"Walt Disney's Underdog"
"Underdog Trailer" - First Look
"Underdog" - In Theaters August 3, 2007
"There's no need to fear. Underdog is here!" The superhero canine with a gift for rhyme returns in an all new live-action re-imagination of the classic cartoon, "Underdog." After an accident in the mysterious lab of maniacal scientist Dr. Simon Barsinister (Peter Dinklage), an ordinary beagle unexpectedly finds himself with unimaginable powers and the ability to speak. Armed with a fetching superhero costume, Underdog (voiced by comedian Jason Lee) vows to protect the beleaguered citizens of Capitol City and, in particular, one beautiful spaniel named Polly Purebread (voiced by Academy Award® nominee Amy Adams). When a sinister plot by Barsinister and his overgrown henchman Cad (Patrick Warburton) threatens to destroy Capitol City only Underdog can save the day. Utilizing state-of-the-art CGI special effects mixed with live-action, "Underdog" flies into theaters in summer 2007.
STARRING: Jim Belushi, Peter Dinklage, John Slattery, Patrick Warburton, Brad Garrett, with Amy Adams, and Jason Lee as the voice of Underdog
DIRECTOR: Frederik Du Chau
STUDIO: Walt Disney
RATING: PG (For
rude humor, mild language and action)
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"Walt Disney's Underdog"
Behind The Scenes
There’s no need to fear. Underdog is here! Everyone’s favorite canine superhero is back and about to take to the skies as he’s never been seen before -- hilariously re-imagined in this live-action comedy-adventure inspired by the classic cartoon. UNDERDOG is the story of how a nation found a savior in the least likely of forms: a humble, lovable Beagle who becomes a flying hero who can fight crime while speaking in playful rhyme.
"Walt Disney's UNDERDOG" features a cast of both canine and human talent, including Jim Belushi (“According to Jim”), Jason Lee (“My Name Is Earl”), Patrick Warburton (“Seinfeld”), Peter Dinklage (“Elf,” “The Station Agent”), Brad Garrett (“Everybody Loves Raymond”) and Academy Award® nominee Amy Adams (“Junebug.”), along with rising young actors Alex Neuberger and Taylor Momsen (“How the Grinch Stole Christmas”). But the real stars of the film are the adorable, well-trained dogs who win the day, including Leo the Lemon Beagle in the role of Shoeshine/Underdog; Ginger, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel as Polly Purebred; as well as Bronco the Rottweiler as the villainous Riff Raff.
The story of Underdog’s mysterious origins begins in the wake of an accident in the high-tech lab of the maniacal scientist Dr. Simon Barsinister (Dinklage). Suddenly, an ordinary, down-and-out young Beagle named Shoeshine finds himself with extraordinary powers, not to mention the unexpected ability to turn his bark into real speech. Now, armed with a “fetching” superhero costume, this unlikely caped crusader and humbly self-described Underdog (voiced by Jason Lee) vows to protect the beleaguered citizens of Capitol City – especially one beautiful Spaniel named Polly Purebred (voiced by Amy Adams). When a sinister plot by Barsinister and his overgrown henchman Cad (Warburton), threatens to destroy Capitol City, only Underdog can save the day.
Walt Disney Pictures presents in association with Spyglass Entertainment, UNDERDOG, based on the long-running cartoon series. Director Frederik Du Chau (“Racing Stripes”) brings to life the world of Shoeshine, Polly Purebred, Dr. Simon Barsinister, Riff Raff and Cad with state-of-the-art visual effects that add a new layer to the timeless tale of a pup who comes to believe in family, friendship and himself -- despite being a true underdog.
UNDERDOG is directed by Frederik Du Chau from a screenplay by Adam Rifkin and Joe Piscatella & Craig A. Williams and a story by Piscatella, Williams and Rifkin. The producers are Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum, Jay Polstein and Jonathan Glickman. The executive producers are Eric Ellenbogen, Bob Higgins and Todd Arnow. The behind-the-scenes team includes director of photography David Eggby (“Racing Stripes,” “Mad Max”), production designer Gareth Stover (“Daddy Day Care”), Academy Award®-nominated costume designer Gary Jones (“Spiderman 2”), editor Tom Finan (“Racing Stripes,” “Stuart Little”) and Golden Globe nominated composer Randy Edelman (“The Mask”).
HIP! HIP! HIP! AND AWAY I GO!
