Animated, Adventure, Science fiction
Synopsis
A giant woman (Reese Witherspoon), a bug-headed scientist (Hugh Laurie) and a gelatinous mass (Seth Rogen) are among the ragtag monsters that must defend Earth from a rampaging alien robot.
Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Laurie, Seth Rogen, Will Arnett, Kiefer Sutherland, Paul Rudd, Rainn Wilson, Stephen Colbert
Producer(s):
Crew: Director - Rob Letterman, Director - Conrad Vernon, Screenwriter - Maya Forbes, Screenwriter - Wally Wolodarsky, Screenwriter - Jonathan Aibel, Screenwriter - Glenn Berger, Producer - Jill Hopper, Producer - Latifa Ouaou, Producer - Lisa Stewart, Original Music - Henry Jackman, Film Editor - Joyce Arrastia, Film Editor - Eric Dapkewicz, Art Director - Michael Isaak, Production Design - David James
Distributor: DreamWorks, Paramount
Release Date: 03/27/2009
Running Time: 94 minutes
OFFICIAL SITE
| PG | Parental Guidance Suggested |
Production Notes:
- Notes provided by Dreamworks Animation. -
When California girl Susan Murphy (REESE WITHERSPOON) is unwittingly clobbered by a meteor full of outer space gunk on her wedding day, she mysteriously grows to 49-feet-11-inches tall. The military jumps into action and Susan is captured and put into a secret government compound. There, she is renamed Ginormica and held along with a ragtag group of Monsters: the brilliant but insect-headed Dr. Cockroach, Ph.D. (HUGH LAURIE); the macho half-ape, half-fish, The Missing Link (WILL ARNETT); the gelatinous and indestructible B.O.B. (SETH ROGEN); and the 350-foot grub called Insectosaurus. Their confinement is cut short, however, when a mysterious alien robot lands on Earth and begins storming the country. In a moment of desperation, The President (STEPHEN COLBERT) is persuaded to enlist the motley crew of Monsters to combat the alien robot and save the world from imminent destruction.
Other stars in this out-of-this-world ensemble include RAINN WILSON as Gallaxhar, the megalomaniac responsible for the alien robots and looking to replicate a new world in his own image; KIEFER SUTHERLAND as General W.R. Monger, an armed forces lifer who's finally found a use for his collection of detained Monsters...battling the alien invader; and PAUL RUDD as Derek Dietl, Susan's selfish fiancé, who has outgrown his current weatherman position and aspires to network news greatness.
DreamWorks Animation SKG Presents "Monsters vs. Aliens," a Paramount Pictures release-and DreamWorks Animation's first InTruâ„¢ 3D Movie, wholly conceived, developed and authored in 3D-featuring the voices of Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett, Kiefer Sutherland, Rainn Wilson, Paul Rudd and Stephen Colbert. The film is directed by ROB LETTERMAN ("Shark Tale") and CONRAD VERNON ("Shrek 2"). The story is by Rob Letterman & Conrad Vernon. The screenplay is by MAYA FORBES & WALLY WOLODARSKY and Rob Letterman and JONATHAN AIBEL & GLENN BERGER. It is produced by LISA STEWART ("Almost Famous") and co-produced by JILL HOPPER DESMARCHELIER and LATIFA OUAOU. "Monsters vs. Aliens" has been rated "PG" for sci-fi action, some crude humor and mild language by the MPAA.
IN A GALAXY VERY MUCH LIKE OUR OWN...
For centuries, tales of monsters, creatures and otherworldly beings have delighted, entertained, terrified, and intrigued people of every culture throughout the world. The works of literary masters passed down through the ages eventually made their way to Hollywood and so was born the "creature feature" and, eventually, the science-fiction flick. In many a sci-fi movie or television series of the 1950s and '60s, the genesis of the tale often began with the interception of a strange signal beamed from a planet in another galaxy, usually underscored by the requisite spooky organ music. Aliens would then arrive, and either wallop or teach Earth's inhabitants a thing or two about getting along in the universe.
The tale of "Monsters vs. Aliens," however, originates from a few very earthbound sources-behind the walls of the Glendale, California campus of DreamWorks Animation with two veteran feature film directors named Rob Letterman and Conrad Vernon.
