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復活節奇幻歷險 一"縮"即發
《迷你魔界大冒險》 Arthur and the Minimoys
洛比桑 費迪夏摩亞 麥當娜 羅拔迪尼路

鬼才導演+天才童星+樂壇天后+金像影帝 = 最過癮歷險

法籍鬼才大導洛比桑（Luc Besson）盡展超凡創意，以真摰童心變出最天馬行空奇幻世界！他自編自導兼監製的首部真人混合電腦動畫作品，找來《朱古力掌門人》、《小飛俠前傳之魔幻童心》天才童星費迪夏摩亞（Freddie Highmore）擔綱演出，更邀得天后麥當娜（Madonna）、影帝羅拔迪尼路（Robert De Niro）及大衛寶兒（David Bowie）出聲出力，為動畫部份配音。一個反傳統的「魔界」、一班蝦碌爆笑的「迷你魔」，為各位帶來今個復活節最出奇驚喜的歷險！

橫掃票房4星期No.1 狂勝同期動畫

早前《迷你魔界大冒險》於歐洲率先上映成績驕人，不單席捲歐洲票房，法國一開畫即連奪四個星期票房冠軍，更比同期上映的荷里活動畫《踢躂小企鵝》開畫票房多4倍，入場人數更超過6百萬人次，在全歐洲刮起一片迷你魔旋風！

縮水豆丁勇闖神秘魔界

10歲細路阿發（費迪夏摩亞　飾），終日沉醉於失蹤爺爺留低的古書，書中記載了神秘精靈族群「迷你魔」的事跡！為找到爺爺收藏在「迷你魔界」的超級寶藏，阿發縮水進入奇幻國度，遇上迷人的莎蓮娜公主（麥當娜　聲演），卻遭迷你魔的死敵邪惡之王（大衛寶兒　聲演）派大軍來襲！阿發唯有拔出石中神劍，放出飛天啜咀鳥，來比拼毒蚊空軍和巨型蜈蚣坦克，更與億萬邪王軍展開奪寶大戰，過程驚險刺激、瘋狂惹笑，盡展導演洛比桑的驚人想像力！

香港電影節隆重首映 洛比桑親身來港

在三月底舉行的香港國際電影節，《迷你魔界大冒險》獲大會邀請舉行特別首映。為隆重其事，導演洛比桑更將專程遠道從法國乘搭私人飛機來港出席，本港的影迷終於繼《猛龍戰警》後再有機會接觸這位天才橫溢的大導演。此外，早前《迷你魔界大冒險》在中國上映，洛比桑亦親身飛往北京、上海等主要城市進行宣傳，可見他對電影的信心和重視！排山倒海的全球宣傳攻勢，令洛比桑這部新作份外矚目，相信全球影迷早已密切期待，迎接這部耗資1億3千萬美元，動員超過700人參與的抵死過癮創意之作！

全球紅星鼎力支持 3大"娜姐"爭住聲演迷你俏公主

洛比桑讓全球影壇等足7年的新作，當然非同少可，全球各地巨星紛紛出口配音，英語版本有荷里活影帝羅拔迪尼路聲演迷你魔國王，還有樂壇性格巨星大衛保兒聲演邪惡之王，而台灣版則由紅遍港台的偶像組合S.H.E.的兩位成員Ella和Hebe，分別負責反串聲演主角阿發和地鼠米羅，以及由伍佰為邪惡之王配音，足以證明洛比桑的地位舉足輕重。

其中「女主角」莎蓮娜公主的配音陣容最為強勁，各地的女星可謂「爭崩頭」，英語版方面成功邀得全球樂壇天后，而且極有性格的麥當娜（Madonna）擔當。麥當娜繼創作兒童故事書《Mr. Peabody's Apples》後，再踏足動畫電影界，力撐老友洛比桑，更到世界各地出席首映禮及宣傳活動，出聲出力，可見其重視程度。台灣方面則請來組合S.H.E.的Selina為莎蓮娜公主配音，至於香港亦邀得人氣急升兼個性特出的另一位"娜姐"官恩娜聲演莎蓮娜公主。

對於能與偶像麥當娜聲演同一角色，官恩娜表示相當高興，另一方面她覺得自己的爽朗性格和角色非常配合，所以自己配得唯俏唯妙，出來的效果絕對不會被其他兩位"娜姐"比下去。麥當娜、Selina、官恩娜3大"娜姐"，一於齊齊力撐洛比桑！

玩?抵死場面打造奇幻魔界
盡顯洛比桑無限創意

鬼才大導演洛比桑，創意和抵死諗頭一向出色，《第五元素》、《的士速逮》讓全球觀眾驚嘆。今次首次執導真人混合電腦動畫作品，更將其反斗童真一面表露無遺，《迷外魔界大冒險》片中的設計別出心裁，令人拍案叫絕。

創意設計
放大鏡 = 魔界通道!?
迷你魔界就藏在阿發家的後院，但阿發苦尋不獲通往魔界的方法，原來爺爺的望遠鏡正是前往魔界的通道，而且使用方法更出人意表！

煩人毒蚊 = 超級空軍!?
在迷你魔界裡，邪惡之王有一批驍勇善戰的空軍，原來這些空軍的坐駕就是現實中的毒蚊，認真意想不到！

空對空武器 = 啜咀鳥!?
為對付魔王軍的空中部隊，西多王子拿出秘密武器狙擊毒蚊空軍，就是永遠成雙成對，超級恩愛的啜咀鳥「霆鋒」和「柏芝」！無論分開多遠，牠們都會排除萬難找到對方…估不到愛情也能成為對付敵人的武器！

飲管 = 滅絕工具!?
邪惡之王想要統治迷你魔界，第一王國當然成為眼中釘，為了達到目的，他決定水淹第一王國，而且更是利用阿發的飲管來實行他的驚天奸計！

黑膠唱盤 = 決鬥場地!?
電影邀請到Rap壇巨星SNOOP DOGGY DOG為酒吧老闆麥西配音，導演洛比桑為了突顯他的捽碟造詣，特別將一部黑膠唱片機設計成決戰舞台。讓阿發和SNOOP DOG一路和敵人決鬥，一路捽碟！Let's Rap！

硬殼核桃 = 特急交通工具!?
阿發和莎蓮娜一行人，為了打敗邪惡之王，要趕往他的根據地妖巫市。眾人的交通工具意想不到的意是飛天硬殼核桃，途中更笑料百出，十分過癮。

抵死搞作
穿崩閱兵儀式 = 玩串《魔戒》式千軍萬馬
《魔戒》千萬魔軍閱兵震撼銀幕，洛比桑卻加插穿崩搞笑場面，其中竟然見到有小兵拿著指示板提示大軍為邪惡之王的演說拍掌歡呼，有如綜藝節目觀眾，搞笑非常！

?你命3000 = 玩串《星戰》式原力激光劍
《星球大戰》中一班原力武士的激光劍如此經典，洛比桑當然不會放過，將之變成周星馳式的「擺你命3000」！由劍柄伸出的武器竟變士巴拿、罐頭刀、指甲挫，即時激死。

邪惡之王麥提沙 = 玩串《哈利波特》伏地魔
《哈利波特》中的魔王伏地魔令人聞風喪膽，大家連他的名字也不敢提及，以免招來噩運。這個概念來到洛比桑手上更被大玩特玩，來揶揄《哈利波特》。片中各色想提起邪惡之王又不敢，唯有用各種古靈精怪、似明非明的提示，結果大家說完都不知道是在說誰，笑到噴飯。

舞池爆笑大混戰 = 玩串《危險人物》經典舞步
《危險人物》中尊特拉華達和奧瑪花曼跳舞絕對是電影史上其中一幕最經典場面，洛比桑將人物換成阿發與莎蓮娜公主，而且還邊跳舞，邊打發一班來搞事的邪惡之王手下，非常過癮。

迷你魔逐個捉

阿發
非常崇拜3年前失蹤、本是建築師的爺爺。他相信爺爺所說的每個傳奇故事，尤其有關「迷你魔界」的事跡更令他著迷。在他10歲生日的那一天，他沿著爺爺留下的提示，終於打開通往迷你魔界的神秘通道，展開抵死惹笑又驚險刺激的冒險旅程，尋找寶藏，從債主手上救回大屋。

莎蓮娜公主
迷你魔界中的公主，性感又高傲。在國王的要求下，她要和縮水進入迷你魔界尋寶的阿發，一起踏上驚天奪寶旅途。旅途上阿發深深愛上莎蓮娜公主，卻竟然發現她已經1000歲！

西多王子
莎蓮娜公主的弟弟，為人搞笑醒目，但偏偏喜歡與姊姊作對。最擅長的武器是威力有如「?你命3000」的多功能刀。平時意見多多，貢獻卻永遠不多。

國王
迷你魔界的現任國王，莎蓮娜和西多的父親，非常有威嚴。但除威嚴外的優點有待發掘，有時忽然變身大細路，鍾意認叻又懶醒，笑料百出。

邪惡大王
傳說中的大魔王，狡猾、兇殘，手下更擁有大批魔王軍，為將迷你魔趕盡殺絕不擇手段，令迷你魔界陷入極大危機。

天才童星費迪夏摩亞獲導演激讚
曾經在《這個殺手不太冷》中發掘超級童星妮妲莉寶雯（Natalie Portman）的洛比桑，對於今次的主角費迪夏摩亞（Freddie Highmore）的表現讚不絕口，甚至將費迪夏摩亞與已貴為荷里活超級巨星的妮妲莉寶雯相提並論。

