INTERVIEW: Ready To Release “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” – Animation Scoop

INTERVIEW: Ready To Release “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken”

June 28th, 2023 Jackson Murphy

DreamWorks Animation’s new family action/adventure comedy Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken opens this Friday June 30th. It’s already made a big splash this summer at Annecy and through early preview showings at Regal Cinemas locations nationwide. Oscar nominated director Kirk DeMicco (The Croods) and producer Kelly Cooney Cilella (Trolls World Tour) join me to discuss making studio history with the story of a teen who seeks to finally embrace her whole self. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)

Jackson Murphy: Kirk, the last time we spoke was just about two years ago for “Vivo”, which was a big hit for Netflix and Sony. How have the last two years been for you going back to your teenage years and going under the sea with “Ruby Gillman”?

Kirk DeMicco: I was very lucky that Kelly gave me a call and told me about this project. And it really hit on the things that were so exciting: To be able to do something that was set in a teen environment — a John Hughes sort of high school comedy, or “Easy A” or “Booksmart”. We love them all. And then marrying that with the great big world-building epic adventure that I think DreamWorks has such a power for — the animation style and the effects that we could bring to the table.

JM: Yeah, the scope of it is really cool. And Kelly, what stands out to you about this generation of teens and what you wanted to infuse into the character of Ruby Gillman?

Kelly Cooney Cilella: I think we really wanted Ruby to feel like she could be a teen of today. A big part of that is her music choices. We have a really great contemporary soundtrack paired with this really fun, dream pop score by Stephanie Economu. Ruby's clothing, the high schoolers she's friends with are all dressed the way kids are dressed today, and they're on their phones. And we wanted Ruby to be a character that teens today could relate to and connect with and see themselves in.

JM: She's a junior in high school. The prom is on her mind. A boy is on her mind. She has a group of friends. I like that she does. A lot of movies are about trying to find that group of friends — she already has that foundation. And also the foundation of family, which is so important. I love the look of the family and the way the arms and the legs move. Maybe there will be an Annie Award nomination for the character design.

Kirk DeMicco

KDM: We were really excited. It was probably the most pushed animation that we've had at DreamWorks with that squash and stretch. It was really organic. Our cephalopod-derived creatures. What was also really fun was giving the opportunity of telling their story through each one. Mom Agatha is the most on the book about being a human — the most upright with the way she carries herself. Dad [Arthur] is a little more loose. And the boy Sam (played by Blue Chapman) is still just a boy with a lot of energy and is bouncing around and probably not behaving the way he should be in school. Ruby, as a teenager, has this arc where she's going from a girl who is hiding in her hoodie and is a little scared of who she is and showing the world who she is — to being a 300-foot tall glowing beacon of hope and light for everyone to find their inner power.

JM: The visuals are incredible — her height and strength. You also have an uncle character and Grandmamah, who's voiced by Jane Fonda. Kelly, what does this family theme mean to you?

Kelly Cooney Cilella

KCC: It was important to us to tell this multi-generational story, from Grandmamah to Mom to Ruby. The choices that our parents make don't have to define the choices that we make. It's up to us to carve our own path. It all started with Agatha when she left the ocean. She took her family to land. We don't get too much into the backstory of it, of why she left, but we indicate that she didn't want to follow in her mother's footsteps of being a queen and part of having to defend the ocean. She wanted to have a safer life for her daughter and didn't want her daughter to be pulled into that, only to find that destiny came calling and that she got pulled back into it anyway. Ruby now has to make the choice for herself, about what she's going to do. Sometimes we have to take a big risk. We have to do the thing that we're scared to do in order to protect our family — the people we love.

JM: Some very important dialogue in the movie from Toni Collette. She's fantastic as Agatha. So in the movie, and in a lot of the marketing so far, we have Chelsea, who's a red-headed mermaid who will remind a lot of people of a certain other red-headed mermaid. Kirk, I found a lot of the story to be sort of a reverse "Little Mermaid". How far did you really want to push that aspect of this film?

