影的過程可謂嘔心瀝血：「我和工作人員都窮盡所有心思，希望製作出一些全新的東西，我再沒有用從前用過的電腦軟件製作。其實用甚麼軟件不是最大的問題，最困難的是如何把過程中遇到的每個問題分拆和解決。」
《小蟻霸》從構思到製作，足足花了四年時間，但導演對此並不感到意外：「這正因為我們一班製作人員都對這電影充熱誠，希望把最微細的部分都做得最好。我們都願意花上額外的時間，務求令這電影盡善盡美。」
把動畫部件「組裝」的Michael Comet這樣說：「這電影共有150多個角色，而且大部分都是螞蟻。每隻螞蟻有6條腿，這比起只有一雙腿的人類複雜得多，製作工序因此非常費時。」電影中每隻螞蟻都經過細心打造，從觸角、臉孔、眼眉、身體、到腳部，都要按照劇情需要而改變，以配合角色當時的行為和情緒。
《小蟻霸》中用上的特別效果相當多，以模擬洪水、浮雲、水泡、灰塵等環境，令豐富的故事看起來更使人目不暇給。其中一幕講述小尼高被青蛙吞進肚子的情節，便花了整整3個月製作，讓青蛙肚中胃液翻滾、氣泡亂飛的場面更加吸引。就連小尼高一腳踏在泥濘中的片段，其實也花費了製作人大量的心血。
小螞蟻大知識
要看《小蟻霸》必先要認識小螞蟻，以下10件關於螞蟻的趣事你又知道多少？
配音者及製作人資料
茱莉亞羅拔絲 (Julia Robert) (聲演 Hova)
茱莉亞羅拔絲是當今荷里活最知名的女演員之一，她曾參演很多大規模製作和大導演的作品，近期出演的電影包括Nike Nichols的《誘心人》、Steven Soderbergh的《盜海豪情2》等。
茱莉亞羅拔絲在《摘星奇緣》、《真的想嫁你》等愛情小品電影中的迷人演出，早已給觀眾留下非常深刻的印象，但要數一部令她成名的作品，則非1990年與李察基爾合演的《風月俏佳人》莫屬，該片為她第二次贏得奧斯卡最佳女主角的提名。茱莉亞羅拔絲過人的演技，在《伊人當自強》一片中已得到奧斯卡最佳女主角及金像獎最佳女主角兩項大獎的肯定。她主演的電影，總共已帶來超過25億美元的收益，成績實在非常驚人。
尼古拉斯基治 (Nicholas Cage) (聲演 Zoc)
在1964年出生的尼古拉斯基治一向是實力非凡的演技派，他在《兩顆絕望的心》中扮演的寂寞酒徒角色，為他贏得奧斯卡最佳男主角和金球獎最佳男主角的榮銜。
這位優秀的演員能動亦能靜，他在《石破天驚》和《奪面雙雄》等動作鉅片中的演出固然精彩，在《天使多情》中為情所困的墮落天使亦很迷人，而在Spike Jones的名作《何必偏偏玩謝我》中，更顯露出他一人分飾兩角的演戲功力。他下一部作品將會是《World Trade Centre》，是一個講述911事件劫後餘生的故事。
梅莉史翠普 (Meryl Streep) (聲演 蟻后)
梅莉史翠普是少數兩度獲得奧斯卡獎項的出色演員，事實上，她曾獲得13次奧斯卡提名，這本身已是一項紀錄。
演舞台劇出身的梅莉史翠普早年已很有獲獎的本領，曾得過Tony Awards的嘉許。她多年來曾參演的名作多不勝數，《克藍瑪對克藍瑪》贏得奧斯卡最佳女配角獎，《蘇菲的抉擇》則贏得奧斯卡最佳女主角獎。梅莉史翠普精湛的演技並不只獲美國影圈的認同，《A Cry in the Dark》為她贏得康城最佳女主角獎，她憑《此時．此刻》一角則奪得柏林影展最佳女主角銀熊獎的嘉許。她下一部作品將會是華裔導演陳世正的處女作品《Dark Matter》。
尊戴維斯 (John A. Davis) (導演/編劇/監製)
尊戴維斯不僅是位動畫電影導演，也是位正宗的動畫發燒友，他在1987年與友人創立了DNA Productions, Inc.，一家專門製作動畫片的創作公司。除了《小蟻霸》外，DNA亦是導演大受歡迎的作品《Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius》及《The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron》電視系列的製作公司。
1997年，尊戴維斯製作了他首部全3D動畫《Santa vs. the Snowman》，此片在World Fest-Houston International Film Festival獲得一項金獎，成就非凡。《小蟻霸》將延續導演一貫驕人的成績，成為本年其中一部最令人難忘的動畫電影。
湯漢斯 (Tom Hanks) (監製)
湯漢斯是影史上少數兩獲奧斯卡最佳男主角的傳奇演員，但看過他在該兩部電影的演出又可知他確是實至名歸：1993年的《費城故事》飾演染上愛滋病的律師，1994年的《阿甘正傳》演傻呼呼的大孩子，兩個角色一個沉重一個幽默，卻演得同樣無懈可擊。
湯漢斯獲獎次數不少，提名次數就更多，他在《飛越未來》、《雷霆救兵》、《劫後重生》中的演出都為他掙來奧斯卡最佳男主角的提名。他其他主演的名片包括《太陽神13號》、《綠里奇蹟》、《師奶殺手》、《達文西密碼》等。
湯漢斯不止是位出色的演員，也是位獨具慧眼的監製。全球大賣的喜劇《我的大?婚禮》和動畫電影《北極快車》，便都是經他之手監製的佳作。《小蟻霸》是他第二部監製的動畫電影，勢將成為今年暑假其中一部最受注目、最老少咸宜的電影。
PRODUCTION INFORMATION
Poor 10-year-old Lucas Nickle (Zach Tyler Eisen) can't get a break.
Recently moved to a new city with his family, he hasn't made a single friend. He gets nothing but grief from his teenage sister, Tiffany (Allison Mack), and not a whole lot of attention lately from his parents (Cheri Oteri and Larry Miller), who are busy planning their big anniversary weekend trip to Puerto Vallarta. Meanwhile, his loving but kinda kooky grandmother Mommo (Lily Tomlin) spends all her time trying to protect the family from those space aliens she's been reading about in the grocery store magazines.
To make matters worse, Lucas has become the number one target of neighborhood bully Steve, who never misses an opportunity to push him around.
In turn, Lucas delights in destroying ant hills in his yard-venting his frustration on the defenseless mounds of dirt and their tiny inhabitants by kicking them, stomping them and squirting them with the garden hose.
But, unbeknownst to Lucas, there is a whole world alive and busy just underneath his feet, and what he sees as "just a bunch of stupid ants" are actually members of a complex society, with names and relationships, responsibilities and emotions. They're getting mighty tired of having their homes trampled by Lucas The Destroyer. And they are ready to fight back.
The magic potion that Wizard Ant Zoc (Nicolas Cage) has long been working on is finally finished. One drop in Lucas' gigantic human ear and he is instantly shrunken down to ant size and taken deep below the ant hill to stand trial.
The Head of the Ant Council (Ricardo Montalban) proclaims Lucas guilty of crimes against the colony. Sentenced by the wise Ant Queen (Meryl Streep) to live among the ants and learn their ways to earn his freedom, Lucas finds himself in an incredible landscape suddenly teeming with life-and peril-that he never noticed or even imagined before, and embarks on the adventure of a lifetime.
Against Zoc's wishes, his kind-hearted girlfriend, Nurse Ant Hova (Julia Roberts), volunteers to mentor the miniaturized human boy. Hoping to teach Lucas the ways of the colony and help him find that one special talent he has to contribute, she soon has her hands full-all six of them-just keeping him away from trouble. With the help of her colony comrades, no-nonsense Forager Ant Kreela (Regina King) and garrulous Scout Ant Fugax (Bruce Campbell), Hova somehow manages to keep him out of the stomachs of greedy frogs and away from marauding wasps.
Lucas' developing ant skills are put to the test when he is called upon to help his new friends defend the colony against certain annihilation from the local exterminator-the greasy, growling Stan Beals (Paul Giamatti)-in an epic life-and-death struggle waged on the Nickles' front lawn. In the process, he learns valuable lessons about friendship, compassion, teamwork and loyalty that will serve him for the rest of his life.
He also gains the courage to stand up for himself no matter what the odds.
From Academy Award-nominated filmmaker John A. Davis (Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius) and producers Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman (The Polar Express), comes the family adventure The Ant Bully, combining vivid state-of-the-art computer animation with a witty and heartwarming story for children of all ages.
The Ant Bully, opening in theaters nationwide July 28, 2006, will simultaneously debut in select IMAX theaters as The Ant Bully: An IMAX 3D Experience. Digitally converting the film's original 3D modeling into IMAX 3D, and featuring proprietary IMAX DMRR (Digital Re-mastering) technology, it offers moviegoers an additional and uniquely immersive perspective on Lucas' adventures into this wondrous new world.
Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with Legendary Pictures, a Playtone Production, in association with DNA Productions: Julia Roberts, Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Paul Giamatti, Regina King, Bruce Campbell and Lily Tomlin star in The Ant Bully, written for the screen and directed by John A. Davis, based on the book by John Nickle. Produced by Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman and John A. Davis, the film is executive produced by Keith Alcorn, Diana Choi Sachs, Steven Shareshian, Thomas Tull and William Fay, with Alex Johns serving as co-executive producer. Music is by John Debney.
