Dear Member of the Press,
For me, “Hidalgo” is the kind of project that every director should be lucky enough to be
a part of, at least once in his or her career. From the first reading I envisioned this as an
action-adventure in the vein of the classics of the 40s and 50s, a terrific story that
includes high drama, incredible action, exotic locations and of course, a great hero.
One of the more rewarding aspects of making “Hidalgo” was working with such an
acclaimed actor as Viggo Mortensen. In many ways he reminds me of a matinee idol of a
bygone era, with the charm and quiet power of a Gary Cooper or Spencer Tracy, but
with the vulnerable, mysterious qualities of early Brando or Montgomery Clift.
Ultimately, he defies comparisons and is uniquely Viggo.
“Hidalgo” gave me an opportunity to blend experiences from my filmmaking past; not
only would this film be an epic action-adventure with excitement around every corner –
like “Jurassic Park III” and “Jumanji” – but also a character study with all the emotional
intimacy of “October Sky”. I was captivated by the character of Frank Hopkins, his
partnership with a half-wild Spanish Mustang, and his story of a man coming to terms
with his heritage, his denial and ultimate acceptance of who he is. Screenwriter John
Fusco deftly wove the distinct threads of Frank’s life and ordeal into a compelling and
tightly crafted story.
Ultimately, “Hidalgo” is an opportunity to take audiences on an adventure. That’s how
it was for me, when I went to Morocco with Viggo and Omar Sharif. When a studio
invites you to make a movie in Morocco with Omar Sharif, how do you turn it down?
It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
And did we ever get an adventure! The beautiful images on the screen of never-beforeseen locations didn’t get there by magic-it was a combination of hard work by an expert
crew of professionals and a lot of luck. Moviemaking is like an endurance race – it’s
physically demanding and emotionally exhausting. Frank’s journey across Arabia took
him 68 days, and it took us over 100. It’s a tough sport, making a movie, but when
audiences come out of the theater smiling and excited, every hardship and sleepless
night is forgotten.
I hope “Hidalgo” is an opportunity for you to go on an adventure as well. If this movie
is half as much fun for you to watch as it was for us to make, we’ve done our job well.
Joe Johnston
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Touchstone Pictures’
“Hidalgo”
PRODUCTION INFORMATION
“Hidalgo” is an epic action-adventure and one man’s journey of personal
redemption. Based on the life of Frank T. Hopkins, his legend comes to life when
one of the greatest riders the American west has ever known is pitted against the
world’s finest Arabian horses and racers.
Onetime cowboy Frank T. Hopkins (VIGGO MORTENSEN) was once
billed as a living legend, but in fact the glory days for Hopkins and his beloved
horse, a mustang named Hidalgo, are long past. Outcasts from their own land,
Frank and Hidalgo both have something to prove when Hopkins became the first
American invited to enter the Ocean of Fire, a grueling 3,000-mile survival race
across punishing terrain of the Arabian Desert. With his competitors vowing
victory, the race becomes not only a matter of pride and honor, but a fight for
survival as they attempt the impossible.
Touchstone Pictures’ “Hidalgo,” directed by Joe Johnston from a
screenplay written by John Fusco, is produced by Casey Silver. Don Zepfel is the
executive producer. Buena Vista Pictures distributes.
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ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
In making Touchstone Pictures’ epic motion picture “Hidalgo,” the
filmmakers were excited to have a film that blended spectacular action and
adventure with a story of one man’s journey of personal redemption. “I think
audiences everywhere will connect with the story of Frank Hopkins,” says Casey
Silver, producer of “Hidalgo.” “There’s an exciting race that frames the story,
but the real race is this man’s race to find himself, to find forgiveness within
himself for his transgressions – the themes are compelling.”
The story of the cowboy Hopkins and his mustang, strangers in a strange
land as they become the first American and non-Arabian horse to compete in the
toughest endurance race the world has ever known, “Hidalgo” stars Viggo
Mortensen as a man billed as the greatest distance rider the West has ever
known.
“Getting a story worth telling is always the most important thing – and
sometimes, it’s a gigantic challenge,” says Silver. “But screenwriter John Fusco
makes it easy. He came in, telling this story that was so important to him – it
came right from his gut. I have such an appreciation for his talent and it’s an
honor to be a part of telling the story he told me.”
More than fifteen years ago, screenwriter John Fusco discovered the
kernel that would eventually grow into the film “Hidalgo.” A dedicated student
of the American West, Plains Indian culture, and horses, Fusco discovered the
story of Hopkins and his mustang while doing conservation work with horses of
original Native American bloodlines.
“I was doing some research into the classic Indian ponies that you see in
Remington and Russell sculptures, and this name kept coming up – Hopkins –
who rode a famed Indian pony, named Hidalgo. Reading about them, it led me
to this legendary race across the Arabian desert. There was only so much that I
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could find on them, but it was enough to tell me that this was an incredible
story.”
Fusco, who has also written the screenplays for “Thunderheart,” “Young
Guns,” “Young Guns II,” and the recent Academy Award®-nominated animated
feature, “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron,” spent about 12 years researching and
writing the screenplay. He referenced 15 respected historians in uncovering the
amazing adventure. Earlier this year, Fusco was awarded his second Western
Heritage Award, a research prize from the National Cowboy Museum.
“It’s a remarkable story. It requires digging through a lot of historical
layers because it’s a real gem,” says Fusco.
“Ultimately, this is a classic hero’s journey,” says Mortensen, who plays
the legendary rider. “Hopkins has to leave his familiar surroundings, and
overcome, in a strange place, the obstacles and dangers in his path.
“What’s really interesting about the Ocean of Fire race is that it doesn’t
really matter who wins in the end,” Mortensen continues. “It’s a question of
getting through it, and what happens to a person as a result of going through
that experience.”