「我實在太幸運了，一生之中竟然可以遇上兩位天才童星。在遇上費迪前，我已經在法國、英國和美國面試過無數小朋友。最後剩下3個英國小朋友和2個美國小朋友，可是我決定不了。這時另一位試鏡導演卻將費迪夏摩亞介紹給我，這種級數的童星你絕對不會錯過，只需看一眼你就知他比其他小朋友出色得多。」洛比桑這樣評價。

「他擁有小朋友的天真無邪，同時卻表現出成年演員的專業。他有很多對白，而且是電影重心，可是卻演繹得非常自然。」否則尊尼特普也不會在《小飛俠前傳之魔幻童心》和費迪夏摩亞合作後，將他極力推薦給另一位鬼才大導演添布頓，擔當《朱古力獎門人》的主角。而洛比桑則表示相比於前兩套作品，費迪夏摩亞在《迷你魔界大冒險》中的演出更加出色，絕對值得留意。

費迪夏摩亞則認為：「這是每個小朋友夢寐以求的機會！因為這是每個小朋友都會喜歡的故事，魔界就在你的後花園，你可以和其他小動物說話、做朋友，當然還有漂亮的公主…而且這個角色和我本人有很多相似的地方，尤其是魯莽的性格，哈。只可惜我沒法親身騎上那些毒蚊空軍！」

洛比桑籌備7年 鬼才導演童心之作
洛比桑堪稱當今影壇最多才多藝的導演，《這個殺手不太冷》堪稱殺手電影中的超級經典，亦有《聖女貞德》般史詩式壯大的故事，但亦不可忽視他在搞笑方面的造詣，《第5元素》、《的士速逮》等電影充份表現出他童真頑皮的一面。《迷你魔界大冒險》更是一部讓他將自己的童心和創意發揮到極點的真人與電腦動畫混合電影。

由他於1999年開始籌備拍攝《迷你魔界大冒險》，到2006年完工，足足花了7年時間，而且一共動用700位工作人員。單單動畫部份就已聘用了225位電腦程式員，用了27個月，製作了2千萬幅影像。

7年製作血淚史

1. 1999年，洛比桑看過《迷你魔界大冒險》繪本原作者Patrice Garcia寄來的照片，決定開拍電影，並著手籌組班底。
2. 2001年，導演洛比桑拍攝試片，為整套電影確立大方向。同時攝製隊伍完成第一件大怖景，置於巴黎的臨時片場。
3. 2002年，攝製隊伍終於在巴黎近郊找到合適地點用作正式片場，可以同時容納所有製作及拍攝單位，包括2D、3D及模型製作人員。
4. 2002-2005年，平面設計組共用了3年時間創作充滿創意的魔幻世界。
5. 2003年，原著作者完成整套電影的故事板（Storyboard），電腦繪圖員正式著手製作3D影片。
6. 2003年，設計員開始設計各個主角的造型，當中莎蓮娜公主的設計由開始到最後完成共花了3年。
7. 電腦動畫公司BUF開發出最先進的「動態捕捉（motion capture）」技術，導演洛比桑因此能夠先以真人演員拍攝動畫部份，再由技術部門再之轉化成3D立體動畫。
8. 模型塑造師與電腦動畫程式員通力合作，將模型塑造師悉心塑造的立體佈景轉化成3D立體影像，用於動畫之中。
9. 2005年春，洛比桑開始拍攝電影中由費迪夏摩亞、米亞花露等演員主演的真人部份。2005年尾，整套電影大致完成，開始準備後期工作。
10. 2006年，電影進入配音、配樂等後期工作階段。最終在全球影迷熱切期待下矚目獻映。

洛比桑破格新科技 挑戰迪士尼、夢工場
「在製作3D動畫方面，彼思是世界第一，夢工場緊隨其後。與其和他們比較3D技術，倒不如由我去創造一些新的東西、做一些從沒人做過的事，這樣對我來說更有趣，更具挑戰。」對於自己的首部真人混合電腦動畫作品，洛比桑有這樣的意見。

在洛比桑的指揮下，BUF動畫公司開發出一套全新的「動態捕捉（motion capture）」技術，讓導演可以隨心所欲以真人拍攝動畫電影。在此之前，採用舊式motion capture的3D動畫，如《魔戒》中的咕嚕、《踢躂小企鵝》等，需要演員穿上特製的感應衣物，由電腦記錄演員動作的數據。雖然這種方式能有效模擬演員的動作，但同時卻影響了演員與演員之間的互動性。相反，在BUF的新技術協助下，洛比桑能直接指導演員演出，拍攝出由真人演繹的影片，再將這些影片交由電腦動畫轉化成3D電腦動畫，這樣演員之間的交流和互動，令動畫中角色的反應和連接也更流暢自然，絕對值得細心留意。

迷你魔界台前幕後搞手大起底

最多才多藝的「電影人」
監製、導演、編劇 洛比桑 Luc Besson
洛比桑17歲已製作個人第一套實驗電影，1983年完成第一部黑白電影《最後決戰》，更憑此片連續?取超過20年世界性的電影獎項。1990年，洛比桑進軍荷里活，憑《墮落花》一片震驚影壇，更掀起一片「狂女」熱潮，世界各地電影人更爭相仿效，包括碧姬芳達主演的《舐血狂花》、香港則有梁琤主演的《黑貓》，已足見他不但勇於大膽創新，而且緊緊抓著廣大影迷的口味。1994年，洛比桑憑尚連奴、加里奧文和妮妲莉寶雯主演的《這個殺手不太冷》登上事業高鋒，正式殿定其大師級地位。《這個殺手不太冷》不單止成為殺手電影的超級經典，片中殺手與女童的一段非一般愛情，更為全球影迷留下深刻印象，片中三位主角更憑此片揭開各自演藝事業的新一頁。其後洛比桑忽然風格一轉，拍攝特技科幻鉅製《第五元素》，其抵死刻薄的風格依然大受全球觀眾歡迎，電影在各地票房大收旺場，直接捧紅黑人演員基斯德加，進一步證明洛比桑的多面性和對市場的觸覺。完成《迷你魔界大冒險》後，洛比桑現正投入電影的續集和第3集的工作，兩部電影為分別於2009年上映的《Arthur and the Vengeance of Maltazard》和2010年上映的《Arthur et la guerre des dues mondes》。

洛比桑作品包括：《夜海傾情》(Big Blue)、《墮落花》(Nikita)、《這個殺手不太冷》(Leon: The Professional)、《第五元素》(The Fifth Element)、《的士速逮》(Taxi)、《聖女貞德》(Messenger: The Story Of Joan of Arc)、《極速的士》(Taxi 2)、《猛龍戰警》(Kiss of Dragon)。

天才童星 費迪夏摩亞 Freddie Highmore
費迪夏摩亞在僅7歲的年紀，就已經開始參與電視節目的演出，2004年，與尊尼特普、琦溫斯莉合演的《小飛俠前傳之魔幻童心》，當時年僅11歲的他就已經表現出驚人的演藝天份，獲得尊尼特普將他力薦給添布頓，為電影《朱古力獎門人》擔綱演出。完成《迷你魔界大冒險》，大家亦將可在另一於2008年上映的特技魔幻鉅製《The Spiderwick Chronicles》中欣賞他的天才演技。

屹立影壇50年 米亞花露 Mia Farrow
1959開始，年紀小小的米亞花露已經開始參與電影的幕前演出。1968年，米亞花露主演名導演波蘭斯基的作品《魔鬼怪嬰》，她在片中的出色表現備受讚賞。1982年，當米亞花露遇上活地亞倫，她的事業和人生都起了重大的改變。二人首次合作的《仲夏夜綺夢》反應極佳，更成為二人結婚的契機，此後活地亞倫更特別為她度身訂造角色，前後一共編導了13部由米亞花露主演的電影，當中為影迷留下不少浪漫喜劇經典，直至1996年二人離婚為止。踏入中年後的米亞花露依然活躍於影壇，最近她於《凶兆》（The Omen, 2006）中飾演的魔鬼褓姆，亦給人留下深刻印象。

《迷你魔界大冒險》 Arthur and the Minimoys

4月5日 打開奇幻小宇宙

ARTHUR AND THE MINIMOYS

A film by LUC BESSON

Arthurandtheminimoys.com

SYNOPSIS :

Like any kid his age, Arthur is fascinated by the bedtime stories his Grandmother tells him. His dreams are full of African tribes and incredible inventions recounted from an old magic book that belonged to his Grandfather, who disappeared mysteriously four years ago.

When he takes a closer look at the book, Arthur realizes his grandfather left numerous clues to hidden treasure in the back garden of their house. Even more amazingly, there is, apparently, a whole invisible world underground - a world inhabited by miniscule creatures too small for the naked eye called the Minimoys.

10-year-old Arthur boldly decides to follow in his Grandfather's footsteps, enter the Minimoys' world and explore their land of seven kingdoms. But to do so, there is only one solution: Arthur has to shrink and become a Minimoy, too!

ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS A LITTLE ELF...

