CraveOnline: I feel like a lot of people are going to look at Paddington, from the outside, whether or not they’re familiar with the books…
David Heyman: Yes…
…and see a family movie with a CGI creation interacting with a live-action family. We’ve all seen stuff like Alvin & The Chipmunks and The Smurfs. I don’t think they’re supposed to be this good, I think is the idea. People are going to say, “So he’s going to fart a lot, right? And there’s going to be a lot of merchandising?”
Yeah.
Was there any talk about commercializing Paddington to that extent?
No. I mean, one of the nice things about working with a French company – because it was a French company that financed the film, Studio Canal – which is that they believe in the producer and the director, and they allow them to make the film that they want to make. They did not give us a single note. There was not a single demand. And when, for example, we recast the part of Paddington, because initially it was Colin Firth, that necessitated a financial commitment from them. Because we had already begun to animate, we had to begin again.
“It wasn’t like, ‘Colin, come to the headmaster’s office.'”
Was it just re-animating the mouth or did you have to redo…?
Oh, everything, because it informs the performance. It’s not just [mimes talking] that. It’s everything. The whole personality of the bear shifted.
Was Colin Firth doing motion capture for any of it?
None of it was motion capture. There was motion reference. So he would do the lines and there was a little camera here, so that the animators had reference. Little cameras. But no, there was no motion [capture]. Because, and I know there’s different attitudes about this, but Paddington is not a humanoid. The proportions are not human. So it’s hard to extrapolate that in a literal way. It’s one thing if you’re doing Gollum, then I can see that making sense, but if you’re doing something that is not humanoid it’s a little more difficult. So it was basically informations that brilliant animators at Framestore, who did Gravity, this guy Pablo Grillo who I think is a genius animator, did.
Speaking of Colin Firth, I was watching the film and seeing Ben Whishaw’s performance, and I totally get why Paddington needed to be younger than Colin Firth. When you had Colin Firth doing the role initially, was he playing it younger or was he being a bit more erudite?
You know, when get an icon to play an icon you think you’ve struck dirt. Struck gold, I mean. Whoops! Struck gold. And Colin is one of the great actors…
“We tried altering the voice digitally, but that felt like he was speaking with a helium balloon.”
“Pay dirt.” That’s what you meant.
Pay dirt. Thank you. Thank you for translating. You’ve hit pay dirt! I knew there was something… it wasn’t completely left field! [Laughs.]
I don’t want you misquoted in this interview. “David Heyman Calls Colin Firth ‘Dirt!’”
[Laughs.] But what happens is… No, he was doing it and he was struggling with it, the process, and we did some rehearsals, and then we began to animate. So he did the voice to the cut scene, but without a bear, and then he would do it and we began to animate it. And it just didn’t feel right. We tried altering the voice digitally, but that felt like he was speaking with a helium balloon and it just didn’t feel right. So we ended up… it was a mutual decision. It wasn’t like, “Colin, come to the headmaster’s office.” No, it was mutual, and actually he was head of the game. He said, “Are you sure this is right?” He was ahead of us.
The way you describe it makes it sound like the end of a relationship.
It’s actually the beginning of a new relationship. Yes, when both sides agree it’s over but you want to remain friends.
Exactly. That must have been difficult. Are you still friends? Has Colin Firth seen the movie?
I don’t know if he’s seen the movie, but I have to say, he’s been nothing but supportive. He was great throughout the process, and sent an e-mail when Ben [was cast], went “Great, very excited.” He’s been fantastic.