THE ORIGINS OF UNDERDOG
“Look up in the sky! It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s a frog.” With those whimsical words, the world was introduced to the floppy-eared, flying dynamo known as Underdog. True to his persona, he came onto the scene in the most humble of ways, as a simply drawn, flesh-colored cartoon character who became an unexpected run-away hit. But, for an entire generation, the haplessly heroic Underdog also became something far more – forever associated with the boundless joy of Saturday mornings in your PJs and a world where even the most humble and hang-dog of canines could become a grand hero who regularly manages to save the day.
The birth of the cartoon series began in 1960 when Buck Biggers, an account executive at the New York ad agency Dancer Fitzgerald Sample, teamed up with fellow ad-man Chet Stover and illustrator Joe Harris to create animated television shows to help sell breakfast cereals for their big client, General Mills. The team would go on to bring to television a whole roster of memorable characters, including Tennessee Tuxedo and King Leonardo, but their most enduring character was the mild-mannered mutt who would become known worldwide as Underdog – the one hero who truly spoke for the little guy.
The series debuted on NBC in October of 1964 and ran for almost a decade, charming both children and adults with 121 episodes through 1973.
Audiences fell in love with the unlikely hero who, called into action by his girlfriend Polly Purebred, would leap into a phone booth and change into a “pup of steel” in order to battle the evil plots of Dr. Simon Barsinister and the underworld boss Riff Raff.
The popularity of the “Underdog” cartoon series took nearly everyone by surprise. He soon became the first cartoon character to ever grace the ultra-sophisticated cover of the New Yorker magazine. And even when the episodes came to an end, Underdog’s appeal endured. Underdog’s snappy catchphrases – including “When Polly’s in trouble, I’m not slow. So it’s hip! hip! hip! and away I go!” and “There’s no need to fear, Underdog is here!” -- became part of everyday conversation.
In 1965, Underdog made his first appearance in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and quickly became a fan favorite and one of the most popular symbols of the beloved parade. (So popular, in fact, that a classic episode of the sitcom “Friends” features the Underdog balloon breaking free during the Macy’s Parade and flying away!) The instantly recognizable image of Underdog has also spread through the popular culture, with the character appearing in ads for Visa Check Cards.
The Underdog theme song -- written by W. Watts Biggers, Treadwell D. Covington, Joseph B. Harris and Chester A. Stover, and filled with such memorable lines as “speed of lightning/roar of thunder/fighting all who rob or plunder/Underdog!” -- was as big a sensation as Underdog himself and has also endured, getting updated treatments recently on the hit show “Scrubs” with Ted Buckland’s band, The Blanks. Bringing the song full circle in UNDERDOG is a fresh version from multi-talented teen star Kyle Massey, star of the popular Disney Channel hit “Cory In The House.”
FROM 60S CARTOON TO 21ST CENTURY FILM HERO:
UNDERDOG IS BACK!
By the time the 21st century rolled around, it seemed that today’s tough world was in dire need of Underdog’s return. At Classic Media, an Entertainment Rights group company based in New York that owns the rights to Underdog as well as whole array of classic pop-culture characters including Lassie, Mr. Magoo, The Lone Ranger and Boris & Natasha, the feeling was that Underdog, with his willingness to always try no matter how overwhelming the odds, was an especially resonant hero for our times. So they were excited to team up with producer Jay Polstein of Maverick Films to finally give Underdog a silver screen debut. Polstein and Classic Media then approached the producing team at Spyglass Entertainment with the opportunity to adapt the adventure-comedy classic in a whole new way.
Their idea was to bring Underdog to a new generation of family filmgoers in a modern adventure that would also pay homage to his humble beginnings.
“So many of us remember the cartoon fondly,” notes Spyglass’s Roger Birnbaum, “which combined two things people will always love – dogs and superheroes – so it felt like a natural. But the question was: how do you re-imagine Underdog here and now? Ultimately, we took the source material, with all its great characters, and turned it into a movie that we imagine as the prequel to the UNDERDOG story.”
From the beginning, both Classic Media and Spyglass agreed that a new look at UNDERDOG would mean taking the character beyond the limitations of the cartoon realm into flesh-and-fur reality. The notion of telling the story with real, live dogs sparked the creative team’s imaginations. “We saw the chance to appeal to every dog lover’s fantasy that their pet can actually communicate, that their dog actually understands what's going on in the world and is a superhero who can save the day,” says Spyglass’ Jonathan Glickman.