The Ant Bully will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.
www.antbullymovie.co.uk
A Fantastic Unknown World in Our Own Backyards -
But You Have to Be Ant-Sized to See It
"Imagine a whole world you know nothing about yet probably step over every day. It could be a dynamic, hidden universe that exists in your own backyard," suggests The Ant Bully writer/director John A. Davis, creator of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and a man who admittedly gets some of his wildest creative ideas by "tapping into things that excited and entertained me as a kid."
If that world lies in the underground tunnels and secret chambers of a bustling ant colony, a person would have to be fairly tiny to get inside and take a good look around. And that's exactly what happens to Lucas Nickle (Zack Tyler Eisen), a 10-year-old boy tormented by a bully, who has unfortunately become something of a bully himself by venting his frustration on the helpless insects living in his lawn. He thinks nothing of spraying them with water or stomping them with his sneakered feet every time the neighborhood tough kid pushes him around.
Establishing the ants' point of view, The Ant Bully shows the disastrous results of Lucas casually blasting their home with a garden hose-unleashing, at the subterranean level, "a huge flood sequence, with ants running for their lives," says Davis. "Lucas would never suspect that he's causing this kind of chaos and carnage just by dumping water on some ants."
But all that's about to change.
Through a magic elixir prepared by Wizard Ant Zoc (Nicolas Cage), Lucas is suddenly miniaturized, kidnapped from his bedroom and taken deep into the ant burrow to stand trial for his wanton destruction. Once below, he is absolutely amazed and more than a little nervous to discover that the ants have a vast and complex civilization with rules and responsibility, where every individual has a job to do for the greater good.
Most incredible of all, he realizes for the first time in his life that these tenacious little creatures he once dismissed as "just a bunch of stupid ants" have thoughts and emotions just like him, not to mention a whole lot of attitude…and at the moment they're all hopping mad at him, the one they call Lucas the Destroyer.
"When you first see the ants from Lucas' vantage point, they look like real ants, small and indistinct, the way we would view them from the distance of our great human height," Davis observes. "But when we cut down to their level, we see they have individual expressive faces and we get that first inkling, as does Lucas eventually, that things are not always what they seem. That was one of the things that attracted me to the project: the idea of creating this alien realm completely out of the ordinary, which we get to peek inside."
"What human being hasn't fantasized about being the size of an ant and living in their world," says The Ant Bully producer Tom Hanks. "There's something almost cozy about how they live-we've seen them in our toy ant farms-and the togetherness of the colony seems cheerful when you apply an anthropomorphic sense. That makes the story of Lucas' adventures with the ants awfully attractive."
It was Hanks who brought the popular 1999 Scholastic Press children's book to Davis' attention. "My son came home from kindergarten with a book he had checked out from the library, John Nickle's The Ant Bully," he relates. "Reading it together, we weren't halfway through before I thought it would make a wonderful movie. John Davis' Jimmy Neutron had just come out then, and I felt the match of his talent with Nickle's story would be perfect."
Released in 2001, the 3D animated feature Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius was a labor of love from Davis and computer animation partner Keith Alcorn (an executive producer on The Ant Bully) from their Texas-based DNA Productions. Their feature film debut, it earned writer/director/producer Davis a Best Animated Feature Oscar nomination and fueled the Jimmy Neutron Nickelodeon series, developed concurrently by DNA. Audiences and critics were enchanted by the film's unique visual style (which Davis dubbed "future-retro") and the premise of a nerdy-but-cool boy genius who saves the world and zips around in spaceships of his own creation, all the while managing to keep his outrageous orange pompadour standing straight up. Like The Ant Bully, it blended a sense of fun with fair play.
"Tom sent me the The Ant Bully to see if I had a take on it," recalls Davis, who likewise found the story full of potential for the screen. "I thought, well, if I was going to make this movie, here's how I would approach it." He soon met with Hanks and his producing partner Gary Goetzman, co-founders of Playtone Productions, who successfully teamed with Robert Zemeckis in 2004 on the beloved holiday film The Polar Express.
"It was obvious from our initial meeting that John's enthusiasm, passion and vision for the material made him the perfect director for the project," states Goetzman. "And because most children's animated films today are branded by adult humor, it was refreshing to hear John's take on creating an entertaining family film that would transport the audience to a unique world and take them on a fantastic adventure."
Together the three brainstormed ideas on how to realize the action onscreen and bring out the natural wonder, humor and peril of a suddenly minuscule boy lost in the unfathomable wilds of his own yard. Everything takes on a surreal new identity when even a discarded soda can looms as large as a 3-story building to tiny Lucas; low-flying wasps rumble like turboprop engines, and hordes of unfamiliar creatures roam the tall grass all around him.
"It's great when you're immediately on the same page," says Davis. "We saw the same things in it-the adventure aspect, the action, how cool it would be to have Lucas and the ants fighting giant wasps, and all the places he could go. In some ways, it's the ultimate wish fulfillment for a kid."
Davis and Hanks also discovered their mutual admiration for legendary visual effects master Ray Harryhausen, whose innovative achievements with stop-motion animation, model work and creature effects, starting in the 1950s, inspired a legion of future filmmakers who can still recite their favorite titles in an instant, as does Davis: Jason and the Argonauts, The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. "This is my homage to him, in terms of visualizing the set pieces from the point of view of a shrunken human entering this world of the insects or visiting the land of the giants back inside his own house," the director offers.
"Ray Harryhausen long ago tapped the mother lode of creature sequences," says Hanks. "John and I compared notes on how we could emulate his skeleton battle in Jason and the Argonauts with our wasp attack. I mean, why not aim for the best?"
Coming from a background of stop-motion, rather than traditional animation, Davis made the transition to the digital realm easily because, he explains, "It's instantly cinematic. You have cameras and camera rigs, dolly moves and crane shots. You have sets that you've built in the computer, and you actually drop lights onto them as if they're physical sets because the software mimics reality. It offers you a 3D space and all of the same mechanics apply as with live action, so you're able to tell the story in a very grand way, and you can provide sequences with an immersive quality that invites audiences to share the ride. I use a lot of POV cameras for scenes like the one in which Lucas is riding the wasp."
At the same time, Davis is an animator for whom the term cartoony has never meant anything but fun and "a chance to step outside normal boundaries." Visually, his goal for The Ant Bully was not photo-realism but a more stylized and imaginative environment, where, he notes, "The designs are definitely not real, but the level of detail in their rendering makes them feel real and alive. When Lucas enters the world of the ants, there's an immediacy to it-really lush images and the kind of visceral impact you get with three-dimensional animation that heightens the sense of adventure."
For moviegoers who, like Lucas, want to get an ants-eye view of the action on a larger-than-life scale, the filmmakers also worked with IMAX to prepare a version of The Ant Bully exclusively for IMAX Theatres worldwide. Applying IMAX's proprietary dual-filmstrip technology to the film's original 3D modeling, The Ant Bully: An IMAX 3D Experience will project onto screens as high as eight stories for an even more intensely immersive environment.
A Kid Could Learn a Lot from an Ant
Hanks and Goetzman were in sync with Davis on presenting the story's multiple themes and life lessons without talking down to young viewers.
"Trying to teach kids a lesson cannot be jack-knifed into a movie," states Hanks. "The meaning of a fable has to be part and parcel to the story being told. What Lucas learns from the ants-that being part of a good family is irreplaceable-is what The Ant Bully tells, not preaches, at its core."
Davis, a longtime fan of the classically edgy Warner Bros. cartoons, has always strived to maintain a certain level of sophistication in his work, ever mindful of the fact that "kids grasp a lot more than people give them credit for. When I was a kid, I always knew when I was being talked down to and I resented it. The truth is kids are pretty sharp and insightful."
True to his word, Davis admits there were times during production when staffers brought their children in to view early footage and he found they provided worthwhile feedback - in one case even influencing Davis' ultimate revision to the end of the story.
"First and foremost, you want to make something entertaining and fun to watch," he says. "But along with that, there should also be a purpose, some message that kids and parents can walk away with and feel good about. Otherwise it's just frivolous, and the experience is over the minute you leave the theater." Speaking not only from a writer's point of view, but as a moviegoer, he says, "It's always more interesting to see characters change throughout the telling of a story, to see them go through struggles and learn something."
The Ant Bully, notes Davis, "has several related themes that are equally important. Not only does Lucas learn about teamwork, friendship, courage and the value of community when he's working with the ants, but he also learns about the abuse of power and what it's like to be in someone else's position. Originally, when he looks at the ants, he disregards them because they are small and seemingly insignificant, which he feels gives him permission to do whatever he likes with them. It's not until he sees the ramifications of his actions that he starts to think about how maybe that isn't the right thing to do."
First, in his skirmishes with bully Steve that always leave him on the losing side, and then later, when he privately pummels the ant hill in retaliation, Lucas alternately plays the roles of victim and bully in the story. It takes him awhile and some very interesting experiences to discover this humbling irony. From that moment of realization, Davis says, "You could then, if you want, extrapolate beyond the level of neighborhood bullies and 10-year-old kids and apply it to other things going on in the world because it's very much a universal concept. Just because you have the power or the upper hand doesn't automatically grant you the right to use it."
