Jon Favreau was at the TCA (Television Critics Association) press tour yesterday in support of Revolution, the new NBC series he’s executive producing alongside J.J. Abrams and Eric Kripke, with Favreau also directing the pilot episode.
After we spoke about Revolution (look for that portion of our interview in the coming weeks), the conversation also turned to Magic Kingdom, the Disneyland-inspired film Favreau is attached to direct. Favreau gave an update on that project and revealed that he’s been developing the film with the assistance and input of John Lasseter and the team at Pixar.
Jon Favreau: Magic Kingdom, I’ve been working on. I went back to back to back, three movies in a row -- Iron Man, Iron Man 2 and Cowboys & Aliens -- all of them with release dates announced as I cracked the script for the first time. We already knew the date and the poster -- and sometimes in some cases the cast. On this one, Magic Kingdom is a big film. It’s a very special piece of intellectual property with all the characters from the park and the legacy of Walt Disney. When I got hired, I said, “Look, I really want to emulate the storytelling model and development process of Pixar.” Pixar’s process is a lot different than Hollywood movies. You don’t just write a script, prep it, shoot it, and then figure it out sometime later. There’s a lot of visual effects that include animation, and post-production tends to be a bit of a knockdown, drag-out fight in the big Hollywood films, especially the visual effects elements. So what we’ve been doing is writing the script, going up to Pixar and meeting with the brain trust, coming back down, bring on artists and story editors, and putting it together as though it were an animated film. Then, by the time we actually film it, we’ll have a rock-solid story. I don’t want to rush anything. I want this one to be perfect. I want it to be one shot, one kill, like a sniper. I want to make sure this movie’s right in the crosshairs, that we can really knock it out of the park -- so to speak.
Question: Do you have to decide on a main character, or is it more of an ensemble?
Favreau: It’s going to be a family in the park, and it’s an alternate reality version of the park they get lost into. So much of it is just how it weaves together as a tapestry and what the visuals look like in creating this rich world. Fortunately, there’s no rush on it. I’ve been working on it as a writer now, and we’re in a very exciting part of the process and looking forward to getting that long lead prep as you would on an animated film. Then you work your way to where you know what the whole movie’s going to be before you ever roll camera. You could actually watch it -- as the Pixar people do -- actually watch it on a screen and evaluate it before you ever roll camera.
Question: It’s not officially considered a Pixar production though, right?
Favreau: No, as far as I know it’s a Disney production, but they’ve been very good about... I’ve known [John] Lasseter for many years now, and it’s our first time collaborating together. But he’s opened up us to all the resources at Pixar. I’ve been up there a few times now and stayed up at the ranch. It’s just been a dream come true. Taking a tour of Pixar is special enough, but to sit in a room and pitch to those people and hear their ideas? It’s very, very exciting. So I want to learn as much as I can from them and hopefully have their success in storytelling that they do as well by learning from their process. But I really want to hold this film in very high standards. I’m not rushing it, but it’s coming along very well. We’re very excited about it.
Question: Are the rides in the movie?
Favreau: Yeah, I think they’re called “attractions.” Disney corporate would call them attractions. But yeah, it’s informed by everything that I remember and know about the park from going there since I was a small child.
Question: Might we get any reference to Club 33?
Favreau: Club 33 is something that we’ve been discussing, definitely. I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the vulture in Club 33. That’s an interesting character. There’s a lot of ideas swirling around right now. I don’t know which ones are going to make it in, but it’s primarily informed by Walt’s vision of the park, either before or immediately after it opened. So a lot of it, for people our age, there will be a nostalgic element to it. People who know Disneyland, they’re going to see that we did our homework, but it’s ultimately going to be an adventure for the family and for the kids, too. I had a lot of fun playing to that type of crowd with Elf and Zathura, and this seems to be mixing elements from all the films I’ve done -- from Iron Man, Cowboys & Aliens, Zathura, Elf -- all rolled into one project that’s calling upon everything I’ve learned up to this point.
Source : ign[dot]com