“There are some wonderful underlying emotional themes that the movie hangs on,” adds Glickman. “It’s truly an ‘underdog story,’ about a small dog who starts out believing that he is a failure but along the way he discovers that he is actually worthy of greatness.”
With a screenplay that spotlighted the comedy inherent to UNDERDOG, along with a very contemporary story of family, Spyglass brought the project to Disney. “We always knew that the greatest thing we could do was to combine the fun of UNDERDOG with the wonderful family brand of Walt Disney,” explains Spyglass’s Gary Barber.
Now the search was on for the right director – someone who could bring a fittingly waggish sense of style to Underdog’s life in Capitol City. It soon became apparent that Frederik Du Chau, a native of Belgium who began his career as a storyboard artist for legendary cartoon animator Chuck Jones and recently directed the animal-filled comedy “Racing Stripes,” was a great match for the material. He arrived with an obvious passion for the characters of UNDERDOG – but also a vision for bringing them into the future. Ready to create a reality-based world for UNDERDOG from the ground up, Du Chau brought to his very first meeting with the producers a series of detailed storyboards he’d already drawn in a flurry of inspiration. He even came prepared with some original conceptions not yet in the script—including the sequence that would later become Underdog’s accident-prone “first flight.”
Says executive producer Todd Arnow of Du Chau: “Frederik’s a really creative guy. He brought with him a very strong, smart sense of both animation and live-action. He’s very nimble and able to change on a dime and when you’re working with animals and children that is a real gift.”
For his part, Du Chau was thrilled to take on the challenge of updating the iconic character. “It was always important to me that this UNDERDOG be based in reality,” he says of his vision for the film. “I wanted it to have the feeling of a contemporary superhero adventure but with the comedy of the Underdog character – that was the tone I was after. I knew it would be a lot more exciting and comical for the audience to see a real dog flying as opposed to an animated dog with perfect poise that acts like a cartoon.”
In order to achieve this, Du Chau presided over a team of accomplished film artists whose work creatively combined old-school, physical effects and stunts with today’s state-of-the-art visual effects. He also worked closely with highly regarded animal coordinator Boone Narr to create exciting dog action and detailed dog expression, all under the supervision of American Humane Association, which assured the utmost safety for both the animals and the actors.
While he was still preparing his storyboards, Du Chau visited Narr’s ranch in Southern California to learn the full extent of what trained dogs could and couldn't accomplish. Armed with this knowledge, and a new appreciation for the grit and determination of canine actors, he created his storyboards. Executive Producer Todd Arnow comments, “Boone had dogs doing things that I just never thought I would see. I think they will really amaze audiences.”
Using real dogs allowed Du Chau to create a far more visceral experience, bringing audiences for the first time inside Underdog’s canine crime-fighting world. The director explains: “We’ve created a situation where the audience gets to discover, along with Underdog, that he has super scent and hearing, can run really fast, fly and smash through walls. It’s a lot of fun.”
But before all these elements could be brought together in the film’s action-packed production, the next step would be casting the humans who make this tale of a canine superhero more true to life.
UNDERDOG’S HUMAN CAST
The Voices Behind The Bark
The enduring affection for Underdog as a character drew a lot of the actors to this new UNDERDOG adventure – both to voice the canine characters and to portray Capitol City’s human citizens and villains. Naturally, the first order of business was the quest to find an actor who could bring Underdog to life. Those who grew up with the cartoon fondly recall the milquetoast voice of actor Wally Cox, who made the character so endearingly funny – and the filmmakers of the new UNDERDOG wanted someone of equal flair, but with his own unique style.
The search ended with Golden Globe-nominated Jason Lee, one of today’s most popular comic talents who broke out in the indie films of Kevin Smith and stars in the acclaimed NBC comedy series “My Name Is Earl” as the hapless crook who decides to right all the wrongs he has inflicted on the world. Lee has also made his mark in animation, voicing the role of the villain Syndrome in the Academy Award® winning Disney•Pixar blockbuster “The Incredibles.”
Lee didn’t hesitate for a second. “Like most people my age, I was a big fan of the cartoon and I love doing voice work,” he says. But he did have to spend some time working out just the right approach to refreshing a character so beloved. “This film is inspired by the original cartoon but it’s really its own modern take on the story. So, ultimately, I just set out to be me – knowing that part of the appeal would be that my voice is coming out of something that isn’t me, and playing with that idea.”