Meanwhile, in his miniature form, Lucas is constantly surprised, delighted or horrified,
and sometimes all three, to learn that things are not always what they seem. Ants can have feelings, frogs that are fun to chase can be fearsome predators, and his own familiar lawn-formerly to Lucas a dull expanse of dry grass between his house and the sidewalk-is actually a territorial battleground abuzz with activity and life-and-death drama like a primeval jungle.
Who knew?!
By changing his perspective, Lucas sees every single thing around him in a whole new way, even things he's taken for granted his entire life.
For this Next Scene, Could You Pretend You're an Ant Being
Swallowed By a Frog? And Then Regurgitated? Thank You.
While retaining the charm and meaning of the John Nickle book, "and staying true to the journey it takes," grants Davis, The Ant Bully expands the scope of Lucas' adventures to include additional characters and relationships, obstacles and motives.
All these diverse characters - human or insect - need distinctive voices.
Far from the early days of DNA Productions' first projects, when company founders (and, initially, sole employees) John Davis and Keith Alcorn performed all the voices themselves for their animated shorts, The Ant Bully attracted a stellar voice cast including Oscar winner Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich); Oscar winner Nicolas Cage (Leaving Las Vegas); two-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep (Sophie's Choice, Kramer vs. Kramer); Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti (Cinderella Man), who recently applied his vocal talent to the animated comedy Robots; Image Award winner and SAG Award nominee Regina King (Ray), whose recent first-time vocal work on the animated series The Boondocks provided the perfect segue into her Ant Bully sessions; Bruce Campbell, beloved by genre fans for his role as Ash in the Evil Dead trilogy; two-time Tony Award winner, Grammy winner and Oscar nominee Lily Tomlin (Nashville); and, a recipient of the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award, Ricardo Montalban. Zach Tyler Eisen (Avatar: The Last Airbender) is the voice of Lucas Nickle, with Cheri Oteri (Scary Movie), Larry Miller (A Mighty Wind) and Allison Mack (Smallville) as the Nickle family.
As Davis attests, "Nothing is more important in animation. Vocal performances drive the entire production process and serve as the vital starting point for animators when characters often exist only as preliminary drawings." Beyond their voices, the actors contribute in myriad subtle ways, through gesture, attitude and inflection, to the final look and posture of their characters.
"It's typical to bring a video camera to the recording sessions," he explains. "Not so much to associate each line with what the actors are doing at that moment or to copy them exactly, but to give the animators a general feel for their mannerisms and approach. It helps to contour a more specific performance." At the same time, if they see something particularly effective, they might incorporate it-like the regal way that Meryl Streep, as the Ant Queen, inclines her head toward her subjects when delivering Lucas' sentence, or the way Ricardo Montalban, as the ants' Head of Council, illustrates a point by a certain fluid movement of his right hand.
In the book, Lucas is shrunken down to size by an unnamed wizard ant. Onscreen, this becomes the angst-ridden but endearing Wizard Ant Zoc, voiced by Nicolas Cage. Zoc is terribly serious, headstrong and very cautious, with a tireless drive to protect the colony against the human threat.
"What I really love about Nic's characterizations, especially in films like Leaving Las Vegas, and Vampire's Kiss," says Davis, "is that he's able to portray dark and anxious characters with sympathy and charm, even humor. I knew Zoc was going to do a lot of brooding but he couldn't be too heavy, and I knew Nic would give him the right blend of sarcasm and heart."
The movie also gives Zoc a girlfriend, the ever-cheerful and nurturing Nurse Ant Hova, voiced by Julia Roberts. Hova is the only one in the colony able to tickle Zoc out of his sulkiest moods…literally.
Zoc and Hova are very different personalities, and nothing brings this so clearly to the fore than the arrival of Lucas in their midst. At his trial, when the Queen sentences Lucas to live among the ants and learn their ways, Hova optimistically volunteers to mentor the boy, believing there is good in all creatures and that she can help Lucas reform and find his purpose. Zoc meanwhile maintains that humans are incapable of learning ant-centric values, like friendship and teamwork, and fears for Hova's safety in the presence of her unpredictable human charge.
Hova's growing bond with Lucas and Zoc's unrelenting suspicion toward the boy drives a wedge between them that prompts several spats. But it's their rocky romantic rapport that may provide adults in the audience with their most relatable laughs - especially when Zoc, in a moment of supreme self-sacrifice that could only be motivated by love, attempts to get himself swallowed by a frog in order to spare her. As the frog takes deadly aim, poor Zoc is heard to mutter darkly, "No relationship is worth this."
Ultimately, their struggles and those of their extended insect family prove hugely worthwhile to young Lucas, who needs their help more than he realizes - first, just to survive, and then to become the person he was meant to be.
The Queen Ant's wisdom in handing down his unique sentence also proves beneficial to the ants. Knowing her subjects are eager to punish Lucas the Destroyer for the floods and earthquakes he's brought upon them, she opts instead to make him live in the colony like one of them. "It's an inspired decision," says Meryl Streep, voice of the Queen, acknowledging that, from this point, everything changes. "It's a pivotal moment; without it there would be no story."
While the Queen rules her colony with absolute authority, to carry out the details she relies upon her venerable Head of Council, here voiced by Ricardo Montalban, whose unmistakable resonance lends gravity to the tiny ant with such monumental responsibilities.
Meanwhile, adding their own combustible energy to the mix and working with Hova to train the wayward human is another ant couple: Kreela, a sensible, self-sufficient Forager Ant with a biting wit, voiced by Regina King; and Fugax, a charming swashbuckling Scout Ant with more bravado than brains, voiced by Bruce Campbell.
Campbell uses his rich tone and well-known sense of humor to full advantage as the loud, brash and full-of-himself Fugax, who never misses an opportunity to spring into action to impress his ladylove, Kreela. And she isn't easy to impress.
"Kreela is a very strong ant, if you can imagine that," says Regina King. "Kreela pretty much assumes things should go her way because she follows the rules, and we should always follow the rules, right? So she tackles everything and everyone like a drill sergeant, which is fun for me. I like playing the tough girl. Meanwhile, Fugax is all over the place, a free spirit, and that's what makes them fight but is also what attracts them to each other and makes them so funny. I guess it's as true with ants as it is with humans: opposites attract."
The mother of a 10-year-old boy, King finds the story's treatment of bullies very valuable, saying, "I don't know anyone who has not experienced being teased or picked on for one thing or another, and the feeling of isolation it creates. When I read the script, it seemed such perfect timing for my son to receive this message, that this happens to everyone and you're not alone."
Providing the voice of Lucas is Zach Tyler Eisen, a veteran of numerous animated productions including Nickelodeon's popular Annie Award-recognized fantasy adventure Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Backyardigans and the Daytime Emmy Award-winning series Little Bill, created by Bill Cosby. Eisen feels his Ant Bully experience proved exciting, "because there's so much action and Lucas exhibits so many different moods. He's angry and resentful, sometimes sad, sometimes thrilled beyond belief. You never know what comes next and that's not only fun to watch, but it's fun to create."
Eisen was also pleasantly surprised at the first sight of his onscreen persona, a nearly naked and barefoot boy wearing leaves and random scraps of vegetation like some wild prehistoric warrior. He says, "Lucas looks hilarious. When I saw a picture of him for the first time, I just laughed. It wasn't till later that I saw the animation in a more developed stage and it's awesome."
The Ant Bully also introduces Lucas' family. For Davis, "This gives him a context. It's important to see where Lucas is coming from, how he interacts with his family at the beginning and how that changes at the end of the story after he's learned his lessons about community, and friendship and putting yourself before others."
Most eccentric among the Nickle clan is Lucas' loving but somewhat out-to-lunch grandmother, Mommo, voiced by Lily Tomlin. A Jimmy Neutron fan before meeting Davis, Tomlin was intrigued by the spirit of The Ant Bully and describes her character, "a little off the wall. She's convinced that aliens in flying saucers are going to invade the earth and has rigged up all kinds of apparatus to protect herself and her family from attack. In other words, she's pixilated and a lot of fun.
"At the same time," Tomlin acknowledges, "she's wise in that she knows Lucas is being bullied, and she's there to support and love him."
Lucas' parents, Doreen (Cheri Oteri) and Fred (Larry Miller), are equally loving and concerned about Lucas' problems but currently preoccupied with their own weekend anniversary trip. Meanwhile, his socially connected big sister, Tiffany (Allison Mack), only addresses him in passing or through the closed door of his bedroom, while simultaneously listening to her iPod and yakking on her cell phone.
Another character unique to the film is Stan Beals, voiced by Paul Giamatti as a shifty, scheming, unwashed, cigar-smoking exterminator, who enjoys his job so much it's downright creepy. Beals tricks Lucas into hiring him to fumigate the lawn and essentially wipe out the ant colony along with every other living thing from the house to the sidewalk. But that was before Lucas earned his ant credentials. Now he desperately wants to stop Beals. But how?
Creating the Beals character, says Davis, "gives Lucas and his new ant friends a common foe to unite against and fight," in a climactic battle scene that rallies every crawling, jumping or flying creature in the area. "It also forces him to make a horrible confession in front of the whole colony, in which he admits the exterminator is there because of him, and then has to find a way to regain their trust, to put things right and save them. It shows how much he's learned and grown."