The mere mention of the word 'monster'-especially when paired with the word 'alien'-customarily lights up the eyes of any filmmaker (like Letterman and Vernon) who ever spent a Saturday afternoon planted in front of the television, watching a black-and-white cautionary tale (Don't mess with Mother Nature! Radioactive fallout renders creatures gigantic!) in the form of a 1950s 'B' movie.
Not only were Letterman and Vernon enormous fans of the films, they were also heavily influenced by the style of the poster art of the genre. The evolving style of "Monsters vs. Aliens" was influenced not only by 'B' movies from the '50s and their printed advertising, but also from the Mad magazines of the period, which boasted the likes of iconic and influential illustrators Jack Davis, Don Martin and Jack Rickard. (Savvy viewers will recognize the homage to these sources during the war room playback of archival footage of the pre-capture sprees of Dr. Cockroach, Ph.D., The Missing Link,
B.O.B. and Insectosaurus.)
Letterman had just finished helming the Oscar®-nominated DreamWorks Animation hit "Shark Tale" when he scheduled a meeting with CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg to discuss his next project. "He asked me to take a look at a project that was in development about monsters," recalls Letterman. "I had always wanted to do a comedy, kind of like the film 'The Dirty Dozen.' Oddly enough, it turned out to be a way to do my 'Dirty Dozen' comedy, as the Monsters are a type of rogue team that goes up against aliens invading the Earth...and so I loved the idea."
For Vernon, the tale of the fantastical group's clash began some 6,000 miles away. The director offers, "I was in Cannes for 'Shrek 2,' and I was looking over an early draft of the project. I saw that it had an element of a 1950s 'B' movie, which I had never before seen in animation. I thought that was a really interesting concept to tackle and how great it would be if we could give this gang of misfit Monsters personalities, and satirize those kinds of films at the same time. I especially thought it would be fun, since we pay homage to different styles of filmmaking and different genres of film. I thought that would be pretty interesting to try and take on."
For Letterman, teaming up with fellow monster movie lover Vernon had great promise: "Conrad's really great, a talented director and storyboard artist and a voice talent as well...I mean, he's the voice of the Gingerbread Man [from the 'Shrek' movies].
It was a great advantage, because he could do all of the actors' voices-he impersonates every single person in the cast. So while we were developing the story, we could build the movie while we were waiting for our chance with the actors. That was just one wonderful side benefit. We really bounce off each other well."
Vernon was also more than comfortable with sharing the "Monsters vs. Aliens" director's chair: "From the beginning, we didn't try to delineate jobs, but rather to create a back-and-forth way of working. We were in constant contact, pitching ideas about scenes and characters to each other. Our goal all along was to create a cohesive and entertaining film, and we did that by keeping each other in the loop. That assured that we both stayed on the same page about every aspect of the film, and we weren't off separately making two very different projects. Always being clear about what film we were making-that kept it on track."
Meanwhile, a world away (well, in the alternate universe of the live-action world, anyway), a producer was being recruited to join the MvA-ers. Lisa Stewart-who has worked on such titles as "Almost Famous" and "Jerry Maguire"-took a meeting, and her life took an unexpected turn...
"When Jeffrey Katzenberg calls, you take the meeting," recalls Stewart. A talented and successful live-action film producer, Stewart had just wrapped production on a film and was looking forward to a break when she got the call to meet with Katzenberg and tour the studio's Glendale animation campus.
It was on that tour that Stewart's fate was sealed. "I saw this really great iconic image of Susan," explains Stewart. "She was sitting on the roof of a gas station. Her fiancé has just dumped her; she's taking stock of her life. It was such an evocative image. I thought to myself, 'This is a woman I want to know, I want to tell her story, I want to be a part of that world!'" The matter that she had never worked in animation did not intimidate Stewart in the least: "Great storytelling is great storytelling, and I had to see Susan's story through."
The fact that Susan's story arc appealed to Stewart comes as no surprise. Throughout her career, the producer has a track record of bringing to the screen strong female characters, and the casting of Reese Witherspoon cinched the deal. "I've known Reese for a number of years as a friend and, when I found out she had been cast as Susan, I thought it would finally be a great opportunity to work with her." Two co-producers also joined the gathering bunch, Jill Hopper Desmarchelier and Latifa Ouaou. Together, the pair can boast of more than 25 years of production experience at DreamWorks Animation, and that experience was put to good use by Stewart and the directors.