He continues: “Part of what sets Underdog apart is that he has this very clumsy, likable quality, until he becomes a superhero, reluctantly taking on responsibility. It’s a case of someone ordinary becoming extraordinary. So finding the inflections, the energy, the rhythm and the pace for his transformation was a lot of fun.”
Lee also had a blast with the romantic tension between Shoeshine/Underdog and the alluring but seemingly unattainable Polly Purebred. “He’s out of his league with Polly,” admits Lee, “so he’s always trying to be very suave with her. He’s putting on this bravado but it’s still innocent and charming and I think that’s why we like him so much.”
Playing against Lee as the voice of Polly Purebred is Academy Award® nominee Amy Adams, who won widespread critical acclaim in the dramatic comedy “Junebug” and was recently seen in the hit comedy “Talladega Nights.” Like Lee, she was a stand-out winner in the casting process. “She was a real inspiration,” says Glickman. In fact, when we started recording, she took her hair down, which is normally up, and the look matched our dog’s ears. An unanticipated coincidence, but it turned out to be a great thing.”
It was the script that drew Adams’ interest. “I absolutely fell in love with the dogs and with Polly and the way they made her more modern. I always like playing sassy girls,” she laughs. “Polly is very feisty and not afraid to say what she thinks. She craves adventure, but she is absolutely hard to get.”
As a dog owner herself, Adams loved getting the chance to explore what a dog might say – if she was granted a voice. “I guess you could say Polly just wants the freedom to be her own dog,” observes Adams. “To prepare further, I not only watched my own dog, I also went to Central Park and watched some Cavalier King Charles Spaniels to get a better sense of their personalities. What’s fun about this movie is that the dogs are presented with a mix of realistic dog behavior and very human emotions.”
Also joining the voice cast as the canine villain Riff Raff, is Brad Garrett, known for his hang-dog role on “Everybody Loves Raymond” as well as his voice work on such Disney•Pixar animated films as “Finding Nemo” and the recent hit “Ratatouille.”
The Unger Family
While the extraordinary hijinx of Underdog brings superhero adventure to the film, it is the ordinary Unger family, who adopt Shoeshine the Beagle, who provide the story’s heart. To play Dan Unger, the widowed father who works as a security guard in the building where Barsinister conducts his shady experiments, the filmmakers knew they needed an actor who could traverse from comedy to drama in a heartbeat. Known for the wit and believability he brings to the role of a family man on his hit television series “According to Jim,” and a long-time dog-lover, Jim Belushi was the first choice.
“When I heard about the new UNDERDOG, I kind of got a joyous feeling connecting me back to my youth,” says Belushi. “The original cartoon provided hours of entertainment and when I read the script, I thought it was really well written. It’s an incredible journey for children and adults. It’s got action but it’s also got great relationships, between a father and son; between a girl dog and boy dog; and of course between people and dogs, which this movie really captures. And since we all feel like underdogs at some point in our life, it’s great to see this Underdog win.”
It also helped that Belushi, who has his own German Shepherd named Truly Scrumptious, is very experienced working with actors of the furry persuasion. “I’ve done three movies with dogs, including ‘K-9’ and I just love working with animals,” he says. “They are so in the moment. No matter how well-rehearsed you are, when you are in a scene with a dog, you have to let it all go and be present, and that’s when the magic happens.” Animal Coordinator Boone Narr saw a lot of that magic with Belushi.
“Sometimes you get actors who are standoffish with dogs but Belushi was always pushing it, even in the scenes when the German Shepherds with super powers are right in his face,” he says.
To play Dan Unger’s son, Jack, whose life is forever changed when he discovers his pet dog is actually a world-saving crime-fighter, the filmmakers decided to take a chance on a new, young star: Alex Neuberger in only his second film role. They were especially impressed with the 14 year-old’s ability to not only display a wide range of emotions but to play straight man to a hilarious dog as well.
Despite his youth, Neuberger had seen the cartoon on television, but he was primarily attracted by the script. “It was really action-packed,” he says. He was also intrigued by the character, who he notes is quite different from himself. “His mom died and his dad gave up his job as a cop and Jack’s pretty down when the story starts, until he meets Underdog. Of course that’s another big difference between us -- Jack has a pet dog, and I don’t,” Neuberger explains.
