Next March 12 will be the 95e Oscar ceremony, and like every year, the bets are open. However, there is at least one category where the winner is in little doubt: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, big favorite for the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. And rightly so: it’s a marvel. And it turns out that a Quebecer played a key role in the artistic success of the film: Peggy Arel, an animator specializing in stop-motion animation, or stop-motion.
Among other things, Peggy Arel has distinguished herself thanks to the films The Missing Link (The missing link), Laïka studios (leaders in the field, behind in particular Coraline), and Anomalisedby Charlie Kaufman (screenwriter of Being John Malkovichdirector of Synecdoche, New York), awarded in Venice.
“Over the past few years, I have worked a lot in the United States, in Portland, at the Laïka studios. I also worked in Los Angeles. Anomalised had been rewarded in Venice and had been nominated for an Oscar… I had also collaborated on a film in Spain [O Apostolo]… And in short, I applied on Pinocchio, and my work on these films pleased Guillermo and the production. For this kind of projects, we want to make sure that you have worked on feature films, and that your work is of high quality”, specifies Peggy Arel, joined the day after the announcement of the Oscar nominations.
Originally from Saint-Nicéphore, a sector of the city of Drummondville, Peggy Arel attributes her passion for stop-motion animation to her uncle Gabriel Caya, as well as to her mother, Denise Caya.
“My mother comes from a family of twelve children, and my uncle Gabriel was one of the few to move to Montreal. He was a cabinetmaker, but he had such an artistic temperament that he found himself working in advertising and film, on the cult film Heavy Metal. Every time he came back to visit, he inspired me. As for my mother, she loved the theater and encouraged us to put on plays. That’s how I started putting on puppet shows, which I made. »
Knowing all this, his involvement in the Pinocchio del Toro makes perfect sense, since it is the most famous puppet story there is.
Listening to del Toro
You should know that the film was very, very ambitious both artistically and logistically. Indeed, different teams were divided between the United States, Mexico and Canada. And there was the pandemic.
“The way it works, when you’re an experienced animator, is that you’re given a sequence that you’ll do almost entirely – never completely because there are always lots of aspects to consider such as lighting, backdrops, props, etc. »
The one on which Peggy Arel specifically worked sees Pinocchio coming back to life for the first time (in this version, he is immortal) in the presence of Geppetto and the Dottore in particular. For obvious reasons, this was a major sequence. And what he saw delighted Guillermo del Toro.
“It was a nice challenge, not just for the action, but because there were eight characters directly involved, including the main ones. Guillermo told me that he and his wife were ecstatic over a particular plan, and that I would have to be “cloned”. »
In this case, collaborating with Guillermo del Toro was one of the main reasons why Peggy Arel wanted to be part of the adventure.
“I could have applied to other projects, but I wanted to collaborate with Guillermo because my experience with Charlie on Anomalised had been fabulous. These are filmmakers who usually make live-action [cinéma en prise de vues réelles], and with them, it’s different: they treat us a bit like actors, we the animators. »
Peggy Arel was not disappointed. In fact, she has only good words about the director of the Pan’s Labyrinthwhich carried out in parallel Nightmare Alley (Nightmare Alley).
“Guillermo first explains to you what he wants, what he sees, but then he listens to your ideas, your suggestions, and in the end, it often happens that he comes around to your point of view. He’s someone who has a very clear vision of his film, but who at the same time gives you great creative freedom. »
For example, another sequence that the host directed is the one where we meet for the first time in his trailer filled with puppets the vile Volpe.
“We follow him from behind, and the gait and posture that I give him — stooped, head tucked into his shoulders — tell us immediately about his personality. This was one of Courtney Wold’s favorite sequences. [effets visuels en postproduction]. She told the team, “Peggy really understands how to animate a character based on camera movement.” By the way, my team did a fantastic job on camera and lighting: Laura Howie and Adam Jones, plus Jason Ptaszek, Jesse Levitt and Matthew Emmons, under the direction of cinematographer Frank Passingham… I mention them because that their work, lighting and programming camera movements for miniature, is incredible. And at 24e second! »
Save Carl
Another decisive contribution of Peggy Arel to the production concerns the new character of Carlo, the late son of Geppetto presented during the prologue, then during flashbacks.
“Guillermo and Georgina Hayns, the head puppet, were unhappy with Carlo’s character. This puppet was one of the first to be built and its movements were more restricted. Especially his face was smooth and expressionless and therefore difficult to animate, because it creased. There was talk of doing it again. But I have a background in facial expressions for motion capture [capture de mouvements], and I was asked to see what I could do. With a lot of patience and imagination, I managed to — I’m bad, but I’m going to dare say it like that — to save the character. »
We listen to her describe the various tricks she found to circumvent the limits of the puppet, and we can’t believe the treasures of invention she was able to demonstrate. For most of the “complicated” sequences in which he appears, she is the one who animated Carlo. For the record, the scene where the latter takes off on a swing is one of the most evocative of the film.
Ultimately, it is easy to understand that Guillermo del Toro would have liked to split Peggy Arel.
The film Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is available on Netflix.