CALLING ALL MONSTERS
The choice of the actors lending their voices to the cast of "Monsters vs. Aliens" (MvA) was anything but spontaneous. Filmmakers put together their wish lists of names and some initial calls were made. But sometimes, being the right filmmakers in the right place at the right time proved serendipitous, and a certain leading lady heeded her own inner call to join the MvA crusade.
Director Letterman relates, "The first time Reese Witherspoon came in and we actually met her, Jeffrey brought her by the studio and gave her a tour-he was basically showing her all the movies going on to see what she would respond to. Conrad and I were waiting and she came in, and we gave her a basic pitch of the idea of the movie and explained to her that we really wanted to make the female lead the hero character to balance out the dudes in the film. When she heard that her eyes just lit up."
"Reese connected to the story and character of Susan," adds Vernon. "She e-mailed Jeffrey later that day and said she wanted to come onboard!"
For producer Stewart, a big draw to the project was similar to Witherspoon's: "I love the idea of this ordinary woman thrown into this extraordinary world. The monster characters are so funny and individual, and this idea of a small-town girl from Modesto, California suddenly becoming part of this outrageous crew-thrust into this situation in which she has to fight off an alien invasion-it was inventive and funny."
The Oscar®-winning actress explains, "I like that she is a regular girl who learns to value herself. She starts the movie where she thinks she has everything going for her in her life. She's about to be married. She's got this great guy. She's really ready to start a life that she thinks is the right life for her. In one twist of fate, she has to really face the fact that she never really wanted much from herself, never really learned to value what was great about her as an individual. I think that is a journey that a lot of people can relate to. Susan is a great character, and it's fun to see somebody become a superhero-to suddenly have that kind of super strength. Don't we all sort of dream about those things?"
For the filmmakers, Witherspoon's award-winning talent wasn't the only draw- it was her stature, literally. Director Vernon says, "We thought it would be great and a nice contrast to have a petite girl play a giant woman-and we had fun with that. Susan is living vicariously through her fiancé. We liked taking that idea and turning it around...so when she becomes the most powerful woman in the world, she realizes that she doesn't really need him to lead the amazing life that she's always wanted."
Stewart adds, "Five feet, one-and-one-half inch Reese Witherspoon playing the five-story monster was instantly appealing to us. Reese is a great actress, really smart and game for anything. I think she really enjoyed the idea of the transformation of this character-she sunk her teeth into it."
For working mom Witherspoon, the other themes present in the material also resonated: "Through the journey of the film, Susan starts to really value and appreciate the monster crew for the support that they give her-the love, the companionship-the understanding that they have of the situation...they're all different. She has to come to terms with the fact that she can't really go home again in the same way. She'll never be just Susan Murphy from Modesto. And, at first, that kind of depresses her, but then, through the help of the Monsters, she realizes it's a little awesome to be different. They all value each other for their qualities, and they kind of form this offbeat family."
"Offbeat" is one good word to describe the most intelligent of the incarcerated Monsters that Susan (later named "Ginormica") meets in the secret military facility-Dr. Cockroach, Ph.D.
The most brilliant scientist in the world is actually a cockroach, the result of a self-experiment gone awry. His life's work confiscated, Dr. Cockroach, Ph.D. now spends his time in lock-up working on something diabolical (as all mad scientists do).
Rob Letterman: "We wanted somebody to be very formal and erudite, because we thought that would be a great contrast with the whole 'cockroach bad' thing. And so, we immediately thought of Hugh. And a lot of people don't realize, at least people in the States, that he's a Brit. Hugh Laurie is obviously mostly known in the States for 'House,' but he is a famous actor for many years in England. He did 'The Black Adder' [television series] with Rowan Atkinson and he's an incredible comedic actor. We were fans of his prior to 'House.' So it was very fortunate to have him on the movie."
For Laurie-who is, indeed, erudite, and quite recently was awarded an OBE by the Queen herself-playing a brilliant bug was a dream job. Hugh explains, "First of all, I love doing animated projects. You wear your own clothes. I love the freedom of messing around and trying to create something in a voice. It's exciting and a fun challenge. But also, now these animated films have sort of really become the summit of modern entertainment."
Director Vernon follows, "When we met with him, he had this look on his face, like, 'Why are you guys talking to me right now?' We toured him around the DreamWorks Animation campus, and wound up in the editing room, showing him storyboard sequences of the film. We talked casually and really hit it off. He said, 'Yes' on the spot! Once he got in the booth, he did not disappoint."
