Toni Collette Blinky Bill The Movie

Toni Collette Blinky Bill The Movie

Cast: Ryan Kwanten, Toni Collette, Robin McLeavy, Rufus Sewell, Barry Humphries, Richard Roxburgh, Deborah Mailman
Director: Deane Taylor
Genre: Family
Rated: G
Running Time: 90 minutes

Synopsis: An adventurer at heart, he dreams of leaving the little town of Green Patch and following in his missing father's footsteps. When Blinky discovers a mysterious marker that hints at his Dad's whereabouts, he embarks on a journey that takes him beyond the boundary of Green Patch and into the wild and dangerous Outback. He quickly makes friends with Nutsy, a zoo koala, and Jacko, a nervous frill-necked lizard. Pursued relentlessly by a vengeful Cat who has a personal score to settle with Blinky, the trio must learn to work together if they ever want to survive the rugged Australian landscape and find Blinky's father!

Blinky Bill The Movie
Release Date: 17th September (NSW/VIC/QLD) and 24th September (ACT/WA/SA/NT)

About The Production

Blinky Bill: Australia's Favourite Koala

Blinky Bill is one of Australia's most recognized characters and a bona fide national icon. The lovable antics of the mischievous koala from the sleepy village of Greenpatch have captured hearts the world over since the release of The Adventures of Blinky Bill book series in 1933. The Blinky Bill books are internationally recognised as an Australian children's classic– indeed, they have never been out of print since first publication.Millions of Australians share childhood memories reading the Blinky Bill books before bedtime, lapping up a sense of excitement, humour and adventure that could be found in their very own backyard: the Aussie outback.

Blinky's character appeals to a quintessentially -Aussie' spirit of optimism and mateship. For Blinky, friends and family are everything. This sense of mateship is deeply embedded in the Australian collective consciousness and has made Blinky somewhat of a cultural ambassador. For proof, look no further than the flashing light on top of the Sydney harbour bridge, which is affectionately known as -Blinky Bill'!

From the best-selling page to the big screen, in the early 1990s, Blinky's legacy blossomed with the box office success of his first feature film, Blinky Bill: The Mischevious Koala. Yoram Gross Studios – now Flying Bark Productions – developed a unique visual style involving superimposed 2D animation over live-action footage, a technique that was revolutionary for its time. Blinky Bill: The Mischevious Koala was a worldwide smash hit, releasing in key major territories such as the UK and France and earning Blinky a whole new generation of fans around the world.

Following on from the triumph of the movie, Yoram Gross Studios produced the highly successful TV series, The Adventures of Blinky Bill. Continuing the story of Blinky, Nutsy, Wombo and friends, the TV series ran for three seasons from 1993 - 95 and inspired several spin-off feature films, Blinky Bills Extraordinary Excursion and Blinky Bill's White Christmas. With an extensive international licensing program – and an undeniably catchy theme song – the TV series was another winner for Brand Blinky, demonstrating his immense appeal across ages, time zones and formats.

After more than a decade on hiatus, the decision to bring Blinky back into the spotlight was a no brainer for the creative team at Flying Bark Productions. The time was ripe to introduce Blinky to a new generation and development on a CGI Blinky Bill feature film commenced in 2010. With such a rich cultural heritage and proven commercial track record, it was only a matter of time before Blinky made his way back to the silver screen in CGI.

The Flying Bark team decided the new movie should introduce new friends as to not completely infringe on the stories from years ago; of course many of his old friends from the previous books, movies and TV series will feature too. This threw quite the curve ball in the early stage of development, as it was no mean feat staying true to three different incarnations of an iconic character, whilst still keeping him relevant for the children of today!

Producer Barbara Stephen has her own take on the appeal of Blinky Bill The Movie to a 21st century audience: 'Blinky Bill The Movie is both a rollicking Aussie road film and an origin story, taking the essence of what made the previous books, films and TV series so endearing, reimaging them for the next generation of children and their parents."

Now, with an all-star cast breathing life into the much-loved characters and an all-Australian creative team visually translating the rugged beauty of the outback in stunning CGI animation, Blinky Bill The Movie has arrived to engage, inspire and entertain another generation of adoring fans.

