Wes Anderson's last dip into the world of stop-motion animation was FANTASTIC MR. FOX, which was, well, fantastic, and fans have eagerly been awaiting Anderson's return to the stop-motion realm for close to a decade. Thankfully, next week will see the release of ISLE OF DOGS, which tells the story of Atari Kobayashi, the 12-year-old ward of corrupt Mayor Kobayashi. When, by Executive Decree, all the canine pets of Megasaki City are exiled to a vast garbage-dump called Trash Island, Atari sets off alone in a miniature Junior-Turbo Prop and flies across the river in search of his bodyguard-dog, Spots. There, with the assistance of a pack of newly-found mongrel friends, he begins an epic journey that will decide the fate and future of the entire Prefecture.
Many electronic press kits are simply a field of talking faces, but Wes Anderson wasn't about to go that route, instead choosing to fully animate a five-minute short of many of the actors discussing their roles as well as the meaning of doghood. "When it comes time to do an EPK for a movie like this, you don’t have a bunch of people sitting around on the set in costume that you can pull aside for interviews while they’re waiting for the next shot," said ISLE OF DOGS director Wes Anderson while speaking with Vulture today. "So each of the actors did an interview and answered questions on their own — some recorded themselves on their iPhones — and we spent the next several months figuring out how to make those into the cast interviews." Anderson also said that they began recording the voices for the film before they had designed the characters, adding that the performances of each actor influenced the design of their respective canines.
The upcoming film features the voices of Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Bob Balaban, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Greta Gerwig, Frances McDormand, Scarlett Johansson, Harvey Keitel, F. Murray Abraham, Tilda Swinton, Ken Watanabe, and more. ISLE OF DOGS will hit theaters on March 23rd.