- Arthur's Story -

A little boy who enters a world of elves - that was the initial idea on which the film was built. Born out of the long collaboration between Patrice and Celine Garcia, that idea immediately inspired Luc Besson. Before writing the script, he wrote and published Arthur and the Minimoys, based on Celine Garcia's original idea and illustrated by Patrice Garcia. Three other volumes followed: Arthur and the Forbidden City, Maltazard's Revenge and Arthur and the War of the Two Worlds. Written in collaboration with Celine Garcia, the film script was based on the first two volumes of the saga, which has already been translated into 34 languages and sold more than 1 million copies in France.

AN INTERVIEW WITH CELINE GARCIA

co-scriptwriter and inspiration behind the story of Arthur and the Minimoys

Visual artist, Celine Garcia has worked with her husband, Patrice Garcia, for over twenty years. She co-wrote with him his comic books, Allande, Les Fils de la Nuit and Le Chant des etoiles.

Where does the story of Arthur come from?

The idea for the book came out of a combination of my childhood memories, my father's childhood memories and observing my 8-year-old son. So, three generations of children are the basis for Arthur's story, which also hinges on a grandfather I never knew. When I was a child, he seemed to me a very enigmatic character. I pictured him as a sort of Ernest Hemingway. He was a journalist and had a pretty eventful life, traveling far and wide. So, I used that image of an adventurer with a love of Africa for the character of Arthur's grandfather.

And the Minimoys?

The world of elves is a kind of secret garden that Patrice and I shared even before we met. When I was pregnant, we enjoyed walking in the forest and, although it sounds a little crazy, I remember one particular day when a sunbeam gave me the feeling, for about thirty seconds, that I had glimpsed a magical world. That image stayed with me and made me want to tell the story of a little boy who visits that world. I really like the idea of a place where children are as big as the adults, control their own destiny and are capable of doing everything they dream of.

How did all that lead into a film?

After seeing Patrice's photos and reading my texts, Luc Besson told us he wanted to make a film out of it! As amazing as it may seem, we weren't sure and asked for some time to think. It all seemed too much. We weren't ready for it. Then, we thought that it was a wonderful opportunity to share our world, especially as Luc proved to be a great listener when we were writing the script together. He added his own story to mine. It was a pretty unique experience.

And then?

And then, I have to confess that it was pretty frustrating because five years went by between writing the script and seeing the first images! I didn't want to intrude while they were making the film, so I waited. When I finally saw it, I was awestruck and incredulous. To tell the truth, I still wonder if it's all true, if the film is really about to come out! I haven't fully realized yet. I'm still touched by the euphoria of the day Luc said to us, "Let's make a film!"

SEVEN YEARS' PRODUCTION IN TEN MAJOR STAGES

1999. Luc Besson and coproducer Emmanuel Prevost decide to make a film inspired by a photo sent to them by Patrice Garcia. Very early on, Emmanuel Prevost suggests bringing in BUF Cie, renowned for its expertise in photorealistic special effects, for the film's 3D animation.

2001. A short pilot of the movie is shot to test the film's production process. The first large-scale sets are built in studios at St. Ouen, just outside Paris. Patrice Garcia is responsible for directing the pilot and BUF Cie supervises the 3D animation.

2002. Pierre Buffin, a trained architect, finds the site at Pantin, on the outskirts of Paris, which will house everybody working on the film (2D, modelers, 3D) under one roof. The various crews move in two years later.

2002. For the next three years, designers develop the film's stunning fantasy world.

2003. Patrice Garcia completes the film's storyboard, a vital tool for BUF to establish a schedule and budget for the 3D part of the movie.

2003. 3D artists begin to design the characters, a process which continues in some cases through to the last few months of production.

Using a motion video capture technique devised by BUF, Luc Besson is able to apply his experience as a "live-action" director to the animated sections of Arthur by filming the storyboard with a group of actors and recording a scratch soundtrack. All these references can then be used to generate 3D CGI.

Most of the 3D sets are created by constant collaboration between set designers (who build maquettes) and 3D artists (who photograph them and interpret them in 3D).

Spring 2005. Luc Besson shoots the film's live-action sequences with Freddie Highmore and Mia Farrow. Towards the end of the year, the 3D animators deliver a rough version of the film.

10. POST-PRODUCTION

2006. Voices and music are recorded. The film is mixed, rendered and delivered.

AN INTERVIEW WITH director LUC BESSON

"I truly believe it is essential to respect and cherish our inner child".

Do you consider Arthur and the Minimoys a tribute to the world of childhood?

For sure. A philosopher once said, "Child is the father of man" - everything we know, we learn from our experiences as a child. So I think it's only right to respect and cherish the child within us. It's interesting to note that children have deeper bonds with and more respect for nature than supposedly more developed adults.

How did Arthur come into your life?

Patrice Garcia and his wife Celine came to see me with a proposal for a TV series. They had written a short script based on a story about little elves. It was the first time I saw drawings of Arthur, although that wasn't his name back then, and the Minimoys. I found their universe quite fascinating but I wasn't inspired by the idea of a series, so I suggested giving it a shot as a feature film. That seemed too ambitious for them and they asked for some time to think, which was quite understandable because a feature film meant going from a small-scale project to an enterprise involving 350-400 people, with the risk of losing the treasured personal touch that it had in the beginning. In the end, they decided to go for it and we set out on an adventure that lasted four and a half years!

What was the first stage in making it a reality?

Once we had made the decision to shoot a feature film, I called in Emmanuel Prevost, a producer I knew with considerable animation experience. Patrice Garcia also knew him and the three of us brainstormed about the best way of moving the idea forward. The big question was, "technically, how do we do this?" We didn't want to make the film only in 3D, but also to use real-life elements and sets in studio. That was when the fourth musketeer made his entrance: Pierre Buffin. I'd worked with him on a music video for Madonna and on the special effects for some of my films. His technical expertise is acknowledged around the world. We wanted the project to remain in Europe, so Pierre seemed the ideal collaborator. He joined our little group, in which everybody respected the position and talents of the others.

What did you know about animation before you started the movie?

Absolutely nothing. I was a total novice but my approach was the same as for a regular movie - I wanted to tell a story and create characters. That was no different from my previous films. The way the film was to be made was totally different, however. It wasn't a director behind a camera but behind 200 people sitting at computers. Technically, that was completely new for me, but it truly is the film of a director using a different technique rather than that of a technician trying to direct a film.

What was your approach to using these new techniques?

A genius called Pierre Buffin devised a system that enables you to film an actor's movements without resorting to the usual markers. I was completely free to direct the actors any way I wanted. It's totally new. I couldn't explain to you in detail how he did it, but he did and I was absolutely in awe. That was the best material I could give the animators. I couldn't see myself being on their backs every day - they're too good at what they do. On the other hand, by filming my actors from various camera angles, I could give the animators a full range of references for facial expressions, smiles, intent, attitude and so on. I'm not a huge technology enthusiast - I don't even have a computer or an email address - and my inspiration mainly comes from life around me, real life. So, I protect myself from the virtual world even if it fascinates me and I'm surrounded by collaborators who adore it.

You never contemplated making a 100% 3D movie?

In terms of 3D filmmaking, Pixar is at the summit and Dreamworks just a step behind. Rather than venturing onto their territory, I thought it would be more interesting to come up with something new, something nobody had ever done before. That's the case with this film, which combines 3D characters in action on 3D sets that are based on actual models - we really did make the giant mushrooms you see in the film! That gives a unique picture quality and finish. It's our way of competing with them even if we're a tiny company in comparison to them.

What was the funding structure of a big-budget film like this?

Yes, 65 million euros is a lot of money and we had to self-finance the film for the first two years. It's impossible to convince potential partners five years ahead of the release by showing them a sketch and saying, "It's gonna be great!" Until you have something to show them, it's very tough. Fortunately, after two years' work, thanks to the first images we produced, most of the foreign investors that I regularly work with gave me their trust and that was a great help. Then, there was ATARI, who took the risk to join us three years ago when there was very little to go on. It was an inspired idea because their animation teams were able to come and work with our guys and exchange ideas with them over two years. That really shines through in the final version of the game.

Did you have a sense of the scale of the project?

Thankfully, I was totally unaware when I started out on this adventure. I thought it would take a couple of years, not five whole years of my life! Actually, I got pretty down after about two years when there was still nothing to show for all that work. Just imagine, not a single second of footage after two years! I guess Pierre Buffin must have sensed it because he showed me the first few seconds just about a week later.

Is there a lot of yourself in the character of Arthur?

Yes, he's 50% like me. Most children have experienced separation or loss in their families, and it's always a real trauma. I went through similar experiences that deeply affected me and that's there in the most "emotive" part of the film. There's also a bit of me in Selenia, a bit in Betameche and some in Max! Having several children myself, I know that it's not always easy to approach issues such as morality and respect - for others and oneself - with them. Writing Arthur's story and having him find answers to those questions was also a way of talking to my own children. They won't listen to me, but if it's Arthur who's talking, it means a whole lot more to them.

What influence did you have on the design of the characters?

Influence isn't really the right word. Patrice Garcia and his excellent team made heaps of suggestions and, like the captain of a ship, I had to decide our direction and make the final choices, while highlighting the wonderful contribution each person made.

Is that also true of Selenia, who seems to have been the object of particular attention?