To direct the film, Silver tapped Joe Johnston, a director who has
showcased his ability to capture emotional intimacy with “October Sky,” epic
vision in “Jurassic Park III,” and sheer originality with “Jumanji.” “There are
very few directors with the kind of expertise and range that Joe Johnston can
bring to a motion picture,” says Silver. “‘Hidalgo’ is one of those rare motion
pictures that contains all of those elements, and Joe’s passion and vision has
brought a great true story to life.
“I had hired him to direct ‘October Sky,’ but that was the only movie we’d
worked on together,” Silver continues. “I don’t think anybody could have done
a better job with that movie. I think his restraint makes him one of the most
underrated American movie directors. I thought that ‘Hidalgo,’ in the wrong
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hands, might be jingoistic, or overly sentimental, or corny – but Joe brings a stoic
sensibility. He lets the story unfold with a minimal amount of manipulation.”
“I wasn't looking for work when Casey asked me to read the first draft of
‘Hidalgo,’ but once I started reading I couldn't put it down. It was almost like
reading a best-selling thriller. When I closed the script I knew I couldn’t say no.
Opportunities like this come along once in a career, if you’re lucky. I knew that
the action and set pieces, the epic scope of the story, could make a visually
stunning film, but the element that appealed to me most was the simple story of
this lost soul and his best friend, who happens to be a horse. At the heart of this
amazing adventure is the story of this man running from himself, not knowing
who he is. His ordeal by fire, this impossible 3,000 mile horse race is the catalyst
for his rediscovery of who he really is and what his life means.
“In order for the story to work the audience has to care, not only about
Frank Hopkins, but about his horse and the relationship that holds them
together,” Johnston continues. “I was conscious of the fine line we were walking
with that relationship. I wanted to make sure we never humanized the horse,
made him ‘superhorse.’ In a way, that’s the easy solution, to push the believable
limit of the horse’s intelligence – he could never be Trigger, or Silver, or Lassie. I
think it’s more compelling to keep the two main characters within the realms of
their species, because the reality you’ve set up will pay off emotionally in the
end. We wanted to treat the horse as a partner, but in the way a real horseman in
1890 would do it. There's no doubt who's in charge -- the horse serves the man -but theirs is a uniquely close and humane relationship.”
“Joe handled the material incredibly well,” says Mortensen. “I liked the
movies he’d directed, and I liked meeting him, but it’s not until you start
meeting challenges together, as a team, that you know what the movie’s going to
be like. But not only was Joe a professional, but an optimistic and calm presence
at all times – a very ‘can do’ sort of person. If something wasn’t working out, he
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calmly sat down with the team and worked it out. It inspires confidence in the
actors and the crew.”
CASTING THE FILM
The role Frank T. Hopkins required an actor who could portray a complex
emotional range while also tackling serious athletic feats. As this would not be
an ordinary film role, the film required an extraordinary actor, one who could
carry a film that would take on epic proportions. Johnston and Silver turned to
Viggo Mortensen, an actor who is a veteran of more than 30 feature films and
most recently shot to stardom as Aragorn in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.
With rave reviews and extensive riding experience from those films, Mortensen
was one of the few actors who had both the acting and the riding expertise
needed for the role.
“I knew Viggo had proven himself a great actor before I ever met him.
And I knew he could carry the film. What I didn’t know was the subtlety he’d be
able to give the character of Frank Hopkins,” says Johnston. “Viggo had studied
the evolution of his character and where he was emotionally in every scene
before we ever started shooting. He was incredibly well-prepared; when we
were editing the film, I was amazed to see how well Viggo’s scenes -- shot
months apart -- flow together with astounding emotional continuity. He has
excellent instincts about each scene and he has them on his feet, meaning when
things change or something unexpected happens while the camera’s rolling, he
does the right thing.
“But the best thing about Viggo is how much he cares about the project,”
Johnston continues. “He’s always there, always ready, and doesn’t walk away
from the movie at wrap every day. The bottom line is, he makes the filmmakers
look good.”
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“Viggo has that indescribable quality called ‘presence,’” notes Silver.
“Even when he was first starting out, when he had a very small role in ‘Witness,’
he stood out in the crowd. I find his role in ‘Carlito’s Way’ particularly
memorable. But maybe this is all a result of his being less interested in being a
‘movie star’ than focused on story and character and his private interests, his
photography and his art; he’s a social activist and a father.”
“Frank is an outsider,” says Mortensen. “This is a man, a cowboy, who’s
probably never even seen the ocean, and now he’s got to hack it in a 3,000-mile
race in the Arabian desert. He doesn’t know if he can cut it. And he’s at a point
in his life when whatever arrogance or confidence he had is pretty much gone,
and all he has is his experience with his horse.”
Mortensen was fascinated with the David-versus-Goliath nature of the
story. “The odds are stacked against Frank,” he continues. “Compared to the
Arabian horses, the mustang Hidalgo looks like a little dog. A pony, next to their
steeds. But though the race is his redemption, it’s not winning the race that’s
important – it’s that Frank is there at all.
“By the end of the story, I think you really appreciate the fact that as
human beings, no matter how diverse the culture is and how far-flung the places
you go to might be, we have a lot more in common than not with people,”
explains Mortensen.
Another attraction for Mortensen was the opportunity to work with
screen legend Omar Sharif, who plays Sheikh Riyadh. “We were filming in some
of the same locations that he was in forty years ago, filming ‘Lawrence of Arabia’
with Peter O’Toole,” notes Mortensen. “And he’s got a really good memory and
a lot of good stories. Wherever we went, he’d have some story of what it was
like to film that movie. He’s a fine actor.”
“When we were filming ‘Lawrence,’ we were the first to go to Ouarzazate
(Morocco), where we shot the big part of ‘Hidalgo,’” notes Sharif. “There were
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no hotels then. We just pitched tents. Now, there’s a big film industry. It’s
almost like Hollywood over there now.”