The wry Laurie remembers it differently: "After a lovely tour around the place, I was presented with this massive amount, almost like a museum, of artwork that they'd already composed...to start to get a sense I suppose, for their benefit and for prospective actors or designers and so on of the world they were trying to create. I was immediately entranced by that wonderful '50s feel, which is not only wonderfully relevant to the style of story they were trying to tell, but it also was a great period of American design. I was sold as soon as I walked in through the door. I didn't tell them that, of course. I hemmed and hawed and stroked my chin and I tried to play hard to get, but I was in for a ride from the word 'Go.'"
Another Monster-the macho half-ape, half-fish called The Missing Link-is also always ready for a ride...usually to the nearest beach to pursue and scare the female frolickers. Pre-historically, he was the first creature that decided to step out of the water and onto dry land, evolving as he went. Sadly, he chose to leave the water at the height of the Ice Age, stepping onto land that was hovering below 32 F. Thousands of years later, thawed by paleontologists, The Missing Link tried to return to his watering hole (now a five-star resort), where he was captured and locked up.
Comic chameleon Will Arnett was selected to fill the flippers of The Missing Link: "What I love about The Missing Link is his willingness to jump into any situation without really reading the inherent dangers of that situation. He'll do anything. He's like, 'Hey, what are we gonna do today?' 'We're gonna try and take on some alien invaders!' 'Sounds great, let's go!' He doesn't put a whole lot of thought into it. I identify with that impulsiveness, I think."
The filmmakers also appreciated Arnett's "let's go" attitude, as director Rob Letterman comments, "We played back his voice recordings to the designers of the character. Will has this voice quality that you can't duplicate. It's amazing. Plus, he's hysterically funny. And luckily for us, just like everyone else in the cast, they would go off script and add some great stuff, and bring the dialogue off the page."
While for some the work of animation is a long, drawn-out affair, just the opposite is true for the versatile Arnett: "The great thing about animation is that, yes, it does take a long time, but you are able to go back and re-work bits. Once everyone sees some of the rough animation, they can see what works and what doesn't. Rob and Conrad can look and say, 'Oh, you know what? You ought to get them to say this.' Or you can get a lot of different choices for months and months and months...as opposed to making a movie, where you shoot something and then you're gone from that scene and you can't go back."
The scientists who created B.O.B. (short for "benzoate-ostylezene-bicarbonate") were trying to re-write '50s snack food fad history by combining a chemically altered ranch-flavored dessert topping with a genetically altered tomato. When the concoction suddenly gained consciousness-as much consciousness as something without a brain can gain-the ravenous and somewhat sweet gelatinous mass joined the ranks of Dr. Cockroach and The Missing Link-in the Monster big house.
Letterman says, "He's really lovable, and yet, not the brightest blob in the world. But as he puts it, he makes up for it with his good looks. We needed somebody who came across as a slacker, who was also very endearing, and Seth Rogen was perfect for that. On top of that, he brings so much to the role. He's incredible. When we recorded him, he came up with amazing ad-libs-he is so fast and so funny and can improv pretty much anything."
Producer Stewart continues, "I feel like we were really lucky to get Seth at this time in his career. B.O.B.'s not the brightest bulb, but Seth plays him with a real sweetness and sort of a wide-eyed wonder that really makes him one of our most charming characters. He's a tremendous ad-libber and we incorporated many of his improvs into the film. It's so wonderful to have this fan favorite, this character who is really unintentionally funny and has this tremendous heart as well."
Rogen is no stranger to animation voice work, having just voiced the character of Mantis in the worldwide hit "Kung Fu Panda." But as lightening quick as Mantis is,
B.O.B. is as slow as molasses. Rogen observes, "It's really great to be able to switch things up. Mantis was all about a quick temper and awesome kung fu abilities. For B.O.B., I just kind of show up and look at my lines and then just space, and go to some really nice, sweet, innocent place, I don't know, like a fair or something. I'm, like, seven years old and I've got this humongous cotton candy and there's the fun house and the roller coaster-just a ton of stuff that amazes a kid. Kinda everything amazes B.O.B. So he eats a little too much, so what? At the end of the day, he really is the nicest Monster...except for Susan, but she's really not a Monster, she's just overly tall."
Of key importance to the filmmakers was that all the Monsters be tough and able to throw down-they do have to face an alien bent on world destruction, after all-but also be charming and endearing. This side of them shows up a little later after Susan joins their ranks.
