Last month I took a trip to LA to to celebrate the release of Epic which is out now on Blu-ray 2D & 3D and DVD and meet with the Epic Director, Chris Wedge and Art Director, Mike Knapp. What stood out to me when I watched Epic was the animation. It is magical and harks back to an early age of animation. There is so much attention to detail and it really shines and makes Epic something exceptional.
Talking to Mike Knapp, who is the Art Director was really eye opening and inspirational. He talked about how they chose their colour palette and how the fact that the Boggans where totally desaturated in colour, where as the Queen Tara, who is voiced by Beyoncé was given the most vivid of green colours, which is why she really stands out in the film as being so magical and alive.
The Leafmen are what really appealed to the Minimads’. They loved the fact that they ride on birds, specifically Hummingbirds. Leafmen are the warriors that protect the Moonhaven, which is where Queen Tara lives and were are inspired by William Joyce’s book The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs. There uniforms have so much attention to detail in them and were inspired by leafs and the patterns that occur in nature.
I also met with Epic Director, Chris Wedge (who also directed Ice Age) and went on a nature tour of the Los Angeles Arboretum with him and Botanical Specialist Frank McDonough, it was clear from talking to Chris that Epic was a film that he had wanted to make for a long time and he was really invested in making it the best he could and truly epic. He talked about how this world could believeable be anywhere just out of sight.
I then met Ken the Bug Guy, who features on the DVD and Blu-ray special features. He had brought along a number of bugs that inspired Epic. I wasn’t brave enough to touch any, but know that this is one of the special features that will captivate my two boys.
Blu-ray & DVD Special Features
- Mub & Grub Intro – join Mub and Grub for an EPIC tour through the exciting all-new special features
- Birds, Bugs and Slugs: Forest Explorer – journey into the forest to meet the real-life counterparts of the EPIC world
- Rot Rocks – Mandrake might be the bad guy, but his world of rot benefits ours in a number of ways, here you can discover how
Blu-ray Only Special Features
- Bugs of Camouflage – find out how bugs use their environment to hide right under our noses, just like the Leafmen
- The Epic Life At Two Inches Tall – how would your life be different if you were only two inches tall? Aside from being small, there are some surprising and amazing benefits.
- Mysteries of Moonhaven Revealed – meet the incredibly talented filmmakers, artists, and animators at Blue Sky, and learn all about the making of EPIC, including The World, The Leafmen, Queen Tara, Mub & Grub, Nim Galuu, The Stompers and Finding Moonhaven
Epic is out now on Blu-ray 2D & 3D and DVD from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
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