An Outback Journey From Page To Screen

Screenwriter Fin Edquist explains how he approached the scriptwriting process:

'My grandmother had a set of the Dorothy Wall Blinky Bill books that my brothers and sisters would occasionally dig out, but I never saw the original movie or TV series. It was liberating in a way because I didn't have any personal expectation to deliver a script that paid homage to a legacy from my childhood. That kind of pressure can make you go crazy! Initially, all I knew about Blinky was that he was Australia's marsupial Denis the Menace, which worked fine for a TV show…but for a feature film, the character needed heart and a motivation beyond annoying the local Mayor or powers that be. I wanted to create a character from scratch to tell a compelling story about a kid who challenges himself, his fears and his abilities, to find his Dad."

Edquist describes the transformation of Blinky's character from idealistic young koala dreaming of adventure, to a fully-fledged outback hero:

'When we meet Blinky, he lives with his Mum in Greenpatch, a beautiful oasis-like village in the middle of the outback. His Dad has vanished into the outback and everyone thinks that Dad is dead – it's basically the unspoken secret in town. No one actually articulates this to Blinky besides Mayor Cranklepot, his arch nemesis. Blinky is alone in refusing to give up on Dad. His prime motivation is to bring him home and reconstitute the family.

For Blinky to really grow, he needs to change his situation. Greenpatch is the marsupial equivalent of suburbia; but in the outback, danger and death lurk around every corner. In order to find Dad, Blinky can't walk across the street; he ventures across the most inhospitable terrain on the planet and only survives the journey by relying on abilities he never knew he had because they were never tested in Greenpatch. In surviving the outback, Blinky develops the necessary skills that allow him to rescue his Dad and bring him home safely."

Blinky Bill is a character who has delighted children across formats and generations. Edquist describes Blinky's appeal in Blinky Bill The Movie:

'Kids love a character who challenges authority, but who can also do the things they would love to be able to do. Blinky is a small koala in the ferocious Australian outback, meeting the outback head on, refusing to listen to all the naysayers in Greenpatch who say that he's too little or not ready to go on an adventure. He essentially sets out into the outback on his own, with no parents, to rescue his own father. And then he has to deal with the notion that his Dad might actually be dead and the journey was all for nothing. For characters made of lesser -stuff', that would be the end of them…but for Blinky, he's strong enough to continue his mission. We like him for his ingenuity because he has to use his brains to get out of trouble - he's no Tasmanian Tiger. To outwit enemies, Blinky has to be smart. And kids like smart characters. Blinky's also funny. We like him because he's stubborn, pig-headed and thinks that he knows best – even when he doesn't. I really believe the characters people like the most are inherently flawed, but it's precisely because of their flaws that they manage to succeed. Blinky is definitely not a perfect hero, but he's heroic in that he confronts things that are scary. It's refreshing for kids to see a character that confronts their deepest, darkest fears and finds a way to overcome them."

Blinky's friendship with Nutsy, his best friend throughout the original books and TV series, has been given an origin story in Blinky Bill The Movie. Edquist explains:

'When Blinky embarks on his journey, he meets another koala by chance, Nutsy, who grew up in a zoo as an orphaned koala. Nutsy has only ever lived in a zoo and has never known the concept of family that Blinky has. Nutsy's journey is to discover that she's more than just a caged koala - there is a -wildness' in her. She learns that she has an active role to play in the outback. In the end, Nutsy becomes an adopted sister to Blinky and a valued part of the Greenpatch community in her own right. It's a classic story structure for this kind of film; the idea that in order to come of age, you need to sublimate your ego and selfishness to embrace something that's bigger than yourself, which in this case is family."
Edquist perfectly sums up the main themes of Blinky Bill The Movie, which could read as a summary of Australian values: 'Always look out for your mates. Believe in yourself to do the right thing. Never give up against all odds. Take responsibility for your actions. That's what makes a real hero".

The Artistic Journey From 2D To CGI

Koalas are the most universally recognised cultural ambassadors of Australia. Their soft and cuddly appearance inspires adoration from millions of people worldwide. Being Australia's favourite koala, the task of designing the look of CGI Blinky was no mean feat.

Blinky's design has undergone several significant changes since the original Dorothy Wall illustrations of the 1930s. Instantly recognisable by his one-shoulder overalls with the oversized patch and big yellow button, Blinky's journey from cel-animated drawing to computer-animated model has been yet another step in the evolution of an icon.

According to producer Barbara Stephen, 'The challenge of reimagining 2D Blinky into CGI Blinky meant staying true to his cheeky, mischievous and adventurous character, whilst pushing his soft, cute, cuddly -koalaness'. Today's family audiences have a huge choice when it comes to entertainment; we live in a vastly different cultural landscape compared to the 1990s. There are higher standards when it comes to animated movies, especially regarding design, quality of fur, distinct characterisation and sense of humour."

