CAST:
John Cusack ... Igor (voice)
Steve Buscemi ... Scamper (voice)
Eddie Izzard ... Dr. Schadenfreude (voice)
Jennifer Coolidge ... Jaclyn (voice)
John Cleese ... Dr. Glickenstein (voice)
Sean Hayes ... Brain (voice)
Molly Shannon ... Eva (voice)
Jay Leno ... King Malbert (voice)
Arsenio Hall ... Carl Cristall (voice)
NOTES:
US release: September 19, 2008
UK release: October 17, 2008
SUMMARY:
What do you do when you’re born with a hunch in your back? Well, in the land of
MALARIA, your career options are severely limited: you become an IGOR.
Ah, Malaria! A place where lightning storms never end, and where every hunchbacked
baby is forced to become a lowly LAB ASSISTANT, each one named Igor. MAD SCIENTISTS
are the superstars of their respective VILLAGES, each toiling away in a cliff-top
castle/laboratory with an Igor at his side, creating EVIL INVENTIONS - death rays,
earthquake machines, man-eating plants, you name it!
All this in preparation for Malaria's annual EVIL SCIENCE FAIR, where the Mad
Scientist with the Most Evil Invention wins the coveted first place award. His
village wins too, getting a fat government reward, while the winning Invention
gets carted away by the KING to be used for Malaria's Defense Program.
This is the story of that world, and how one Igor changes it.
Our Igor isn't like other Igors. Our Igor has big dreams; dreams of becoming
a Mad Scientist himself, of winning the Evil Science Fair, and the heart of GRETCHEN,
the local village vixen. That's impossible, though, because he's just a lowly
Igor. But when DR. GLICKENSTEIN, Igor's cruel master, dies just two weeks before
the Evil Science Fair, that's exactly what Igor sets out to do.
With the help of two of Glickenstein's experiments-BRIAN, an angry brain in
a jar, and SCAMPER, a depressed talking rabbit brought back from the dead and
self-conscious about the conspicuous tire tread across his belly, Igor puts his
plan into action. They hide Glickenstein's death from the public, and then, in
a feat of genius, Igor creates the Most Evil Invention ever: a GIANT HIDEOUS CREATURE
of awesome strength.
One problem: the Creature, who's a she, turns out to be the sweetest thing
in the world.
EVA is her name due to a misunderstanding when Igor tries to convince her she's
"Evil", and now Igor's got one week to train her to become Evil for real. That's
no easy task, especially since all Eva really wants to be is an actress. But once
Igor lies and tells Eva that the Evil Science Fair is actually an audition for
a big musical, an Evil version of "Annie" that requires her to "act" Evil, she's
game.
And as Igor runs Eva through "rehearsals," he scrambles to keep her hidden
from Gretchen and the nosy villagers, and struggles to fend off the greedy Mad
Scientist, DR. SCHADENFREUDE, who wants Eva for himself. To his horror, Igor ultimately
realizes that he's actually starting to fall in love with the big sweet monster,
and comes to a startling conclusion:
Being a Mad Scientist is a whole lot tougher than being an Igor.
NEWS:
"Igor," Grade A-: The assistant to a mad scientist
creates his own monster. Features voice talents of John Cusack and Steve Buscemi.
Everything about this movie is twisted. The Tim Burton-like animation lends itself
to creatures whose physical makeup shows no regard for the laws of nature. Tiny
feet support bulbous bodies. The vocal talent -- especially the best voice
work by Eddie Izzard since he stole the show in "The Wild" -- is dead on target.
And not enough good can be said about Buscemi, who provides the majority of the
biggest laughs in the film.
TRAILER:
Igor Trailer Debuts at NYCC
The Weinstein Company showed off an exclusive, just for New York Comic-Con,
world-wide premiere of the trailer for Igor, the story of an evil mad scientist's
sidekick who tries to become an evil mad scientist of his own.
Directed by former Disney animator Tony Leondis and written by "American Dad!"
writer Chris McKenna, Igor follows the story of the average Joe Igor who
tries to break out of the sidekick mold. Igor competes in the annual "Evil Scientist
Fair," something that has never been done by an Igor. For the fair, Igor creates
life through the perfect evil monster. The only problem is that this perfect evil
monster, Eva, is not evil at all and in fact inspires to be an actress.
