New York Comic Con saw the launch of a new Guillermo del Toro creation, and MuggleNet was there to experience all the creatures and magic. Before filing into the packed Madison Square Garden theater, we had the opportunity to discuss this next del Toro venture with the man himself, as well as the actors and producers who brought the creation to life.
Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia is an animated series that will be launched by Netflix on December 23. Voice actors include Ron Perlman, Kelsey Grammer, Steven Yeun, and Charlie Saxton, while the main character is voiced by the late Anton Yelchin, whom the cast and crew all paid tribute to during the panel and in the end credits of the screening.
As is the case with many of del Toro’s works, Trollhunters focuses on mystical creatures and a fantastical world while maintaining a very human story. The trolls in this universe can be good or bad, and it becomes outcast teenager Jim Lake’s job to protect the good while defeating the evil.
Ron Perlman, soon to be seen in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, voices the monstrous troll Bular, whom Perlman jokes is “pissed off at everything.” Since this was not Perlman’s first time acting behind a digitally created character, we asked him if playing a character that’s CGI vs. one performed with prosthetics changed his acting approach.
“For me, it’s always the same set of problems with completely different wardrobes,” says Perlman. “Each character is its own riddle, and for me, my job is to solve the riddle of the ‘who.'” Perlman says his job as an actor is the same no matter the circumstances. “I need to figure out who he is, how he sounds, what his values are, and what pisses him off.” This approach doesn’t change, whether he’s in a physical wardrobe on set or has “a thing on [his] head with 55 cameras like [in] Fantastic Beasts.”
Full Transcript with Ron Perlman, Saturday, October 8, 2016
Transcribed by Marissa Osman
Elayna Mae Darcy: Do you find that you deliver a different kind of performance when you're doing something like that as opposed to Fantastic Beasts where it's just entirely CGI?
Ron Perlman: For me, it's always the same set of problems with completely different wardrobes. When I say wardrobes, I mean that physically and metaphorically. Each character is its own riddle, and for me, my job is to solve the riddle of the "who," and then I get adorned by various sundry other department heads who are either putting a thing on my head with 55 cameras like [in] Fantastic Beasts or just using my voice and then animating me on the other end of the world [before] sending it back or going to costume fittings and putting on the makeup and actually showing up and physically being the character. But for me, the approach is always the same. I need to figure out who he is, how he sounds, what his values are, and what pisses him off. Especially in Trollhunters, because he's pissed off all the time.
Elayna: What's your character's name in Trollhunters?
Ron: Bular.
Elayna: Nice. Can you tell us more about him?
Ron: He's pissed off all the time. He's a troll and he's pissed off. His father's been in prison for 400 years. It's like when your dad goes out to buy a pack of cigarettes and doesn't come home in 400 years, that'll piss you off.
As for del Toro, our burning question was whether or not he could see himself helming something like Fantastic Beasts since his good friend and collaborator Alfonso Cuarón previously directed a film in the Potterverse. When asked what kind of creature he would include in the new franchise if given the chance, he responded without hesitation, “A dragon. I’m dying to create a dragon.”
What we wouldn’t give to see a fantastic beast designed by this legendary filmmaker.
Full Transcript with Guillermo del Toro, Saturday, October 8, 2016
Transcribed by Marissa Osman
Elayna Mae Darcy: So we've got to ask, your friend Alfonso directed one of the Harry Potter films and now they've got the Fantastic Beasts series coming out. If you could have put any fantastic creature that you know isn't going to be in the movies in there, what would it be?
Guillermo del Toro: Any kind?
Elayna: Any kind of fantastic or mythological creature.
Guillermo: Dragon.
Elayna: Just a dragon?
Guillermo: I'm dying to create a dragon.
Mike Spring: You're well known for having such a good visual imagination, such a wealth of ideas, how do you narrow it down to decide what projects are going to invest your time into and work with?
Guillermo: Thankfully I don't decide. They decide for me. I wish I had a sheep that tells me, "What do you want to do?" But they don't. You are at the mercy of the money or at the mercy of your resourcefulness. If you can make smaller movies, like the one I'm making right now is much smaller scale, [then] it means I found a way to squeeze the belt. But if you go for big-scale like Hellboy [or] Pacific Rim, you can't decide. I know Ron and I would have wanted Hellboy 3 ages ago, but nobody was willing to hand out a hundred million dollars.
Heartwarming and hilarious, the first two episodes of Trollhunters are very promising and magical enough to fit nicely into del Toro’s epic body of work. So if you like stories about unlikely heroes becoming the Chosen One – which we know you Potter fans do – don’t miss Trollhunters this December on Netflix.
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