KDM: That's a great point because I think what we were hoping for is that in the tradition of DreamWorks films of subverting the trope — the ogre with a heart of gold or the chubby panda / Kung Fu warrior — and this was a chance for us to take a Kraken, who has been besmirched its entire life, the victim of a terrible PR crisis for centuries. And we wanted to turn the tables on that. Starting on that... was it more about finding a different side of a mermaid, which could be perceived as a siren story (going back to where they were the sinkers of ships and where krakens were actually the protectors). We couldn't find any place where krakens had a good stand. Never a good moment in the light. We felt like this girl finding out what she is... what she thought was a stereotype... she has to prove the world wrong. They've been living in the shadows.

Grandmamah doesn't trust people, and [Agatha] really doesn't trust [people]. Ruby takes the ultimate stand to show the world, from just fitting in to belonging, that she's no longer going to hide who she is amongst her family, friends and town. She stands proudly and brave and as tall as she can be and shows who krakens really are. That was where the heart of it lied. The fun of the other side, with a mermaid and playing off of that... and we had Annie Murphy playing Chelsea. She brought so much. Every time we recorded, she brought so much to the role.

JM: That's great. Ruby wants to see what's "down there", as opposed to what's "up above". And there's other little aspects you do so well with that. And Kelly, with The Mouse House releasing a new live-action version of "The Little Mermaid" during this time and this movie coming out on the heels of that, from a marketing perspective as a producer, this is a really interesting time!

KCC: I'd love to say it was all part of my master plan! (laughs) But as you know animated movies take three-plus years to make, and when we first started on this adventure, we could never have predicted what we would be coming out against. It was one of those happy coincidences. I think our marketing campaign has done a really good job.

JM: Yes they have. Kirk, when Christopher Nolan announced that he was making a new movie for Universal, he basically said for "Oppenheimer", no [Universal] movie can open in the 20 days before and the 20 days after "Oppenheimer". Your movie "Ruby Gillman" is opening 21/22 days before that. When you were having conversations at Universal about the release date, did the "Oppenheimer" block come-up in conversation?

KDM: You're amazing! How do you know all this?

KCC: I did not know that!

JM: Really?! You had to open on June 30th for a reason, and it's all because of Christopher Nolan.

KDM: Wow. Wow. That's fascinating. It's a great assurance of big competition. Obviously we're competing for the same audience.

JM: (laughs) You can watch "Ruby Gillman" twice in the length that "Oppenheimer" is!

KDM: It's only 82 minutes if you don't stay for the credits. That's amazing. That's very cool. A good bit of trivia. I never knew that. So obviously we were not told this.

JM: (laughs) Kelly, one of the other big themes I got out of this movie is loyalty... and trust. How did they come through for you when it comes to the production of this movie?

KCC: That's a really good question. One of the big mistakes that Agatha makes is not being 100% truthful with her daughter up front. She regrets it to a certain extent. But I think we can all sort of relate to Agatha in that moment. In order to protect your kids, you sometimes make mistakes, and that's okay. Ultimately the truth is gonna prevail, and it's gonna bring them closer in the end. That's what's so powerful in the third act.

JM: They're all such strong characters. Kirk, I like the casino / Vegas-style lights when we go underwater to Grandmamah's area.

KDM: We wanted to make a great Kraken Kingdom — the deepest of deep of the ocean. Fish could not survive this. We gave it style and epic and scale that a 300-foot Kraken would feel comfortable... and Ruby would feel aspirational. I was so excited [to direct a film] with the first titular female lead in a DreamWorks film after 40 films.

JM: Wow!

KDM: Ruby is the first female title lead. We're really giving her a moment. She isn't in the movie because of someone else. She is because of the movie. That's what's important to us.

JM: It's about time! That's awesome. How close were you to getting Liam Neeson to do a voice cameo of "Release The Kraken!" in this movie?

KDM: (laughs) That would've been fantastic. That's gotta be saved. We need that line.

JM: Yes, for "Ruby Gillman, ADULT Kraken". What's your vision of that?

KDM: First she has to get to "Ruby Gillman, COLLEGE Kraken". First it's college. She's going to school. We're very protective parents. We're sending her to college. That's our goal. We know Agatha would want her to go.

JM: Nice. Kelly, are your wheels turning for ideas?

KCC: Oh yeah. 100%.

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