Of all the unique challenges posed by voicing animation - no set, no stage direction and no costume to help actors get into character - perhaps the most difficult is that there are no other actors with whom to interact. "It's really more fun to act with other people. This is more like recording rock music in a sound booth," admits Streep. "You go a little crazy all alone."
Adds Tomlin, "When you voice animation you sometimes have to let your inhibitions go so you can create the kind of sound or feeling or energy the director wants. Because the animators will draw to your voice, you can allow your face and body to go through all kinds of exaggerated behavior to help create a sound. For instance, in the case of Mommo, whose false teeth fly out of her mouth several times during the story, I had to let go entirely to help create that believability, without worrying about what my own face and body were doing. If I could give the animators a sound that was workable or credible, I knew they could then make it ten times better with their own interpretation."
Davis found that a good portion of his work on The Ant Bully involved traveling across the country to collect performances from his all-star cast, explaining, "Sometimes they were on location or shooting other films. Sometimes I'd record Nic Cage when he was in L.A. and other times he'd be in New York. I recorded Julia Roberts in Taos and L.A. Meryl Streep was in New York; Lily Tomlin most often in L.A.; and for Bruce Campbell I went to Medford, Oregon."
It proved essential to record multiple versions of each scene. "I like to cover the script, but I also like to go off script," says Davis. "I love to see them play with the material and have fun, but that means I have to get a spectrum of readings. It has to be open-ended enough so that, a month later-when I'm recording the actor who's going to partner in this scene and he delivers a line that requires something quieter for a set-up-I have a tonal match. Eventually, I have to cut it all together and have it feel organic."
Bringing The Ant Bully to Life in Digital 3D Animation Took Four Years of Mind-bending Work, so Forgive Us if We Make it Sound Like Fun
"For The Ant Bully, we completely gutted our pipeline and built something new. We didn't use any of the tools we used on Neutron," offers Davis, a self-taught 3D animator who created his first shorts with off-the-shelf software. "We needed to raise the bar in render quality and the amount of detail and complexity of the characters. That's what excited the whole team but also killed us for a couple of years. We didn't have a year of R&D going in; everything happened all at once and, ultimately, it was through sheer force of will, plus blood, sweat and tears that we got the look I wanted within our time and budget limits.
"As far as the software and coding, it's not so much the tools you use as the process that matters, how you differentiate and attack the problem," he adds.
Development and production on The Ant Bully spanned four years. "Not surprisingly," Davis says, "what it came down to for us every day was how passionate we were about it, watching the animation evolve and wanting to make it as good as it could be. That's why we were up there at all hours, because every additional hour was going to make it that much better until it was finally pried out of our hands and it was done."
In terms of sheer volume, says head of Rigging, Michael Comet, "There were upwards of 150 characters in this film and most of them were ants. Each ant has six legs so you're not just dealing with rigging a human where you have two legs to worry about. Your work is automatically multiplied." Comet's team, also known as the joints-and-bones people, created the programs that gave characters a functional support structure. Animators then put them through their paces-manipulating arms, fingers, eyebrows, antennae, and lots of legs-for whatever a scene required, emotionally or physically. It was a back-and-forth process, with the animators sometimes requesting an extended range of motion or expression, and riggers adjusting the program accordingly, from the subtly sweet to the comically extreme.
Using an animatic as their template (the actors' recorded dialogue wedded to a series of still images edited and sequenced like storyboards), the Ant Bully animators also found it helpful to take a pass at running through a scene themselves while bringing the characters and action to life. "We had an acting room," notes Davis. "The animators often used it to rehearse a performance in front of a mirror or each other to get the interactions just right and then videotape themselves to prepare for working on a shot."
In the Set Design arena, the creative team devoted themselves to what they jokingly call "grass wrangling." In a movie where most of the action takes place on a suburban sod lot as wide as the great plains of Nebraska (to an ant), grass is huge-not to mention rocks, leaves and the occasional lawn gnome, each programmed with a pull-down menu to controls its movement, height, rotation, or response to gravity. Modeling, Texture and Shading department technicians further advanced these environments, giving props, such as the refrigerator or the telephone from the Nickle kitchen, the color, texture and shading that enabled them to authentically reflect light as if they were occupying a physical set.
In Character Finalizing, also known as cloth-and-hair, Davis points out, "Details as deceptively simple as the folds on a shirt were carefully crafted. These are the kinds of things that can make or break the overall effect by calling undo attention to themselves if not rendered realistically."
Additionally, says Davis, "There are a lot of effects in The Ant Bully-floods, clouds, bubbles, dust, and Stan the exterminator has a cigar that puts off a lot of smoke." A sequence where Lucas lands inside the stomach of a hungry frog took three months to develop, with all its "churning fluid, bursting bubbles, drips and oozing." Other elements are more understated, such as a small cloud of dust blowing upward when Lucas stamps his foot in the dirt.
It all came together in Lighting. As Ant Bully head of Lighting Ian Megibben sums up, "We take in all the work from the other departments like a funnel and create a final cohesive image." Working closely, he and Davis, with production designer Barry E. Jackson, determined the tone and emotion of a shot through the use of color and light, adding shadows to provide dimension and drawing viewers' eyes to specific details by lifting them away from the background.
"We use the same rules a live-action cinematographer would use, but the big difference is we have no limits on location," Megibben explains. "We can place a light where you could never place it on a practical set. We can put lights inside characters' mouths or focus them on a character's shoes but not his pants. On the other hand, we have issues traditional cinematographers don't face. Real-world lights have characteristics we can only fake, like reflections and bounce, which we have to study and reproduce."
Meanwhile, keeping pace with the action and complementing Lucas' adventures and insights is The Ant Bully's lively score.
Composer John Debney, a multiple Emmy winner and recent Oscar nominee for his work on Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, reunites with Davis on The Ant Bully. Previously, the two collaborated on Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and found themselves well matched in work ethic and enthusiasm. "Not only is he phenomenally versatile and talented as a composer," cites Davis, "he's interested in getting into a project early and trying things as production develops, like playing a moment from one character's perspective and then trying it from another.
"I loved the way he used traditional ethnic instruments in The Passion," adds Davis, who was looking for that kind of range on The Ant Bully, set in essentially an uncharted wilderness for Lucas, and the underground caverns of the ant colony. "I wanted a sort of tribal sound, strange percussion and woodwinds, for an exotic and primordial feel when Lucas goes into that unknown world."
The Ant Bully: An IMAX 3D Experience
The Ant Bully: An IMAX 3D Experience will play exclusively in IMAX 3D, IMAX Dome and IMAX Theatres worldwide beginning July 28, 2006, simultaneously with the film's debut in conventional theaters. The second Hollywood animated feature to be converted into IMAXR 3D, it follows the success of 2004's The Polar Express: An IMAX 3D Experience. As with The Polar Express, The Ant Bully will be digitally converted into IMAX 3D and feature proprietary IMAX DMRR (Digital Re-mastering) technology, making its already extraordinarily vivid images virtually leap off the screen for a truly unique moviegoing experience.
"IMAX 3D has the power and depth to engage audiences in a unique way, which works perfectly for a story like this, where you want to leave the real world behind and follow this 10-year-old kid underground into the ant colony or through the wilds of his own front lawn," says writer/director Davis. "Part of his adventure is seeing things he's never seen before and seeing familiar things from a whole new perspective, and we'd love for audiences to take that amazing journey with him."
The IMAX 3D DMR process is based upon basic principals of how the eyes and brain work to naturally create the three-dimensional world we inhabit. Most people see through two eyes and although both automatically focus on a single center point they see it from two slightly different positions. This creates two slightly different images, which the brain fuses to give the world three-dimensional depth.
Taking advantage of this natural process, an IMAX 3D film actually consists of two separate strips of film projected onto the screen at the same time: one with images captured from the viewpoint of the right eye, and the other with the left. Special IMAX 3D glasses allow the left eye to see only the left image and the right eye to see only the right, allowing the brain to fuse the images for a three-dimensional visual that appears to come off the screen. The distance, or "separation" between left and right viewpoints determines the intensity of the 3D; too little or too much will distort the image. The Ant Bully's original 3D modeling contains the data required to create that necessary "second eye," and IMAX uses this to calculate the appropriate separation from the 2D view point to create the ideal 3D viewing experience. Both left and right eye images are then digitally re-mastered into the IMAX format using IMAX DMR technology and recorded onto two separate prints of 15/70 film for projection in IMAX 3D.
IMAX theaters' gigantic IMAX 3D screens-up to eight stories high-eliminate the discomfort and decapitated edges of smaller-format 3D systems. The screen, coated with a specialty high-performance metallic paint, has a slight curvature that extends beyond the field of geometric recognition, incorporating some of the audience's peripheral vision. The visuals are further enhanced by a specially designed six-channel system comprised of 44 custom-designed speakers that extract 14,000 watts of pure digital surround sound.
About IMAX Corporation
Founded in 1967, IMAX Corporation is one of the world's leading entertainment technology companies. Using proprietary IMAX, IMAX 3D, and IMAX DMRR (Digital Re-mastering) technology makes it possible for virtually any 35mm film to be transformed into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience. The IMAX brand is recognized throughout the world for extraordinary and immersive entertainment experiences. As of March 31, 2006, there were 266 IMAX theatres operating in 36 countries. IMAXR, IMAXR 3D, IMAX DMRR, IMAX MPXR, and The IMAX ExperienceR are trademarks of IMAX Corporation. More information can be found at www.imax.com.
