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Christmas came early this year! IESBs got an exclusive interview and concept images from Gatchaman!
{sidebar id=1}Gatchaman is slated for a 2009 release from Warner Bros. but the IESB was able to get an exclusive sneak peek thanks to our good buddy director Kevin Munroe!
A couple of weeks ago, I was talking with a friend about our love for all things geek when the subject of Gatchaman came up.
Before Transformers became the pop culture sensation in the 80s there was another series that helped spawn the 5 member hero team formula and the success of many super sentai-type anime from Japan, that series was Gatchaman.
Because of my age, ahem, I didnt catch Gatchaman until the mid 80s transformed for an American audience in the form of G-Force/Battle of the Planets. That was when my obsession for the ninja team began.
Thanks to success of Gatchaman, the 90s had various sentai warriors of their own like the very popular Power Ranger series.
But from Transformers of the 80s to the Power Rangers of the 90s, no series has ever been able to remain so timeless and original like the O.G. Gatchaman.
Kevin Munroe, the director of the recent animated hit TMNT, is directing the big screen adaptation of Gatchaman for Imagi Animation. I figured an interview was worth a try but considering the film is still quite a ways from completion, I didnt know how much he would be able to talk about.
But, never fear boys and girls, Kevin was gung-ho to talk and he also arranged to show me some really cool Gatchaman goodies at Imagi Animation Studios along with co-director Tom Tanaka! Oh yeah, and he threw a few stills our wayAWESOME!
Kevin and his team have been working on Gatchaman since early 2006 and are looking to push beyond the success they had with TMNT.
Munroe says, Turtles was great, and its just, how do you push beyond that and I think Turtles introduced a new wayit looked different and it felt differentits about how to push that hyper reality more-so and to also deal with its human elements so we dont get really stiff, lifeless kinds of faces.
In keeping with that goal and staying away from the pretty but porcelain limited facial movement look of typical CG, Munroe is testing some more extreme facial structures in order to get the subtleties just right.
Something that creates the dreaded lifeless face is the lack of reaction in the eyes when you smile, says Munroe. So he and his team have been hard at work testing 3D models of the characters and performing range of motion tests.
He showed various test shots and 3D models of Katse, Dr. Nambu and Jun. Oh and by the way, Jun? Shes hot! Nuff said.
I saw various tests on these characters and its just amazing how a film such as this comes together. The hard work put into the most miniscule of things seems so tedious and difficult, but Munroe and his guys keep at it to get just the right reaction, the right expressions, from their characters.
Fans of the franchise can breathe a sigh of relief, Munroe and Tanaka definitely consider themselves Gatchaman purists and say the whole point is to stay as close as possible to the original versions but at the same time add some sleekness to it so its not just tights.
Tanaka added that they are going for something more realistic this time around than the Turtles human characters were.
Munroe says, I try to describe it to people, its not cartoon-ey and its not photo-real. Its really pushing the western style of animation, something very cool and different.
He continued to tell us about the first time we meet Gatchaman member, Joe, its this insane car chase. We tried to use the Bourne movies as a starting point but then add like a CG camera inside of it.
The Fiery Phoenix has gotten a polish in its new CG home as well. I was shown the fire test of the ship and its flame up. The test was incredible! It still has the bay doors and everything but so much more modern and sleek. But you see the ship and its like, yeah, thats the Phoenix, its not completely re-imagined or redesigned, but it has a modern and fast look and feel.
Munroe confides that the flame transformation of the ship comes at a pivotal and climatic point in the story.
This brings up a major question on fans minds, considering the confusion of the multiple incarnations of the TV series, whats this story all about?
Munroe tell us, Its an origin story. Were going through, were adding mythology.
Tanaka adds, Fans of the tv show will remember that they never talked about how the Gatchaman started, how the war between the Gatchaman and Galactor started...
Munroe: What was the first invasion like
Tanaka: So this is, were actually the prequel to the TV show in a sense, and the idea that the mythology of the Gatchaman is not just restricted to technology, there is a mystical aspect as well.
