Interview: Mark Walton on Bolt
Disney Animated Film Stars John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman
Nov 19, 2008
For the past 12 years, Disney storyboard artist Mark Walton had contributed background voices for several animated films, including Loosey Goosey (Chicken Little) and Barry & Bob Longhorn in Home on the Range.
But Walton hit the jackpot when his test voice for Rhino, the hyperactive hamster in Bolt, ended up becoming the final vocal track.
Suite 101 sat down with Walton to discuss his experience working on the film, and working at Disney.
How did you end up working on Bolt?
"I've been at Disney studios for about 12 years as a story artist. Sometimes, when we’re testing the story drawings, we’ll film them and put up temporary music, sound effects and dialogue to see how it’s playing. They’ll grab people like me to provide temporary voices until they cast a professional.
"Some friends thought it would be funny if I was this hamster voice because I guess I’m an enthusiastic, quirky personality: a fanboy of animation and Disney, and fantasy/science fiction. I assumed at some point they’d replace me with a box office draw, but I guess I was close enough to what they wanted. So here I am, doing a voice!"
Were you working on Bolt before–
“I spent one week generating 300 drawings of dogs with different symbols on their sides, and names to go along with, like “Thunder” or “Dynamite,” “Hammer and Tongs.” They ended up sticking with Bolt, anyway.”
How did you approach the character of Rhino?
“I was prepared to do this funny hamster voice, whatever I thought a hamster would sound like, but they wanted me to be myself. That was very freeing: I could concentrate on getting the dialogue, and the acting choices, right.
“Rhino is very enthusiastic about the TV show and getting to live his dream following Bolt around on what he thinks will be an adventure. I tried to imagine what it would be like to meet your hero, if you had some crazy dream, and you actually got to do it.
"And that’s what I’m doing right now. Working at Disney is so exciting. And being a voice in a Disney film . . . even when it was temporary, it was so much fun to record the dialogue. And now knowing that it's in the film, it’s not hard to put myself in the same headspace that I think Rhino’s at.”
How do you see Bolt, as compared to Meet the Robinsons or Chicken Little?
“Each film has its own distinct look with different directors and writers working to different moods.
"Bolt does have more of a pure visual direction in terms of the character design. Paul Felix, who designed the backgrounds, he did an amazing job of creating this painterly, impressionistic look. With the backgrounds he hand-painted, you’re in a rich world that you can touch and move around in. He was very influenced by famous American illustrators like Edward Hopper. This film goes throughout many of the 50 states and Paul had to capture this very romantic view of America . . . a more-real-than-real version of our country. It feels real, and yet it's artistic and stylized.
"I’m friends with the guys on Chicken Little and they designed that very off-kilter, quirky, where the buildings are all kind of slanted, a little bit like The Nightmare Before Christmas. Cool in its own way, but very different."
What was it like working with directors Byron Howard and Chris Williams?
“They were great. I had done scratch (tracks) for other films - minor voice roles - and they were very supportive, made me feel really good about what I was doing, and did their best to prepare me for what was going on in the sequence.
"A lot of guys plunk you in front of the script pages alone, and say, “Here are your lines! Go!”
"But Chris and Byron wanted to help us get into the minds of the characters and get into what was going on in the scene any way they could, sometimes reading the other person’s lines back to me to get a feel for the rhythm of it. If I needed 60 takes to get a line, they’d give me 60 takes until we were both happy with it.
"When you see the film, it’s amazing how well it all seems like we’re talking to each other, a nice grouping of our different voices: me, Susie Essman, Miley Cyrus and John Travolta."
There have been a lot of talking animals flicks in recent years–
“Yeah, we seem to like those a lot in animation. (laughs)”
Why would audiences want to see Bolt as opposed to say, Over the Hedge?
“I liked Over the Hedge, although it was a very different film.
"But I would say: go see Bolt because it has great designs, great animation, and some really terrific characters that you’ll believe in and want to spend time with. It’s very entertaining, but it also has some real, genuine heart and warmth. I lived with this story for 2 years, and I started crying when I watched the final screening. It’s got a great message about friendship and about how animals trust us and love us whether we earn it or not.”
Because you’ve been with Disney for 12 years, what were your feelings about working with John Lasseter and Ed Catmull?
“We’ve gone through about 4 different heads of the division while I was there, and I have to say: to have an actual filmmaker, and someone who made some of my favourite movies – the Toy Story movies – it’s so exciting to feel like there’s someone who understands the process, who loves movies, who loves Disney and animation and who I think is probably more in touch with our audience than a lot of other people. If I could have dreamed a situation that could’ve saved us as a studio, that would’ve been it, I never would have expected it to happen.”
Bolt opens this Friday.
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