Sharif is an Academy Award®-nominee and three-time Golden Globewinner whose most recent film, “Monsieur Ibrahim,” was nominated for a
Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language film. That film and “Hidalgo” brought
the actor out of retirement. “I hadn’t worked since 1996, really, because I wasn’t
being offered any roles that truly appealed to me. But I was living in Paris when
I found ‘Monsieur Ibrahim,’ and decided to work again. And while I was
working on that film, I was offered this part – the first good part in a major
studio film that I’d been offered in a long time. Even though I was in the middle
of the other film, I’m glad we found a way to make it work. I’ve enjoyed the
making this film, working with Viggo and Joe, and I’ve been enthusiastic about
this role.”
Silver notes, “We are fortunate to have Omar Sharif in our cast because he
is very selective about the roles he takes these days. It speaks well of the script.”
Zuleikha Robinson, who makes her major motion picture debut with
“Hidalgo,” takes on the part of Jazira, Sheikh Riyadh’s high-spirited daughter.
Born in London, Robinson was raised throughout the world, bringing an
international flavor to this internationally themed project.
“Jazira is a very strong character who is bound by her culture,” notes
Robinson. “She always tries to test her father’s boundaries, and so, they have a
very interesting relationship.”
The international ensemble cast also includes Louise Lombard as Lady
Davenport, Silas Carson as Katib, Adam Alexi-Malle as Aziz, Said Taghmaoui as
Bin Al Reeh, J.K. Simmons as Buffalo Bill, Adoni Maropis as Sakr, and Elizabeth
Berridge as Annie Oakley.
Just as much thought and energy went into the casting of the title
character as any of the human characters. Although five horses would play the
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pony, there was one, T.J., who the others were painted to match. “T.J. has a real
personality,” says Mortensen. “It’s uncanny, some of the things he does. We’d
be rehearsing, and I’d wonder, ‘How is this ever going to work?’ – and then T.J.
is doing exactly what he should be doing… it seemed like every time we rolled
film, T.J. would be perfect. It happened too often for it to be coincidence. We
were lucky to have him.”
Of course, this is not to say that the success hasn’t gone to the horse’s
head. “We would finish a scene – I got off T.J., and he would follow me around,
to make sure he got his close-up,” Mortensen laughs.
In the end, the relationship between Frank and Hidalgo was mirrored
between Mortensen and T.J. When production wrapped, Mortensen purchased
T.J. and now keeps the horse.
ABOUT THE HORSES (AND CAMELS, AND LEOPARDS, AND
BUFFALO, AND VULTURES, AND…)
Obviously, to play Hopkins, Viggo Mortensen would have to spend many
hours on and around horses. The actor turned out to be an ideal choice, as he has
been riding horses since his youth, and his recent starring role as Aragorn in the
“Lord of the Rings” trilogy also required some horsemanship.
That said, Mortensen still needed a refresher course. “I rode a lot as a
child, but from age ten on, I hadn’t ridden much. There was riding in ‘Lord of
the Rings,’ but it had been a good part of a year since then.”
For training, the filmmakers turned to Rex Peterson. For Mortensen, an
actor known for his dedication to his craft, Peterson proved an ideal mentor.
“We were fortunate to have Viggo,” says the gruff trainer, who does not
hand out compliments lightly. “I can’t think of another actor that rides better.
And he’s worked very hard at it.”
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Mortensen is quick to return the compliment. “Rex was strict, but for the
best possible reasons. He was a really good teacher… and a perfectionist.”
Though preparing to play Hopkins required Mortensen to spend hours
every day training with Peterson, he never complained. “You have to be able to
adapt,” he explains, “I mean, they’re not cars… they’re not machines. They’re
like us and they have good and bad days. Sometimes they do unexpected things,
and you have to be ready.”
Not only did Peterson serve as trainer, but also adviser to Mortensen on
cowboy attitudes – to the point that a joke on the set called Viggo “Rex, Jr.”
Peterson dismisses this, but acknowledges, “Viggo does come and ask me
questions. I grew up on a ranch and didn’t come into the movie business until I
was 20-something years old. I’ve known a lot of different cowboys, and this
business has given me the opportunity to meet many, many different horsemen.
I’ve been very fortunate in that respect.
“But sometimes Viggo would ask me, ‘How would you say this?’ ‘Viggo,
I didn’t live in the 1890s. I don’t know.’ But this all comes from Viggo’s desire
for this production to be as authentic as possible. I put everything into this
movie – I’m here, daylight to dark, every day, and it’s good to see other people
with the same level of commitment.”
Peterson is a veteran of 25 years in the film industry, serving on such films
as “The Horse Whisperer,” “Runaway Bride,” “Black Beauty,” and “The Black
Stallion.” Even among such credits, “Hidalgo” stands out in the trainer’s long
career. “I really wanted to do this film because I thought it was the best script
about horses that had come down in a long time,” Peterson adds. “As things
progressed and Joe presented his vision of the movie, I thought we had the
makings of a classic.”
Peterson spent about three months on his search for the “hero” horse,
Hidalgo, which would be used for the film’s close-up shots. How does a horse
audition? Not only did the horse have to look right – in Hidalgo’s case, be a
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male mustang, 4 to 10 years old, sorrel-and-white – but also gentle enough for an
actor to ride. “Sometimes, I would get a call to look at a horse, walk into the
barn, and walk right back out again,” says Peterson. “I’m sure I left quite a few
people asking, ‘Well, why didn’t he pick my horse?’ But it’s just a matter of not
fitting my criteria. In those cases, I didn’t even bother to show him to the
director. Still, I must have shown Joe a hundred horses before we ended up with
T.J.”
After finding him, his next priority was to find Hidalgo doubles and other
horses to be used in the motion picture. Ultimately, there were five horses
playing Hidalgo, with the doubles used for different aspects of filming, including
tricks, jumping, racing, etc. Make-up artist Garrett Immel took the responsibility
of finding a way to make up the doubles to match T.J.’s coloring.
In addition, Peterson had to find several Arabian horses to play Hidalgo’s
competitors in the Ocean of Fire. He spent an additional three months training
the horses (and the riders) for their various roles. “It was important for the
actors to be confident, to be relaxed,” says Peterson. “When they get in front of
the camera, they can’t be thinking about that horse under them. They have to
think about their acting.”
