For Warner Brothers’ new 3-D family movie Cats and Dogs: the Revenge of Kitty Galore, the special effects wizards at Berkeley’s Tippett Studio had quite a task: Creating a talking, scheming, hairless Sphynx for the titular feline role. Here’s the formula.
By Peter Crooks
1/ Study hairless cats
“We always start by observing the creature we’re recreating,” says animation supervisor Will Groebe. “A woman who works in our studio has a hairless Sphynx as a pet—which was invaluable to the process.”
2/ Add Bette Midler
The diva lends the voice of Kitty, a spy intent on conquering the world. “We studied video of Bette and then watched a bunch of malevolent characters for inspiration: Cruella De Vil, Maleficent, and Norma Desmond.”
3/ Bust out the CGI
“The wrinkled skin on a Sphynx is amazing, so we could really play with the facial expressions. We create computer maps for each expression and can blend them together as the expression changes.”
"I want to see every single penny up on the screen. Thats where the production is, and I dont want to see it in a cappuccino machine, or fancy carpet or a visitors lounge. Im going to do the stuff I think is important and put the resources where I think they should go.
