My Father’s Dragon, adapted from the popular book series and tells the story of Elmer and his best friend, a dragon named Boris. We had the chance to sit down for an interview with Jacob Tremblay and Nora Twomey to chat about the movie and having magical creatures for a sidekick.
Jacob stars as Elmer the young boy who sets out on the adventure of a lifetime where he meets Boris. The story is warm, heartfelt, and beautifully animated. Nora has brought this beloved book to life, creating a world kids will want to get lost in.
While Jana decided to ask a more serious question, Ashley had a little fun. You will never guess what kind of animal Jacob would choose for a best friend. Or rather, his reasoning for said choice!
After a move to the city with his mother, Elmer struggles to adapt to his new life. He decides to run away only to discover Wild Island. There he finds a young dragon named Boris waiting to be rescued. Elmer’s adventures introduce him to ferocious beasts, a mysterious island, and the friendship of a lifetime. But will Elmer be courageous enough to save Boris and his other new friends? Time is running out.
One Piece Film Red is in theaters now. Ashley had the chance to sit down with the English dub cast to learn more about the film and what it could mean for the anime going forward. Read on for more about her interview with English dub cast of One Piece Film Red.
Slight spoilers possible if you have not watched One Piece Film Red.
Interview With English Dub Cast of One Piece Film Red
Are you a fan of One Piece dubs? Then these names should definitely sound familiar. Colleen Clinkenbeard (Luffy), Brandon Potter (Shanks), Matthew Mercer (Law), Sonny Strait (Usopp), Ian Sinclair (Brook), and Brina Palencia (Chopper) have been a part of the One Piece world for a long time. Now the highly anticipated 15th movie, One Piece Film Red is now in theaters.
Ever wanted to know what these anime voice acting legends think about their characters on One Piece? Well we have your answers. Ashley also asked them about possible future storylines (hey we know it’s not canon but…), favorite moments from the film, and more. Brooks’ line on the stanza? It took awhile to get it just right.
In addition to the Straw Hat Crew and their allies, Ashley also spoke with AmaLee who voices Uta and Jim Foronda (Gordon). AmaLee found voicing Uta a dream come true and other than the world conquering plans, she could relate to the singer.
In One Piece Film Red, Uta (Kaori Nazuka; AmaLee), a famous singer is performing at her first ever live concert. Fans from all over the world are coming together to attend, including the Straw Hats and other notable pirate crews. Luffy (Mayumi Tanaka; Colleen Clinkenbeard) quickly realizes that this Uta is his childhood friend who also happens to be the only daughter of his idol Shanks (Shûichi Ikeda; Brandon Potter). The reunion quickly turns sour as Luffy learns Uta’s real motives for holding this concert. Fed up with the destruction that pirates have caused, Uta vows to use her Devil Fruit powers to create a new world where everyone can find peace. As righteous as that may seem, her plan has terrible consequences that could destroy everything.
Now streaming on Netflix is the screen adaptation of 13: The Musical. We had the chance to sit down for an interview with Adam Santelli, the director of photography to talk about bringing 13 from stage to screen and more.
So what is it specifically about musicals and music videos that interests you most as a creative?
Adam: I’ve always been involved in music ever since I was a kid. I am the MTV generation, I was there when there were two videos on MTV. Basically spent most of my time watching MTV through middle school and high school.
I just remember my mom always going, what are you going to do with your life? I’m like, I’m gonna make music videos. And so that’s kind of where it all started, because of that, it just was an easy transition into musicals. And I’m a big musical fan. So a big Broadway fan.
Let’s talk about 13: The Musical and what made you want to work on this project? Did you come across challenges when adapting the stage play and book into the film?
Adam: I’m a big Tamra Davis fan, just that alone kind of got me excited about the project. But then when I read the script and started doing the research, I was like, I have to do it. We’ve all been there and we’ve all had those problems. So in a sense it was one of those kind of projects [and] all the stars have aligned.
The choreographer, Jamal, I know very well, from Descendents 3. It was just a great coming together of people I’ve always wanted to work with, or people I have been wanting to get back together with.
13 The Musical follows 12-year-old Evan Goldman after he leaves New York City following his parents’ divorce. Evan is devastated to leave all his friends, his father, and his rabbi behind. Especially since his Bar Mitzvah is coming up, But upon arriving at his grandmother’s house in small-town Walkerton, Indiana, he hatches a plan to win new friends by turning his Bar Mitzvah into the coolest party ever.
