January 2nd, 2025 
Jackson Murphy 
A first kiss between two kids is the subject of director Loic Espuche’s charming comedy Yuck! (Beurk!), which is one of the 15 finalists for the 2025 Best Animated Short Film Oscar. (This interview was conducted as an Animation Scoop Email Q&A and was edited for length and clarity. Images Credit: IKKI Films)
Jackson Murphy: Did you think kissing was gross when you were young?
Loic Espuche: Yes, I found it really really disgusting! Especially the idea of saliva mixing when people kiss with their tongues. But paradoxically, I was too eager to kiss Sophie, my lover!
JM: How did you want to show fun, energetic children?
LE: I needed to bring the life of childhood into the film! And I think there was only one way to do that: have the voices performed by real children. Noé, Katell, Enzo, Camille and Hugo brought realism, energy and fun to the film! We asked them to straddle the line between playing their characters and being themselves. It was fun because they were really at the age where they were disgusted by kisses. Then I spent a month editing the voices, trying to find the right rhythm for the film. And it was on this basis that I made the animatic… And then, the challenge was to transcribe the voices full of life, into vivid animation which took 8 months of work!
JM: What were the challenges of animating the pink glow, especially on characters’ lips?
LE: The first challenge was narrative. The pink lips implies a symbolic narrative that had to coexist with a more naturalistic tone. Finding the right balance between these two tones in the film required dozens of script versions! The second challenge was graphic: we had to find a design that would emphasize this choice. All the designs are in colored flats to contrast with the glittery effect of the lips. This also meant paying particular attention to the film’s colorscript! I relied on Elie Martens to create the film’s palette! The pink glitter on the lips was laid down in compositing with layers of animated noise, but the animators had to imagine the effect without seeing it in their animations. Finally, one of the big issues with the pink glitter on the lips wasn’t graphic but sound-related! As pink mouths don’t exist in real life, we had to invent a sound. But the characters in the film don’t react to the sound of mouths, so we had to come up with something discreet and sparkling. In the end, sound editor Grégoire Chauvot created a sound using skin noises, bubbling water and the sound of rain stick balls.
JM: What makes friendship and love so important in life?
LE: Haha great question! I don’t know if I can give an answer for everyone, but in my case I know that I love sharing discussions, moments of life and complicity. And who better to share these moments than the people you love? I love the intimate space that friendship and love give you, and for me these are spaces where you can really show yourself. I think these relationships allow you to really discover people in depth, while also discovering yourself.
JM: What memories of your childhood did you want to incorporate into the story?
LE: I didn’t set out to capture the memory of a particular summer. I think it’s more a general feeling of childhood. I was a very shy child, very observant and very worried about what others might think of me. I unconsciously drew inspiration from the child I was in terms of personality. It’s funny, because even though I don’t think the character looks like me physically, a lot of my friends have told me he actually does! I also drew on my memories of summers to recreate the feeling of being with a group of friends during a week’s vacation, the shapes of tents and camping tables when I was a kid, the colors of summer days in the South of France, but also the first feelings of summer love and their bewitching vibe! On the other hand, the kissing thing isn’t a memory: as a kid I was far too shy! And a week’s vacation clearly wasn’t enough for me to find the courage to go and declare my love to the girl I liked!
JM: What have audience reactions been like as you’ve shared this short around the world
LE: They’re great! It’s a film that really gets people going! The kids scream with disgust at every kiss, right along with the characters! When the auditorium is full of children, especially when there are sessions with schoolchildren, the children sometimes scream so loudly that I can’t hear the dialogue any more! The adults, on the other hand, don’t scream in disgust, but often laugh, both at the film and at the reactions of the children in the audience. It’s great to have all these reactions live, it allows me to appreciate the film differently every time. When I’m at a screening, I don’t look at the film anymore, but at the room and the audience’s reactions! When I made the film, I didn’t think it would have such a great international life!
JM: What would an Oscar nomination for “Yuck!” mean to you?
LE: So many things! It would be an exceptional recognition of these 5 and a half years of work! It would also give the film even greater exposure! And it would be a great pride to be at the ceremony alongside all the people who have made the films I’ve been watching since I was a kid! But there are plenty of great films on the shortlist of 15, and we’re not there yet!
- INTERVIEW: Turning On “Wander To Wonder” - January 3, 2025
- INTERVIEW: A Kiss And A Lot To Tell About “Yuck!” - January 2, 2025
- INTERVIEW: Rolling Out “The Wild-Tempered Clavier” - December 30, 2024
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