The Dragonlord cartoon is based on the bestselling book of the same name by the writer Cornelia Funke, who was named by the Times magazine in 2005 “the most influential German woman in the world”. The premiere will take place in Russia on October 29, 2020.
Once upon a time, dragons ruled the earth, but nowadays they can only be found in movies. Together they will go on a journey to the most mysterious corners of the Earth, and the young man will have to try, because only the true lord of dragons can save the dragon race!
The young silver dragon Fire Baby is tired of hiding in a wooded valley. He wants to prove to his elder tribesmen that he is a real dragon. Overnight, people are going to destroy the last refuge of the dragon race. The fire-baby secretly decides to go on an exciting and dangerous journey with his friend, the kobold Ryzhik. He wants to find the Land of Heaven - a mysterious dragon paradise. On the way, Firefly and Ginger meet a boy named Ben, who claims to be the lord of the dragons. Ben and Firefly quickly become friends, and Ginger does not trust the stranger and tries to get rid of him at any opportunity. The unusual trio must learn to coexist as they are pursued by the evil dragon-eater Goldthorn. The monster was created by an alchemist, hoping to hunt down and kill all dragons on Earth ...
Dragon Lord is Tomer Yeshed's directorial debut. Felicity Jones voiced Ginger, Thomas Brodie-Sangster gave his voice to the dragon Firefly, Goldthorn spoke in the voice of Patrick Stewart, and Ben in the voice of Freddie Highmore.
About working on the film - about an exciting journey
Cornelia Funke is one of the most famous female writers who writes books for both children and adults. By this time she had already found success in Germany with the series "Wild Chickens" and "Ghostbusters", as well as the books "When Santa Fell to Earth" and "Hands Off the Mississippi."
The fantasy adventure "Dragon Lord" quickly became an international bestseller, currently selling over three million copies. Funke is now a successful and well-known writer, each of whose fascinating fantasy stories has sold millions of copies.
Other bestsellers by Funke that have already found their way to the big screens are Ink Heart, King of Thieves, Wild Chickens, and Ghostbusters Trail of Ice. In 2005, TIME magazine included her name in the top 100 most influential people.
Funke's books are distinguished by a combination of realistic stories taking place in the world we are accustomed to, and fantastic elements from parallel worlds. The rights to film the story of the journey of an unusual trio of dragon, boy and kobold in search of the mythical Land of Heaven were acquired by Martin Moszkovich, CEO of Constantin Film AG, and Oliver Berben, head of TV, entertainment and digital content and producer of the Munich-based company.
“They met Cornelia Funke about six years ago and said her book was ideal for Constantin,” recalls producer Christoph Müller. It could be plays, musicals or books. "
Moszkowicz and Berben already had in mind the young director Tomer Yeshed, who in 2011 directed the animated short film Pride of Flamingos as part of the First Steps Young Filmmakers Program. It was Yesched that the producers decided to propose the story during their first meeting with Cornelia Funke.
“It's funny that at that time I discovered short films for myself,” recalls Müller, who in 2017 switched from freelance producer to director of the cinema department and producer of Constantin Studios. It was very interesting to work and I learned a lot. "
Take me to the sky: a completely different road movie
“The plot of the movie 'Lord of the Dragons' tells about the exciting adventure of three different characters, - says Christoph Müller.
- If you want this "air road movie".
We have a young silver dragon, Fire-Baby, who decides to leave his fellow tribesmen in search of the legendary Land of Heaven. This is the perfect way to spend your family time. "
To implement the idea, the producers had to assemble a team of experts in the field of computer animation.
“First we had to design the protagonists of the story,” explains Christoph Müller. Müller describes this process as "a very creative endeavor" and "a riot of fantasy."
As with short films, most of the character designs were based on sketches by Tomer Yeshed. The work was attended by the Madrid studio Able & Baker, whose specialists created a total of about 30 minutes of animation, and the Munich visual effects studio BigHugFX.
A filmmaker who loves detail and has a very warm relationship with the characters
Tomer Yeshed was born in Tel Aviv and graduated from art school in Jerusalem. Yeshed received several awards and was nominated for a student Oscar for the short film Wonders of Nature, which he directed in his third year.
