Move Over E.T., A New Cute Alien Steals Hearts in EARTH TO ECHO
- Details
- Category: Interviews
- Created: Sunday, 22 June 2014 23:57
- Published: Monday, 23 June 2014 22:40
- Written by Ethan Falk
When’s the last time you saw a great kid’s movie about aliens? It’s probably safe to say not since "E.T.' CineMovie is talking to the filmmakers and stars of EARTH TO ECHO about cinema's cutest little alien since E.T.
EARTH TO ECHO follows the lives of a three childhood friends Alex (played by Teo Halm), Munch (Reese Hartwig), and Tuck ( Brian “Astro” Bradley.) Their families are forced to relocate as a result of a highway construction project tearing up their neighborhood. After a bizarre series of messages and maps appear on their cell phones, the children decide to spend their last night together adventuring through the desert in hopes of discovering the true reason for their garbled iPhones. They ultimately find a cute looking owl-robot-alien named Echo, who changes their lives forever.
First time director Dave Green knew that it was imperative to find the right design for the film’s most memorable star: the digitally animated alien, Echo. Green was compelled to make Echo adorable enough for audiences to fall in love with it and really care for the little guys safety. Green ended up reaching out to a 19- year-old artist Ross Tran who lived with his parents in Santa Cruz at the time. Tran hit the nail on the head with his early sketches of Echo and ultimately brought the alien to life.
“We were looking at a lot of things with giant eyes and a little baby form. We wanted to make sure when the audience finally gets to see Echo, there’s a sigh of relief and also there’s something that draws you in. You need to take care of this thing, it’s adorable,” said Green.
If ET and The Goonies had a baby, EARTH TO ECHO would be the offspring. The film pays homage to those classic 80’s adventure movies that tell children, no matter what age you might be; you could make a difference in the world. The inception of EARTH TO ECHO, began with writer/producer Andrew Panay (Wedding Crashers). Panay wanted to recapture the spirit and magic of those 80’s friendship-quest stories, while integrating it within the modern world where technology and social media dominates our lives. Since Hollywood hasn’t seen a family movie like "E.T" or "Stand By Me" in quite some time, Panay thought it was the perfect time to revive the genre with a modern twist. “What’s great about the movie is look how far technology has come and look at how effective it could be for a movie. We hoped to wink to those great movies and pay homage to the movies I grew up with,” says Panay.
The filmmakers were inherently drawn to this script because they were given the chance to tell the story through the kid’s perspective. Since kids today are doing a lot of their own filming and Vine-ing, they believed that this “found footage” form of storytelling would just make sense within this type of genre. Panay also added that giving children an emotional voice in film has been lacking in the marketplace since those family movies from the 80’s.
“As an adult, heartbreak stinks. Saying goodbye is awful. Getting in an argument with a friend is terrible. When you’re 12 heartbreak stinks. Having a girl say she doesn’t like you is terrible. Having a friend make fun of you is the worst. The difference now that maybe as an adult you can process it a little better. We wanted to bring that back.”
EARTH TO ECHO tells an uplifting story while magnifying the importance of friendship and working together. The filmmakers were careful not to lose sight of the overarching theme that children could actually inspire change. Reese Hartwig ("Alexander & The Terrible") who plays the eccentric character Munch, told Cinemovie at a recent press event that even if you’re a kid, you don’t need your parent’s signature on everything.
“Friendship and teamwork can be powerful enough to find an alien, save it, and build a spaceship. That’s the main thing.”
Fifteen year old actress, Ella Wahlestedt ("Army Wives") who plays Emma added, “I think anyone can see this movie. It appeals to younger kids with Echo being so cute and cuddly. It’s also nostalgic for the older adults. It also involves technology, which is so evident in our lives today.”
EARTH TO ECHO opens July 2nd!