There were initial concerns over how Neuberger might handle his numerous scenes with rambunctious pups – but he proved to be a natural animal handler. “The trainers had me feed the dogs and train the dogs every day, so I developed a great relationship with Leo,” he says.
Starring as Jack’s love interest Molly (a relationship that parallel’s the courtship between their dogs, Underdog and Polly Purebred) is up-and-coming star Taylor Momsen. The 14 year-old’s already impressive range of roles includes co-starring as Cindylou Who opposite Jim Carrey in Ron Howard’s “Dr. Suess’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and as Mel Gibson’s daughter in “We Were Soldiers.”
Momsen learned about the original Underdog cartoons from her dad, who had grown up with them. But when she read the script, she took a liking to Molly, who is one of the most popular and richest girls at Jack’s school. Momsen was attracted Molly’s determination and sense of adventure and enjoyed portraying the sophisticated, rich girl’s polished demeanor. “I had to constantly remind myself how important etiquette is to her because she is such a proper and conservative girl.”
Rounding out the human cast of UNDERDOG is a cadre of supporting actors including: noted stage and television star John Slattery (“Desperate Housewives,” “Jack and Bobby”), who plays Capitol City’s beleaguered Mayor; Samantha Bee, the sole female correspondent on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” as Jack and Molly’s school principal; and Susie Castillo, host of MTV’s wildly popular “TRL (Total Request Live)” and a former Miss USA, who plays Capitol City’s ubiquitous News Reporter, always on the scene to report the amazing and mysterious appearances of Underdog.
The Mad Scientist
And then there are the humans who actually play humans in UNDERDOG. At the center of the human cast is the diabolical nemesis of Underdog: Simon Barsinister, the brilliant but definitely mad scientist whose mind and body are disfigured when an experiment goes awry. It is Barsinister who ultimately creates Underdog – and must face him in a climactic battle. To play the role, the filmmakers recruited Peter Dinklage, who garnered international attention for his groundbreaking role in the indie comedy-drama “The Station Agent” and went on to win acclaim in the hit comedy “Elf” with Will Ferrell.
Dinklage was another big fan of the cartoon series and found playing the dastardly Barsinister a happy challenge. “This character is a lot of fun,” he says. “The beauty of Barsinister is that he is defined in every scene by his huge ego. The same running joke you find with the James Bond or Batman villains is true for Simon Barsinister, because he is constantly trying to convince everybody of his genius.”
Dinklage also enjoyed the fact that Barsinister isn’t so much outright evil as dangerously over-ambitious. “He’s very misunderstood – he really just wants to create a better world and take society to new heights,” he explains. Still, Dinklage, an animal lover, admits it wasn’t easy playing a man willing to exploit animals to reach his goals. “I’m obsessed with dogs,” he admits, “so it was very hard for me to be menacing towards them.”
Creating a classic comedy pairing of villains with Dinklage is Patrick Warburton as Barsinister’s dimwitted henchman Cad. Warburton, the versatile actor best known for his recurring role as Elaine’s boyfriend Puddy on “Seinfeld” and an animation veteran who lends his voice to such hit shows as “Family Guy,” provided the perfect foil to Dinklage with their wild contrasting sizes and equally deft skill at uproarious physical comedy.
Warburton notes that he even has a karmic link to the famous canine, “Underdog and I were born the same year,” he points out, “so I basically grew up with him.” But it was the heartfelt and fun re-imagining of the story that impressed Warburton. “I think the writers created a timeless fantasy because everyone remembers their first dog and how exciting and special that experience is. In this story, Jack has a dog that’s literally a superhero, which is what he really needs in his life,” Warburton continues. “I thought the story was fun but also had a lot of heart.”
GOING TO THE DOGS:
UNDERDOG’S STELLAR CANINE CAST
The real key to transforming UNDERDOG into a live-action adventure would lay in the hands – or rather, the paws – of the film’s canine actors, who become the true heroes of the story. To take on the task of scouring pounds, kennels, rescue societies, breeders and dog parks for photogenic pooches, the filmmakers recruited Boone Narr, whose work with animals is legendary, taking him from dozens of smaller productions all the way to the epic PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN. Narr was thrilled to hear about the production. “I just couldn’t resist the idea of helping to create a dog hero,” he confesses.
Narr’s first big test would be finding the main dog to play Underdog. His mission was to find a dog that not only bore a physical resemblance to the original long-eared, flesh-colored cartoon character, but had all his qualities. The story of how Leo the Lemon Beagle was ultimately cast rivals discoveries such as Lana Turner at Schwab’s Drug Store.