Responsible for caring for in the production, including the horses (800 of
them!), camels, vultures, falcons, rabbits, camels, goats, dogs, donkeys, burros,
leopards, and buffalo, among others, was animal coordinator Mark Forbes. “You
name it, we got it in this show,” he laughs.
“You have to get each of the animals used to the other animals’ trainers,”
Forbes notes. “They have to get used to the situation. It takes a lot of
preparation.”
In “Hidalgo,” the film required an extraordinary chemistry between man
and horse. It was important that Viggo Mortensen have a similar chemistry with
the horses playing Hidalgo – especially with T.J., the close-up horse. “The only
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way to provide that is to go out and find the horses and then introduce them to
the actor, have the actor work with them,” says Forbes. “With Viggo, that was
never in question. Another actor might say, ‘Well, I can give you an hour in the
morning.’ But Viggo is so committed to the work; he’s there at eight, he leaves at
five, after riding all day long. He does his homework. He cares. I wish
everybody would go to the ‘Viggo Acting School,’ because he’s completely
down-to-earth.”
Forbes’ biggest challenge, though was one of coordination: simply moving
all of the animals to the film’s different locations around the world. “When you
have as many animals as we did, filming in as many different locations around
the world as we did, just the paperwork and logistics involved in moving the
animals around is a daunting task. When you add in everything that you have to
do to make sure that they’re well-kept and –cared for, it’s an even bigger
challenge. But we were all committed to making sure that the animals lived as
good as, if not better than, our human stars.”
Forbes adds that there were some 25 different species of animals used in
the film.
And, of course, safety to both the crew and animals is an additional
responsibility when working with dozens of horses in such diverse terrain. A
member of the American Humane Association was on set every day of filming to
monitor animal handling.
THE COMMITMENT TO AUTHENTICITY
Viggo Mortensen’s commitment to authenticity on the set of “Hidalgo”
was mirrored by the director, Joe Johnston, and the crew of the picture. Two
members of the crew, especially – production designer Barry Robison and
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costume designer Jeffrey Kurland – went to extraordinary lengths on this
complex project.
“This is a film that takes place in 1890 in the American west, so we had to
be prepared for the cowboy look; the American east, the New York of the 19th
century, and that very different attire; and finally, the far east of 1890,” says
Kurland. “This isn’t a western; it’s an ‘eastern!’”
Kurland had many of the fabrics and jewelry made in both the United
States and in Morocco. He was also able to purchase some of the Arabian
clothing and accoutrements in large Moroccan cities like Marrakech. But some
costumes required a little more ingenuity.
“To make a costume, you design it, then the draper figures out how to
make it. You get the fabric, you swatch it, you buy it. Only then can you make
it, and after you make it, you have to age it so that it doesn’t look brand-new,”
Kurland relates.
“I had a man named Yussef who wove many of my fabrics,” Kurland
continues. “He could weave fabrics to the colors I asked. He made me six
meters of fabric in two weeks, which is extraordinary. I was also very lucky to
have some of the best ager-dyers working for us.”
The film’s many locations also required Kurland to design costumes for a
Native American Ghost Dance. “The more research we did, the more we were
able to find amazing photographs and histories that helped us to get it right,” he
says. “There are subtle differences between tribes, in what their ghost shirts and
dresses were made of. Some were made of animal skin, but for the tribe in the
film, we decided that it was most likely that they were wearing muslin. This
was, unfortunately, a time when the Lakota Sioux were destitute; there were no
animals to hunt.”
The actual filming of “Hidalgo” takes place in a variety of locations,
including Montana, Morocco, South Dakota, and California. Logistically, it
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proved to be a demanding task to transport the large crew around the United
States and Africa. A film set in so many diverse locations required the crew to be
flexible as they figured out how the main sequences – including the Buffalo Bill
Wild West Show, the Ocean of Fire race in the Arabian Desert, the Wounded
Knee tragedy, and the New York City docks – would be designed and filmed.
Robison, who previously worked with Johnston on critically acclaimed
“October Sky,” was on the road almost constantly, having to build sets in
California, Morocco, and South Dakota. “‘Hidalgo’ is like doing three or four
separate movies,” notes the veteran designer. “We’ve got a New York dock.
We’ve got a Wild West show. We’ve got the race. And we have the western
town – the horse release, at the end of the film. It’s a rich film for a designer,
because there are so many different looks to create.
“I get a special charge out of the scene at the New York docks,” Robison
continues. “We flooded a parking lot in Southern California and built a boat to
scale. It was a cool set to do – to recreate 19th century New York.
“Joe’s an incredible visual director,” Robison notes. “He could have made
the decision not to build all the great sets we had – he could have made them all
CG, and we do have some CG in the film. But, for the most part, Joe made a
decision early on in the film to create as much of this world as we could.”
Not surprisingly, the biggest challenge came with the sets in Morocco.
Not only were the sets the largest and most complicated of the whole shoot, but
the weather would often get in the way. “The dust was a huge problem for us,”
Robison notes. “We were in some major, major windstorms. Every day, at one
o’clock in the afternoon, the winds would kick up in the desert; and every night,
we’d have to take down our tents for repairs. It really happened every day, but
the first time, it was just horrifying.
“It’s been a great shoot, though, and a chance to do something really
different,” he concludes. “The first time Joe came to the set, he was walking
around the casbah and asked, ‘Was this gate here?’ No, the gate wasn’t there –
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we built it. You couldn’t tell where the real ended and the movie began. That’s
been great.
ABOUT THE VISUAL EFFECTS
Director Joe Johnston is no stranger to visual effects in films. The veteran
director has helmed a number of films that required a large number of visualeffects shots (including “Jurassic Park III” and “Jumanji”). In addition, before he
became a director, Johnston won an Oscar® for his work in creating the visual
effects for the classic “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” But Johnston, also the director of
the more intimate drama “October Sky,” was determined that “Hidalgo” would
blend the best of both worlds. With his experience on “Raiders,” Johnston was
determined to shoot “practicals” whenever possible – and rely on visual effects
only for those shots that required them. Johnston originally planned only 70
effects shots for the film, and though that number would triple in the end, it
would still mean that “Hidalgo” had less than half the number of visual effects
shots of most action films and one-tenth as many as a visual-effects-heavy film.
