Interview: Doug Sweetland on Presto
Disney/Pixar Short Screened With Andrew Stanton's WALL-E
Sep 25, 2008
In 1994, Doug Sweetland dropped out of his final year at CalArts, and joined Pixar to help animate Toy Story. For the next 14 years, he was an animator at Pixar. In 2006, after supervising animation for Cars, Sweetland took the next step: he pitched his own short.
Two years later, “Presto” – a Looney Tunes-inspired tale of a rabbit wreaking onstage havoc on his neglectful magician – debuted before Andrew Stanton’s WALL-E. Suite 101 recently sat down with Sweetland to discuss the hare-raising (sorry) process behind making the short.
What inspired "Presto"?
“Classic cartoons in general. We needed as quick a set-up as possible, and that led us into a classic cartoon format. We needed an instantly recognizable story relationship, so it gets things going like (snaps fingers).”
I noticed a lot of Bugs Bunny in Alec, because, in the cartoons, Bugs was always provoked –
“That’s the big thing that changed because, in the beginning, both Alec and Presto were nice guys. So that was another big shift towards classic cartoon, realizing that Presto should be the antagonist, he needed to push buttons immediately, and it’s obvious that it’s a pretty gag-driven cartoon. So we looked at Tex Avery and Tom and Jerry . . . there’s a lot of Charlie Chaplin there too.”
You said that Presto and Alec were originally nice guys. How did that change?
“I originally came up with a scenario about a magician whose rabbit dumps him, so we feel sorry for the magician. Then an autograph-hound bunny knocks on the stage door, and he incorporates this bunny off the street and into his act. Kind of like A Star Is Born. But the bunny gets stage fright, all sorts of complications arise . . .
“The main issue was it was too long and complicated. If Pixar could’ve made an 8-minute cartoon, it might've worked! (laughs) But we needed an instantly relatable set-up, to establish each character as quickly as possible, get that antagonism, and get them onstage ASAP.”
Was there a point where you went off-track, and what did it take to put you back on?
“That would pretty much define the story process! (laughs)
"You get a simple note about shortening the length, something that's more easily dealt with in production. But when you’re doing story, you’re dealing with the logic of the piece, and when you take the smallest thing out, the whole logic falls apart.
“This was the biggest learning curve for me, since working on Toy Story. I felt defeated for a large portion of the time, not realizing that it was all part of the process.”
What pulled you out of it?
Umm . . . ahh (laughs) A total, utter need to get it done! I refused to give up; pitching it over and over again, and not getting the response I was looking, for reinforced the fact that I needed to search some more.
Who really helped you?
“Everyone! (laughs) Actually, once we got the story underway and moved into production, we only really saw John Lasseter, he was the mentor from start to finish. But Andrew Stanton had amazing notes on character and realizing ‘Alec just needs a carrot,’ something so totally basic that eluded me for so long. And (Up co-director) Bob Peterson helped me realize . . . We had this device, the two magical hats, that distracted me for the longest time."
How so?
I just loved the physics of the hats. There was no end to the variations on ‘in one hat and out the other'; I could spend all day doing that. What I found, is that’s not necessarily a story! (laughs)
"That's what Bob Peterson showed me: "Presto" is really a dialogue between two characters. It’s not an expo of hat gags, although I still cling to that idea! (laughs)"
Who were you thinking of when you were creating the character of Presto?
“There were certain character actors that we were looking at: stodgy, pompous types. We looked at tons of turn-of-the-century era magicians.
“Once we realized Presto had to be a jerk, we looked at John Cleese or Alfred Molina . . . edgy, dark types. But we needed to pull back from that, so we went with someone like William Powell: very debonair. We had to believe that this guy goes out and wins over an audience, so he has to be winsome, but with this potential for cartoonish rage.”
Who was the inspiration for Alec?
“I don’t know. One of the suggestions was, in that first establishing shot, we should sympathize with him immediately, so that we’re always on his side.
"All of the gags that Alec inflicts on Presto, all the punishment, he does really reluctantly. So, especially in the beginning of that gag run, he’s doing some pretty painful things to Presto, but he always has this look of sorrow and regret. He really hates to do this, but he wants his carrot. That was the character that we really wanted for him.”
So what’s next for you?
“I’m still working at Pixar! (laughs) I’m just glad I still have my job! I am working on another project, but I’m in Top Secret land right now. I will say, though, that working on "Presto" has given me a taste for directing."
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