ABOUT THE CAST
JULIA ROBERTS (Hova) made her Broadway debut this spring in Richard Greenberg's Three Days of Rain. She will next be heard as the voice of Charlotte in the film Charlotte's Web in theatres this December. Roberts recently starred in Closer, directed by Mike Nichols, and Ocean's Twelve, directed by Steven Soderbergh.
Previously she starred in Mike Newell's Mona Lisa Smile; George Clooney's directorial debut, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind; and Full Frontal, her third role in a Steven Soderbergh film. She received the Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for her portrayal of the title role in Erin Brockovich, directed by Soderbergh. Additionally, Roberts starred with George Clooney, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia and Brad Pitt in the 2001 ensemble crime caper Ocean's Eleven, also under Soderbergh's direction.
Erin Brockovich followed the success of two box-office smashes: Notting Hill, directed by Roger Michell in which she co-starred with Hugh Grant; and Runaway Bride, in which she was reunited with Richard Gere, her Pretty Woman co-star, and their director, Garry Marshall.
She also starred in The Mexican, with Brad Pitt and James Gandolfini; and America's Sweethearts, in which she starred alongside Billy Crystal, Catherine Zeta-Jones, John Cusack and Hank Azaria.
Roberts first came to the attention of audiences with her critically acclaimed role in Mystic Pizza, followed by Steel Magnolias, for which she earned her first Academy Award nomination. Her next film, Pretty Woman, was one of the top-grossing films of 1990 and brought Roberts her second Academy Award nomination. Her subsequent film credits include Flatliners, Sleeping with the Enemy, Dying Young, The Pelican Brief, and Something to Talk About.
Roberts also starred with Liam Neeson in Neil Jordan's Michael Collins, and in Woody Allen's romantic musical comedy Everyone Says I Love You. In 1997, she starred in the box-office smash My Best Friend's Wedding, directed by P.J. Hogan, and the Richard Donner-directed thriller Conspiracy Theory, co-starring Mel Gibson. The following year, Roberts starred opposite Susan Sarandon and Ed Harris in the Chris Columbus film Stepmom.
Collectively, her films have grossed more than two and a half billion dollars worldwide.
NICOLAS CAGE (Zoc) won a 1995 Academy Award for his role in the Mike Figgis-directed drama Leaving Las Vegas. His memorable performance in that role also brought him a Golden Globe Award and Best Actor honors from the New York Film Critics Circle, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the Chicago Film Critics and the National Board of Review. Cage subsequently earned Oscar, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and BAFTA Award nominations for his dual roles as twin brothers in Spike Jonze's 2002 quirky comedy Adaptation, co-starring Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper.
He will next star in the Oliver Stone drama World Trade Center, based on the true story of the last two survivors rescued from Ground Zero, set for a summer 2006 release. His upcoming films also include the action thriller Ghost Rider, in which he plays a motorcycle stunt performer turned superhero, and the Neil LaBute mystery drama The Wicker Man. Cage is currently in production on the science-fiction thriller Next, directed by Lee Tamahori and co-starring Julianne Moore, about a man who can see into his own future.
Among his recent films are Gore Verbinski's comedy drama The Weather Man and Andrew Niccol's critically acclaimed Lord of War. Cage also recently starred in the action adventure National Treasure from producer Jerry Bruckheimer; Ridley Scott's comedy drama Matchstick Men; John Woo's World War II drama Windtalkers; and the romantic wartime drama Captain Correlli's Mandolin.
In 2002, Cage made his feature directorial debut with the crime drama Sonny, in which he also starred with James Franco and Harry Dean Stanton. Later that year, his production company, Saturn Films, produced The Life of David Gale, starring Kevin Spacey, as well as the critically acclaimed Shadow of the Vampire, for which its star Willem Dafoe earned an Oscar nomination.
In 2000, he starred with Tea Leoni in the romantic comedy The Family Man, for director Brett Ratner, as well as Jerry Bruckheimer's remake of Gone in 60 Seconds and Martin Scorsese's Bringing Out the Dead. His performances in the 1990s included roles in Brad Silberling's fantasy drama City of Angels, John Woo's action thriller Face/Off and the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced action hits Con Air and The Rock. Cage also starred opposite Shirley MacLaine in Guarding Tess, the film noir Red Rock West, the romantic comedy It Could Happen to You, and Barbet Schroeder's Kiss of Death.
In 1984 Cage drew critical attention for his portrayal of a tormented Vietnam vet in Alan Parker's Birdy, which won the jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival. He went on to earn a Golden Globe Award nomination for his role opposite Cher in Moonstruck, and starred in David Lynch's Wild At Heart. He received another Golden Globe nomination in 1992 for his performance in the romantic comedy Honeymoon In Vegas.
Raised in Long Beach and San Francisco, Cage began his career while still in high school with a role in the television film The Best of Times. He made his feature film debut in the 1983 drama Rumble Fish, and then starred in Valley Girl. Among his early credits are The Cotton Club, Racing with the Moon, The Boy in Blue, Peggy Sue Got Married, Raising Arizona, Vampire's Kiss and Fire Birds.
In August of 1996, Cage was honored by the Montreal World Film Festival with their prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award. His career honors and awards also include the American Cinematheque's 2001 Moving Picture Ball Award, and the first-ever Distinguished Decade in Film Award at ShoWest, in 2001. He was also recognized in 2001 with a hand and footprint ceremony at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood.
MERYL STREEP (The Ant Queen) is a two-time Academy Award winner and the recipient of a record-breaking 13 Oscar nominations.
Streep began her career on the stage after earning an MFA from Yale School of Drama, where she was the first woman in the school's history to win the Carol Dye Acting Award. Streep made her New York stage debut in Joseph Papp's Lincoln Center production of Trelawney of the Wells and went to the Phoenix Repertory, where, in rotating productions, she appeared in the Civil War melodrama Secret Service, Arthur Miller's A Memory of Two Mondays and Tennessee Williams' 27 Wagons Full of Cotton. For the last, she won an Outer Critics Circle Award, a Theater World Award, and earned a Tony nomination. Her other early stage credits include the New York Shakespeare Festival productions of Henry V and Measure for Measure.
On Broadway, she starred in the Brecht/Weill musical Happy End, and won an Obie for her performance in the off-Broadway production of Alice at the Palace. During this period she also won the Emmy for Best Actress for her role in the miniseries Holocaust.
Streep began her feature film career as Jane Fonda's society friend in Fred Zinneman's Julia. In her second screen role, she starred opposite Robert De Niro and Christopher Walken in The Deer Hunter, for which she received her first Oscar nomination. Her next film was the political drama The Seduction of Joe Tynan.
Returning to the stage, she starred as Katherine in The Taming of the Shrew for Joe Papp in Central Park. While performing Shakespeare at night, during the day, she alternated filming Manhattan for Woody Allen, and Robert Benton's Kramer vs. Kramer, for which she won her first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
She garnered her third Oscar nomination and gained the British Academy Award for her dual role in 1981's The French Lieutenant's Woman, directed by Karel Reisz. The following year, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her heart-rending performance in the title role of Alan Pakula's Sophie's Choice. She was again Oscar-nominated the very next year for her portrayal of Karen Silkwood in Mike Nichols' Silkwood. Reuniting with Robert De Niro in Falling in Love, she won the David di Donatello Award, the Italian equivalent of the Oscar.
In 1985, Streep starred in Fred Schepisi's Plenty, and Sydney Pollack's Out of Africa, for which she received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress and won another David di Donatello award. She then filmed Mike Nichols' Heartburn, and Hector Babenco's Ironweed, for which she received her seventh Oscar nomination. Her next film, Fred Schepisi's A Cry in the Dark, brought Streep the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival, The New York Film Critics Circle Award, an AFI award, and another Oscar nomination.
Streep received Golden Globe nominations for her work in Susan Seidelman's She-Devil and Mike Nichols' Postcards from the Edge, earning another Oscar nomination for the latter. Continuing her comedy work, she went on to star in Albert Brooks' Defending Your Life, and Robert Zemeckis' Death Becomes Her. She then filmed Billie August's The House of the Spirits, and tackled the physical challenges of The River Wild, directed by Curtis Hanson. Returning to television, she garnered an Emmy nomination for her performance in the real-life drama First Do No Harm, which she also co-produced with director Jim Abrahams.
Her next film, Clint Eastwood's The Bridges of Madison County, brought her Screen Actors Guild Award, Golden Globe and Oscar nominations. She then starred in Barbet Schroeder's Before and After, and gained another Golden Globe nomination for her work in Marvin's Room. In 1998, she starred in One True Thing, for which she received SAG Award, Golden Globe and Oscar nominations, as well as the Berlinale Camera Award at the Berlin Film Festival. That same year, she joined the ensemble cast of Pat O'Connor's film Dancing at Lughnasa, based on the Brian Friel play.
Streep learned to play the violin for her portrayal of real-life violin teacher Roberta Guaspari in Wes Craven's Music of the Heart, for which she earned a 12th Oscar nomination.
Moving to New York City in 2001, Streep returned to Central Park's Delacorte Theatre in Chekhov's The Seagull, directed by Mike Nichols for the New York Shakespeare Festival's Public Theatre.
