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You are here: Home / Archives for Mr. Peabody

Lunch With Director Rob Minkoff: Mr. Peabody & Sherman

March 10, 2014 by Momstart Leave a Comment

Last month while I was in LA for the movie Mr. Peabody & Sherman Director Rob Minkoff sat down with my friend Crystal and I. We were both very honored that he sat down with us and we picked his brain about his new movie Mr. Peabody & Sherman. He was very excited to tell us all the details as this has been a project on his mind for about 15 years.

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First I have to say is that Rob Minkoff is very very passionate about Mr. Peabody and keeping it as true to the original series that aired on TV years ago.He said that the first conversation that he had about this was in 2002. And he had just finished the film Stuart Little and his producing partner, Jason Clark, had a meeting with someone who worked for Classic Media; his name was Bob Higgins. Bob Higgins later went to work for Cartoon Network. And he showed up after lunch and he said, “what do you think of Mr. Peabody and Sherman?” And Rob’s response was, “I love Mr. Peabody and Sherman.” And Bob said, “what about making a feature film out of it?” And that was the beginning..

Then they met with the people from Classic Media, and with Tiffany. And the first conversation was about making it as a live action film. But it wasn’t very long after that they decided it would be better if it was an animation, that it would make more sense. And it was taken into consideration that there were a lot of live action adaptations of Jay Ward movies; George of the Jungle and Dudley Do-Right. There was also a question about a talking dog.

“But I started to feel like the whole notion of a talking dog and a boy would be better in the kind of a fantasy world where you can accept a talking dog much more easily than if it’s a live action world. Because suddenly, there are a lot of questions about why does the dog talk. How does he talk? Is it weird? Do people think it’s normal?……… The sensibility was that it’s an amazing character. He happens to be a dog, but nobody cares. Nobody bats an eye about it.”

Then he talked a lot about how the movie was at one studio and went to another. He talked about

And the very first place that we took the project to is a company called Walden Media, which is owned by a guy named Phil Anschutz, who’s very much dedicated to making family entertainment. And we met with couple of people, including Alex Schwartz, who was an executive at the company. And it was one of those storybook meetings that happens very rarely, but it’s very exciting when it does.

We went into the meeting and we pitched the project and they said yes in the room. They were excited about it. They said, we love Mr. Peabody and Sherman. We want to make a movie in animation. Even though they didn’t have an animation studio, the idea would be that we would somehow figure out how we would put together the animators to do it.

A year later, when it did get resolved, we went back to Walden and Walden said, well, things are a little different at our company right now. We were originally wanting to be 100 percent investor in the movie, but now, things have changed slightly because a couple of movies they made hadn’t performed as well as they’d hoped. They wanted to back us 50% though and we were all for it.

I got suggested in 2005 to go have a meeting at DreamWorks Animation because they were interested and they might even being interested in doing it as a satellite production. And they’d worked with Aardman Studios on Wallace and Gromit, they made a film with them in London. And they’ve worked with maybe other satellites and they said they might be willing to do that.

So, me, Alex and Jason Clark came for a meeting with Jeffrey Katzenberg, if you didn’t know. I’m sure you do. But I had not worked with him since his days at Disney. I spent my whole career at Disney, starting in 1983, I got hired, which was a year before Michael Eisner started. And so, Jeffrey wasn’t there.

And then I was there for 12 years all the way up and through The Lion King, which was the movie that I directed. So, everything I’d done up to that point, I had done with Jeffrey and had since gone out and done other movies like Stuart Little. And this was actually a chance for us to kind of work together again.

We were both enthusiastic about it. Jeffrey was very excited. He said, if you’re directing the movie, I’m in. I’m going to make the movie. And then he turned to Alex and said, what are you doing here? And she said, well, I’m with Walden and we’re going to be your 50 percent partner. And Jeffrey said, well, my business model does not account or allow for partners, he said. So I can’t do it with you. If you guys want to do it, great. But if you don’t want to do it, I’ll do it.

And so, Walden very graciously backed out.

Very graciously backed out of the project. So that was in 2005. And so we started on this development trek. And then a couple of years later, having written a draft of the script that the studio said wasn’t quite what they were hoping to do, I showed up for a meeting, a development meeting, and I saw Alex Schwartz was working at DreamWorks Animation. I was very surprised. I asked, what are you doing here? She said, well, I’m the new head of development.

So, we were suddenly repatriated. We were now working together on Mr. Peabody and Sherman again after many, many years had gone by. And worked until 2011 when the studio decided they were ready to make the movie. And I got a call from Bill Damaschke, who’s the creative director here at DreamWorks and he said, we’re going to make the movie. And that is when I met Denise who was working up at PDI, which is the studio that was really responsible for the creation of the film.