Yes, she was a nightmare to design! While most of the characters, such as the King and Betameche, were ready by the second year of production, Selenia was constantly tweaked for four years. There was always some detail that needed attending to... She's a real princess!

What was your approach to casting the live-action scenes?

In the back of our minds, we had the idea that there will be a sequel. Arthur is a trilogy. And so, when you think of people you'd like to work with, you consider not only their talent but also their personality. They have to be reliable. They have to be people you'd happily spend almost a decade with! Freddie and Mia were perfect from that point of view. They have the talent and the personality!

Freddie Highmore is particularly impressive for his age. How did you choose him?

The casting was quite tortuous, flitting between France, the UK and the US. It's very tricky casting a young lead - he has to have a child's innocence and an actor's professionalism because we're asking him to perform constantly and nail his lines and mark every time. I was having a tough time deciding between three English kids and two Americans. Then, a casting director who wasn't working on the project suggested I take a look at some photos of Freddie. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory had just been made. I went to see it and I knew immediately. When a child is above the rest, it sticks out a mile and you don't think twice. I've been very lucky because it's the second time this has happened to me. The first time was with Nathalie Portman, who was amazing even at age 11, and now with Freddie, just a fraction older and just as impressive.

Mia Farrow is an unexpected choice...

It's rare to find an actress who, like her, has played young romantic leads, then mothers, and now in a very natural progression, grandmothers. She is so obviously sweet and kind. She loves kids and reading stories. I didn't have to think about it very long.

And then there are the highly prestigious voices...

Between Disney and Pixar, pretty much every combination has been tried. It's difficult finding a leading actor who has never voiced an animated movie. I knew I wanted Snoop to do Max. I just love his personality and music. When he saw an illustration of the character, he said yes right away and that inspired me to ask other artistes to voice the other characters. Madonna, whom I'm lucky enough to have known for some time, was as swift and efficient as ever. I called her. She agreed. We taped it. As for David Bowie, he's a pure genius. It was a dream working with him.

AN INTERVIEW WITH co-producer EMMANUEL PREVOST

"… we hired "real" actors who actually performed, under Luc Besson's direction, in a draft film in a set of 10 to 12 square meters…".

Emmanuel Prevost started out in filmmaking with the ECPA, the French military's film unit, where he met many leading French animation directors, such as Jacques Rouxel, the creator of the Shadoks, and Stephan Franck. Having closely followed the development of computer animation tools, his technical expertise made him an obvious choice to head up Gaumont's multimedia department, where he met Luc Besson for the first time when the director was developing The Fifth Element. In 1998, Emmanuel met Olivier Megaton at a festival and decided to produce his first feature, Exit. To do so, he founded Avalanche Productions, the company through which he has now coproduced Arthur and the Minimoys.

How did Arthur come into your life?

The first time Luc mentioned the project to me was in 1999 while we were working together on the international distribution of Exit, which I had produced. He showed me a photo of an elf-like character and asked me what I thought. I laughed because I recognized the photo from the Christmas card that Patrice Garcia, with whom I had also worked, had sent me. Luc explained that Celine Garcia had come to see him with an idea for a TV series, but he had suggested turning Arthur into a feature film. He wanted to use the contacts he had made in the US while working on The Fifth Element and my animation experience.

What was the main difficulty in financing the film?

All my years in animation told me that a film like this would be very expensive. We had two possible solutions. Either we created an animation department on the Dreamworks model and developed our own technology - with all the potential problems involved in producing your own software - or we found ourselves a partner who possessed the technology and would make it available to the film. That struck me as a far better idea, especially as I immediately thought of Pierre Buffin, the special effects specialist I respect the most in Europe, and perhaps the world. We soon agreed that we had to shoot a pilot episode, which Luc would finance. That turned out to be a good test because I was convinced that we had to achieve American quality on a comparable budget, which isn't easy for a French company. At the time, I asked Luc for several million francs to shoot 1'46" of film. He put up the money and let us get on with it.

What were the major technological innovations you developed for this project?

The principle innovation was our approach. Most often, animated filmmakers come from "in-house", by which I mean they are usually designers or computer graphics artists. What was interesting with Arthur was that for the first time we were bringing into the world of animation a "live-action" filmmaker with a distinctive sense of framing and cutting. We had to create a bridge between these two worlds because it was hard to imagine Luc coming in every day to talk to each animator. Also, they could easily underestimate him because he had no animation experience. So, we had to give Luc the tools to find a way into their world. That's why we asked him to shoot a "dummy-run" of the film. We hired real actors to perform under his direction in a space that was no more than 12 meters in circumference, while being filmed by 6-9 cameras. The idea was to use Luc's talent to transcend the animation process, by drawing inspiration from his direction of the actors, for example. The system that BUF developed meant that the animators constantly had at their disposal Luc's dummy-run of the film, the edited storyboard and a scratch soundtrack.

Why did you decide to build scale models of the sets?

Patrice Garcia came up with that idea. From the very beginning, he wanted the look of the finished product to be identical to the photo he gave me. Then, one day, Luc said that he wanted kids to be able to go out in their gardens after they saw the film, pick up a stone and think that maybe they'd find a Minimoy under it. That meant we were working toward the farthest extremes of photorealism. I had huge faith in the idea of using models but it turned out to be very complex, especially in post-production. As soon as we solved problems of scale and rendering, however, we achieved incredible results. It's quite amazing how Arthur and the Minimoys simply doesn't look like any other animated film ever made. That was my biggest challenge and the great originality of this film.

AN INTERVIEW WITH CG director PIERRE BUFFIN

In the twenty years that Pierre Buffin has been at the helm of BUF Cie, the company has become a world leader in the field of special effects. A CGI specialist, BUF began working in commercials before devising certain special effects for The Visitors. The company's work on The City of Lost Children captured the imagination of American filmmakers, such as David Fincher, who invited BUF to work on Fight Club and Panic Room. BUF's distinctively photorealistic special effects can be seen in films as diverse as Batman and Robin, Matrix, Human Nature and 2046.

Arthur and the Minimoys offered Pierre Buffin the chance to fulfill a longstanding dream of creating an animated movie.

How did this project reach your desk at BUF Cie?

We'd heard that Luc Besson was developing an animation project. Patrice Garcia and Emmanuel Prevost came to see us, and Emmanuel brought Luc along prior to shooting the pilot of the project. The pilot worked well, so we began to think about how to turn the idea into a feature. The first problem was to establish how much time and money it would take. We'd developed the technology and knew we could make a couple of minutes of film, but the question was whether we could produce over an hour and maintain the quality from beginning to end. It would obviously take a considerable amount of time. In fact, the size of the project was more problematic than the project itself. In the end, though, we realized there wasn't much difference. Let's say that a commercial is a small boat that you know how to sail. If somebody puts you in charge of an aircraft carrier, it's the same principle but you have to anticipate, react faster and earlier.

How did you put your team together?

We didn't follow the American model, at all. They have a lot of experience and very qualified people in specific areas of expertise. The division of labor is huge. Over here, we realized that artists coming out of French schools were able to do everything on a film - storyboarding, modeling, animating, rendering, texture mapping... They are much more versatile. It was important not to restrict them to a specific role, but instead to entrust a whole sequence to them. So, we divided the film up into sequences with each group (we call them "tables") seeing their sequence through from "animatics" (rough animation of the characters) to animation, lighting and rendering. Our job, of course, was to ensure a unity of quality between the sequences. In that respect, a CGI-movie has the advantage of being made in layers, so you can always rework things.

Why hire such young artists?

We didn't have any choice! There weren't enough animation artists in France and, what's more, there were very few people who were familiar with our software, since all our programs were developed in-house at BUF. So we hired young artists, who were fresh and motivated, with about twenty "old-timers" from BUF to supervise them. This structure and their talent made for a great combination.

You chose to produce all the animated sequences at a single facility...

The pilot showed us that it was vital to have the various teams working close to each other. So, we needed a facility where they could be in constant communication with each other. We found an old grain store in Pantin, just outside Paris. It seemed just perfect because it had a huge central space surrounded by smaller buildings, which could house the 3D people, production offices, designers and so on.

The central space was where you built the scale-models of the sets. Why choose that option?

One of the issues we had to resolve came from the blend of live-action and 3D. We wanted to avoid the Roger Rabbit effect of a marked difference between animation and live-action. On the contrary, we aimed to make the two worlds in our film as similar as possible to get a truly naturalistic effect. When we shot the pilot, we did tests with real vegetation and giant sets to allow the camera to cover everything, but we realized that the best option was to do all the camerawork on 3D while remaining as close to reality as possible. That's where the scale-models came in. Rather than CGI-ing everything, we chose to combine 3D with real-life elements, which give the environment more substance. The models were, in fact, interpreted on 3D by projecting photos of each part of the model into the 3D frame. It was a method we had used for certain special effects and massively increases the realism.

The other particularity of the film is that it is Luc Besson's first animated picture. How did that change the way you usually work?

We soon realized that it would be impossible for Luc to be there every day, so we needed to gather as much information as possible in the time he could give us (which wasn't easy when you know his work schedule!). We also knew that it would be difficult for a "traditional" director to explain what he wanted to an artist and then wait two weeks to see the result. The best approach was to give Luc the necessary tools to shoot his film without the technical constraints of animation. That's when we had the idea of Video Motion Capture, a technique we developed for films such as Oliver Stone's Alexander. Luc chose his actors and filmed them on video, without sets or props, but with several camera angles. This provided a frame of reference (in terms of cutting and characters) that we could use every day. Prior to that, Luc had run through the whole storyboard with the artists and we had recorded him. All this information was made available to the artists, shot by shot.