Streep's work in 2003's The Hours won her the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the Berlin Film Festival, as well as SAG Award and Golden Globe nominations. In the same year, her performance in Spike Jonze's Adaptation was recognized with a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress, and BAFTA and Oscar nominations. Additionally, she was given the Honorary Cesar for Career Achievement in Paris, where she also was accorded a Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the highest civilian honor given by the French government.
The following year, Streep played four different roles in HBO's epic adaptation of Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize-winning Angels in America, directed by Mike Nichols. She won the Golden Globe, Emmy and SAG Awards for Best Actress for her work in that project.
Streep's most recent film credits include The Manchurian Candidate, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Prime, The Devil Wears Prada, and Robert Altman's A Prairie Home Companion. Her upcoming work includes the film Dark Matter, directed by Chen Shi-Zheng, and the New York Public Theatre production of Mother Courage, adapted by Tony Kushner and directed by George C. Wolfe.
PAUL GIAMATTI (Stan Beals) has established himself as one of the most versatile actors of his generation with a diverse roster of finely etched, award-winning and critically acclaimed performances. He recently earned Academy and Golden Globe Award nominations, and won a Screen Actors Guild Award and Broadcast Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work in Ron Howard's Cinderella Man. Giamatti was also honored for his performance in Alexander Payne's award-winning film Sideways with a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, an Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead, and a New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor.
This summer, Giamatti stars in M. Night Shyamalan's Lady in the Water, with Bryce Dallas Howard, and also stars opposite Edward Norton and Jessica Biel in The Illusionist, directed by Neil Burger. He is currently in production on The Nanny Diaries, an adaptation of the best-selling novel, directed by the team of Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini.
Later this year, Giamatti begins the David Dobkin holiday film Fred Claus with Vince Vaughn and Kevin Spacey. Most recently, he wrapped production on the action film Shoot 'Em Up, written and directed by Michael Davis. In 2007 will headline the voice cast of Rob Zombie Presents the Haunted World of El Superbeasto as the villain, Dr. Satan. The 2D animated comedy, based on the Spookshow International comic book The Haunted World of El Superbeasto, created by Zombie, follows the exploits of a washed-up Mexican wrestler in the mythic world of Monsterland.
Giamatti first captured recognition in Betty Thomas' hit comedy Private Parts. His extensive list of film credits also includes Milos Forman's Man on the Moon; Julian Goldberger's The Hawk is Dying; Tim Robbins' The Cradle Will Rock; F. Gary Gray's The Negotiator; Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan; Peter Weir's The Truman Show; Mike Newell's Donnie Brasco; Todd Solondz' Storytelling; Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes; Duets, opposite Gwyneth Paltrow; John Woo's Paycheck; James Foley's Confidence; the animated film Robots; and Big Momma's House, co-starring Martin Lawrence.
In 2004, Giamatti garnered outstanding reviews and commendations, including an Independent Spirit Award nomination and the National Board of Review's Award for Breakthrough performance of the Year, for his portrayal of Harvey Pekar in Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini's American Splendor.
Also an accomplished stage actor, Giamatti received a Drama Desk nomination for Best Supporting Actor as Jimmy Tomorrow in Kevin Spacey's Broadway revival of The Iceman Cometh. His other Broadway credits include The Three Sisters, directed by Scott Elliot; Racing Demon, directed by Richard Eyre; and Arcadia, directed by Trevor Nunn. Off-Broadway, he appeared in the ensemble cast of The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, with Al Pacino.
On television, Giamatti appeared in The Pentagon Papers, with James Spader; HBO's Winchell, opposite Stanley Tucci; and Jane Anderson's If These Walls Could Talk 2.
REGINA KING (Kreela) has played many memorable roles in a number of prominent films, most recently including the comedy sequel Miss Congeniality 2, opposite Sandra Bullock.
King is currently working on the animated series The Boondocks, in which she lends her voice to the characters Riley and Huey. Based on the popular comic strip, the series revolves around the adventures of two boys who experience a culture clash when they move from inner city Chicago to the suburbs to live with their grandfather. The Boondocks premiered in the fall of 2005 on the Cartoon Network during the successful Adult Swim late-night block, and has been picked up for a second season.
She also recently starred as Margie Hendricks, Ray Charles' mistress, in the Oscar-nominated film Ray, opposite Jamie Foxx. King's other recent film credits include A Cinderella Story, with Hilary Duff; Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde, with Reese Witherspoon; and Daddy Day Care, opposite Eddie Murphy.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, King made her television debut on the hit sitcom 227. After five seasons, she made the leap to the silver screen with a role in John Singleton's powerful directorial debut, Boyz N the Hood. She would soon collaborate with Singleton again in Poetic Justice and Higher Learning before going on to roles in A Thin Line Between Love and Hate opposite Martin Lawrence, and Friday, with Ice Cube, revealing a dynamic range.
A defining moment in King's career came in 1997 with her memorable role as Cuba Gooding Jr.'s wife, Marcee, in the blockbuster film Jerry Maguire. This led to starring roles in How Stella Got Her Groove Back, with Angela Bassett; the hit action thriller Enemy of the State, opposite Will Smith; the family adventure Mighty Joe Young, with Charlize Theron; and the comedy Down to Earth, opposite Chris Rock. King returned to the small screen in 2000 with a role in HBO's acclaimed telefilm If These Walls Could Talk 2, and in the 2002 NBC comedy Leap of Faith.
BRUCE CAMPBELL (Fugax) raised $350,000 in 1979 with his Detroit friends, Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert, to make the low-budget Evil Dead, which he starred in and co-executive produced. Completed piecemeal over four years, the film first gained notoriety in England, where it became the best-selling video of 1983, beating out The Shining. Following its appearance at Cannes, where it earned praise from Stephen King, it was released in the U.S.
After co-Producing Crimewave, a cross-genre comedy written by Sam Raimi, Ethan and Joel Coen, Campbell produced or starred in numerous genre films, including The Maniac Cop series, Lunatics: A Love Story, Moontrap, and Mindwarp-a post-apocalyptic Jeremiah Johnson.
He rejoined his Detroit colleagues to star in and co-produce the second and third films in the cult favorite Evil Dead trilogy. Moving into television, he starred in the highly regarded series The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. and was a recurring guest star on the hit Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Campbell also made the transition to directing, helming numerous episodes of the popular series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, and its follow-up phenomenon Xena: Warrior Princess, while also starring in the recurring role of Autolycos, the King of Thieves.
Campbell has since expanded his range on television, with appearances in the TV movie Gold Rush; the update of The Love Bug; the hit TV film Tornado!; a starring role on NBC's top-rated In the Line of Duty: Blaze of Glory; a recurring role on ABC's Emmy-nominated Ellen; Homicide; The X-Files; and Showtime's edgy comedy Beggars and Choosers.
During that time, he also had featured roles in the film Congo, John Carpenter's Escape from LA, and the award-winning independent crime drama Running Time, followed by roles in the romantic comedy Serving Sara, Jim Carrey's The Majestic, and Sam Raimi's blockbuster Spider-Man features.
After a return to episodic television in the swashbuckling series Jack of All Trades, Campbell took the title role in the cult sleeper Bubba Ho-Tep. His directorial debut, Man with the Screaming Brain, recently premiered on the Sci Fi Channel, and Dark Horse Comics published the comic adaptation. His most recent slate of films include the fun-filled family adventure Sky High, the mystery-thriller The Woods; and Touch the Top of the World, an inspiring true story about the first blind person to climb Mt. Everest.
Additionally, Campbell is enjoying his new role as an author with back-to-back New York Times bestsellers: a memoir entitled If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor; and his first novel, Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way. In the multi-media industry, Campbell has provided voices on cutting-edge video games for Activision, THQ and Nova Logic, and also enjoyed voicing characters for the animated TV series Tarzan. He shares his filmmaking experience by lecturing at universities including Northwestern, Carnegie Mellon and Stanford.
LILY TOMLIN (Mommo) is one of America's foremost comediennes and actresses. Throughout her extraordinary career, Tomlin has received numerous awards, including six Emmys; a Tony Award for her one-woman Broadway show, Appearing Nitely; a second Tony as Best Actress and a Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics' Circle Award for her one-woman performance in Jane Wagner's The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe; a CableAce Award for executive producing the film adaptation of The Search; a Grammy for her comedy album This is a Recording, as well as nominations for her subsequent albums Modern Scream, And That's the Truth and On Stage; and two Peabody Awards-the first for the ABC television special Edith Ann's Christmas: Just Say Noel, and the second for narrating and executive producing the HBO film The Celluloid Closet.
Born in Detroit, Michigan, Tomlin started her career performing in local coffee houses. She moved to New York in 1965, where she soon built a strong following with her appearances at landmark clubs such as The Improvisation, Cafe Au Go Go, and the Upstairs at the Downstairs, where she later opened for the legendary Mabel Mercer in the Downstairs Room.
