Animation is a technique, not a genre.
I just watched so many Westerns as a kid that you end up using archetypes and sort of tropes of that genre, because there's a language there and you can twist it and turn it on its head or play to it or go sideways at any time.
What makes me smile is a movie where I feel like it is dangerous, or there's that fresh idea there. It's about learning and growing and trying new things and tinkering, all of those things that keep you excited. But if you're not nervous, if you're not on that boundary of the unknown, I don't think you're getting better. I think you're kind of sitting back, and I don't think you're advancing the form.
I think when you get people who are really talented and you take them out of their comfort zone, you get a lot more out of them.
I find it ironic that fear is eliminating the possibility to tell stories that depict our ability to overcome fear
Everyone always wants to find the answer, to feel that things are resolved. But in dreams, maybe there isn't an answer so much.
My agent called and said, 'How do you feel about a pirate movie? I mean, how often are you going to get that call? It's sort of the singularly most failed genre of our time, but I thought it had to be attempted one more time. I think there's something rebellious about pirates, something revolutionary about them. They came out of a time when things were oppressive; you could get hung for stealing a loaf of bread. For me, the Pirates films are about when it's right to break the rules to achieve what you want.
I want to diagnose the audience a bit and then offer a cure.
It's always good to keep people guessing.
There's so much work in making movies, it's so easy to tear one down. When I watch a movie, even one that I don't particularly enjoy, I'm constantly impressed at the work that's in it. I respect the craftsmen and women. I tolerate a lot of movies that maybe other people don't, just because I know what goes into them.
All the traditional westerns are about choice and the individual. When progress comes it's much more difficult to define the individual in that world.
Life is cruel. Why should the afterlife be any different!
There is a sense that animated movies are suddenly a genre. I just don't believe they are; it's a technique to tell a story.
I think audiences ultimately want something new. I think the business model for a franchise is such that it's very low risk because you have data and studios love data.
It's a mistake for Hollywood to impose themselves on the gaming space. Not only is it arrogant, but it hasn't really worked.
I just don't know when we all decided that if it doesn't fit in a Happy Meal box, it's not for kids. I remember flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz, and I grew up watching Monty Python. I think that kids can handle a lot more than we give them credit for, especially when it comes to the absurd.
Animated films are so precisely engineered - right down to forming lines of dialogue with words pulled from several different takes - how do you translate that spontaneity from the live-action to the digital realm?
I'd like to think that if you find your audience there are still opportunities there to go and tell an original story.
I just think it's growth when you pursue something you're not sure you can do.
Honestly, every person, every individual has a process, and my philosophy, whether it's an actor or an animator, is you try to understand the process that person has so you can get the most out of them, but I think you have to sort of manipulate that process with honesty.
The curse is an incredible set of blue balls.
I think people imagine going back to a time when they knew who they were and they knew what the circumstances were - if you screwed up it was your fault.
For me, some of the happiest moments on a live-action film are the awkward moments. One actor says something to another actor. They didn't expect that performance from that actor; that affects their return performance.
I think my parents gave me a love of learning; from there you set out on your own path.
I think comedy is drama, often. It's hard to have comedy over a period of time - commercials are one thing, but over a period of time - comedy and tragedy go hand in hand.