As an outsider, Evan quickly finds out he’s not the only one grappling with the all too familiar anxieties of eighth grade. While his new friends Patrice and Archie fret over the fate of the planet and unrequited love, popular cheerleader Lucy desperately plots to stave off a first kiss between her crush Brett and best friend Kendra. To make matters worse, Evan invites the popular kids to his party—who aren’t fans of Patrice. Evan faces the impossible task of bringing everyone happily together in time for his party, or else risk social ruin. It turns out, 13 isn’t looking as good as he thought it would be.
About Adam Santelli
Adam Santelli has worked on everything from Descendants 3 to Fear of the Walking Dead and so much in between. But as much as we wanted to talk about that Hades musical number and Hellraiser, we tried to focus on 13: The Musical. Okay, yes, we also asked about the other things, too, because Adam has such an expansive portfolio. How could we not?
Jerry Bruckheimer’s latest film Secret Headquarters premieres on Paramount+ August 12. We had the chance to interview Walker Scobell and Momona Tamada to learn more about the movie.
Secret Headquarters follows Charlie Kincaid (Walker Scobell), a 14-year-old boy sent to spend his birthday with his father Jack (Owen Wilson). Jack and Charlie’s relationship is strained due to Jack constantly bailing on both Charlie and his mother. Charlie assumes his dad just doesn’t want anything to do with his family. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Jack is actually the superhero the Guard, a hero chosen by an alien artifact to become the protector of Earth. When his dad leaves, Charlie invites his friends over, and together they discover his dad’s secret identity. Soon trouble comes calling when Argon (Michael Peña) shows up looking for the source of Jack’s powers. It’s up to Charlie and his friends to stop this villain in his tracks.
Walker and Momona are set to be household names soon. Walker will be starring as Percy Jackson in the upcoming Disney+ series. Momona is starring as Ty Lee in the live-action Avatar the Last Airbender series coming to Nickelodeon.
Naturally, we had to talk superhero gadgets, stunt scenes, and working with two Marvel superstars. Walker is adding to his Infinity Gauntlet of costars that is for sure!
Apple TV Plus’ newest animated film, Luck, is coming to the streaming platform August 5. To learn more about and the adorable Bob the Cat, we sat down for an interview with Simon Pegg.
Luck follows Sam Greenfield (Eva Noblezada), the unluckiest person in the world who desperately wants to help her friend. One day she meets a black cat named Bob (Simon Pegg) who leaves behind a lucky penny. Sam is excited and cannot wait to give it to her friend. But when it gets lost, she finds Bob again and follows him into the never-before-seen Land of Luck in hopes of tracking down a new penny. Nothing goes as planned and she is going to need more than luck if she wants to help her friend, the inhabitants of the Land of Luck, and herself.
Ashley, born on Friday the 13th, loved how this movie turned superstitions on their heads. It was refreshing to see black cats get some much needed love. Because as you know, she is also a cat fan.
We asked Simon about what excited him most about Luck, how he related to Bob, as well as working on voice acting gigs versus live action.
The latest Disneynature film, Polar Bear is coming to Disney+ this month. Ashley had the chance to sit down for an interview with directors Alastair Fothergill and Jeff Wilson to learn more about this project.
Disneynature Interview with Directors Alastair Fothergill and Jeff Wilson
Narrated by Catherine Keener, Disneynature’s Polar Bear tells the story of a new mother whose memories of her youth help her raise her cub. But things have changed. Her world is increasingly challenging and different from the one she grew up in. Alastair Fothergill and Jeff Wilson, the directing team behind Disneynature’s Penguins, helm this film. They craft the bear’s story by going back and examining her days as a cub. By showing how much has changed for this bear during her lifetime, Fothergill and Wilson capture the resiliency and plight of polar bears.
Polar Bear is an amazing film and like every other Disneynature outing made me cry at least once. What made you want to focus on polar bears?
Alastair: We’d worked a lot in the arctic with polar bears and we always knew there was an amazing Disneynature film to be made. Polar bears are amazingly beautiful, they have wonderful cubs which is great for Disneynature. More than anything else they are the queens of their worlds… Also, we felt it was a very timely film because polar bears are at the cutting edge of climate change, it’s happening very fast in the arctic. We thought it was a film that had to be made now.
They also explained the difficulty of finding a bear family to work with. After all, polar bears are solitary creatures.
Disneynature Polar Bear starts streaming on Disney+ April 15.