Tomlin made her television debut in 1966 on The Garry Moore Show and then made several memorable appearances on The Merv Griffin Show, which led to a move to California where she appeared as a regular on Music Scene. In December 1969, Tomlin joined the cast of the groundbreaking comedy show Laugh-In and immediately rose to national prominence with her characterizations of Ernestine, the irascible telephone operator, and Edith Ann, the devilish six-year-old. When Laugh-In left the air, Tomlin went on to co-write, with Jane Wagner, and star in the television comedy specials: The Lily Tomlin Show, Lily, Lily Tomlin, Lily: Sold Out, and Lily for President?, for which she won three Emmy Awards and a Writers Guild of America Award. Tomlin also starred in HBO's 1993 drama about the AIDS epidemic, And the Band Played On. She has guest starred on numerous television shows, including Homicide, X-Files and Will & Grace, and played the boss for two years on the CBS series Murphy Brown. She is also heard as the voice of the science teacher, Ms. Frizzle, on the children's animated series, The Magic School Bus, for which she was awarded an Emmy.
Tomlin made her Broadway debut in the 1977 play Appearing Nitely, written and directed by Jane Wagner. Appearing Nitely included such favorites as Ernestine, Edith Ann and Judith Beasley, the Calumet City housewife, and also introduced Trudy the bag lady, Crystal the hang-gliding quadriplegic, Rick the singles bar cruiser, Glenna as a child of the sixties, and Sister Boogie Woman, a 77-year-old blues revivalist. Appearing Nitely was later adapted as both an album and an HBO Special. Tomlin next appeared on Broadway in 1985 in a year-long, SRO run of Jane Wagner's critically acclaimed play, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe. The Broadway success was followed by a coast-to-coast, 14-city tour that spanned four and a half years. Tomlin extended this extraordinary theatrical career with a cross-country, 29-city tour of The Search, a new production of The Search on Broadway, a record-breaking, six-month run of the production in San Francisco, and a six-week run in Los Angeles.
On film, Tomlin made her debut in Robert Altman's Nashville, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award, and won both the New York Film Critics and National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress. She next starred opposite Art Carney in Robert Benton's The Late Show. She went on to star with John Travolta as a lonely housewife in Jane Wagner's Moment By Moment, and then teamed with Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton in the comedy 9 to 5. She starred as the happy homemaker who became The Incredible Shrinking Woman, written by Jane Wagner, and the eccentric rich woman whose soul invades Steve Martin's body in Carl Reiner's All of Me. She then teamed with Bette Midler for Big Business.
In the 90s, Tomlin starred in the film adaptation of The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life In the Universe, appeared as part of an ensemble cast in Woody Allen's Shadows and Fog, starred in Robert Altman's Short Cuts, and portrayed Miss Jane Hathaway in the screen adaptation of the popular television series The Beverly Hillbillies. Her other film credits include The Player, Blue in the Face, Flirting With Disaster, Getting Away with Murder, Krippendorf's Tribe and Tea With Mussolini.
She starred with Bruce Willis in The Kid and appeared in a quirky cameo role in Orange County. Tomlin co-starred in the David O. Russell comedy I Heart Huckabee's. She was most recently seen in Robert Altman's A Prairie Home Companion. Tomlin just completed shooting Paul Schrader's new movie The Walker, due out in 2007.
In 2002, Tomlin joined the cast of the NBC drama series The West Wing, playing President Bartlett's assistant, Debbie Fiderer, for which she received a 2003 Screen Actors Guild nomination for Best Actress in a Drama Series. In the fall of 2003, she was honored with the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in Washington, DC. Tomlin continues to make appearances around the nation, and will soon be taking her classic characters to Australia for shows in Sydney and Melbourne.
For her extensive work in film, Tomlin has received the Crystal Award from Women in Film. Her entire career in art, text, photos and videos can be found at www.lilytomlin.com.
ZACH TYLER EISEN (Lucas Nickle) has been supplying the voices of many animated characters since the age of four. His diverse range of voices can be heard in such roles as Andrew on the television series Little Bill; Pablo, the lovable blue penguin on The Backyardigans, and his more dramatic but humorous lead character Aang in Nickelodeon's critically acclaimed series Avatar: The Last Airbender. In addition to The Ant Bully, Eisen's film credits include Entropy, Marci X, and Ice Age.
At the age of four and a half, Eisen appeared as a guest on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno after Leno saw Eisen in a Kellogg's Rice Krispies commercial. Other television appearances include feature roles on As The World Turns and All My Children.
Despite his busy schedule of Little League, lacrosse and ice hockey, Eisen never misses a New York Rangers game (the family cockapoo is aptly named Ranger). Additionally, Eisen managed to receive high honors in all academic quarters in middle school, and excels at playing the electric guitar.
CHERI OTERI (Doreen Nickle) is known for the boundless creativity that goes into her flawlessly detailed characters, and is branching beyond her acclaimed work on Saturday Night Live with several roles in feature films.
Oteri appeared on Saturday Night Live for five seasons. She is probably best known for her portrayal of Arianna, the female half of the Spartan Spirit Cheerleader Squad, as well as Cass Van Ry, the dense and shallow co-host of the fictional talk show "Morning Latte." Oteri's other popular characters include: Rita, the self-appointed mayor of her street who polices local neighborhood children; and the prescription-addled Colette Reardon. Her hysterical impressions of Barbara Walters and Judge Judy have both been "Cheered" by TV Guide. Other memorable impersonations include Mariah Carey, Melissa Rivers, Jennifer Lopez and Ross Perot. Oteri's SNL characters were celebrated this year with a "Best of Cheri Oteri" special on SNL.
In addition to her acclaimed work on Saturday Night Live, Oteri received an Emmy nomination for her memorable guest-starring role as inept but perky secretary Cindy on the hit NBC sit-com Just Shoot Me, and also guest starred in Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Her film credits include Scary Movie, directed by Keenan Ivory Wayans; Liar Liar, opposite Jim Carrey; Small Soldiers; Inspector Gadget; Love & Sex; and Dumb and Dumberer. More recent films include Park, Smile and Surviving Eden, in which she co-stars as a reality show contestant. She also co-stars with The Rock and Seann William Scott in this year's Cannes entry Southland Tales. Prior to joining the cast of Saturday Night Live, Oteri was a member of the Los Angeles-based improv/sketch comedy group The Groundlings.
She is currently developing a comedy series with J.J. Abrams.
LARRY MILLER (Fred Nickle) is one of Hollywood's most recognizable faces, having appeared in over 50 films and numerous television shows. Miller began his career with a memorable cameo as the brown-nosing store manager in Pretty Woman, and has gone on to delight audiences in some of the most unforgettable roles in such films as Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman, 10 Things I Hate About You, The Princess Diaries, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, The Nutty Professor and Nutty Professor II: The Klumps.
Miller most recently starred in Keeping Up With The Steins, opposite Jeremy Piven. His other recent film credits include Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer, and the critically acclaimed documentary The Aristocrats, which featured 100 of the world's most well-known comedians telling the dirtiest joke ever heard. Miller will next be seen in the upcoming Christopher Guest film For Your Consideration.
His numerous television credits include the hit shows Desperate Housewives, Law & Order and Seinfeld, along with recurring roles on Boston Legal, 8 Simple Rules and Mad About You. Miller has also made regular appearances on Real Time with Bill Maher, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Show with David Letterman, and several of his own HBO comedy specials. He also appeared on Broadway in Neil Simon's play The Dinner Party.
In addition to acting, Miller is a contributing humorist to The Weekly Standard and recently finished writing his first book, Spoiled Rotten America, which goes on sale this October from Regan Books.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
JOHN A. DAVIS' (Director/Screenplay/Producer) film credits include writing, directing, producing, and animating. In 1987, he and partner Keith Alcorn founded DNA Productions, Inc., a full-service animation company based in Dallas, Texas, that currently produces 3D animation for feature films and television. In addition to The Ant Bully, DNA has created animation projects, including the feature film Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, and The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron television series.
In 1997, Davis wrote and directed the first all-3D animated special for primetime, Santa vs. the Snowman. It aired as an ABC Christmas special and won a Gold Award from the World Fest-Houston International Film Festival, as well as a Lone Star Award. The film currently runs in IMAX 3D theaters during the Christmas season.
In 1999, Davis served as animation director of Fox's Christmas special, Olive, the Other Reindeer, for The Simpsons creator Matt Groening. The project was produced at DNA Productions and earned Davis an Emmy nomination in 2000.
Davis is the creator of Jimmy Neutron, which began as a short film in 1995. He later wrote, directed, and produced the feature film Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, earning an Academy Award nomination in the newly created Animated Feature category in 2002.
Davis graduated from Southern Methodist University in 1984 with a BFA in film production, receiving the first-ever Nash Clay Parsley award for outstanding graduating senior in film.
JOHN NICKLE (Author) wrote and illustrated The Ant Bully. He also illustrated Things That Are Most In The World, written by Judi Barrett, and is the author/illustrator of TV Rex and Alphabet Explosion, due out this September. He is currently working on the artwork for Never Take A Giraffe To The Movies and a Grimm's fairy tale, Hans the Hedgehog.
Nickle's artwork has appeared on numerous book covers and in The New York Times Book Review, The Atlantic Monthly, The Wall Street Journal, and Sports Illustrated.
TOM HANKS (Producer) holds the distinction of being the first actor in 50 years to be awarded back-to-back Best Actor Academy Awards. In 1993, he won the Oscar for his performance as the AIDS-stricken lawyer in Philadelphia. The following year he took home his second consecutive Oscar for his work in the title role of Forrest Gump.
Hanks received his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor for his work in Penny Marshall's Big. He was also Oscar nominated for his performance in Steven Spielberg's World War II drama Saving Private Ryan, and for his work in Robert Zemeckis' Cast Away.