Munroe: We arent reinventing it, we are trying to deliver a very satisfying future storyline but at the same time, look at it and go, wow that would fit really well into the cupboard that is now the tv show.
The action is going to, take place on, were keeping the word Utoland for now, on an island, a UN sponsored island, [where they] bring the best of the best from all these different cultures, says Munroe.
On Utoland island, Munroe tells us the landscape is packed full of buildings that are so tall that its permanently nighttime at ground level. He compares it to Beat the Devil by Tony Scott (a BMW films short film from The Hire series). Its got a lot of neon and is very much alive. Filled with billboards, Utoland is a very animated environment.
IESB: Is UN the United Nations?
Munroe: We are trying to get United Nations
Tanaka: Unless theres a legal issue
Munroe: And if its not, its going to be the Galactic Counsel of blah blah blahbut its the UN.
So far as the timeline, Tanaka says its set in the year 21XX.
Munroe adds, The world has gotten worse in terms of politics and economy and this island has been created as a beacon of hope for mankind to show that yes there is still hope and we can get along and function together and have a common sharing of ideas.
He continued, Weve got politics, terrorism, the island is the beacon of hope and the Gatchaman become the symbol of that hope for all of mankind because it takes what happens in this movie to united everybody together to fight back. Its bigger than just a simple alien invasion story
Tanaka: But there is an alien invasion.
Munroe: Yeah! But more!
We find our heroes at the end of Act 1, with a completely destroyed city after the aforementioned alien invasion. Theres no place to go but bigger! Munroe says Act 3 blows the invasion away.
The image below shows Utoland at the end of Act 1 - Click for high rez
The team also plans to use the color direction of the film to help move the story along. For instance, when the bad guys come, the electricity of the city is turned off so the canyon becomes completely dark and static. Completely opposite of its usual busy, daily life.
Munroe believes that for this movie to succeed, there are a couple of things you have to take as given, one of them is, you know, if you go into the Arclight and see the live action Gatchaman playing side by side the CG Gatchaman, you have to say, there is more of a reason to see the CG versionthis has to deliver more than what you would in your standard live-action interpretation and that includes the scope and that includes the camera, the style and this total immersiveness you can get with CGI so it demands to be a bit bigger and a bit crazier in scope. If you get it and you go, I couldve shot that live-action, then weve failed. Or at least if you say, Wow, that would have cost 200+ [million] to do that movie [live-action] then were in the right ballpark.
Make sure it looks really expensive, Tanaka added.
There were some things that were cut out or reworked in Turtles, like the ninja throwing stars, will Munroe and his team run into those problems again?
Munroe commented, Weve got a couple of key characters, and bad things happen to them, a key character dies at one point. And if you sat back and tried to ok that with everybody, some people may say, maybe you should think about not letting that happen. But at the end of the day, that moment is one of the best moments in the film and its one of the most moving moments and one of the greatest moments that helps all the characters grow. And if you try to sit back and try and limit yourself storytelling-wise for a rating, its stupid. So Id rather have it up there on screen to show that it works
They are working with scribe Paul Dini about whom Munroe says is, not only a phenomenal writer, but he's a great collaborator. He understands everything we love about this property. There isn't another writer out there more suited for this project. I wouldn't want to do this movie without him."
They are still on target for a PG-13 rating but may need to make some final changes to the title itself. Will it remain as Gatchaman? Kevin Munroe says he's not sure. It may change to the more commonly known Americanized title of G-Force. If that's the case, producer Jerry Bruckheimer will have to change his film's title "G-Force" starring Nicolas Cage that's also due out in 2009 as the Gatchaman franchise would most definitely win that title match.
The team behind Gatchaman hope to reveal some goodies at Comic Con 2008 in San Diego, California.
Munroe says, he would like A big presence [at Comic Con], itd be cool to reveal what the suits look like to everyone. A trailer would be great. Its just up to what Warners wants to do and what Imagi wants to do.
Well find out come next summer! Will SDCC attendees be treated to a Gatchaman trailer? Well, for now you can revel in the images Kevin gave us below.
Click on the pictures below for high rez versions
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