For those elements, the filmmakers turned to Industrial Light & Magic’s Tim
Alexander, who served as visual effects supervisor.
“In pre-production meetings with Tim, I gave him an unusual directive: I
didn’t want anyone coming out of the theater saying what great visual effects
they’d just seen,” says Johnston. “Tim knew exactly what I meant. The best
visual effects are the invisible ones, effects that blend seamlessly with reality.”
“What I’m proud of is that out of 215 shots, there’s less than 20 that you
might notice as being CG – the sandstorm, the locusts, the leopards – and even
those, hopefully, don’t stick out like a sore thumb,” says Alexander. “The rest
are composites and bluescreens, and if we’re doing our job right, you won’t even
notice that those shots have been worked on at all.”
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“A large part of ILM’s work in ‘Hidalgo’ was in helping the desert become
a character in the film,” says Johnston. “One reason I wanted to shoot the film in
a widescreen format was to surround the characters with the terrible beauty of
the desert landscape. The desert is always there, reminding us of the hostile
environment of the race. But unfortunately, in moving an army that speaks five
languages, it’s difficult to control all the troops. One of the biggest effects jobs in
the film is making the desert pristine and unscarred, using computers to remove
tire tracks, distant trucks, tents and horses, even contrails from passing planes.”
Alexander’s job began during production, when he was able to use daily
film footage and still photography to show Johnston what certain shots might
look like after they were completed months down the line. “We could take video
from the video tap – they were using mini-DV tapes – and I could just import
that to my Mac. I could actually get moving footage of what we actually shot on
my computer and mock things up that way. Other times, we would go out on a
scout, and we would take still photos and come back and show Joe the still
photos. In general, it made us really well-prepared,” Alexander says.
Upon returning to ILM, Alexander and his team – Sylvia Wong, Robert
Weaver and Eddie Pasquarello – turned their attention to the film’s three major
visual-effects sequences – the sandstorm, the locusts, and the leopard chase.
“At first, we didn’t know what we wanted the sandstorm to look like,” he
says. “But then, there we were in Morocco, and we went through quite a few
real sandstorms. It turns out that in real life, they’re very amorphous – there’s no
edge to them; you just get foggy-looking and the light blooms out. At first, that
was our original concept for the sequence, but Joe made the decision that it
wouldn’t work for the storytelling that way – he said, rightly, that it would be
better for the story if the storm came in like a wave, rather than a shapeless blob.
Still, we wanted to do something different, so we latched onto the idea that we
would see the internal motion of the wave, giving the idea that the storm was
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almost like a vacuum cleaner, sucking up sand from the ground and blowing it
up the face of the sandstorm.”
The locust swarm sequence had similar challenges. “We struggled with
that first shot for quite a while as we tried to figure out what the light would do,
how much they should block the sun, and what the shape of the swarm should
be,” Alexander notes. “What we did in the end was to have the first shot as a
horizontal cloud in the distance – then the locusts slam down on the camera very
quickly. In the closer shot, we’d have them fly through camera. We were really
trying to make it look sinewy, almost like schools of fish – if you look at it
closely, you’ll see that they follow each other and change direction and shape.
Alexander and his team found an unusual source for their research – the
1937 classic “The Good Earth.” “There’s a really interesting locust swarm in that
movie, and that’s where we got the idea for the sinews,” he says. “It was
obvious that they had gone and shot some grasshoppers or locusts or whatever
they were able to get and then just composited those into the final film – you can
tell that it’s done that way, but we liked it because it was really organic. It was
real.”
For the scene in which the leopards attack Frank and Jazira, though the
filmmakers intended to use CG imagery from the very beginning, they were
constantly aware of other choices. “At one time, we looked into doing them
practically, but there’s just no way,” says Alexander. “You can’t get them
anywhere near horses – they’re mortal enemies. After that, we considered splitscreen work, but still, CG seemed the best way to go. The real leopards, it turns
out, were pretty docile creatures. It was hard enough to make them snarl or
growl, much less run or swipe when we wanted them to swipe. It turned out to
be a good decision.”
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ABOUT THE CAST…
Since his screen debut as a young Amish Farmer in Peter Weir’s
“Witness,” VIGGO MORTENSEN’s (Frank T. Hopkins) career has been marked
by a steady string of well-rounded performances. Critics have continually
recognized his work in over thirty movies, including such diverse projects as
Jane Campion’s “Portrait of a Lady,” Sean Penn’s “Indian Runner,” Brian
DePalma’s “Carlito’s Way,” Ridley Scott’s “G.I. Jane,” Tony Scott’s “Crimson
Tide,” Andrew Davis’ “A Perfect Murder,” Ray Loriga’s “La Pistola de mi
Hermano” and Tony Goldwyn’s “A Walk on the Moon.” Most recently, he
received critical praise for his role as Aragorn in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.
Born in New York to a Danish father and an American mother, Mortensen
spent the early part of his childhood in Manhattan. His family traveled a great
deal and he spent several years living in Venezuela, Argentina and Denmark.
Mortensen began acting in New York, studying with Warren Robertson.
He appeared in several plays and movies, and eventually moved to Los Angeles,
where his performance in “Bent” at the Coast Playhouse earned him a Dramalogue Critic’s Award. He is also an accomplished poet, photographer and
painter, and is currently working on his fourth book of poetry. Gallery showings
of his photography and paintings have been featured in New York, Los Angeles,
Cuba, Denmark, and New Zealand.
OMAR SHARIF (Sheikh Riyadh) is the acclaimed and legendary star of
more than 60 motion pictures in an extraordinary career spanning over four
decades. He vaulted to international stardom while starring in two of David
Lean’s sweeping epics.
