How does a mash-up of live-action puppets with CGI head, actors’ filmed eyes and mouths, collages of miniatures, film, graphics and period photography sound? Terry Gilliam will “godfather” on a project involves just that, Variety reports.
Directed by British animator Tim Ollive, who has worked with Gilliam on many projects dating all the way back to The Life of Brian in 1979, the “retro sci-fi fantasy” film is titled 1884. It is even reported “unnamed members” of the original Monty Python team with provide voices. Check out a synopsis of the $8 million feature below:
“1884,” a gently mocking burlesque, imagines a film made in 1848 with steam power, narrating a tale of laughable imperialist daring-do and espionage set in a futuristic 1884, when Europe is at war, steam-powered cars fly in the sky and man has landed on the moon.
Plot turns on dashing, if uber-bumbler secret agent Horatio Kitchengame dispatched to Europe to foil the plans of Count Ravenoff Fafner to achieve world dominion thanks to a dastardly new war machine.
It sounds like an intriguing mix of animation techniques and with the help of Gilliam’s crazy mind, it could definitely be something special. Gilliam himself spoke to what the final product will look like, after seeing a four-minute teaser:
“The quality of the work is amazing: It’s not slick and sleek CG work, such as studios in L.A. particularly produce. It looks crafted by an artisan, and the scale and design are spectacular.”
1884 is in the “final stages” of financing. As for Gilliam’s troubled production of Don Quixote, Robert Duvall has been rumored but no (re)start date yet.
What do you think of this type animation from Gilliam?