ANIMAL CONNECTION

Bob & His Pups

Bob Peterson is an animator, screenwriter, director and voice actor who, for the past 15 years, has worked for one of the coolest companies in the world—PIXAR Animation Studio. He has stated that he has a special place in his heart for animated features because, as a child, his highly fertile imagination was deeply informed by the now iconic films, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Bambi, Cinderella, Lady and the Tramp and, of course, 101 Dalmations.  He says that animated features are the fairy tales of today and have as profound an impact on the children who experience them as the stories of Hans Christian Anderson and the Brothers Grimm had on his generation and many generations before him.

He was interviewed by Glenn Close, another animal lover. Having been the voice of Kala, Tarzan’s gorilla mother, in Walt Disney’s animated feature, Tarzan, Glenn Close was particularly interested in how Bob came up with the voice of the lovable Dug.  Here is part of that interview with Bob and his three dogs, Rosy, Ava and Dug:

Glenn, Bill, Jake & Sweet Pea

Oh, the LOVE!

Glenn Close: When and how did you become a dog lover?

Bob Peterson: I’ve always loved dogs and have had one since I was three. We bought her from a kid selling puppies out of a cardboard box on the street where we lived in New York City. Great dog. We named her “Marcella” after a Raggedy Ann character. She grew up with us.

GC: Why dogs?

BP: When you look into the eyes of a dog you know someone is there. Plus, DOGS ARE JUST AWESOME!!!

GC: Have you ever rescued a dog?

BP: Yes. After my wife and I were married we obtained a rescue dog from a family that didn’t want her anymore. She was a beautiful Collie/Shepherd mix named “Precious.” It then came to pass that our first marital “debate” was whether we should change the dog’s name away from the same name used by the wacky villain in Silence of the Lambs. Yes, that dog was also named “Precious.” Whenever we were out walking the dog in public we would chicken out from using her real name and refer to her as “Vicious.” But she wasn’t vicious, so we gave that up. Finally, we decided, that, darn it, “Precious” was her name, and what right did we have to change it? After a while we grew to know that she was a precious dog. She became part of our family and our children’s lives. Now that she’s gone we miss her a lot. Great. I’m crying. Thanks, Glenn Close!

GC: Is Dug based on a specific dog? If so, how did the animators translate a real dog’s behavior into an animated dog’s behavior?

BP: I wrote Dug as a combination of all the dogs I’ve owned. Marcella, Precious, Rosy, and Ava are all in there. The distractibility of Dug (SQUIRREL!!) is based on a game I’d play with my dogs. On a hot day the dogs would be panting to cool themselves down. So, I’d jump in and pant along with them. Then I’d stop abruptly and pretend I’d seen something important. The dogs would do the same and go to attention along with me. Long pause. Then, everyone back to panting. It was hilarious. Also I’ve noticed that dogs have an amazing capacity to give love immediately to people that they meet for the first time. Hence the line “I have just met you and I love you.” Dug says this to our old man character, Carl, when they first meet. It’s a challenge to Carl accept his new “family” who loves him and needs his attention. That line was also born out of something a camper said to me when I was a camp counselor in college. The kid had just met me but his first words were “you are my counselor and I love you.” This phrase has been tucked away for 20 years but it felt so right for the instantaneous love a dog gives that I put it in the film. The wonderful thing about the talking dog collars in UP is that we were able to hear the thoughts of the dogs without moving their mouths or emoting like a human. The dogs could pant, scratch, and move the way dogs truly do. The animators studied the movements of many dogs, and we had a dog specialist come in and talk to us about dog behavior.

GC: How did you come by your Dug voice?

BP: I never know exactly how I’ll do a voice for a character until I step up to the mic. Since I had written his dialogue, I knew that his dog collar would mishandle English a bit in a charming dog-like way, but I didn’t know just what he’d sound like. And then, Dug’s voice just started coming out. It was like that with Roz too. In analyzing it, I realized that Dug’s voice sounds a lot how I talk to my dogs. I use overly sincere elongated words: “Hiii You Dawwgs.” That pattern of speech feels dog-like somehow and they love it.

All In the Family

To read more of this interview, and others, click on this link.

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