What were the major difficulties you encountered?

A lot of things are hard to generate in 3D, such as nature, characters, expressions... It's not really a question of difficulties, just that some things take longer than others, such as bringing the characters to life, giving them a real personality.

Water is usually a major challenge in animation. How did you achieve such striking realism?

We did numerous tests and tried pretty much everything. We were so scared the 3D images wouldn't be realistic enough, we decided to film the water. We asked production designer Hugues Tissandier and his team to build a section of river. A lighting cameraman helped light it and we started filming... Except that, for reasons of scale, we had to change the camera speed and use 100,000-watt lights so that it would work visually. While we were filming, the vegetation shriveled up and died and the model started smoking! As a result, we used very few real shots, except for the waterfall and the tunnel, when they escape in the Ferrari. Everything else is 3D based on real footage.

The characters' eyes and movements are also amazingly realistic...

Personally, I've always been horrified by 3D animation from software that gives priority to mathematical algorithms over manipulation. Ever since we started developing our own animation software, we have always tried to make things as intuitive as possible. I work on the assumption that anybody should be able to animate, but today the background of most 3D animators is more technical than artistic because it's so complicated. As for the eyes, people often say that they reflect the soul and there's a hint of truth in that. That's what's so complex. The eyes take a huge amount of hard work, and even a little cheating.

Apparently, Selenia is the character who required the most work...

Selenia was only completed in January 2006, when we had already rendered almost the whole film! Her face kept changing because she's the only truly humanoid character. Arthur and Betameche, with their big round eyes, are clearly elves, but Selenia had to be more photorealistic. It's particularly tricky to make a credible human because everybody is surrounded by the real thing and so the tiniest detail out of place jars immediately. The more stylized the character, the simpler his or her personality, the easier they are to animate. We nailed Darkos and all the other villains very quickly. Also, Selenia is a girl, so she had to be sexy and that's even more complicated. Even with a perfect design on paper, in 3D it was a nightmare! I honestly think that Selenia's pesky personality filtered through to the fabrication. With Arthur, everything was much easier. He was top of the class, as usual.

At what point do you say to yourself that an image is finished?

That's the whole problem in our job. It's never finished. Every image can always be improved. You can spend a month on a single frame, one 25th of a second. It drives you nuts! Fortunately, we are limited by the schedule... and budget!

How do you look back on the project now?

The most important thing for us was to go off the beaten path and make something that was totally distinctive. We realized that it is possible to make a film using a different approach and different methods than the American studios, with an end result that looks just as good. That's the biggest kick I got out of this film. We made it in a different way, and faster and cheaper than we had foreseen!

ARTHUR AND THE MINIMOYS

- THE LIVE-ACTION SHOOT -

In spring 2005, Luc Besson began shooting the live-action scenes of Arthur and the Minimoys, working for six weeks with a group of regular collaborators, including first assistant Stephane Gluck, production designer Hugues Tissandier (for the first time since Joan of Arc), costume designer Olivier Beriot, and Thierry Arbogast, the director of photography on five of his feature films.

America in Normandy

Normandy was chosen for the exteriors, which were to be a close reproduction of Smalltown, USA, in the early 1960s. To achieve the picture-postcard image that Luc Besson wanted, costume designer Olivier Beriot drew his inspiration from the very rich illustrations of that period. "There are a lot of documents," he says, "that show situations that appear in the film. For example, we used lots of Ideal Home kind of ads to get the look of the characters, such as the grandmother cooking with her grandchildren. We also relied heavily on the work of Norman Rockwell, which gives a good idea of what seniors were wearing at the time. Also, a lot of Americans post family photos on the internet, so we also had a model for real people in the 1950s." Production designer Hugues Tissandier also did a lot of research to build an image of a typical one-horse town, but with an added obsession - blending live-action and 3D. "I needed to make the live-action segue perfectly into the animated scenes, so we did all we could to make sure the two worlds formed a single visual universe. We changed a lot of the colors to achieve that unity."

AN INTERVIEW WITH actor FREDDIE HIGHMORE

Freddie Highmore is Arthur

Thirteen years old and as many films to his name, Freddie Highmore is already a full-fledged TV and movie star. His credits include two films with Johnny Depp, Neverland, shot in his native England, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, directed by Tim Burton. In his young career, Freddie has worked with an impressive list of top directors: after Jean-Jacques Annaud, for Two Brothers, and before Luc Besson, for Arthur and the Minimoys, he co-starred opposite Russell Crowe in Ridley Scott's A Good Year

What did you know from Arthur before shooting the movie?

I read the books before, even some parts in French, and I loved the world of the Minimoys; it is exactly what the children want to believe in: a small universe hidden underneath the grass, where you can speak to small animals, make friend with them…

Do you feel close to Arthur's character?

Maybe a little bit. In any case I did take a lot of pleasure getting into such a generous character!

His only imperfection is probably the fact that he never thinks enough before he acts…

I didn't have any difficulties to identify myself to the part, even if I can't drive a Mosquito, it's too bad!

Do you work hard before you start shooting? When you perform, we always have the feeling that you are extremely spontaneous…

Even if there is a natural part, I also work: I think a lot about the character aspects before shooting.

His temperament? The way he dresses? What he likes?

This way I can get right down to what he is.

So basically, I have the feeling that I already know him before we start the movie.

And how did you react that you saw yourself for the first time, I mean Arthur as a Minimoy?

It was incredible: with a character so well animated and, besides, which has my voice, it's a bit of me - I spent a few days dubbing Arthur - the result was weird to me, it is sort of unexplainable…

How would you describe Luc Besson's style of work?

He works extremely hard. All directors must have that thing of always working but when he finishes on set, Luc would go off and would try to do a bit more on the animation to make it out a little bit better. That is why I think this film is so great, probably because of Mia and me but mainly because of Luc.

How was your collaboration with Mia Farrow?

She's the ideal nanny; she is just how you want your favourite granny to be, the one all the children dream of. She has so many stories to tell: she was married to Frank Sinatra and she was around when the Beatles were recording their songs!

As a young spectator, what do you think of the animated parts of the film?

I think the youngest will like the idea that the Minimoys are two millimetres high and that we can not see them with our own eyes. They all will want to have the same in their gardens!

When you see the film, you get drawn into it and you just believe that there are these creatures underneath the ground! This is crazy.

The Special Effects

The main difficulty in shooting the live-action scenes was the interaction with 3D sequences. The VFX were supervised by BUF Cie. The telescope scene, for example, when Arthur shrinks and tumbles into the Land of the Minimoys, was made in six different stages, starting with shots in three separate sections of a giant telescope: the chute that Freddie Highmore slides down; the lens within the telescope that he falls onto; and the end of the telescope that he climbs into. Then came the tracking shot in the garden against the background of a full moon (a powerful light suspended from a crane), which was then re-enacted at the same speed against a green screen with Freddie clinging to a trapeze, so that the special effects team could match the shots together.

Throughout the shoot, the crew was amazed by the professionalism of the young actor - "twelve years old but forty years in the business!" exclaims Stephane Gluck, who also praises Mia Farrow's simplicity: "like all the very best actors, she is amazingly open and giving."

Remaking Nature

It may be fairly easy to change the shape or color of a house, but it's not so easy to wait for a garden to evolve with the seasons. "What was on screen couldn't be allowed to change from one day to the next, which meant stopping the course of nature. So, we had fake trees and flowers in among the real ones. We replanted every two weeks so flowers bloomed regularly! The same approach was applied to the kitchen garden and fields around the grandmother's house, which was purpose-built next to a large oak tree. The Bogo-Matasalai tribesmen are not authentic Masai warriors either, but actors chosen for their height - the smallest stands 1m95, or 6 feet 6 inches, and the tallest was 2m10, or 7 feet. They were then dressed in colorful costumes with bead necklaces. For the scenes in the long grass, we had them wearing 20 cm high platform heels so they would seem even taller."

AN INTERVIEW WITH actress MIA FARROW

Mia Farrow is Arthur's Granny

Mia Farrow's unforgettable performance in Rosemary's Baby (1968) made her a star all over the world, and she subsequently marked American film history with her long collaboration with Woody Allen, whose wife and muse she was for nearly ten years. Arthur and the Minimoys is unlike any other film she has made, but it is not the first time Mia has worked with a French director. In 1972, she starred in Doctor Popaul, directed by Claude Chabrol!

It is quite a surprise to discover you in a partly-animated movie: so what did convince you to do this project?

Three things: Luc Besson, Luc Besson and Luc Besson!

The day when he invited me for lunch to talk about the movie, I assumed he was meeting many actresses on that occasion. So when he asked me if I wanted something to eat, I refused, because I didn't want him to loose too much of his time, assuming that all the candidates to the part could arrive anytime. I was therefore extremely surprised and excited when he chose me for the part at this very lunch.

"Leon: The Professional" is one of my favourite films ever, I also very much liked "The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc": I feel very close to his universe and this project appeared to me as the perfect occasion to work together. When he showed me the photos of the farmhouse, I really thought it was my house in Connecticut, it was amazing!

