Interview With Tim Johnson, Director on "Over The Hedge"

Tim Johnson, one of two directors of Over The Hedge sat down with CGCHAR late last week for an interview. The DreamWorks Animation film will release this Friday and we are lucky to have him answer questions despite his busy schedule. After providing interviews for television and major print publications, it was nice to have Tim give back to our community (Tim has been a part of CGCHAR in previous years).

Rick: Tell us how it all began for you. Before DreamWorks and even prior to being at PDI, how did you get started?

Tim: I was a literature student Northwestern University, and actually had a chance to create a couple of traditional animated short films over the course of my last couple of years there. I also used to draw the comic strips for the Daily Northwestern. I really enjoyed drawing and just doodling, but seeing things actually move is that addictive drug that is animation. After making a couple of films in school, I moved into the Chicago market doing animated hand drawn television commercials. Then, back in 1985 or 86, I was the first person to use an Alias system and actually wrote the manual while working at Post Effects.

After having a chance to direct some television commercials in Chicago, I took off for PDI and formed the Character Animation Group with Rex Grignon in 1990 or so.



Rick: While at PDI in the Character Animation Group, were you working on commercials at the time or was it film-based projects?

Tim: We did get a chance to do some really cool entertainment stuff. I directed the Simpson’s Holiday Special that was in 3D. The department got to work on everything from music videos to “The Last Halloween” - a live action special with CG characters. Yeah, so we were trying to get our narrative chops and get the toolset up and capable of doing what we needed it to do.



Rick: How did that lead into “Antz”? Were you the natural pick to direct that film? How did that get started?

Tim: Well, I had written a script about tiny creatures, and it was very similar to the storyline in Antz, so when I pitched it around Hollywood, a bunch of studios were curious and interested. But, Jeffrey Katzenberg said, “Listen, this is very similar to an idea that we have here in an idea that we are developing. Let’s get together and talk about it.” And that turned into the movie Antz that I directed with Eric Darnell.



Rick: So was that pitched part of PDI? Or, something you did separately on your own?

Tim: I used PDI’s auspices, so even though it was something that I had written on my own, it was with a company that could potentially produce it. That allowed us to get in the door to all of these studios.


 Rick: At some point you made a move from Northern California to Los Angeles. When did that happen and what was the reason for the switch?

Tim: The opportunity to both develop and direct Over The Hedge, as well as finish up Sinbad. So, it was mostly just a greater range of opportunities to come down to LA.



Rick: You say that you came in late on Sinbad and Over The Hedge was already in development at the time?

Tim: Yeah, very very early. We were getting rights for OTH from Fox, who just sat on it for 5 years. I was a big fan of the strip; Jeffrey Katzenberg was a big fan. We really wanted to develop this project.



Rick: Fox had rights to OTH, but just sat on it for years. How did you originally see this project? Was it a script, a treatment, or was it still only a strip at the time?

Tim: All that existed was the comic strip. It was a set of characters and a scenario. And that was enough for me. The characters, Verne and RJ have a great odd couple type relationship -- a guy that only worries about today versus a guy who is neurotically worried about the future. Those characters with that point of view - is really appealing.


Rick: In the initial development, did you move straight into boarding, or did you write a script first?

Tim: A little bit of everything. We worked on an outline first, and from that, we got a writer who worked really closely with us on the outline. But, we started storyboarding right away. As soon as you have a description of a scene, there is no reason not to begin boarding. It really crossed all lanes between writing, brainstorming, and story boarding.



Rick: So there wasn’t a mandate that this thing has to be a script first- before you began other things?

Tim: No. I mean, you start the script as soon as possible. You want to have a good template where everyone is coming from the same place.



Rick: You said earlier that you had done traditional work in the past. So you obviously can draw, however, when you moved to Sinbad, did it feel odd going from CG (Antz) to traditional? Or, did that feel natural?

Tim: It felt natural, because I had come from drawn animation. It was a pleasure. The real appeal of the project was the chance to work at what I sorta suspected would not be the big budget feature film format for much longer. Sinbad was great to work on; it was really fun to work with all of the traditional artists. Drawing continues to be the fundamental way ideas are shared. Story boards are all drawn, backgrounds, character designs, everything from poses of before you keyframe and whatnot. The thing I try to stress to people is that its not how well you draw from an illustration standpoint- but how well you draw from a communication standpoint. There are plenty of people that only draw stick figures, but if stick figures can communicate an idea, that is enough.