Stewart relates, "When we come back to Susan, presumably a few weeks later, she's developed this really nice rapport with all of these monsters. They've formed a bond at this point and she's no longer threatened by them-she's actually sort of endeared to them."
Anyone of normal height would probably view the 350-foot grub called Insectosaurus as a threat. The overgrown bug is not so much a threat as it is...hungry. And young. After wreaking havoc in Tokyo (where else?), the critter is captured while teething on a skyscraper. Apparently, like a lot of fledgling fauna, Insectosaurus is entranced by shiny things and has absolutely no idea of its own size and power. Also, the grub doesn't so much speak as make indecipherable noises and high-pitched squeals (which only The Missing Link can interpret).
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, ARMED FORCES, FIANCÉS ...AND ALIENS!
Gallaxhar is the power-hungry alien commander bent on annihilating the Earth's population and replacing the inhabitants with countless clones of himself. He can and will fire a beam that decimates anything in its path.
Letterman asserts, "He's the ultimate megalomaniac, because he wants to take over the universe with copies of himself. We thought Rainn Wilson would be so perfect, as he could give a new take on that alien overlord villain thing. We really wanted Gallaxhar to be a unique villain."
Wilson himself discloses, "This has been an incredible process, because I've never done an animated film before. Early on, we were just playing around with the character and trying to find it. At first, the alien was much more comedic and we did a lot of funny voice stuff. And then they realized that no-especially in the second half of the movie-he's got to be a real threat; they wanted the voice to be much more menacing and evil. So we took the stuff that we had been playing with and focused it into a force of pure megalomaniacal evil. That's kind of where it came from."
The process of creating and recording Gallaxhar soon took on a yin and yang component, as the actor and the filmmakers began to trade ideas. According to Vernon: "Rainn actually came in and really helped with the character and the dialogue-it was a springboard back-and-forth. He would say something, it would put another line in our head, he would springboard off of that, and it was a lot of great give-and-take with him."
Adds Wilson, "I love what they can do in animation, because usually, the stakes are very high. I mean here, the stakes are life and death...the survival of the planet Earth-and they took it very seriously, but yet, there is such silliness at the same time, and such absurdity. I love it when life and death just flips into something really silly."
Life and death issues handled in a humorous fashion...fertile ground from which to develop the character of The President. To voice the Leader of the Free World, one actor the filmmakers did not immediately consider-Stephen Colbert. Rob Letterman explains how that bit of casting came about: "Before Stephen Colbert was the 'Stephen Colbert' he is today, we watched his White House press corps roast of George W. Bush. He was so amazing that we had to immediately fly out to meet him. We went into his office and said that we wanted to do this animated movie, and nobody was asking him to do movies at the time. He was the nicest guy-and had all this great stuff in his library, this collection of gadgets and toys. He really connected with the characters and got all the references that we had in the film. It was just the perfect meeting. He said, 'Yes' on the spot."
Colbert doesn't deny it, but he does admit, "I'm not qualified to play The President. I'm qualified to play a cartoon president. There's a big difference. I hope. He's loud. He's very sure of his decisions...but not sure of his information. But he doesn't keep the information from coloring his decisions. He easily panics, which is nice. And he's quick to apologize."
Colbert's razor-sharp wit was also given free reign to ad-lib during the recording of his scenes, and often, gems would emerge, several of which wound up in the film. In one sequence, once the alien robot begins the attack, The President pulls out a pistol and, firing at the invader, screams, "Eat lead, alien robot!" When the bullets have no effect, he counters, "Huh, apparently, they eat lead." Letterman says, "We were always animating around things that just came out during Stephen's recording sessions."
But how did Colbert find an appropriately presidential voice? "To find a voice for The President, I tried to be just as declarative and as authoritative as I could without actually thinking about anything I was saying. The result: 'Hollow certainty.'"
Forceful certainty is apparent in the salty General W. R. Monger, so the colorful military lifer gave the filmmakers another iconic film character they could reference. Director Letterman remarks, "There's the greatest movie ever, 'Dr. Strangelove,' with George C. Scott and Peter Sellers. That film was a big influence, and we wanted to pay homage to the chemistry and the relationship between those two characters with our general and president...especially in the war room scene, which is, basically, a 'Strangelove' moment. So Kiefer Sutherland and Stephen Colbert were the perfect pairing, with Kiefer as the grizzled, cigar-chomping, serious general."