Like Flamingo's Pride, Natural Wonders is considered one of the most successful contemporary animated films at Konrad Wolf University. The producers did not doubt for a second about the advisability of trusting the project to the debutant director.
“It was absolutely the right decision,” recalls Christoph Müller. He is a perfectionist who gives his all to the film. "
“I didn’t take the producers' choice for granted - I’m happy to have such a chance,” says Tomer Yeshed. In this regard, a full-length film is no different from a short film, whether it be animation or fiction. "
Yeshed worked as a founding member of the Talking Animals art group, and in 2014, together with other graduates from Konrad Wolf University, opened the animation and visual effects studio Lumatic.
“At Lumatic, we looked for suitable animation projects that would interest our specialists and myself,” recalls Tomer Yeshed. "And then the Dragon Lord came along."
The director read Cornelia Funke's book and had a clear idea of what an animated film might look like. The filmmakers were more than satisfied with the conceptual phase of the work.
“I didn’t expect that we will achieve such results,” the director admits. “I am proud to have taken part in such a project, and I can’t wait for the audience’s reaction to our brainchild.”
Storyboard and script based on a fantasy travel novel
The main difficulty during the development of the concept of the future film was to turn the fantasy written for children into a family story that should appeal to all viewers, regardless of age.
“We wanted to tell the story in a comedic way, and this, as you know, added difficulties to the work,” explains the director. "This is how a good family movie should be."
The fact that the book was very famous and even made it to the New York Times bestseller list did not frighten Tomer Yeshed in the least.
“I knew that fans of the book would be perhaps the most picky critics of the film, because in their imaginations the characters in the book came to life a long time ago,” says the director. You cannot compare these two worlds directly. "
“The book raises a wide variety of topics,” Yeshed continues. It is up to him to decide who he wants to be. "
There is one moment in Funke's book that Tomer Yesched especially liked: "I noted that people in the book are presented as villains." This assumption is voiced at the very beginning of the film.
“It is very interesting for me to examine the seemingly familiar theses from unusual angles,” the director admits. The more interesting for me was the plot of the film "Lord of the Dragons", in which the antagonists and protagonists changed places. "
The human invasion of the last dragon stronghold was also described in the book of Cornelia Funke and became the catalyst for subsequent events. However, the backstory, the description of what the relationship between humanity and dragons was in the past, was the product of only one fantasy of filmmakers.
“It was extremely important for me to feel the dragon's nature to the smallest detail, to understand what role they play in nature, how their motives differ from those of people. For me, the key theme of the film was the theme of the house, and the most important question: "What is my destiny?" This question is being asked by Firefly, Ben and Ginger, but it's very personal to me. "
Work on the Dragon Lord took five years - a perfectly acceptable time for an animation project. This is not the first animated film by Constantin Film, the Munich-based company filmography includes the films IMPI - Superstar (2008) and Union of Animals (2010).
“Dragonlord” will be an exciting experience for the whole family - for young people and for older viewers, says Christoph Müller. It was just a gift for our production company. "
English became the original language of the movie "Lord of the Dragons", the script was also written in this language, so the original lines were recorded by English-speaking actors. Oscar-nominated actress Felicity Jones voiced the role of Ginger, Thomas Brodie-Sangster as the Fire-Baby, and Freddie Highmore as Ben.
Written by John R. Smith and Tomer Yeshed, they built the film's plot around these elements, and focused on the scenes that readers loved the most. ”
With more than 440 pages of Cornelia Funke's book, it was impossible to fit the entire book into a 90-minute film.
“Somewhere in the middle of the film, we solved this problem with editing, significantly increasing the speed of what was happening on the screen,” continues Müller. We need to make a squeeze of the most important thing. "
The producer also clarified that readers who bought the book at the age of ten, as soon as it came out, now want to take their own children to the cinema. Therefore, in the picture it was necessary to preserve the most important milestones of the book, which are engraved in the memory of readers.
“We needed to isolate the critical elements of the story to make the film exciting and keep the audience on their toes,” says Mueller. "Bezborod has become a comedic character, many of the scenes with him have become funny, despite the fact that he will often take the side of the villain," the producer says.
We have all the information about filming and interesting facts regarding the cartoon "Lord of the Dragons", with a release date in Russia in 2020. happy animation adventure!
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