Backdrop: interview with Chief Editor Karen Moltenbrey.(Interview)

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Jean-Philippe Agati is general manager of Sparx Animation, a production studio founded in 1995 and specializing in keyframe animation, with facilities in France and Vietnam.

In the recently released CG feature Igor, a hunchbacked lab assistant from Malaria has big dreams of becoming a mad scientist and winning the first-place prize at the annual Evil Science Fair. He finally gets his chance when his cruel master kicks the bucket a week before the big event. Igor, with the help of his two experimental creations Brain, a not-so-bright organ confined to ajar, and Scamper, a cynical rabbit that was once roadkill--embarks on building the most evil invention of all time: a huge, ferocious monster. Rather than evil, the monster turns out to be Eva, a gentle giant who aspires to be an actress. Soon these misfits uncover a truly evil plot that threatens their world, and they spring into action to save it.

Similarly, with the feature Igor, Sparx Animation got a chance to prove itself in the CG world with its "huge" animated creation. Unlike with Igor, in this instance mostly everything went according to plan, and it was Sparx that succeeded in worm dominance. Well, nearly so, if you consider how difficult it is for a European-created CG feature to break into US theaters!

Here, Sparx general manager Jean-Philippe Agati provides detail about this engaging film.

Q How long was Igor in production?

A Igor was in production for 22 months, starting in November 2006, with CG being done in less than 18 months. Postproduction finished mid-August 2008.