He received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Supporting Actor
and won the Golden Globe Award for co-starring as Peter O’Toole’s friend, Ali
Ibn Kharish, in “Lawrence of Arabia.” He then won a second Golden Globe
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Award for Best Actor, starring in the title role as the Russian poet/doctor in
“Doctor Zhivago.”
Sharif is also well known for his starring role opposite Barbra Streisand in
her Academy Award®-winning debut Fanny Brice in “Funny Girl” as well as in
its sequel, “Funny Lady.”
His film credits also include “The Fall of the Roman Empire,” “Marco
Polo,” “Behold a Pale Horse,” “The Yellow Rolls-Royce,” “Genghis Khan,” “The
Night of the Generals,” “Mayerling,” “McKenna’s Gold,” “The Appointment,”
“Che,” “The Horsemen,” “The Last Valley,” “Juggernaut,” “The Tamarind
Seed,” “Ashanti,” “Sidney Sheldon’s Bloodline,” “Crime and Passion,” “The
Baltimore Bullet,” “Oh Heavenly Dog!,” “Pleasure Palace,” “Green Ice,” “Chanel
Solitaire,” “Inchon,” and a cameo role opposite Val Kilmer in the spoof “Top
Secret!” He has also starred in “The Rainbow Thief,” “Ice Paradise,” “Heaven
Before I Die,” “The 13th Warrior” and in the telefilms “Mrs. ’arris Goes to Paris”
and “Gulliver’s Travels” with Ted Danson. His most recent film, "Monsieur
Ibrahim," was nominated for a Golden Globe for best foreign language film, and
Sharif was recently nominated for a César – the French Academy Award – for his
performance in the film.
Sharif is the only Egyptian to have become an international film star, and
has played characters of almost every nationality in the Western world. He was
born in Alexandria, Egypt as Michael Shalhoub, the son of a wealthy timber
merchant, and of Lebanese and Syrian parentage. He spoke only French during
his early childhood years, but later learned to speak six languages fluently.
He studied mathematics and physics at Victoria College in Cairo, where
he also became interested in acting. After graduation, Sharif worked in his
father’s timber importing business for five years, yet longed to apply to
England’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
In 1953, he was nearing a positive parental response to his persuasiveness
when he was offered the lead in the Egyptian film, “The Blazing Sun,” starring
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opposite Faten Hamama, who was then the top female star in the area. He took
the name Omar El-Sharif when he starred in the film – later dropping the El
when he entered international films - and critical praise and nominations
followed for the film’s debut at the Cannes Film Festival. Four years later, Sharif
returned to Cannes starring in award-winning “Goha.”
Sharif became the country’s number one star and idol. He went on to star
in 26 Egyptian and two French films over the next several years, also establishing
his own production company in Cairo. He had just paid a record price for an
Egyptian best seller when he was cast in “Lawrence of Arabia,” changing the
course of his life.
On stage, Sharif has starred in a revival of Terrence Rattigan’s famous
play, “The Sleeping Prince,” at the Chichester Festival Theatre in Sussex,
England.
His numerous television performances include the telefilms “The Far
Pavillions” for HBO, “Vicious Circle” for BBC, “Peter the Great” for ABC and
“Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna” for NBC as well as “S*H*E*,” “Grand
Larceny,” “Lion in the Desert,” “Memories of Midnight,” “Red Eagle” and
German Television’s miniseries of “Catherine the Great.”
ZULEIKHA ROBINSON (Jazira) stars in her first feature film role in
“Hidalgo.”
Born in London, Robinson was raised in the Far East, Thailand and
Malaysia. At the age of 15, she fell in love with acting and eventually came to
Los Angeles to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
In television, Robinson guest-starred in the Chris Carter television series
“The Lone Gunmen.” Carter was the creator and executive producer of the XFiles.
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She also played a supporting role along with Stellan Skarsgård, Saffron
Burrows, Salma Hayek and Jeanne Tripplehorn in Mike Figgis’ unconventional
feature film, “Timecode.”
Her earlier work includes numerous theatrical productions in Los Angeles
and the U.K.
A native of Paris and a former pro boxer, SAID TAGHMAOUI (Prince
Bin al Reeh) captured worldwide attention when he co-wrote and starred in the
1995 feature “La Haine (Hate).” He is most familiar to American audiences for
his vivid portrayal of an Iraqi man who tortures a US soldier in “Three Kings.”
Other notable films include “Hideous Kinky” opposite Kate Winslet, “The Good
Thief” with Nick Nolte, and the upcoming projects “Spartan” by David Mamet
and David O. Russell’s “I Heart Huckabees.”
From an early age, LOUISE LOMBARD (Lady Anne Davenport)
attended dance and drama classes and by the time she was 14, she was
performing in TV commercials. She made an AIDS awareness short (“Wax
Doll,” directed by Jon Amiel) and appeared in episodes of “Casualty” and
“Bergerac” for the BBC, and “Capital City,” Catherine Cookson’s “A Black Velvet
Gown,” “Perfect Scoundrels,” and “Chancer” for Independent Television (ITV).
She also took on a number of film roles, including the critically acclaimed
“Angels” with Tom Bell and “Twice Upon a Time” with Tim Roth, before
becoming a household name in Britain playing the lead role in the BBC’s highly
rated series “The House of Eliott.” In 1993 Lombard was nominated for a Cable
Ace Award for Best Actress in a Dramatic Series for the role.
Lombard most recently starred opposite Alec Baldwin in the telefilm
“Second Nature” and opposite Jeff Goldblum in the telefilm “War Stories.”
Other work includes “Bodyguards, “Metropolis,” and “Esther,” all for British
television.
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Lombard’s many film credits include “Gold in the Streets,” “After the
Rain,” “Diggity: A Home at Last,” “My Kingdom,” “Claim,” and “Tale of the
Mummy.” In theatre, she has appeared in “The Brothers Karamazov” at The
Royal Exchange.
