A New York Times #1 best-seller, The Bad Guys series from Australian author Aaron Blabey has solidified itself as one of the most successful collections of graphic novels aimed at younger audiences. With such success comes the inevitable big screen adaptation, and arriving in Australian cinemas on March 31st from award-winning filmmaker Pierre Perifel, the filmic version looks to further the novels’ broad appeal.
Talking with Peter Gray ahead of the film’s national release, Perifel and the film’s producer Damon Ross spoke of how Blabey’s books entered their radar, why Perifel chose this to be his feature-length debut, and how they managed to score Sam Rockwell as their lead actor.
Damon, how did this series of books become known to you?
Damon Ross: I first heard about the books in 2016. I read a little blurb about them, just like a one or two liner about a bunch of bad criminal animals decide to go good. So I followed up and (I was) put in touch with (author) Aaron Blabey’s reps. And then somebody finally sent me a copy of the first book, or maybe the first couple of books, and I saw that cover and it just immediately popped for me. I was looking for a project to work on, and finding a great title is half the battle. And there was this very simple concept that just was so appealing about these criminal animals that are so good at being bad and so bad at being good.
And I also happen to notice on Aaron’s website that it said something like, “Tarantino meets Madagascar”, and so there were all these alarm bells that went off for me, and I was like “Well, this sounds really, really interesting.” And I finally read them, and, you know, sometimes you get a great book, or a great title and some nice, really nice illustrations, but then the content isn’t that impressive, but this far exceeded my expectations. I thought the tone, the spirit, and the DNA of these books were just so entertaining, and so smart, and clever and subversive. It was very much in the spirit of the kind of movies we make at DreamWorks.
I was a kid who would watch animated films just as much as I would a Tarantino movie, so it’s great to see that mix…
Pierre Perifel: You know what, Peter? I think that’s exactly where it comes from, you know, even for us. We haven’t seen that in animation, you know? It’s so exciting as adults. We love these movies so much and, at the same time, our medium is animation. Can we blend those? And the idea of those books is so strikingly big and simple, but so clever. Yeah, I think none of us would pass (up that) opportunity.
I think that’s the great thing about so many animated movies now is that they they cater to adults knowing that they are going to take their kids. But then you do have people like me, happily childless, who still wants to go to see animated movies.
Damon Ross: There’s quite a great selection of those types of jokes and references. There’s a lot of references in the movie that kids will not have any idea where they come from, but parents will recognise them immediately.
Pierre, you have predominantly done short films to this point. What was it about The Bad Guys that made you want to say “Okay, this is my feature length debut”?
Pierre Perifel: The concept was so strong. And being a big fan of, you know, heist movies and Guy Richie and Tarantino and Soderbergh and whatnot, it’s where it really just clicked. Also, because like, as you said, I’ve worked on short films, and there was a lot of animals in the films that I’ve been working on. I knew that universe very well. We started kind of developing, but on the side (as) it was not complete. We were in between projects, and just started developing some designs and some head boards, and then it ended up being a kind of a trailer that I made and cut together.
It coincided with the change of direction from the studio. We had two new heads of studios coming in and they were looking for what (could) be the next project. We pitched to them what we were developing, and it clicked for them. Then a few months later they asked me if I wanted to direct (The Bad Guys), which I don’t think I was prepared for (at) that time. I was not expecting it, but it was a gift that just landed.
And the animation is so unique and unexpected. Where did the ideas for the visuals of the film come from?
Pierre Perifel: Growing up in France, where you have a different kind of graph in your head of different influences that are not just Disney, you know. It’s not the same references that the American public have, or Australian, or South African… we have a big iconography. They are very specific in France as well, but it’s it’s also an iconography that’s very influenced by the US, of course, but also Japan. And the other thing was also the desire to make something that looked different from what we always see in CGI animation. I think I grew tired of seeing Disney always doing the same thing.
I just wanted to explore something different. And the whole thing was to try and push the team to understand, well, we can do something different, we can just push towards something a bit more illustrative. That is very much the European-Japanese influence. I’m so proud of it, because it’s more illustrative. It’s more characterised, but it’s incredibly playful and charming, you know?
This voice cast is incredible! How do those conversations generate where you say “Let’s go for Sam Rockwell and Awkwafina”?
Damon Ross: Well, we started with Mr. Wolf. Wolf is our anchor, he’s the Clooney. Who’s our Clooney, so to speak, but we didn’t want to go to George because it seemed so obvious. Wolf is a very playful character. He has a goofball quality to him, as well as being suave and ferocious when he needs to be.. We were looking for somebody who could balance that cool and that swag, but also doesn’t take himself too seriously. We saw some music video where Sam is dancing on this bar, and it’s so sleek and so cool, but he was definitely taking the piss out it too. That’s our Wolf right there.
Pierre Perifel: He has that underdog type of supporting actor-main actor kind-of-vibe to him with the talent to be so true to his character. He was the first one we approached and he immediately said yes. And then after that the rest of the cast was, like, “Oh, Sam is in there?”
The Bad Guys is screening in Australian theatres from March 31st, 2022.