At first, Narr wasn’t even sure what breed best suited Underdog. Narr recalls, “I initially looked at about twenty different breeds. We wanted our dog to look right away like an ‘underdog,’ so we felt he had to be a smaller dog who might not be able to defend himself, kind of like a canine Clark Kent. Prompted by the cartoon character, which kind of looks like a Beagle, I contacted Beagle Buddies, a Beagle rescue in Orange County, CA. And that’s when I saw a photo of Leo.”
The picture exuded charm, comedy and intelligence. Or so Narr thought. “It was a bit like a bad blind date – because when the dog showed up at my door he looked nothing like the photo! He was overweight and as round as he was long, and he was completely out of-control,” laughs Narr. “But, to his credit, he had a great little personality and we decided to see if we could whip him into shape.”
Leo now had his big chance to prove he had the right stuff and went to a “boot camp” where, like Underdog, he started out a little worse-for-the-wear and transformed himself into hero material. “Leo turned out to be an amazing little guy,” Narr muses. “He’s cantankerous and independent, with an attitude, but when the camera is rolling his personality just shines.”
While Leo was the main canine actor playing Shoeshine/Underdog, there were actually four Beagles who helped to play the part. “Leo’s got the mug but he also needed some stunt doubles that do a lot of the running, jumping, and those kinds of things,” Narr continues. “They came from across the country; one from Alaska, one from Texas and one from North Carolina, each similar in looks to Leo.”
Narr went through a similar process in looking for Polly, but now compatibility entered the mix. The two dogs needed to have that ineffable “animal chemistry.” “We put a lot of different dogs beside Leo to find out who would make the most beautiful couple,” the animal trainer explains. “We definitely didn’t want to go the Poodle route – and we wanted a breed you haven’t seen a lot in movies. Ultimately, we came up with a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, which has a very soft, pretty look.”
Ultimately, Narr choose Ginger, a Spaniel who hails from San Diego and boasts not only a silky cinnamon coat but an unusually outgoing personality that matched the character. “Ginger just had those great looks – and she and Leo looked gorgeous together,” Narr recalls. “The Cavalier King Charles is often a shy breed, but Ginger came running up to us and we knew she was the one.”
Sealing the deal was the fact that Ginger and Leo had their tails wagging for one another right from the get-go. “They had real on-screen chemistry,” notes Todd Arnow. “They have a scene where they were supposed to put their paws on one another and not only did they do that but Ginger put her paw right on Leo’s shoulder. They really liked each and performed so well together.”
Meanwhile, to play Riff Raff, Narr found three tough-looking Rottweilers in city shelters and sprung them to become pampered canine stars. Contrary to their commanding size and presence, Narr says that the Rottweilers were the sweetest dogs on the set! In fact, all the dogs made such an impression during filming that many of them were adopted by members of the cast and crew when the production wrapped.
Ultimately, some 25 dogs were cast for the film – and like any actor preparing for a part, they each went into intensive training, learning all the complex actions and expressions they would need to bring their characters to life. Narr, who has worked in the business for more than 30 years, was amazed by the talent and skill of this particular cast. “I’ve trained dogs before who seemed great but when they got before the camera, they just froze. But all of the dogs on UNDERDOG just loved performing,” he says. “They loved their jobs and being in front of the camera and it shows on screen.”
One of Narr’s initial challenges was turning the kids, Alex and Taylor, and their respective dogs, Leo and Ginger, into instant best-friends, with the kind of bond that usually only years of companionship can build. “Trying to get a dog to act like he belongs to a specific person is one of the most difficult things you can teach,” Narr explains. “You have to build a relationship between the actor and the dog in a short amount of time.
Throughout the entire production, the American Humane Association had an on-set representative who assured that both the animals and humans were safe in all their scenes together. Not only did American Humane analyze the script and storyboards to ferret out any potential trouble spots, but AHA rep Marisa Bellis was present for every single scene that included animals. “This movie has been quite a remarkable experience,” she says. “The trainers have been extraordinary. They're very safe. They're some of the safest trainers I've worked with--they don't take any chances.”
American Humane was also enthusiastic about the underlying themes of UNDERDOG. “One of the reasons I’m so excited about this film is that American Humane is a big believer in the idea that films can be a great tool to show the power of the animal-human bond,” says Jone Bouman of American Humane. “UNDERDOG is about a hero dog who positively affects a family. That’s the kind of message we think is outstanding and it got all of our support.”
