Friday, June 27, 2008


OPENING DAY
As most of you know from the trailer, this film has been over ten years in the making. I'm sorry I could only have worked on the last year of production, because as some of you may know I'm a bit of a sci-fi nut, and early in production Wall-E was already one of my favorites. The entire crew was phenomenal, but the man whose work really shines is Ben Burtt, the sound designer and voice of Wall-E. As animators, we didn't get very many dialogue tracks, but Ben's sympathetic motors and humorous metallic whirs gave each robot a voice of their own, and made animating on this film a truly unique experience.
My hometown morning show, Good Day Sacramento, stopped by the studio yesterday and their jocose entertainment reporter, Mark S. Allen, interviewed Ben and myself. Talking with Mark was a blast because I pretty much grew up on that show and his movie reviews, so being on the other side of the camera with him was a real trip. You can catch Ben's interview here and mine here.
Anyway, hope you all enjoy Wall-E as much as I enjoyed working on it! In summary, go see Wall-E!

You'll believe a robot can fly.

16 comments:

intergalactic said...

Hey Austin, I don't have an email for you...and I had a question for ya.

Drop me a line.

Looking forward to Wall-E!

...ira

philip vose said...

hey austin. i was supposed to go see it at your studio yesterday (invitation by Christian), but sadly got stuck in nasty traffic. i was super pissed. anyways, cheers man! oh, i like your post about the ken miller guy. that sort of thing helps...

Bobby Pontillas said...

Thats awesome Austin. Very inspiring to see how far you've gone in your career already.

samacleod said...

Just saw it. Awesome man. i clapped for you at the end when your credit came up. That's so great. Seriously impressive film making. You should be proud. The animation was so successful.

Nice interview too! haha. You should download it, put it on your ipod and try to get free meals with it!

Anonymous said...

Good job Austin, Well-spoken as usual. I'll be seeing it tonight.

fodujour said...

Hello Austin!

I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed meeting and talking with you yesterday! Molly was SO thrilled and you were very easy for her to interview! I know being there and talking with you really inspired her! And I was just plain geeked-out! SOOO COOL! We just got back from seeing Wall-E up in Davis... I gotta tell you, people were CLAPPING! No kidding! Another excellent Pixar masterpiece!

Thanks again for being so gracious... and funny!

-Diana

Team Diana said...

I can't believe I went to school with PIXAR'S TOP ANIMATOR and I didn't even know it.

Congrats Austin. I totally plan on eventually seeing this movie. And remember, Sci-Fi is a medium, not a genre.

Zar Galstyan said...

Wall-E is amazing Austin, congrats!

Jessie Greenberg said...

Nice interview! And Wall-e was fantastic! Are you allowed to tell us what scenes you worked on?

David said...

congrats on Wall-e- You've got a great blog-long time reader first time blogger-keep it up.

DD

Unknown said...

ira-munchanka@hotmail.com, broseph!

pdog-crap! I miss you, man. Give me a call next time, I'll make sure the roads are clear. Yes, my farts are THAT bad.

bobby-thanks man!

steve-thanks, I've seen it three times now and I'm still discovering new details. I need to see Kung Fu Panda, I've heard awesome stuff. Did you get a chance to work on that one?

hwang-hope you enjoy it!

ms. lafayatis-y'damn straight. I made sure they billed me as 'top'. Of course, I'm only top if you list the animators alphabetically by first name and exclude Angus Maclane.

You're right. Sci-fi is a medium, it's also a life-style.

fodujour-it was great meeting you, too! Molly was a fantastic interviewer, best of luck to you and your editing as well as Molly and her imagineering!

Sean Szeles said...

Ha ha! Man, you're a superstar Austin! Great interview. Wall-e blew me away! The filmaking, the animation, the heart... sooo good. Great job man!

tamz said...

hey austin, loved the wall-e party! got some pics up on my blog of mr potato head's dance haha :) have yet to see the movie, but can't WAIT!!

Vince said...

Loved the sound
Loved the movie
Loved the interveiw

I loved it all

(though I was expecting a preveiw for UP after the credits)

Josh (musarter) said...

Congrats on Wall-E. Now you can breath for a couple of weeks. Can't wait see it, though it may be awhile.

Toole said...

That was great. Saw it twice.