A lively and fun-filled exclusive interview with writer/director JIM CAPOBIANCO talking about the wonders of melding stop-motion and 2-D animation and the love of storytelling to bring us the delightful tale of Leonardo da Vinci – THE INVENTOR.
You already know JIM CAPOBIANCO’s animation work from story artist on Disney and Pixar films like “A Bug’s Life”, “Monsters, Inc,”, “Finding Dory”, ‘Finding Dory” and “Inside Out”, to animation sequencing and directing in “Mary Poppins Returns” and even the documentary “Ready, Set, Bag”. And then there’s screenwriting. Jim is one of the Academy Award®-nominated screenwriters of “Ratatouille”, as well as being a story writer on films like “The Lion King” and “Mater’s Tall Tales”. And then there’s his own short film, “Leonardo” which he wrote and directed in 2009.
It’s been 14 years since Jim gave us the incredible and imaginative short “Leonardo” and now we see his dream of a feature based on that short come to life as THE INVENTOR. And who says good things don’t come to those who wait.
SYNOPSIS: “THE INVENTOR is a stop-motion and 2-D hand-drawn animated adventure film about the life of Leonardo da Vinci when the insatiably curious and headstrong inventor/artist Leonardo da Vinci (Stephen Fry) leaves Italy to join the French court where he can freely experiment, invent flying contraptions and incredible machines, and study the human body. Joined in his adventure by the audacious Princess Marguerite (Daisy Ridley), Leonardo attempts to uncover the answer to the ultimate question: ‘What is the meaning of life?’.”
Written and directed by JIM CAPOBIANCO and co-directed by Pierre-Luc Granjon, THE INVENTOR features the voices of Stephen Fry, Daisy Ridley, Marion Cotillard, Gauthier Battoue, and Matt Berry.
THE INVENTOR is utterly charming and enchanting and fun! And as if stop-motion isn’t fabulous enough in and of itself, how about stop-motion characters that resemble some of our favorite Rankin-Bass holiday characters? (Can you say “Burgermeister” and “Jessica Claus”?) But then, much as Leonardo da Vinci himself always inventing and creating, Jim creates and crafts the stop-motion with 2-D animation and brings in the different artistic styles of pen and ink, watercolor, even some charcoal/grease, pencil sketches. Backgrounds – a blend of 2-D and stop-motion – look almost like bas-reliefs behind Old World villages and castle.
Getting into the puppetry itself, the great care paid to skin, hair, uses of cotton, yard, and specific fabrications, all help build this world of Leonardo da Vinci. And you will be gobsmacked by the Golden Lion! Beautifully done is the incorporation of many of well-known works of Leonardo da Vinci peppered throughout the film from his flying machine to the Vitruvian Man to the Mona Lisa. We get a fantastic history lesson without ever feeling like we’re learning! The production values are exemplary.
But as wonderful as the film looks and feels, the real magic comes from the story and Jim’s research into da Vinci and a select slice of his life – the time period when da Vinci relocated from Italy to France. This opened the story door as Jim learned about the king and his sister who was considered to be the first Renaissance woman. (Naturally, there was a mother involved, too.) With the idea of these basic characters, Jim’s imagination took hold as he developed a central story between Leonardo and Marguerite that led to an exploration of wonderful themes about life that extend to other characters and story dynamics.
Discussing the film’s genesis, his multi-year journey to THE INVENTOR, the animation styles and how he determined when to use 2-D versus when to use stop-motion, the research, designing characters, the color palette, lighting, designing the breathtaking climactic third act, the voice cast (Stephen Fry is perfection as Leonardo da Vinci), the end credits and titles, and so much more that explores Jim’s own creative processes, we cover it all in this exclusive interview.
TAKE A LISTEN!
by debbie elias, exclusive interview 08/10/2023
THE INVENTOR is in theatres nationwide on September 15, 2023.