I also felt very close to this grandma character, living alone, raising and taking care of her grandson by herself: it's something that I know very well, being a single mother.

We effectively feel a real intimacy on screen between Freddie and you.

We became really close: we spent some time together outside the set, having diner together or discovering the beaches of Normandy.

Freddie is many things and all of them are good: he is a superb actor and he is a good company. He also has a very good perspective of the environment, and tremendous work ethic… It wasn't like working with a kid, it is like working with another - senior - actor but the fun thing is that he is a kid.

How would you describe Luc Besson' work?

There are a lot of facets on Luc Besson' personality; some are quite intimidating, and his knowledge about films is undeniable. But the kindness he uses regarding his comedians makes you feel really confident. And I am not even talking about the ideas he always suggests you, bringing so much to your character. I don't know if he has directed many comedies, but he has an incredible flair for comedy.

What is your opinion regarding the mix between live action shots and animated parts inside the film?

I usually don't get caught up so much with cartoons, so I was really curious to see how it would look like and I must say the result is just magical: the characters look so real!

I don't know much about the technical aspects; I can barely use a digital camera but I am not surprised that you need years of hard work to attain such a miracle…

ARTHUR AND THE MINIMOYS

- SETS AND CHARACTERS: THREE YEARS OF DESIGN WORK -

The design team was one of the first to be brought together, even before the script was complete. The team was built around Patrice Garcia and Philippe Rouchier, co-art directors. In 2001, they both worked on the pilot. In January 2002, two other artists, Nicolas Fructus and Georges Bouchelaghem, joined them to design the whole artistic universe of Arthur and the Minimoys.

FIRST DRAFTS

"We were left alone in the studio for a while without any real indications, so that we would come up with a wide variety of ideas. We had no preconceptions of what the Minimoys looked like," explains Georges Bouchelaghem. Philippe Rouchier adds, "We started work on the project with just a basic idea of the story - miniscule creatures who live underground, a villain, and a little boy who passes into the underground world. So we had to ask ourselves dumb questions like 'What do the Minimoys look like?' 'How do they walk?' 'What do they wear?' 'What are their houses like?' 'Where's the King's palace in relation to the village?' and so on. We had enormous freedom and our sketches ran the whole gamut. After a while, Luc Besson came to see us, chose the best direction to keep moving forward and installed a kind of unity. After that, we simply had to adjust our drawings to fit the script."

AN INTERVIEW WITH PATRICE GARCIA,

creator of the universe and co-artistic director

Patrice Garcia is the man behind the stunning visual universe of Arthur and the Minimoys. A comic book author best known in the cinema for his special effects expertise, he first worked with Luc Besson on The Fifth Element in 1992. A big fan of magical worlds and fantasy, along with his wife Celine, Patrice was the first link in the chain that led to Arthur and the Minimoys.

How did the Minimoys' world come into being?

Originally, Arthur came out of some research I was doing. I wanted to see what effect I could achieve with elves made out of watercolors and scraps of fabric. It all began, down on my hands and knees in the forest, taking photos of these watercolor cutouts under mushrooms. Gradually, the characters took shape and Celine added Arthur's story. We've both always been fascinated by the world of elves, which was already present in the first comic book we did together.

How did you produce all the preparatory graphics?

We brought together a team of graphic artists before the script was finished. The bare bones of the story were enough for them to work from. In fact, it was important to give them free rein. I provided some preliminary sketches and suggested various possibilities, and the team got to work. Then, Luc Besson would decide what he liked. It was also important to create a universe that would function cohesively. The film's sets and characters all came out of that process, a bit like piecing together a puzzle. For Selenia, there were times when we had thirty faces pinned to the wall, with subtle variations in expression. She was the character who changed most frequently. We started out with the idea of a princess who was more childlike than sexy and, in the end, it was Pierre Buffin who developed the final design, on 3D. Similarly, Arthur was much more "insectoid" when we shot the pilot.

Which you directed...

Yes, we had to test the feasibility of these animated characters in a real world. Luc Besson provided the funding to build the models, shoot it and, with Pierre Buffin, animate Arthur in the environment we created. We had no guarantee that the various textures would match but the initial result was very positive.

What were the main references for your work?

Nature, essentially. We used heaps of photos of vegetation textures and shapes. I got a lot of my inspiration from the south of France. For example, I remember using a stone from the Isle of Gaou in the Mediterranean as the basis for Maltazard's world. I also owe a lot to the work of artists, such as Patrick Woodroffe, an English painter, Brain Froud and Alan Lee (the art director on Lord of the Rings). They fired my imagination and influenced my own art.

AN INTERVIEW WITH co-artistic director PHILIPPE ROUCHIER,

has worked on the film since 1999

After graduating from Ecole Emile Cohl in 1991, Philippe Rouchier began his career as a commercial illustrator before moving into animation. He was lead layout artist on the Ivanhoe series for France Animation, then artistic director on Le Magicien, produced by Gaumont Multimedia.

Philippe started working on Arthur and the Minimoys in 1999, as digital matte artist on the pilot short. When the production of the feature film began, he embarked for five years of adventure as lead artist and co-artistic director. The conception of The Art Of Arthur and the Minimoys further enabled him to explore the interaction between writing and graphic design.

At the same time, an attraction to predictive symbolism has led Philippe to create three decks of tarot cards, one of which, L'?il de Myrddin, was commercialized by France Cartes in 1994.

THE CHARACTERS

These key elements of the film were the object of a particularly meticulous development process, taking up 100% of the artists' time in the first six months they worked together. Some characters were constantly tweaked in the years that followed. "The creation of the main characters took a very long time, especially Selenia," recalls Georges Bouchelaghem. "Because he's the archetypal jolly, plump character, Betameche was in place much quicker. His physique is a perfect match for his personality. Similarly, the minor characters were pretty ease to develop because they were marked by strong traits of personality. They're the ones who are most recognizable in the early drawings." Most of the lead characters were further modified when they were passed on to the 3D artists. In fact, it was at this stage, that the definitive design of Selenia emerged. "But right to the end," says Philippe Rouchier, "we were pleased to see that our work was respected and that, at each stage, the characters took on a new dimension."

THE SETS

There were two distinct worlds that needed inventing: that of the Minimoys, which is made entirely out of natural objects, and that of Maltazard - Necropolis - made of stone and metal and other objects recycled from the human world up above. Besides illustrations and paintings, the design team logically drew their inspiration from nature. "We built up a database of photos we took during weekends in the country, in the hills or by the sea," explains Nicolas Fructus. "For example, the station, which I did a lot of work on, was inspired by a thousand-year-old chestnut tree in Savoy that I sketched extensively." The artist also slipped a reference to Parisian metro stations into his design. "It's a little nod to Guimard, who designed the station entrances," says Nicolas, "because what's special about his work is the blend of design and reality. He always took into account the practicality of his decorative elements."

The team's drawing provided the basis for the models made by Hugues Tissandier's crew of set builders. For Philippe Rouchier, this process was another source of inspiration. "We got a real shock," he says, "after about two years, when we saw the first models. It was as if our drawings had come to life and we had a very positive two-way dialogue with the set designers. They asked us to specify certain details and we produced more drawings to cater to their needs." Georges Bouchelaghem adds, "That's what's unique about this project. We were lined up to work on Arthur and the Minimoys for a year at the most but our contribution wasn't just restricted to graphic design. We stayed on to work with the production design team and, sometimes, we worked on their models with them!"

ARTHUR AND THE MINIMOYS

- A VISUAL REVOLUTION -

Renowned for its concern for photorealism, BUF brought to the film techniques developed in-house prior to the project. In particular, they enabled Luc Besson to "direct" the animated characters as if they were real actors.

AN INTERVIEW WITH production designer HUGUES TISSANDIER

Having worked on several films with Francis Veber, Hugues Tissandier's collaboration with Luc Besson got off to a highly successful start when he won a Cesar award for Best Production Design for Joan of Arc (2000). Five years later, the two men have teamed up again for another major project, which involves a dual mission for Hugues Tissandier: designing and building the live-action sets and supervising the construction of scale-models used for the 3D sequences...

What was the purpose of your dual role in the live-action and 3D sequences?

I was responsible for melding the two worlds together and making sure that the colors and shapes in the live-action scenes matched those in the animated sequences. I worked using models that took six months to design and over a year to sculpt and build. It was a huge challenge and I have to say that BUF's idea of having everybody working at a single facility ensured maximum efficiency and a healthy sense of competition between departments. Our imagination was stimulated at all times.

How did you design the models?

When I started thinking about them, the graphic artists had already been working for three years on illustrations of the Minimoy world. I just had to give their designs volume, get them as close as possible to the look Luc wanted and add details, like the 500 miniature streetlights in the Minimoy village, made with real dried flowers. We spent whole mornings at a market near Paris because, working on the assumption that Minimoys didn't have IKEA, we wanted to use natural elements. So there are numerous tiny details in the background, like pinecones, shells and roots, all on the Minimoy scale. The camera doesn't necessarily linger on them but they add something extra to the environment.

How many people did you have working with you?

Around sixty for the live-action scenes and seventy working on the models from A to Z. Obviously, they all came from different horizons with a specific talent for working with wood, plastic, or other materials. When all these talents were thrown into the pot, a tight and complementary team emerged, highlighting each person's skills but using them in a common aim: the film's design.

