Red Carpet Report’s entertainment reporter, Jennifer Ortega recently interviewed highly esteemed producer, Michelle Murdocca. Michelle has produced all three films in the Hotel Transylvania franchise while at Sony Pictures Animation. The latest film in the franchise, Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation comes on July 13th. Follow Jen on Twitter @JenniferEOrtega.
Michelle and Jennifer chatted about Michelle’s background in visual effects, the intricacies of animation and how the film sends a message about love and rising above hate.
Jennifer Ortega: Hi, Michelle!
Michelle Murdocca: Hi Jennifer!
JO: I’m so excited to talk to you. I just saw Hotel Transylvania 3 a few days ago. I loved it, but more importantly, I did want to mention that the screening I as at was filled with parents, kids, people of all ages. And there was non-stop laughter the whole time from both the kids and the adults.
MM: I am so happy to hear that!
JO: That’s one of the things that I really appreciated about the film. It is a great film for all ages It seems like a really hard thing to balance, but through different jokes and amazing visuals, it really seemed to appeals to many ages. How do you go about creating that?
MM: We definitely put a lot of thought and care into it. We would put stuff in and then take some stuff out. We really try to appeal to all age groups by getting in just enough elements to keep kids engaged yet not shut out the other age groups in the family.
JO: I know that Genndy Tartakovsky (director of all three of the Hotel Transylvania films) got the idea for Summer Vacation while on a cruise with his family and in-laws. How soon afterward did get he tell you about the idea and get you involved?
MM: Really early. He came back and called me and said what do you think about this. We stay in touch all the time. We’re really good friends. So he told me right away and I thought it was a hilarious concept and said go for it.
JO: I’ve been a huge fan of Genndy from Dexter’s Lab and Samurai Jack. Knowing how good he is, I was still blown away by the visuals.
MM: It’s great because we really get outside of the hotel in this film. There’s the hotel in the beginning, but then we’re on the ship and we get to Atlantis. Atlantis is completely an immersive experience. We always strive to make it an immersive experience.
JO: I really love that you just said that you wanted to make it a completely immersive experience because that’s what I love about animation. You create these whole complete worlds. I only know this because I have cousins that work in animation, but it is so labor intensive. It’s so beautiful, but so much work goes into it. I always hope when people see great animated movies like this that it encourages them to dig a little deeper and research all the jobs that are involved in making a film like this.
MM: I am so glad that you appreciate it. We showed the movie a few weeks ago at Annecy. Annecy is a huge international animation film festival in Northern France. We showed the movie there and it was a packed audience of over 1000 people that are all super into animation. And I have to tell you, they were screaming. They were laughing and cheering and clapping not only at all of the jokes but for the animation in the film. So I’m so glad that you appreciate it. It is a film that for a discerning audience, it is incredibly satisfying to be immersed in that style of animation. A lot of people don’t understand the style. They don’t understand the animation and what goes into it. We had about 500 people working on the movie. We had 150 people that were just animators. It’s a craft. Every frame is crafted and carefully designed. Between Genndy, our production designer, our animation supervisor and our visual effects supervisor; it’s such an artistically and technically crafted film. And that’s after we develop the story, which is a whole other area. But just the actual animation and craft that goes into that part of the filmmaking is extraordinary.
JO: You really hired such amazingly talented people on this film. I did one of my favorite things to do after seeing a film and go into IMDB to look at the crew and it was really like the best of the best in all aspects of the film. And for some reason I always forget…I’m always blown away by the score in all three of the films and then I remember, of course, because they’ve all been composed by Mark Mothersbaugh.
MM: Mark is amazing and amazing to work with. I think this was his best work of all the three movies. He really loved the story and could really relate to it. A lot of us working on it have kids and we were making a movie for kids about a family vacation so it was really relatable. But we had incredible musicians. We also had Tiesto and Joe Jonas.
JO: I love that Joe Jonas was the Kraken.
MM: Joe came in and he loved the story. He is also a lover of animation. He was so excited to come in and just to see what we do and what goes into it.
JO: You actually have a background in visual effects. How as a producer has that been helpful?
MM: I did visual effects for years and then I segued into doing heavily animated visual effects. The first one was the film Stuart Little. That was really my entry into character animation. On Stuart Little, I really started getting my story chops. It’s been really nice to be able to combine my expertise in visual effects with almost 20 years of story experience. So visual effects has been really helpful and definitely got me in the door.
JO: You’ve also done voice work in the past too, right?
MM: Yes.
JO: And I believe you have a little cameo in Summer Vacation?
MM: I actually play three roles.
JO: Three!
MM: Yeah, three. I do the telephone Siri like voice.
JO: The Siri gag, in the beginning, is one of my favorite parts! So funny!
MM: I also do one of the witches when they’re ogling Vlad on the cruise.
JO: Yes! Also, another hilarious scene!
MM: I’m the witch that says, “Ooh, Yummy!”
Laughter
MM: And then I do the character Kelsey, she’s like an octopus.
JO: Do you point out your voices to your kids when you watch it?
MM: Oh, they know when it’s me. They know my voice. They’ve also been to many preview screenings so they know for sure which voices I’ve done.
JO: Besides the film being visually striking and being hilarious it also has amazing themes of inclusion. What do you hope audiences take away from it?
MM: That despite our differences at the end of the day we’re all the same inside. Even at the end of the movie, there’s a point where Drac saves Van Helsing. And some people said, “Wow, why is he saving his enemy?” And the point there is to rise above the hate. So getting that message across is very important.
JO: I love that and it’s such a poignant and positive message. I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to me. I know you’re in France right now, so thank you so much.
MM: Oh, my pleasure!
JO: I really do hope you and Genndy keep working on many more projects together.
MM: Oh, we will. We have some projects we’re working on.
JO: Thank you so much, Michelle!
MM: Thank you!
“Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation”
Dracula (Adam Sandler) is Back as his daughter, Mavis (Selena Gomez), decides to take him on a Luxury Cruise for Monsters, and sparks fly between him and the captain (Kathryn Hahn). The rest of Drac’s Friends tag along for a Monsterously Star-Studded affair. Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky (Dexter’s Laboratory)
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