McCartney, DVD man

In an unusual move, Miramax recently re-released a collection of animated children's shorts Tales of Wonder: Music and Animation Classics Presented by Paul McCartney, which the company had previously distributed under a different title and packaging. Sir Paul discussed the strategy with Scott Hettrick, chief editor of Video Business, a sister publication of Playthings. They also discussed the artist's passion for the project in which he is ubiquitous throughout the bonus features on the disc that features his award-winning 1984 Rupert and the Frog Song, and the virtual public premiere of his 1997 classically animated Tropic Island Hum as well as the digitally-animated Tuesday, all with original music and voices by McCartney. Following are excerpts from the interview.

Hettrick: You and the Beatles are known for many pioneering approaches to music, but you have also been involved with pioneering animation projects, from Yellow Submarine to the Beatles TV cartoon series, and then these animated shorts that you have produced over the past 20-plus years, including the digitally-animated piece Tuesday. Do you enjoy pushing the envelope and trying new art forms, or do you just really enjoy making and watching cartoons?

McCartney: I just have quite a bit of energy; I'm very lucky. I'm very enthusiastic about quite a number of things. One of the things I've loved forever has been the magic of animation. You know, the way you can create illusions easily. And I love good stuff. I've always been a great admirer of the early Disney stuff. So these shorts that we've done, as you say, over the last 20 years, I just love doing it. I have a lot of fun doing it. I like it when you sit down with a bunch of kids and they see the magic in it. I think that's a very worthwhile thing.

Hettrick: You did not just lend your name to these animated projects. You seem to be very involved in every aspect.

McCartney: Yeah, that's what I enjoy doing, you know. You have, like, ambitions from when you're a kid. I was always fascinated by animation. It just intrigued me how people go about--from the line drawing to the coloring in, to making the characters. It just seems so easy when you see them. You just think, well, that's easy to do. But once you start to think about it a bit, you think, wow, you know that's actually very clever.

Hettrick: We also understand that you have even been involved in the marketing strategies for this DVD. Do you dream of one day becoming a marketing executive or managing a video store?

McCartney: One day, man. You know what it is, you get so enthusiastic. It's not like I spend all day on it. But I might be on a phone call to one of the guys who's putting it out and start talking to him. I might be saying, “Look, is the DVD going to be available in kids stores?” That was something that didn't really do much the first time around. So I said I think it's probably a good idea.

Hettrick: You mention on the DVD that you are discussing a feature-length animated film. How is that progressing?

McCartney: That's going very well, actually. (Director) Geoff Dunbar and I—we're sort of the main team on these pieces—we've been taking the character Wirrel the Squirrel and have been working on a story for a long time, which we've now finally got sort of worked out. We'll shortly be getting a book deal on it, which has attracted a lot of attention from the children's book people. The idea is to then, hopefully, turn that into a feature-length film, which has really been my ambition all along. But it's a big project. And if you're not DreamWorks or Disney or somebody like that, which I'm not—I've got another job, you know, let's remember—then you want to be careful about doing it and getting it right. So, we're working on a book at the moment, which will be released next year. A children's book, which hopefully will form the basis of a movie. And then I'll have fun because I'll be able to write the music as well.

Hettrick: Would you be interested in working on a feature film project with Pixar or DreamWorks or Disney?

McCartney: Sure, yeah. Definitely. I mean, our big man has always been Harvey Weinstein. He has always had a great faith in Geoff (Dunbar) and what he calls our signature style. He's really always, for years—since we made the first “Rupert” thing—he's always been calling us and I've become quite a good friend of his, you know, over the years. Someone like he, I think, would be pretty keen to work with us. So, you know, I think we'd hook up with somebody to do it.