LARGER THAN LIFE SETS

The main challenge presented by Arthur and the Minimoys lay in the transition from live-action to 3D animation sequences. At an early stage, Pierre Buffin and Emmanuel Prevost decided to build models that would be photographed then interpreted in 3D. As Gilles Boillot, the supervising set designer, explains, this technique offered "particularly realistic sets, with textures extremely close to the real thing." A better-looking end-result and time efficiency were the reasons for this choice, which involved 3D animators and set designers collaborating closely at various stages, using a technique developed by BUF to ensure the director had the greatest possible freedom in choosing camera movements.

- Creation of a simple three-dimensional model, known as a "white model", carved out of polystyrene and roughly painted, enabling 3D modelers to block the animated characters' movements and check details of scale, such as the height of doors.

- Positioning of slots in the final scale-model to allow a choice of angles for the digital camera.

- Lighting of the scale-models to be in phase with that of the CG characters, before being photographed.

- Construction of the final scale-models combining natural and manmade elements.

- Photography of the models from every angle necessary for their interpretation in 3D.

The models were created using designs and sketches provided by the graphic artists. All that remained was to give volume to these images, with two main concerns:

- Defining scale. Gilles Boillot says, "We had to find the ideal size, to allow the photographers space to work while retaining the highest degree of precision. For obvious reasons, we couldn't make the models on a scale of x1 because the Minimoy village, which was the biggest, would have had a diameter of just 3 meters. On the other hand, a scale of x10 was inconceivable, so we went for a compromise of x3, with a few exceptions. To emphasize the idea of scale in the film, we dressed the models with as many natural elements as possible - snail shells, walnuts or hazelnuts are impossibly large in the Minimoys' world."

- Imitating nature. The models were to be photographed close-up, so it was important to get the texture of the components right. "Painting was out of the question," says Gilles Boilot. "It would have given an artificial effect, so we used real foliage, roots, moss and so on that we bought at market or picked in the forest and covered in resin to resist the passage of time. We combined them with manmade elements based on vegetable molds for a more natural finish. It's impossible to pick out the real leaves with the naked eye. At the very end, set dressers and artists were brought in to give the whole thing a lived-in look. "

ARTHUR AND THE MINIMOYS

BRINGING THE CHARACTERS TO LIFE: STORYBOARD AND "DUMMY RUN"

For the 3D animators, the particularity of Arthur and the Minimoys was being directed by a filmmaker who didn't come from the world of animation. BUF devised two tools that enabled them to understand Luc Besson's intentions.

- A storyboard commentary. Luc Besson recorded a commentary, going through the storyboard supervised by Patrice Garcia panel by panel. Thanks to software developed by BUF, the animation artists could then bring up on their computer screen Luc Besson's commentary and the relevant panel in the storyboard, even four years after the commentary was recorded!

- The dummy run. In studio, Luc Besson filmed every scene in the storyboard with a group of actors, whose movements were recorded by several cameras. This technique, also developed by BUF, is similar to video motion capture, but does not require markers. It enabled Luc Besson not only to block camera angles and frames but also to direct the characters and develop their personalities on screen. Each of the actor's movements and facial expressions was made available to the animation artists responsible for each sequence. Also, a scratch soundtrack was recorded to enable the artists to work on lip-sync movements.

The sound proved a vital tool in bringing animated characters to life. As Guillaume Bouchateau, chief sound editor, explains, "the big problem on an animated picture is making the characters truly exist, which means reproducing all the barely perceptible sounds that make them who they are. In a live-action movie, it's hardly noticeable but, when they move, characters make subtle, almost inaudible sounds, which define them. On Arthur and the Minimoys, we had to invent the sounds produced by animated characters." So, each character has a particular "color" - the chink of a necklace for Selenia, small jewels for the king, leather for Arthur. The Foley artists even used leeks and sweet peppers to create Maltazard's distinctive gristly sound!

The stages of production of an animated film:

• Producing the storyboard and recording a scratch soundtrack
• Modeling 3D characters from the designs. This stage marks the beginning of the work in 3D, which continues throughout the project since the 3D design continues to evolve as the film comes together.
• Shooting a live-action "dummy run" for reference and recording voices.
• Creation of the pre-animatic. This stage, which involves roughly animated characters, raises all the problems that need to be solved before modeling the final sets and starting the animation proper.
• Construction of scale-models.
• Animation. Presenting to Luc Besson prior to rendering, the editing and animation of the film can be modified layer by layer.
• Lighting plans created for each environment. These plans are applied to the scale-models so that the lighting of the sets matches that of the characters.
• Photographing the scale-models. These images are then projected into 3D volumes, which allows the integration of camera movements. The exteriors and Stunning Rapids Bar were generated entirely on 3D.
• Rendering. The characters are integrated into the sets and the lighting and grading are adjusted frame by frame.
• Outputting: once the render has been approved, all that remains is the process of outputting the digital images to film, at 2k resolution, the equivalent of 35mm film.

3D: OVER 100 ARTISTS WITH A UNIQUE AIM

The 3D animation teams assembled by BUF Cie worked solidly for three years at the production facility just outside Paris to create the animated sequences in Arthur and the Minimoys. On average, the film required the input of 20 supervisors and 100 artists at any one time.1. The setup

The very first stage in the creation of 3D characters. The specificity of the film's characters is that they are all developed from the same "generic human" rig developed by BUF. The "generic human" has all the anatomic attributes that allow the model to be deformed and animated: a complete skeleton, subcutaneous muscles, a tongue, 32 teeth and so on.

Most of the sets for the animated sequences were interpreted in 3D from scale-models. The remainder, especially the exteriors, such as the grandmother's backyard, were generated entirely in 3D, a highly time-consuming task. Jerome Platteaux, BUF's technical director, liaised between the modelers and the set builders. He says, "Gilles Boillot, the set designer, and I tried to be as efficient as possible by determining which part of a set needed to be built as a model and which could be purely CG. For example, it wasn't absolutely necessary to build the glass props. In the same way, the characters' actions as depicted in the storyboard generally indicated if we needed to build a door or not, depending on whether the character interacted with it or not. But the most time-consuming part was to reconstitute the organic environment in 3D: reconstructing the vegetation, ground, roots, etc, and animating them."

Mapping is the process of adding texture to the sets. This is the first stage of rendering and follows the 3D interpretation of the scale-models. For Arthur and the Minimoys, it was important to capture the texture of the materials used in the scale-models, especially in the close-ups, and recreate that quality of texture for the 3D generated sets.

Xavier Andre, the mapping supervisor, says, "The biggest challenge was to capture nature and make the images as photorealistic as possible. I had to choose colors and textures, and also the way elements of the set would react to light. For example, grass is in fact pretty translucent. If you hold a blade of grass up to the light, you can see through it. We had to do a lot of research to achieve that effect, especially in scenes that matched images shot on 35mm - the 3D grass had to react in the same way as the grass on film so that the transition was totally invisible. It was a tough challenge and that part of our job was much more complicated than with manmade objects."

The lighting crew is involved at two stages of the 3D process. Firstly, in discussions to determine the lighting plan. Lighting supervisor David Verbeke explains, "As soon as the polystyrene models are ready, we define the lighting plan by computer, so we're ready to light the final scale and 3D models. We have to be able to achieve all the lighting effects using real lights. We can't cheat using 3D software. The aim was to be as naturalistic as possible, working in much the same way as a traditional lighting cameraman."

Secondly, once the scale-models are ready and preliminary animation begun, the lighting is put in place along pretty traditional lines. "Basically," says David Verbeke, "we have a main overhead source, to which we add lateral sources. The characters are lit separately to highlight them and draw the audience's eye."

This is a key task, which involves putting together and harmonizing all the elements produced by other artists and technicians and ensuring the final look of the film. Yann Avenati, sequence supervisor, underlines the importance of this role at the beginning and end of the process, "It's really about putting into pictures exactly what Luc Besson wants. We use the storyboard and dummy run to create preliminary animatics , which gives an overview of the scene, before working on it layer by layer to improve it with every pass." In pure animation terms, says Yann Avenati, the dummy run is not enough because "it gives the story coherence," but constantly needs reinterpreting since the actors on screen are morphologically different than the 3D characters. And sometimes a re-shoot is necessary to complete a sequence, or some scenes can't be acted out, like the mosquito attack sequence. "Once the animation was in place, to dynamize the edit, we were asked to create the attack scenes from nothing. That way, we were able to put forward a number of animation suggestions."

It might seem incongruous to talk about special effects in a film that is one long special effect but there exist a number of creative tools to animate everything that can't be done "by hand". For Arthur and the Minimoys, SFX supervisor Dominique Vidal took charge of "all the complications born out of the dynamics of objects and fluids, such as water, dust particles, hair and fur, splashes, explosions and so on."

Technically, the animation of water has always posed problems for special effects companies the world over, constantly providing new avenues to be explored. Waterfalls, in particular, are a complex physical phenomenon to calculate since they involve billions of drops of water. The other great challenge was in shots that recreate nature. "We had to find an animation technique for the plants," says Dominique Vidal, "once they had been created by the set designers. We couldn't ask the animators to animate the leaves and petals one by one! Obviously, we spent a lot of time observing nature. It's better than watching CG films of nature, which are like photocopies of photocopies."

