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Producer's films stress lifelong values for kids

By Mark Moorehead

We’re sitting at a small table in the middle of a conference room at the Arizona Biltmore. Jeffrey Katzenberg is wearing an open-collared, blue-striped shirt and a broad smile—not the staid studio head one might expect.

Friendly, quick-witted and energetic, this fellow is downright disarming. His ability to wax philosophically, even though it’s barely 9 a.m., energizes even a non-morning-person like myself.

No, this is no ordinary studio executive.

Few studio heads hunker down in the trenches with the troops making movies. Even fewer charge up the hill with the unbridled enthusiasm and inspiration required to make great animated epics for children.

Jeffrey Katzenberg is not only the producer of the upcoming animated Western Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron; he is also co-founder of DreamWorks Pictures, along with Steven Spielberg and music entertainment goliath David Geffen.

Katzenberg’s spirits are soaring after his recent blockbuster and Academy Award winner Shrek, the second-highest grossing animated feature of all time. Shrek’s success, not surprisingly, spurred Katzenberg to take the reigns again as producer of the upcoming Shrek II, scheduled for release in May 2004.

While most studio moguls would be content to rest on their laurels and direct money to future projects, Katzenberg prefers to immerse himself in the creative process of animation making.

Animation always has been Katzenberg’s passion. Prior to launching DreamWorks in 1994, he worked at Disney producing the The Lion King, the most successful animated film in history.

At Disney, however, Katzenberg suggests he was a “suit” the majority of the time and made movies only part time.

“For me the reason I started DreamWorks was that I wanted to do full time what I had done part time at Disney,” he says.

And, making animated stories that entertain and sometimes deliver virtuous messages that remain with children for a lifetime are particular perks of the job that Katzenberg now finds most rewarding. 

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and Lion King elevate such virtues as courage, self-sacrifice and perseverance. Comparing the similarities of those films you’d think Lion King was the inspiration for Spirit. It was not, however.

A broad smile rides across Katzenberg’s face as he recalls the real inspiration for Sprit’s character:

“You’re going to laugh when I tell you this; (it was) Bruce Willis in Diehard I. If you think about it, that is the most indomitable spirit that I have seen in a film as a character. I kept calling this movie ‘Spirit: Diehorse’”.

Katzenberg says the one timeless theme in Sprit is the freedom today’s young generation takes for granted.

“Sprit is born into a world of perfect and idyllic freedom, and the notion that there is anything other than that is unimaginable to him. It’s not something he can conceive of until he loses it.

“And, then, it’s not until he loses it that he actually understands what it means,” Katzenberg says.

A secondary theme, adversity, provides another basis for the film.

“To me, adversity is a part of life,” reflects Katzenberg. “We all face it, every man, woman and child, and the way in which we face adversity defines character. And, I wanted to do a story about a character that faces adversity with utter, complete and total optimism”.

Non-traditional approach

While Spirit has been labeled “traditional animation,” Katzenberg insists it is anything but. He argues that Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron is the most technologically complex animated film to date, fusing traditional 2-D animation with 3-D computer animation effects.

A horse stampede early the movie is an example, he says.

“We literally immerse the audience into the center of that herd. And when you add to that the music of Hans Zimmer and Bryan Adams, it’s a visceral experience. You’re experiencing something that was not possible even a year ago.”

Film technique, solid story line and great music are essential parts of the whole for a successful animated film. But there’s no guarantee.

So how does Katzenberg anticipate and then measure a film’s success?

“To me I’ve succeeded if an audience walks out of that theater genuinely entertained. And maybe, once in while, if we get a little lucky, their spirits are raised or enlightened,” he says.

The icing on the cake, however, is when Katzenberg stands in the back of the theater as he did during a recent screening of Spirit and hears the audience cheer.

Beaming like the proud father of a new baby boy, Katzenberg is clearly excited about his new prodigy and the anticipated reception this newest cinematic offspring will receive.

Marketing wizardry

Despite a film’s quality, however, it’s unlikely that audiences will line up without the requisite marketing. And here is where Katzenberg and company pulled out the stops.

To help ensure every child has the opportunity to see Spirit, DreamWorks teamed up with Blockbuster Video, offering a free movie pass to see Spirit for every child in exchange for a movie rental at Blockbuster.

“We’ve had a great partnership with Blockbuster in the video business over the years. They have been very supportive of DreamWorks since the start of the company. And we were always looking to find interesting things to do together,” Katzenberg said. 

As to who gets the credit for the film’s promising future, Katzenberg insists the project was the outcome of a collaborative effort by members of his “inner circle.”

Summarizing the skills of directors Kelly Ashbury and Lorna Cook and producer Mireille Soria, Katzenberg draws an analogy from the pages of Wizard of Oz:

“Lorna’s got the heart, Kelly’s got the laugh and Mireille’s got the brains,” he says.

Spirit will start appearing on local movie screens May 24.

Pecan Grove Estates resident Mark Moorehead writes regularly for Wrangler News.

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