Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs is now available on all platforms for your family’s enjoyment!! To celebrate the release, I was given the opportunity to chat with Tony Bancroft via Zoom about his role as the Voice Director of this amazing movie!
Interview with Tony Bancroft
What was your favorite part about being the voice director for Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs?
Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs is a very special movie because it is a smaller independent production company in Korea by a group of friends that I came to know. It’s a studio that I really love and want to support.
I asked them, once I found out about the production and saw the quality of what they were producing and the fun story, I asked them ‘how can I be of service? Use me in some way.’ They came back to me and said ‘we’d love for you to be the voice director.’
What that is, voices are recorded very early on in the production process. So, we’ll get the actors in after casting them which we have a GREAT cast of characters in this film that bring a lot of drama to it but also a lot of comedy, too.
It’s a funny film even though its got such a great theme to it, and message. That’s really what attracted me to it. I meet with the actors early on and help them develop the performance by being in the room with them and reading the parts against them.
This is so they understand kind of the tone, temperament, emotional elements of what’s going on in each of the scenes so they can get in the headspace that they need to be.
They’re all alone working in a room by themselves, they’re not on set, not in costume. They don’t have anything around them to get them into the moment, except for me talking to them and getting them in the context of ‘okay, in this scene you’re a dwarf, you’ve been under a curse.” Like going into the complexity of the story so that the actors can do their parts well.
What was the main thing that drew you to being Voice Director of Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs?
It was really the quality of what I saw early on and I have a good eye for seeing how a film can be developed. So what I saw in the story, the production design, the early character animation tests they were doing, everything was on such a high level for an animated film.
It was really the quality of what I saw early on and I have a good eye for seeing how a film can be developed. So what I saw in the story, the production design, the early character animation tests they were doing, everything was on such a high level for the Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs animated film.
I thought, this is the kind of thing I want to support. Then, when they pitched the story to be and I learned what the message was, being a father of three daughters myself (they’re all grown now), we went through all these discussions about body image.
So to see this story, a very sophisticated story with comedy but also tackle this very difficult message. The world tells us all the time what we should look like and what beauty really is but deep down it is really about who you are on the inside. So this film kind of combats what the world is teaching our kids.
And I really loved that about it and thought, “this needs to be out there.”
What was the most challenging part of being Voice Director?
You know, being a voice director on an animation, because there’s just little bits throughout the production that you’re picking up the actors, when we made some story changes or before this sequence goes into animation we need to get a voice back in here to record again because we rewrote some stuff.
The story is always very pliable in an animated movie so you’re always having to call back the actors to record, change lines, and stuff like that. That means traveling often times because they’re on their own schedule making live action movies or theatrical performances, etc. so grabbing them on our schedule which also works with their schedule and also coordinating where they’re at.
I mean, I went to Fiji Islands to record someone one weekend, I was in New York recording a weekend, Chloe was always in LA so that made it a little more easy. But just the schedules and traveling and coordinating with their agents. That can be the challenging stuff.
When you’re actually in the room with the actor, that is creative fun! Its like a big playground and we have a ball doing it.
Do you have a favorite scene?
You know, I’m a big fan of Jim Rash, he is so funny! It’s actually in the trailer, but when he’s grilling his goons about who he’s going to bring as a date to this ball that he’s going to go to. A really funny bit.
There’s a bit later with him that I think is really funny. I don’t know, its hard to pick just one scene because there are some really great emotional scenes that we did with Snow White where she is really connecting on an emotional level.
I have so many fond memories of being in the booth with the actors. I guess I just really want people to see it because there is a really good combination of emotional scenes but also comedy moments all wrapped up in something that’s great for the family.
About ‘Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs’
A classic fairy tale gets a modern twist in the action-packed animated adventure Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs.
Premiering on Digital and On Demand September 18 and available to own on Blu-ray™ and DVD September 22 from Lionsgate.
Cast Information
- Chloë Grace Moretz (Bolt, Inside Out)
- Sam Claflin (The Hunger Games series)
- Gina Gershon (TV’s “Riverdale”)
- Patrick Warburton (TV’s “Family Guy,” The Emperor’s New Groove)
- Jim Rash (TV’s “Community”)
Their vocal talents are added to this humorous and heartwarming retelling of the Snow White fable. Only this time it’s the princess who must save the prince(s) – all seven of them!
This family-friendly film has “a strong body-positive theme that emphasizes the beauty of characters of all shapes and sizes” (Common Sense Media), and received the Dove Seal of Approval for All Ages.
Snow White Fairy Tale Spoof
This outrageous fairy tale spoof starts as Snow White steals a pair of red shoes that transform her into a princess.
Meanwhile, a witch’s curse turns seven brave princes into dwarfs, forcing them to seek out the princess, hoping for a kiss to break their spell.
Together, they must face Snow White’s wicked stepmother – who will stop at nothing to get her precious shoes back – and, along the way, learn that true beauty lies within!
Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs was directed by Sung-ho Hong, and features character design and animation direction from Jin Kim, who worked on Disney’s animated classics Fantasia 2000, Frozen II, and Tangled.
Music is by Primetime Emmy® award-winning composer Geoff Zanelli (2006, Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, “Into the West”; Emmy® nomination: 2010, Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, “The Pacific”), whose theatrical work includes Maleficent: Mistress of Evil and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.
Voice direction is from Tony Bancroft, the director of Disney’s Mulan. It was produced by Locus Animation Studio.
Own Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs
Go behind the scenes of this must-own animated adventure with enchanting Blu-ray and DVD bonus features, including two “making-of” featurettes and two music videos featuring the all-new original songs! The Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs Blu-ray and DVD will be available for the price of $21.99 and $19.98, respectively.
BLU-RAY / DVD / DIGITAL SPECIAL FEATURES
- “The Making of Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs” Featurette
- “From Storyboard to Animation: Creating Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs” Featurette
- “Start of Something Right” Music Video
- “Something So Beautiful” Music Video
Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs Film Clips
I love this film, and I know you will too. Here are some of my favorite scenes in the movie, I hope you enjoy!
FREE Activities for the Family