Finally, it was vital to adapt to the Minimoy scale and "to think about what happens in terms of effects when you're 1 cm tall. For example, at that size, you can distinguish each of the particles, which constitute what we see as a beam of light."

Digital visual effects include all the effects generated in post-production for live-action scenes shot against a green screen. There are a certain number in Arthur and the Minimoys, such as when Arthur shrinks or his grandmother visits the antique-dealer - the whole backdrop was a visual effect.

Christophe-Olivier Dupuis supervised these digital effects. He admits that he spent a long time on the final scene of the film, which combines live-action footage and 3D animation as Arthur speaks to Selenia, who is perched high in a tree. "The tracking shot Luc asked for was so complicated the camera movement was broken down into four parts and matched together seamlessly in post-production. A good special effect is one that nobody notices!"

This is the department without which nothing would be possible because it is where all the software for an animated picture is developed. Xavier Bec heads up BUF's R&D department. He says, "We significantly improved tools that we already had up and running, especially in the animation of characters using a dummy run for reference or in the interpretation of 3D models. We also combined different techniques, especially for the water, which is the hardest element to animate because it is constantly moving and changing form. It's difficult to find the perfect solution. It's more of a gradual progression and this film enabled us to move a long way forward."

AN INTERVIEW WITH GEOFFROY NIQUET,

digital animation supervisor

What is the role of a general supervisor?

Multi-tasking! To begin with, we had to define production techniques and methods. Once the pipeline was up and running, each supervisor could take over, reducing my role to technical advice or slight adjustments. The creative side of the job involves overseeing the animation throughout the process. I was the intermediary who transmitted Luc Besson's requests to the artists, or even anticipated them sometimes, I hope. It's a wonderful job that gives you an overview of the film and the production process.

How is it possible to keep every element of such a huge project under control?

You have to make technical decisions that mean that corrections are made as early as possible to make them less burdensome. You also need good organization and versatile artists so you can reassign people depending on where the priority is. You have to be on top of the situation every day, which means pre-empting difficulties. Running a team of this size means you can develop impressive momentum, but negotiating a turn of any kind takes time.

Was it a problem that Luc Besson was not an animation director?

No, because he solved a lot of questions by shooting the dummy run of the film before the animation process even began. His vast experience as a director easily made up for his rawness in the animation field. It made our jobs easier and saved us time.

3D FACTFILE

225 people working on site in Pantin. All of them were working on their first ever animated feature and, for 200 of them, this was their first ever job.

27 months to produce the film's animated sequences.

20 million images calculated.

60,000 working days (or 273 years) to see the film to fruition.

ARTHUR IN MUSIC

Luc Besson asked his regular accomplice, Eric Serra to write the score for Arthur and the Minimoys. A multiple award-winner for his film scores and expert in composing in sync with the pictures, Eric found Luc Besson urging him to adopt a new technique...

What was Luc Besson looking for in the music of Arthur and the Minimoys?

He wanted a beautiful symphonic score evocative of great adventure movies like Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones and Star Wars. It had to be beautiful, grandiose and magical all at the same time! To achieve that, he totally unnerved me by insisting that I didn't compose while viewing the film, which is the way I always work. In fact, I had already composed ten minutes of music using my usual method, but when he listened to it, he said he didn't like the themes I'd written. That was a big shock because I was pretty confident that I'd got it right! That was when he asked me to compose without watching the film. I've known him for a long time and whenever he has one of those off-the-wall ideas, it's never by chance. So I chose to put my faith in his intuition, because I was sure there was a good reason behind him asking me that. The next month was awful. I had moments of sheer panic and doubt, but I wrote a lot of music, ranging from action themes, romance, suspense... And when Luc came by a month later, he loved it! He was right to encourage me to change my approach so that each theme would stand on its own. If it works without the picture, then it must be good. Just to complete the story, he also ended up using the ten minutes I had initially composed, which he had claimed he didn't like.

Are their other innovations in the score?

It's the first time in ages that I have composed for a full orchestra - strings, wind, brass and percussion. For the magical element that Luc wanted, I also added a choir. So there are 96 instruments and 40 singers in some parts! Besides that, I worked with the people I am accustomed to working with, arranger Geoffrey Alexander and sound engineer Nick Woolage. I recorded the orchestral part of the score (99%) in London, with the Rolls Royce of session orchestras, as usual.

Did the fact that this was an animated picture influence your work?

Not really. It's more the film's fantasy world that inspired me because it's conducive to dreaming. Moreover, and this isn't specific to animation, it's a very musical film. There are only a few seconds without music!

And the fact that the film is aimed at younger audiences?

I wondered about that right to the very end and I think it only influenced the comedic scenes. I really let myself go, with a result that verges on Tex Avery cartoon music. On the other hand, there was no holding back in the action scenes or slightly scary scenes on the pretext that it would be too violent for children. On the contrary, the music Luc Besson cited was far removed from childhood pictures, because it included Danny Elfman and extracts from the scores of Dracula and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Did you feel extra pressure writing for a film voiced by musicians such as David Bowie?

As far as Bowie was concerned, yes. He's an artist I have always adored, an absolute genius! In the film, it's as if he's singing his lines because his voice is so musical. I wanted my score to highlight that musicality, like an accompaniment to what he was singing. And I couldn't help thinking about the film's premiere. I wanted him to like the music and be there to tell me! In fact, Maltazard's main theme, in his first scene, was the last one I composed. I put a lot of pressure on myself and I waited for the very last minute to write it but I was very happy with it in the end because it had matured within me over a couple of months.

After all the films you have done with Luc Besson, were you surprised on seeing his first animated picture?

The surprise came in the fact that the film is inimitably Luc Besson, in the framing, cutting and also in the animation. It's a wonderful film. Every time you see it, you pick up on something new. I'm convinced that it will be like The Big Blue - people will go back to see it again and again!

ARTHUR AND THE MINIMOYS

- THE SOUND DESIGN -

THE SOUND DESIGN

The sound design of the film proved crucial for the characterization and realism of the animated sequences. The film included so many sounds and so much music, and the sound crew was so small (voluntarily limited to five people at most), that the soundtrack of Arthur and the Minimoys took eighteen months to complete, as opposed to fifteen weeks on average for a feature film.

The first difficulty the sound supervisor had to overcome was the question of scale. Guillaume Bouchateau, chief sound editor, says, "We kept thinking back to something Da Vinci said: 'a small sound heard up close is much louder than a large sound heard from far away'. The whole problem was to work out how sensitive your hearing is when you're a few millimeters tall. At that height, a toothpick falling must sound like a tree crashing to the ground."

Another of the sound crew's objectives was to distinguish the film's diverse environments, ranging from the simple, almost cliched organic sounds in the human's world to the sound-rich world of the Minimoys, "inhabited by distorted jungle sounds", and the much more metallic mood of Necropolis.

Last but not least, it took a lot of imagination to dream up the language of all the creatures in the film. How does a centipede bellow? What does an earthworm or Mul-Mul sound like? Sound designer Alexis Place paid particular attention to the sounds produced by the mosquitoes in the battle scene. "First of all," he says, "we thought of recording instruments that make a sound comparable to the noise of a leaf when you blow on it, but the result was pretty unconvincing. So, we added the sound of automobile or airplane engines that we doctored and chopped up into small bits. Then, we added the sound of a bumblebee trapped in a bell jar. We had to find the most dynamic combination with an accent on constantly innovating. Generally, we recorded as many sounds as we could on our own rather than resorting to sound libraries."

ARTHUR AND THE MINIMOYS

- VOICES: LA CREME DE LA CREME -

By inviting international music stars to lend their voices to the film's lead characters, Luc Besson put together one of the most prestigious voice-casts ever seen. They are all big names who have experience of working in film...

MADONNA / SELENIA (English voice)

Difficult to find a more beautiful diva! Madonna has been in the vanguard of pop music since 1984 and her phenomenal first hit, Like A Virgin. Amazingly versatile, capable of evolving with her times and bringing on board the most gifted talents of a generation, Madonna crossed over into movies very early in her career. In 1985, she co-starred with Rosanna Arquette in Desperately Seeking Susan. Her subsequent credits include Who's That Girl?, Dick Tracy, Abel Ferrara's Snake Eyes, and above all, Evita by Alan Parker for which she won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in 1997. She also acted under the direction of her husband Guy Ritchie in the romantic comedy Swept Away.

DAVID BOWIE / MALTAZARD (English voice)

Music genius, timeless icon and unforgettable Ziggy Stardust, David Bowie regularly collaborates on daring film projects, such as The Last Temptation of Christ, Labyrinth, Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence and The Predators alongside Catherine Deneuve. A cult artist for every generation, he will be presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the upcoming Grammys, in tribute to his inimitable career.

SNOOP DOGGY DOG / MAX (English voice)

The king of gangsta rap and protege of Dr Dre - with whom he made the massively cult, three-times platinum, best-selling ever rap album, Chronic - Snoop Doggy Dog shot to stardom, and number 1 in the charts, with his first album, Doggystyle. Not content just to voice Max, he agreed to let his inimitable walk be filmed as a reference for the animation of this naturally cool character. Snoop's previous film credits include Baby Boy by John Singleton and Starsky and Hutch by Todd Phillips.

And also, Freddie Highmore as Arthur!

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