Louise was born Louise Maria Perkins on the 13th September 1970 near
Redbridge in Essex, England. She was the fifth child to Sean and Maura who
subsequently had two further children. Louise was educated at a local Catholic
school and left at 16 with 9 O levels. She studied English Literature at Cambridge
and has also studied photography and printing at St Martin’s in London.
She divides her time between London and Los Angeles.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS…
JOE JOHNSTON (Director) made his debut as a feature film director with
the box office hit, “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.” Most recently, he helmed the
blockbuster, “Jurassic Park III,” from the summer of 2001.
Johnston has also directed “The Rocketeer,” “Jumanji,” and “October
Sky.” “October Sky” won the Broadcast Film Critics Award as Best Family Film
as well as a Humanitas Prize and a Writers Guild nomination for its screenplay.
Before establishing himself as a director, Johnston was an award-winning
visual effects designer for two of the industry’s most successful and standardsetting filmmakers, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.
He began his career working on “Star Watch,” a television adaptation of
the H.G. Wells classic, War of the Worlds. He then joined Lucasfilm
Ltd./Industrial Light & Magic as a special effects designer/illustrator on the
groundbreaking sci-fi adventure, “Star Wars.” That film’s enormous success
brought Johnston more assignments from Lucas, including visual effects art
director on the sequels, “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi.” He
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is credited with the original design for the character of Yoda and for his unique
concepts on some of those films’ weapons and vehicles.
Johnston began his association with Spielberg as visual effects art director
on the 1981 mega-hit, “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and shared in that film’s
Academy Award® for Best Visual Effects. He was visual effects art director on
the sequel, “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”; second unit director on
Spielberg’s sci-fi drama “*batteries not included”; and supervisor of the complex
aerial sequences in Spielberg’s 1989 drama, “Always.”
Prior to making “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids,” Johnston served as
production designer on the telefilm, “The Ewok Adventure” and its sequel,
“Ewoks: The Battle for Endor,” on which he also directed the second unit.
Johnston was the associate producer on Ron Howard’s “Willow.” He directed an
episode of the television series, “The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.”
A native of Austin, Texas, Johnston began his education with the idea of
becoming an oceanographer. His interests changed after he enrolled in art
classes at Pasadena City College. He later studied industrial design, graphic
design and illustration at California State University at Long Beach, and then
filmmaking at USC.
JOHN FUSCO (Written by) is a successful screenwriter and novelist with
nine produced screenplays, to date. Among his early scripts were the Delta blues
tribute “Crossroads” and the westerns “Young Guns” and “Young Guns II.”
His acclaimed screenplay for “Thunderheart,” directed by Michael Apted,
was a result of five years on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation where he studied
Lakota language, philosophy and politics. In 1989, he was adopted into the
Oglala-Lakota tribe.
Fusco’s passion for the American West, Plains Indian culture and wild
horse preservation were showcased in his screenplay for the Academy Award®
nominated animated feature, “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron,” released last
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year, and the Hallmark/ABC mini-series event, “DreamKeeper,” which aired
earlier in 2003. Simon and Schuster also published his first novel, Paradise
Salvage, last year.
Fusco, a two-time winner of the National Cowboy Museum’s Western
Heritage Award, has been researching Hopkins’ life for more than 12 years and
has referenced the work of 15 respected historians in the process.
Currently, Fusco is writing the screenplay for “Billy Jack,” and working
on his second novel.
Former chairman and chief executive officer of Universal Pictures, CASEY
SILVER (Producer) started Casey Silver Productions in October, 1999. Later this
year, Silver will produce his second film for The Walt Disney Studios, the actiondrama “Ladder 49,” starring Joaquin Phoenix and John Travolta.
In his role at Universal, Silver was responsible for all divisions of
Universal Pictures, including its production, marketing and distribution
operations. He supervised all activities worldwide concerning Universal’s
partnerships with United International and domestic distribution activities
through its partnership with October Films.
Additionally, Silver oversaw Universal Studios Home Video, Universal
Pictures Animation and Visual Effects and Universal Family & Home
Entertainment Production, which include Universal Cartoon Studios.
During his tenure at Universal, the studio developed, produced and
released the critically acclaimed films “Schindler’s List,” “Shakespeare in Love,”
“Apollo 13,” “Babe,” “Jurassic Park,” “Out of Sight,” “Field of Dreams,” “The
Nutty Professor,” “Twelve Monkeys,” “Casper,” “In the Name of the Father,”
“Do the Right Thing,” “Scent of a Woman,” “Fried Green Tomatoes,” “Cape
Fear,” “Born on the Fourth of July,” “Parenthood,” “Midnight Run,” “The
Mummy,” “Notting Hill,” “American Pie,” “October Sky,” “Erin Brockovich,”
and “Gladiator.”
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Silver began his career in the motion picture industry as a screenwriter.
After serving as assistant to director Adrian Lyne on Flashdance, he became
director of development and production for Simpson-Bruckheimer Productions,
where he was instrumental in the development of the original Beverly Hills Cop.
Prior to joining Universal, he served for several years as TriStar Picture’s vice
president of production, and was then promoted to senior vice president of
production.
DON ZEPFEL (Executive Producer) has served in a variety of capacities in
his extensive motion picture career. Most recently, he was the executive
producer on “The Last Castle,” starring Robert Redford, and the action
blockbuster, “The Mummy Returns.”
Zepfel attended Stanford University and received a Bachelor of Science
degree in film and broadcast as well as participating in the Graduate Program in
Ethnographic Film at UCLA.
As executive vice president, physical production, at Universal Pictures for
several years, Zepfel literally oversaw the production of hundreds of motion
pictures for the studio. He has also served as associate producer on “Dragnet”
and “Psycho III,” and as production manager on “Weird Science” and “The Next
Sting.”
Zepfel started in the film industry as an assistant director including a
training stint on Alfred Hitchcock’s last film, “Family Plot.”
SHELLY JOHNSON (Director of Photography) began his career as a
gaffer after graduating from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. He
worked on industrial films and commercials before landing his first feature film
assignment, the futuristic thriller, “Nightflyers.”