'Flying Bark passionately believes in preserving the legacy of Blinky and paying respect to the spirit of Dorothy Wall's books and Yoram Gross' hugely successful screen productions, whilst reimagining Blinky specifically for the tastes of animation-savvy audiences worldwide. Audiences are incredibly familiar with CGI animation, so 3D Blinky fits in with what the movie-going public is used to seeing on the big screen."

'Our aim is for Blinky to delight our young Australian audience and their parents and grandparents, to go beyond our shores and reach audiences overseas by offering a truly authentic Australian voice - with no softening of our colloquialisms or sense of humour."

'The creative team has designed Blinky to be more expressive and able to act like a real koala more than ever before. We also focused on featuring female characters that are more active in the story. Nutsy and Blinky's Mum have considerable heroic moments in the film, which really showcase their strength of character"

Blinky's Australia: A Sunburnt Country, A Land Of Sweeping Plains

There's something about the beauty, ruggedness and danger of the Australian outback that is truly irresistible to audiences worldwide. Movies featuring Australian animals and landscapes have gone on to achieve massive international box office success in the past – think Crocodile Dundee and Steve Irwin's The Crocodile Hunter.

The Flying Bark creative team has fully embraced the uniqueness of Australian flora. The art department worked tirelessly to make the film look and feel as authentically Australian as possible, inspired by a wealth of Australian impressionist painters including Fred Williams, Margaret Preston, Clare Coss-Smith and Arthur Boyd.

Director and production designer Deane Taylor explains the process of creating Blinky's world: 'In Greenpatch *Blinky's hometown+ we wanted to create an intimate, hidden world. We sourced various locations around Australia and felt that Greenpatch was more in the world of the deeper regions of the Blue Mountains, with the isolation of Wilpena Pound in the Flinders Ranges.

We looked deeper into additional location sources like the Red River Gums, made famous by Hans Heysen, as well as the micro detail of the banks of the Lower Murray. These elements combined would give us a sharp contrast to the vastness of the Outback to which Blinky Bill would later travel to. What remained would then be the caricature of these elements and create an architecture that you would believe to have been created by its inhabitants.

In the spirit of strengthening our design process to feature a pantomime, theatrical, stage-like feel to all aspects of location development, we used the following approach: Firstly, research was conducted with regard to iconic and natural formations that exist. Rather than relying on the more traditional icons like Uluru and the Kimberly, we chose rather to explore the deeper detail and the foundation of the many and varied landscapes that are intrinsically Australian.

Secondly, we chose to revisit the Australian impressionists who have so successfully captured the essence and light of the places we would create. Most influential were the works of Fred Williams, Brett Whiteley, Arthur Streeton, Charles Blackman, Shaun Tan and Pro Hart."

Casting Icons For Icons
The cast of Blinky Bill The Movie reads as a roll-call of the finest in Australia's acting talent, spanning film, television and theatre. Each of the principal cast are recognisable as many an iconic character, to generations both young and old.

Working with powerhouse casting agents Kirsty McGregor and Lucky Gorka of McGregor Casting (A Good Day To Die Hard, Maya The Bee Movie), Flying Bark Productions set out to re-imagine the voices of Blinky Bill and his friends with a little help from some of Australia's biggest names.

As producer Barbara Stephens explains, 'The process of producing animation can often mean a long period of preproduction, where the characters remain -voiceless' in their 2D sketch form. We often don't know whether the script and storyboards are going to work as a whole film until we start to engage with the actors."

'Once the actors are cast, they really breathe life into our thousands of hand drawn storyboard panels. The process is iterative and the actors will often influence the emotional shape of many scenes as the storyboards will often inspire their performance. The actors are involved with recording sessions throughout the process of creating the 2D story reel (a working edit of storyboard, voice records, temporary sound and music). Interestingly, there is a misconception that animation is created only through 3D software, this story development process is completely controlled by our in-house team and the 2D story process dominates the entire crafting of story in our studio. The actors were totally thrilled to be part of the evolution in the film process from 2D sketches to final colour picture.

'We were delighted by the overwhelming response from such an incredible Australian cast. We felt the script was funny and maintained the integrity of the Blinky Bill essence - a critical element in attracting their support."

'The only challenging part of the casting process was juggling the busy schedules of our talent, but the experience for everyone involved has been great fun. Our voice recording sessions were filled with plenty of goofing around and tears of laughter!".

 

Blinky Bill The Movie
Release Date: 17th September (NSW/VIC/QLD) and 24th September (ACT/WA/SA/NT)