Anyway, that’s how the team came together and the film sort of came together on that incredibly long arduous trek.

He had so much to say about the movie, I just loved how passionate he was about the movie and it shows in the movie he produced.

Connect with Mr. Peabody Online!

Visit the official website

Like Mr. Peabody & Sherman on Facebook

Follow @DWAnimation on Twitter

#MrPeabody

Filed Under: Movie review Tagged With: interview, movie, Mr. Peabody, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, rob minkoff

Go WABAC In the Time Machine with Mr. Peabody & Sherman

March 9, 2014 by Momstart 1 Comment

Today I’m on my way to LA but my kids are on their way to the theater. They’re going to see Mr. Peabody & Sherman without me. I’m ok with it though because I’ve seen it; I’m actually happy they found something to do with my being busy with work travels.

mr peabody and sherman running

In Mr. Peabody and Sherman Mr. Peabody and Sherman travel through time together learning all about history. They carefully follow the time paradox rules and do not affect history. They just observe and have fun together as father and son. You see, Mr. Peabody isn’t your average father, he isn’t your average genius either, he’s a dog with a brain and a heart to be normal. He falls in love with a baby he finds and adopts him. Then they become quite a team, but they had to learn a lesson together first. That’s where Penny comes in.

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Penny is a girl, at first she’s a nuisance to Sherman. She calls him a dog and he’s embarrassed because his dad is a dog. Mr. Peabody is sure he can smooth things over with Penny’s family and invites them over to dinner. At the same time, Mr. Peabody is in jeopardy of losing Sherman because in his anger Sherman bit Penny for what she said. And having kids’ it’s actually quite normal behavior, wrong yes, but normal. My daughter was spat upon the other day at school. Young children are learning.

To prove himself to Penny Sherman introduces her to the WABAC machine and that’s where the story takes a turn. Penny decides she wants to stay in the past and together with Mr. Peabody, he has to convince her to come back and then as you would say all hell broke loose. You have to watch this fantastic historical comedy with your family. It’s great for all ages! I can’t wait to find out what my kids think of the movie.

Filed Under: Movie review Tagged With: movie, Mr. Peabody, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, WABAC

A Quick Interview with Tiffany Ward: Mr. Peabody & Sherman

March 9, 2014 by Momstart Leave a Comment

Tiffany Ward is the daughter of Jay Ward. She is one of the creators of the original series, served as an executive producer for Mr. Peabody & Sherman, whose job was to make sure the film stayed "true to the integrity of the characters." When she was approached by Rob Minkoff ten years before the film’s release, she was enthused by his intention to respect the legacy: "What better caretaker for the characters could we ask for than Rob." Lengthy pursuit to make the adaptation "perfect" took them a long time, but she was pleased with the end result, which stayed "very true to the original cartoon. And here is a very short interview with her that I had last month.

How long was it in your heart to foresee this project?

Ms. Tiffany Ward: Well, actually, my dad died way too young, in 1989. And I’ve been running the company 24 years. So, somehow I had a vision when I came in and I always wanted to do a Mr. Peabody and Sherman movie. But I found that everything has its time and when the things come together in the right way, which they have with this team and DreamWorks Animation, it becomes magical then. So, this was the right time for this property.

MR. PEABODY & SHERMAN

Can you tell us how you decided on Ty Burell as Mr. Peabody?

Ms. Tiffany Ward: I think it was Bill Damaschke’s idea to cast Ty Burrell . Ty Burrell was not included in that first group. For a variety of reasons, the ones that we had looked at first didn’t work out, didn’t make sense, weren’t quite right.

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What are your thoughts on looking for talent in an animated film?

Ms. Tiffany Ward: In my experience working live action versus animation that when you cast an actor in live action, particularly a well known actor, but even one who isn’t as well known, you sort of get the value of that entire person’s being in terms of their appeal.

So, for instance, you could cast Bill Murray in a movie where he acts like a jerk and people go along with it because it’s Bill Murray. And there’s just something likable about him in the way that he smiles or the twinkle in his eye and you sort of go with it. But in an animated film, that appeal comes partly obviously from the animation, but it also has to come from the voice.

And something that Ty specifically brought, I think, that we really needed in this character was this incredible warmth in his voice. And some of the other actors that we thought were going to be right because they sounded very intellectual and they had a sort of an emotional restraint and all the stuff that you associate with him either sounded flat or nasty.

And somehow Ty, even when he was being emotionally withholding and not doing what we wanted him to do, as Mr. Peabody, he had a sort of a lovable quality to his voice. It’s interesting how much is held in the voice.