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This is his second stint with director Joe Johnston, following their
collaboration on “Jurassic Park III.” Another recent credit was “The Last Castle,”
which starred Robert Redford and James Gandolfini.
Johnson has amassed more than 50 credits as a cinematographer, moving
between the big screen (“Jack’s Back,” “Maid to Order,” “Amanda and Keeper of
the City”) and television (“Stephen King’s The Shining,” “The Fire Next Time,”
“Season for Miracles,” “Durango” and “Saint Maybe”). He was nominated for
the A.S.C. Award for the telefilms, “The Jessica McClure Story” in 1989 and
“Louisa May Alcott’s Inheritance” in 1997.
Establishing a presence in television early in his career, BARRY
ROBISON (Production Designer) has worked almost exclusively in feature film
in recent years. His most recent feature film effort was the box office and critical
favorite, “The Rookie,” starring Dennis Quaid.
Previously, he worked with director Joe Johnston on “October Sky.”
Other film credits include “Bubble Boy,” “A Leonard Cohen Afterworld,”
“Home Fries,” “Loved,” “My Family/Mi Familia,” “Candyman II,”“Sensation,”
and “Double Switch.”
Robison’s production designer credits for television movies include “The
Water Engine,”” The Conversation,” “Darkman II,” “The Resurrector,” “Likely
Suspects,” and “They Came From Outer Space.”
Most recently, JEFFREY KURLAND (Costume Designer) received kudos
for his work on Steven Soderburgh’s “Ocean’s Eleven.” Previously, he designed
the costumes on “Erin Brockovich” for the director in which he earned the
Costume Designer’s Guild Award for Excellence in Costume Design for Film –
Contemporary.
Kurland has devoted much of his career to designing for the stylish
movies of Woody Allen, with whom he collaborated on “Everyone Says I Love
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You,” “Mighty Aphrodite,” “Bullets Over Broadway” (for which he received an
Academy Award® nomination), “Manhattan Murder Mystery,” “Husbands and
Wives,” “Shadows and Fog,” “Alice,” “Crimes and Misdemeanors,” “New York
Stories,” “Another Woman,” “September,” “Radio Days” (for which he received
England’s highest film honor, the BAFTA), “Hannah and Her Sisters,” “The
Purple Rose of Cairo,” and “Broadway Danny Rose.”
Recently, he also designed the costumes for “What’s the Worst That Can
Happen?,” starring Danny Devito and Martin Lawrence.
Other motion picture credits include “Man on the Moon,” directed by
Milos Forman; “Living Out Loud,” directed and written by Richard
LaGravenese; director Neil Jordan’s “In Dreams”; as well as two films for Nora
Ephron, “This Is My Life” and “Mixed Nuts.”
ROBERT DALVA (Editor) edited director Joe Johnston’s films “Jurassic
Park III,” “October Sky,” and “Jumanji.” He received an Academy Award®
nomination for editing Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Black Stallion,” and later
directed the 1982 sequel, “The Black Stallion Returns.” His editing credits
include Brian De Palma’s “Raising Cain” and such features as “Forever,”
“Latino,” and “Conceiving Ada.”
Dalva earned his bachelors degree from Colgate University, and then
studied film at the University of Southern California. He edited commercials
and directed educational films before editing his first feature film, “Lion’s Love.”
Since then, he has produced and directed two short films for the U.S.
Government and two programs for PBS.
He has directed more than 100 TV spots.
TIM ALEXANDER (Visual Effects Supervisor) graduated in 1994 with a
Masters degree in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University. He was also a
part of the Advanced Undergraduate Theatre Program where he studied lighting
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design. Alexander worked for Disney Studios for three years, including a yearlong student internship. While at Disney, he worked on “James and the Giant
Peach.” Alexander joined Industrial Light & Magic in 1996 and received the
British Academy Award for his work on “The Perfect Storm.” Other credits with
ILM include “Dreamcatcher,” “Punch-Drunk Love,” and “The Majestic.”
JAMES NEWTON HOWARD (music by) has scored more than eighty
feature films and earned five Academy Award® nominations. He most recently
provided the score to “Peter Pan,” and “Dreamcatcher.” He has provided the
music for all three of M. Night Shyamalan’s hit films, “The Sixth Sense” (1999),
“Unbreakable” (2000) and “Signs” (2002), and will provide the score for the
director’s next film, “The Village,” to be released this summer.
Howard began his music studies at age four. He continued training at
Santa Barbara Music Academy of the West and at USC School of Music as a
piano performance major. He completed his formal education with orchestration
study under legendary arranger Marty Paich. He subsequently began his
industry career performing as keyboardist for superstars Melissa Manchester
and Elton John. He toured with the latter during the 1970s and early 1980s. In
addition, he worked with such legendary artists as Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross,
Rod Stewart and Bob Seger.
Howard’s work has been nominated for two Grammy awards, two
Golden Globes, three Emmy awards and five Oscars®. He won an Emmy in
2001 for composing the main theme to “Gideon’s Crossing.” His Oscar®nominated scores include “The Fugitive,” “The Prince of Tides” and “My Best
Friend’s Wedding.” His songs “Look What Love has Done” (from “Junior”) and
“For the First Time” (from “One Fine Day”) have also been nominated for
Academy Awards®.
His evocative music has enhanced such films as “America’s Sweethearts,”
“Big Trouble,” “Snow Falling on Cedars,” “The Devil’s Advocate,” “Liar, Liar,”
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“Space Jam,” “Primal Fear,” “Restoration,” “Falling Down,” “Wyatt Earp,”
“Dave,” “Alive,” “Glengarry Glen Ross,” “The Man in the Moon,” “Dying
Young,” “Grand Canyon,” “My Girl,” “Pretty Woman,” “Flatliners” and
“Everybody’s All-American.” He has provided the scores for three Disney
animated films: “Treasure Planet,” “Atlantis: The Lost Empire,” and “Dinosaur.”
For television, Howard has composed themes for “Gideon’s Crossing” and
“E.R.”
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