Dec 21, 2023

Why "Migration" Director Benjamin Renner Almost Turned Down a Director's Offer from Illumination and What Changed His Mind

Cartoon Brew, in association with its exclusive online event partner INBTWN Animation, spoke with Immigration Director Benjamin Renner. The illuminating film will be released this weekend by Universal.

Renner is an Academy Award-nominated filmmaker whose credits include the features "Ernest and Celestine," "Big Bad Fox and Other Tales," and the Cesar-nominated short "A Mouse's Tale." Although he has won many awards, they have all been for 2D films. So we asked him how he came to work on a major Hollywood CG film. Renner explained: "[Illumination] contacted me and said, 'I don't know how to do a 3D movie, and I don't know if I can do it. But I was polite and went, "Okay, let's see what happens." Chris Meledandri, who created and founded Illumination, pitched me the idea for Migration.

The filmmaker was impressed with the project but still hesitant about directing a CG film. But the lure of working with a large team of artists proved too powerful to ignore: [He was eager to gain experience at a Hollywood studio. Or get fired.

Like Renner's previous animated feature films, Migration features anthropomorphic animal characters. According to him, animals are suitable protagonists because they can tell a story without the cultural assumptions that come with a human cast. With ducks, you can use the innocence that ducks have, the kind of character that is in some ways very human, the kind of French character that is very grumpy.

Illumination films are well known for their soundtracks, which often feature pop music that was or has become very popular. When asked about the music for Migration, Renner explained very honestly that before it was scored, his opinion of the film was low. I felt like there was no emotion in it. It was really a waste of time. Probably because I spent four years on this film, I didn't feel a single emotion. But then (composer) John Powell came to me and ...... From my point of view, he made this film 100,000 times better than what I thought it would be."

At its core, "Migration" is a road trip film. Renner said that the "National Lampoon Vacation" movie influenced the production, but only indirectly:

I tried not to watch it too much to keep it fresh. Besides, I don't like films that reference other films. I'm more interested in references to life and family, or interesting anecdotes about special, human beings.

For more anecdotes and behind-the-scenes trivia, see the full interview above.