Filed Under: Movie review Tagged With: dreamworks animation, interview, movie, Mr. Peabody, Mr. Peabody and Sherman

10 Historical Reasons to Go See Mr. Peabody and Sherman #MrPeabody

February 26, 2014 by Momstart 1 Comment

Mr. Peabody and Sherman comes out in theaters March 7th and I say go see it. I laughed a lot and the great part about it is that there is humor for the kids and there is even more humor for adults and even more humor for history buffs. Mr. Peabody is a genius, he’s the smartest dog ever and the smartest being ever. Using his large brain he created the WABAC. And as the name suggests it’s a time machine so as you can guess much of the movie is traveling through time. Which is why I came up with 10 historical reasons to watch Mr. Peabody and Sherman. You might even want to brush up on your historical knowledge on these guys!

1. The Trojan Horse

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2. Leonardo Divinci

Mr Peabody and Sherman Flyer

3.. King Tut

mr peabody and sherman running

4. Mozart

5. Albert Einstein

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6. Spartacus

7. Mona Lisa

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8. Abraham Lincoln

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9. Isaac Newton

10. Mr. Peabody

MR. PEABODY & SHERMAN

Connect with Mr. Peabody Online!

Visit the official website

Like Mr. Peabody & Sherman on Facebook

Follow @DWAnimation on Twitter

#MrPeabody

Go brush up on your history and go see the movie!

Filed Under: Movie review Tagged With: animated, dreamworks animation, movie, Mr. Peabody, Mr. Peabody and Sherman

Wordless Wednesday: Mr. Peabody & Sherman Bloggers Photo #MrPeabody

February 26, 2014 by Momstart 1 Comment

 

 

This photo was taken at the Mr. Peabody & Sherman Event (travel and expenses were covered) (I’m the one with purple hair)

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Jeffrey Katzenberg pictured in the middle of all the bloggers, which is pretty fantastic.

Filed Under: photos Tagged With: Mr. Peabody, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, photography, photos

Mr. Peabody & Sherman The Trailer, The Low Down, and The Scoop #MrPeabodyEvent

January 30, 2014 by Momstart 1 Comment

I’ve seen a few minutes of the movie Mr. Peabody & Sherman and it’s going to a wonderful family movie. There is comedy and adventure for children and adults. There are jokes that you find funny and then you find they haven’t even made it to the adult punch line yet. So get ready to laugh and brush up on some history as Mr. Peabody and Sherman travel through time to find Sherman’s friend.

 

The Low Down:

Mr. Peabody is a business titan, inventor, scientist, gourmand, two-time Olympic medalist and genius…who also happens to be a dog. Using his most ingenious invention, the WABAC machine, Mr. Peabody and his adopted boy Sherman hurtle back in time to experience world-changing events first-hand and interact with some of the greatest characters of all time. But when Sherman breaks the rules of time travel, our two heroes find themselves in a race to repair history and save the future, while Mr. Peabody may face his biggest challenge yet – being a parent.

The Scoop:

The Scoop is that tomorrow I’m going to be previewing the entire movie. Then I’ll share details with you guys. I’m also going to be doing interviews and learning how they brought Peabody and Sherman to the 21st century and where they came up with a time machine plot. Lots of questions going through my head. I can’t wait to share with you guys!

Filed Under: Movie review Tagged With: movie, movie trailer, Mr. Peabody, Mr. Peabody and Sherman

Ty Burrell as Mr. Peabody DreamWorks Animation Movie

April 4, 2013 by Momstart 5 Comments

Ty Burrell as Mr. Peabody? Can’t Wait!

By: Ashley

When I was little I used to watch the old Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons that usually played during Bozo the Clown! Some of you out there might remember the other cartoon called Mr. Peabody and Sherman. Well, thanks to DreamWorks, a whole new generation will be able to laugh at the dynamic duo.

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Looking at the cast, I know this is going to be a hilarious movie. As a huge fan of Modern Family, I’m super excited to see that Ty Burrell will be voiding Mr. Peabody! In the short clip I was able to see while visiting DreamWorks back in February, he really brings the character to life. When you add in Max Charles (3 Stooges), Leslie Mann, Stanley Tucci, Mel Brooks, and Stephen Colbert (just to name a few), you can pretty much rest assured this is going to be GREAT! I guess the worst part is, we have to wait almost a whole year to see it! Mr. Peabody and Sherman is scheduled to hit theaters March 7, 2014.

A big thank you to 20th Century Fox and DreamWorks Animation for inviting us to The Croods Parent Blogger Summit where I saw a sneak peek of Mr.Peabody and Sherman.

Ashley is a mom, wife, sister, daughter, friend, and former teacher working to navigate through the mysterious world of Mommyia. Read more about her adventures at Momicles and follow her @Momicles2010

Filed Under: Movie review Tagged With: dreamworks animation, movie, Mr. Peabody, Ty Burrell

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