Director Vernon adds, "General W. R. Monger is a grizzled World War II vet and probably lives in a trailer out in the middle of nowhere, and he's been in the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the Marines for the last 80 years. Back in the '50s sometime, he decided that he was going to put a stop to all these monsters that were rampaging around terrorizing people. He assembled a small group of Black Ops people and they went out and started capturing these monsters. I think he's very proud of what he does, but he's also like that guy who's a little geeky about his fish tank, you know? 'Look at these Monsters I have!' It's like his insect zoo."
Sutherland gladly joined the project and states, "Animated films, they're fantastic. There's something wonderful, because these people operate in such a different world than what I'm used to...to be able to work in a room where people are laughing all the time, and they've been working on this film for almost four years. To be able to come into a room four years later and still have the same kind of energy and enthusiasm and find it funny-that's really inspiring. It makes you really want to impress them and make them laugh. They were unbelievably helpful, knowing that this is a really different kind of thing for me."
Letterman comments, "On '24,' he's a little whispery. But during our recording sessions, he had this country accent and he just started screaming at the top of his lungs, and we thought, 'That's great, that's fantastic!' He just totally broke out into something brand new and that really nailed the character right there for us."
The actor describes his sessions when he says, "When we did the larger passes in the script, there were many times that we would stumble on something and I would have to stop because I was laughing or they were laughing and you could hear them. As an actor, there's a wonderful part of the job about putting something on its feet, and I don't get to do a lot of comedy. So when I was trying stuff, sometimes, out of sheer embarrassment, I would laugh because I thought it was funny. The film is funny, but it's sweet and there's a charm to it. It's about people that really just want to belong, and the fact that, not only are they able to belong, but they overcome great adversity to do that. There's something very sweet about that as well."
While our heroine Susan starts out in the film believing that her fiancé, Derek Dietl, is sweet, she later grows to realize that maybe, hmm, no, not so much. The self-absorbed weatherman has lined up an audition for an anchor position (in Fresno, no less), and is willing to trash Susan's plans for a honeymoon in Paris for his chance at regional news greatness.
Once again, filmmakers turned to an actor with great comedic and improvisational chops-Paul Rudd. Letterman remembers, "Paul and I had talked about working together for awhile, and when this character came about, we put Paul into it, just to see what would happen. He's truly amazing. He's hysterical and tireless. You give him the script, and he'll run through it a couple of times. He just runs with it and, unless you stop him, he'll actually go on talking forever. Sometimes, I would just sit back and watch how long he could make stuff up. He ended up influencing the character quite a bit."
Typically, part of the challenge of recording a voice for animation is that it is just one actor in a booth with a mic-no other performers with whom he can partner. But after Rudd would lay down a scene, Witherspoon's session of recording Susan's responses was so compelling that the filmmakers put the two 'lovebirds' together for a day of recording in the booth at the same time. True to form, a wealth of great material was the happy result.
As for Rudd, he shares one quality with his computer-generated alter-ego-a dislike for anything monstrous. Rudd admits, "I was really nervous about anything as a kid, and everything kind of scared me. 'The Creature from the Black Lagoon' really traumatized me. It looked like a fish, but it was also a monster. And then I went through a phase where I didn't want anything in my bedroom because, at night, it would turn into a monster. So, those monster movies of the '50s, I never really took to. And besides, I was just too busy playing with Legos."
Director Vernon is duly proud of the ensemble gathered to voice the lead (or "hero") characters of the piece: "Every single one of our cast was able to take the film to the next level and add things-they'd say, 'Can I try something?' Then, they'd go completely off, and sometimes that sent us in a direction with a character that would influence the rest of the movie...which made extra work for us, but it also made the movie much better than we could have envisioned."
A STRANGE NEW WORLD
Ask anyone who's ever participated in a team sport, and they'll tell you that a group is only as strong as its weakest member. When it came time to fill the ranks of the "Monsters vs. Aliens" filmmaking squad, directors Letterman and Vernon, producer Stewart and co-producers Hopper Desmarchelier and Ouaou gathered an all-star film crew, including such star players as: head of layout Damon O'Beirne ("Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas"); production designer David James ("Flushed Away"); film editors Joyce Arrastia ("Shrek the Third") and Eric Dapkewicz ("Flushed Away"); head of character animation David Burgess ("Bee Movie"); visual effects supervisor Ken Bielenberg ("Shrek the Third&q
