Interview: Chris Williams on Bolt, Glago's Guest
Disney Animated Film Stars John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman
Mar 25, 2009
Although Bolt – starring the voices of John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman and Mark Walton – didn't exactly set the box office on fire when it came out in November of last year, the film was seen as a welcome return to form for the struggling Disney Animation.
In Part #1 of this exclusive interview, Suite 101 chatted with Bolt director Chris Williams about how the film did at the box office, and his concept of what the movie was about. In this installment, Chris talks about his ideas for the film, and his short "Glago's Guest."
S101: What inspired you when you were writing the script for Bolt?
Chris Williams: “A lot of my questions were answered by going back to that central theme. Once we discovered what the movie was about, the writing comes a lot easier. I’m a big fan of action movies, and I really wanted Bolt to have a lot of action movie set-pieces.
"But ultimately, once you have the core idea I talked about previously, all the threads start coming together. Once you’re really convinced that the theme is the right theme, that Mittens has to contribute a certain thing, that Rhino has to contribute a certain thing, so it’s always looking back to that core idea.”
What happened with ‘Glago’s Guest’? Why didn’t it open for Bolt in theatres?
“Yeah, I’m certainly anxious for it to find a venue, and I’m very proud of how it turned out. I think they were concerned that it was maybe a bit too intense for kids, and they were nervous about that. I respected that, and I didn’t put up a big stink or anything. Right now, they’re trying to figure out what is the best venue to get “Glago’s Guest” out to an audience. It played at a few festivals, it’s going to the Stuttgart Festival this year and I’m not exactly sure where it’s going to end up.”
I saw it at the Ottawa International Festival of Animation and it went over well with audiences.
“Yeah, thanks. I got a lot of really good feedback from it. We went to the Annecy Film Festival in France and I was there to present that. It got some really good feedback there as well so I’m really excited about getting it out into the world.”
What was your concept for that short?
"A lot of times I’ll try to create a stream of consciousness where I’m just drawing or sketching without really thinking about what I’m drawing. And I ended up drawing a Russian guy and this alien tentacle monster playing chess, and I started thinking ‘What brought these two together?’
"From there, the ball just started rolling and I started asking, ‘What is this all about?’ and what was this Russian soldier’s perception of the other character when it entered his life. So the whole short really became about perception.”
So What’s next for you?
“My wife had a baby so I took a month off and just relaxed a little bit, but I’m back at work and I’m putting together some pitches and some story ideas. On April 1st, I’ll be pitching to John and hopefully starting the madness all over again. It’s such a grueling process, but it’s so rewarding when you see the crew come together on a film, it’s such a satisfying feeling, so I’m anxious to get back in there and make another one.”
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