LOOK UP IN THE SKY:
MAKING UNDERDOG FLY
From the beginning, director Frederik Du Chau knew that UNDERDOG would hinge on creating a real dog who appeared both to be able to speak and to fly supersonically, albeit not entirely under control! He and his team spent months devising and honing a process that produced the uncanny illusion of a caped canine whizzing through the skies. It began with the real dogs and ended with digital wizardry. “First, we trained Leo to sit on a boom operated to fly in front of a green screen with wind machines blowing in front of him,” explains Du Chau. “We used these shots in a number of scenes by merging the shots of Leo with background plates shot from a helicopter that takes us through the city. Then, to make him really soar we also used a completely CG dog that looks just as realistic as Leo.”
The training aspect was exciting for animal coordinator Boone Narr, who says, “no one can resist a flying dog.” He explains how Leo attained lift-off: “We created a special flying rig that we could lift off the ground and roll and tilt to make it look like Leo’s flying. But of course, the dog had to like it! Lucky for us, Leo loved to fly. I think for him it was like hanging his head out of a car window times ten.”
Du Chau also worked closely with visual effects supervisor Hoyt Yeatman, an industry veteran whose ground-breaking work on the undersea world of James Cameron’s “The Abyss” earned him an Academy Award®. “Frederik has a great vision and on effects-driven films where a lot of things have to be fabricated, that vision is very important. He’s a director who respects and understands the complexity of what we’re doing,” says Yeatman.
Yeatman’s primary task was bringing the digital version of Underdog to life. “Leo, the real Lemon Beagle, was our model that we always tried to emulate and copy faithfully,” Yeatman explains. “But we also had an exciting opportunity to push that reality just enough that he was able to do superhero type of things, while not pushing him so far as to look like a cartoon. That was the fine line of creativity we had to walk, which was really exciting.”
While only Shoeshine/Underdog can fly and communicate with humans, all the dogs in the film can talk—if only to one another other. Creating a believable talking dog with realistic mouth movements was another challenge for Yeatman. He says, “We used a process on UNDERDOG where you first shoot the real-life dog making all its prompted head bobs and turns, then the editor cuts it to an audio track so that the movement feels in synch with the intent of the character. We then project that image onto a three-dimensional model, sculpting a head in the computer, like a decal that forms around the actual character, after which the computer ‘grows’ fur on the model. Once this is complete, an animator can actually form vowels and expression with the animal’s face. From there, it's composited with the live-action dog again. Done properly, it looks seamless. But it takes a tremendous amount of work and time. Hundreds of hours went into the compositing and 3-D.”
Du Chau also put an emphasis on old-fashioned special effects. “I wanted all our action to be set up with stunts and physical effects that make the audience feel as if it is all really happening,” notes Du Chau, “meaning that if Shoeshine flies by, there’s a huge wind machine that blasts the surroundings. If he crashes into flower pots, real planters are actually thrown about, and so forth.”
Du Chau notes that one of the best examples of how he mixed old school techniques with cutting-edge CGI throughout the film can be seen in the moment when our fur-bearing hero slips into a phone booth as an average dog and smashes out of it as an empowered superhero. “This scene is a perfect example of how we designed the whole movie, because we used the real trained Beagle to go into the phone booth; then, we combined that with a CGI dog with a CGI costume to fly out of the phone booth; and then we added physical special effects, in which we made the actual phone booth explode. The close interplay of all these elements lets the audience believe that a real dog turns into Underdog and actually flies, which is what this story is all about!”
Also helping to forge UNDERDOG’s look was were production designer Garth Stover, who turned the Rhode Island capitol of Providence into Capitol City, and director of photography David Eggby, who found himself literally going to the dogs, finding unique angles and shots to express a dog’s eye-view of the metropolis.
“One of the most challenging things from a cinematography perspective is that whenever we see the dogs, most of the camera angles are at dog eye-line or lower,” Eggby explains. “After Frederik and I watched ‘Lady and The Tramp,’ and we noticed that 99% of the shots of the animals were drawn from those positions, we made a conscious decision that we would never look down at the dogs. That means the camera is basically a foot off the ground a lot of the time! And when we shoot Polly, she's even lower than Shoeshine. So it's a dog's world we're in – which is fun for the audience.”