In addition to the many other honors Hanks has received, he was named "Man of the Year" by the nation's oldest undergraduate dramatic group, Harvard's Hasty Pudding Theatricals.
In 1996, Hanks made his feature film writing and directing debut with That Thing You Do! The film's title song not only reached the Top 10 in many contemporary music charts, but was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Hanks also appeared in the film in a supporting role.
In 1995, Hanks starred as astronaut Jim Lovell in Ron Howard's true-life drama Apollo 13. His experience on the film led to him executive producing HBO's From the Earth to the Moon-an ambitious 12-hour dramatic film anthology that explored the Apollo space program. Not only did Hanks personally help make this show a reality, he directed the first episode and wrote and appeared in the final episode. He won an Emmy for Outstanding Mini-Series.
In 2001, Hanks teamed with Steven Spielberg to executive produce the acclaimed World War II mini-series Band of Brothers, and also directed an episode. Hanks won Golden Globe and Emmy Awards for Best Mini-Series and an Emmy Award for Best Director for Band of Brothers. Under the Playtone banner, Hanks' credits as a producer also include the hit comedy My Big Fat Greek Wedding, the animated adventure The Polar Express and the current HBO hit series Big Love.
GARY GOETZMAN's (Producer) producing credits include Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon, The Polar Express, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Beloved, That Thing You Do!, The Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia, Devil In a Blue Dress, Miami Blues, Modern Girls, Amos and Andrew, Storefront Hitchcock, HBO's Band of Brothers, which was the 2001 Emmy and Golden Globe winner for best miniseries, the current HBO break-out hit Big Love, and the upcoming fall release Starter for Ten.
At 21, Goetzman production managed Jonathan Demme's directorial debut Caged Heat. He also produced the Talking Heads' concert film Stop Making Sense, Neil Young's long-form video The Complex Sessions, music videos for Bruce Springsteen, Suzanne Vega and David Byrne, as well as Jane Child's number one music video Don't Wanna Fall in Love, which he also directed.
In 1998, Goetzman teamed with Tom Hanks to form Playtone, a film, television and record company.
KEITH ALCORN (Executive Producer) has been involved in all facets of animation for over 25 years. In 1987, along with partner John A. Davis, he started DNA Productions, providing animation for the commercial, corporate and entertainment industries.
In 1997, Alcorn served as producer/lead character designer for the 1997 ABC animated Christmas special Santa vs. The Snowman. It was the first all-3D cartoon made for primetime. That same year he served as director/designer for The Adventures of Fatman, an animated segment that appeared in the CBS Saturday morning series The Weird Al Show.
Alcorn provided character design on steve.oedekerk.com, which aired on NBC in 1996. For Roseanne's Saturday Night Special, he designed and directed a series of animated comedic short films entitled The Spooners. In 1999, he produced the Emmy Award-nominated Olive, the Other Reindeer. He has also produced and directed several direct-to-video animated episodes of Jingaroo and his Crew.
Since 1991, Alcorn has served as creator of the ongoing animated series of shorts featuring Nanna & Lil' Puss Puss, which have appeared on Comedy Central, Showtime and MTV. All this experience eventually lead to the realization of making an animated feature film, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.
Alcorn recently wrapped up director/executive producer duties on the television series The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, before beginning work on his second feature film, The Ant Bully.
DIANA CHOI SACHS (Executive Producer) has served as the head of film and television development at Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman's production company Playtone since its inception in 1998. She has worked on various projects, including My Big Fat Greek Wedding, The Polar Express, Band of Brothers, Big Love, and the upcoming Starter For Ten. Prior to Playtone, she was an executive at Jonathan Demme's Clinica Estetico.
STEVEN SHARESHIAN (Executive Producer) served as executive producer on the Oscar-nominated sleeper hit My Big Fat Greek Wedding for Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman's Playtone, where he is the head of production. He started his producing career at Jonathan Demme's Clinica Estetico, where he served as the associate producer on Beloved. Shareshian is an executive producer on the upcoming Playtone films Starter For Ten, and The Great Buck Howard, starring John Malkovich and Colin Hanks.
THOMAS TULL (Executive Producer) is the Chairman and CEO of Legendary Pictures, the production company which recently entered into a five-year, 25-picture deal with Warner Bros. Pictures. The company reaped resounding success with Batman Begins and Superman Returns. In addition to John A. Davis' The Ant Bully, its current slate of Warner projects includes M. Night Shyamalan's Lady in the Water, Roland Emmerich's 10,000 B.C. and Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are.
Tull has most recently been president and a director of The Convex Group, a media and entertainment holding company in Atlanta launched by WebMD founder Jeff Arnold that invests in new media networks. Tull executed M&A activity, including the acquisitions of content company How Stuff Works and content distribution platforms LidRock and FlexPlay. He developed the company's relationships and partnerships with motion picture, music and videogame companies. Prior to Convex, Tull was a principal at the Southeast Interactive Technology Funds, the largest venture-capital IT fund in the Southeast.
Tull grew up in Endwell in upstate New York. His first foray into Hollywood came when he was a partner at a North Carolina-based investment fund that specialized in media and technology. In 1996, he helped craft the deal creating Red Storm Entertainment, which made games based on Tom Clancy's books. He relied on his experience as a venture capitalist to raise the initial capitalization for Legendary Pictures from a consortium of blue chip investors-
ABRY Partners, Banc of America Capital Investors and AGI Direct Investments among them. Tull architected the unique structure of the company, which was awarded the prestigious 'Deal of the Year' in the entertainment industry in 2005 by IDD Magazine.
WILLIAM FAY (Executive Producer) has been a successful producer and executive producer for nearly 20 years. Among his film credits are The Patriot, starring Mel Gibson, and the blockbuster Independence Day, which at its release was the second-highest grossing motion picture of all time, taking in more than $800 million worldwide at the box office.
For six years, Fay was president of Centropolis Entertainment, one of the most successful production companies in Hollywood. During that time Centropolis produced films totaling nearly $1.5 billion in worldwide box office, and successfully developed digital entertainment ventures such as Centropolis Effects (a top-tier visual effects house merged with Das Werk in April 2001) and mothership.com (a leading sci-fi Online vertical sold to USA Networks in June 2000).
Fay is a founding partner and president of production at Legendary Pictures, which last year closed a five-year, 25-picture producing and co-financing deal with Warner Bros. Pictures. Legendary's first film was the worldwide hit Batman Begins. Among the films on which Fay serves as executive producer are Superman Returns, currently in theaters; the New Mexico-filmed Beerfest, starring the Broken Lizard comedy troupe; and Independence Day director Roland Emmerich's new film, 10,000 B.C.
ALEX JOHNS (Co-executive Producer) has nearly 20 years of digital animation experience. Just prior to joining the creative team behind The Ant Bully, Johns was a co-producer on the animated series Futurama, Matt Groening's out-of-this-world follow-up to The Simpsons. He also produced the Futurama video game, and seasons two and three of the Futurama DVD box sets.
Johns began his career as a production manager in the film colorization division at American Film Technologies, overseeing the color imaging process of more than 200 black-and-white features, and the digital ink-and-paint stage of over 150 cartoon classics. His long list of film and television credits as a line producer or production manager include The Ren & Stimpy Show, The Land Before Time V and VI, Hercules and Xena, An American Tail III, and Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.
In 1999, Johns served as a producer on the animated holiday television movie Olive, The Other Reindeer, voiced by an ensemble cast, including Drew Barrymore, Dan Castellaneta, Joe Pantoliano, Edward Asner, Tim Meadows and Jay Mohr.
JOHN DEBNEY (Composer) earned an Academy Award nomination for his score for Mel Gibson's film phenomenon The Passion of the Christ. Debney's music will be heard later this year in Barnyard, Idlewild and Everyone's Hero; and in 2007 in Sin City 2 and Evan Almighty.
Debney has worked repeatedly with several noted directors, including Garry Marshall on The Princess Diaries, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement and Raising Helen; Robert Rodriguez on Spy Kids, Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams, Sin City and The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3D; Jon Favreau on Elf and Zathura; and Tom Shadyac on Liar Liar, Dragonfly and Bruce Almighty.
His extensive film credits include The Pacifier, Swimfan, The Scorpion King, Snow Dogs, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, Scary Movie 2, Cats & Dogs, Heartbreakers, The Emperor's New Groove, End of Days, Inspector Gadget, Paulie, I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Relic, Little Giants and Hocus Pocus, to name only a portion.
Debney's classical training as a composer has led him to emphasize live performance. He has conducted some of the world's greatest orchestras performing his original works and, most recently, enlisted master violinist Joshua Bell to perform on his score for Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story, and trumpet legend Arturo Sandoval for the score to OutKast's Idlewild. Following the success of The Passion of the Christ film, he premiered The Passion of the Christ Symphony in Rome, featuring an 83-person choir and 96-piece orchestra.
In recognition of his many accomplishments, Debney, only in his forties, received ASCAP's prestigious Henry Mancini Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.
註：以上資訊由片主或其推廣代表提供。本網並不保證此等資訊是否正確。
Note: The information above is provided by the owners of the film or their agents
who are responsible for the promotion of the film. We do not guarantee the accuracy
of such information.
相關連結 Related Links
|
Copyright(C)
1999-2011 Hong Kong Internet Ventures. All rights reserved.
|