From the start of production, McKenna tossed around the idea of classic evil scientists.
From there, he came upon Igor and got to thinking, "What if every mad scientist
had an Igor?" "What if" one particular Igor decided to break free of the mold,
stray away from pulling switches all day and graduating with a "Yes, Master" degree?
Thus, this Igor would become more than what life has planned out.
Igor is a CG film, something that the director Leondis loves. Being a monster
movie, CG allows for "great camera sweeps" and is able to show off the great landscapes
found in classical monster movies. Having the production team work in Paris, Leondis
found this crew to be a "little more open minded" to the look and feel of the
characters and the overall tone of the film. Being a Weinstein Company movie,
the team of Leondis and McKenna felt that they are able to break away from the
typical Disney/Dreamworks animated "family film" and do something that is a bit
darker. This should create a unique movie going experience for the audience. It
can be argued that McKenna's "American Dad!" TV show not only has off-beat smart
humor for adults but fart jokes for the kids as well.
From the start of the New York Comic-Con's Igor panel, you can really see
the passion both McKenna and Leondis have for their characters and the film as
a whole. They seem to be heavily influenced by "Looney Tunes" characters and adventures.
The film stars John Cusack as our hero Igor. Steve Buscemi plays the character
of Scamper, Igor's rabbit sidekick whom McKenna promises to be "Bugs Bunny in
reverse." (From the trailer, Scamper promises to be my favorite!) Sean Hayes plays
Igor's other failed creation who becomes an assistant named "Brain." Eddie Izzard
plays the super rock star status scientist Dr. Schadenfreude. Jennifer Coolidge,
John Cleese, Molly Shannon, Jay Leno, Arsenio Hall and James Lipton all lend their
voices in what looks to be an incredibly fun film. Also noted from the panel discussion,
composer Peter Doyle has been given the task of creating a dark yet fun score
to go along with the images on screen.
As a chance to get the fan base involved, Leondis talked about the "Be An Igor"
contest where one lucky winner will get the chance to lend their voice for the
roll of one of Igor's fellow hunchbacks. More information can be found at BeAnIgor.com.
The story of Igor and his monster is one that has not been told in the animated
kids genre. From the trailer and panel, the characters appear to be funny, dark,
subvert and memorable. Igor is set to pull the switch this September 19th.
Carl’s
Jr., Hardee’s in Igor’s Lab
CKE Restaurants Inc., the parent company of fast-food chains Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s,
has signed on to support the theatrical release of Exodus Film Group’s Igor, which
The Weinstein Co. is releasing on Oct. 24, 2008. More than 3,000 of the company’s
restaurants across the U.S. will participate in a nationwide promotional program
that will see Igor items placed in Cool Kids Combos meals. The movie will also
have a presence with in-store displays and on CKE’s websites.
”The team at Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s have taken Igor’s characters and done
a terrific job creating child-friendly, interactive premiums that are consistent
with the ‘invention’ theme of the film,” comments Pam Henning, senior VP of integrated
marketing at The Weinstein Co.
IZZARD
REPLACED PIVEN IN "IGOR" LAB
NEW YORK/HOLLYWOOD REPORTER -- There's a lot of action in and around the Weinstein
Co.'s CG-animated monster movie "Igor." Eddie Izzard has replaced Jeremy Piven
as the insane Schadenfreude, and producer Exodus Film Group has inked a deal for
a series of comic books based on the film with IDW Publishing.
Izzard might not take any shameful joy in replacing Piven, but his character delights
in being the nemesis to Igor, a hunch-backed lab assistant in a world of evil
scientists who plots to win the annual Evil Science Fair. A rep for Piven did
not return calls by press time to explain his departure, but the switch is all
in the family: Both actors are repped by CAA.
IDW will create serial comic adaptations of the film's story, plus prequels and
sequels, followed by a full-color paperback collection of each miniseries. The
publisher already has translated such hot properties as Hasbro's "Transformers,"
Fox's "24" and CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" to the comic pages.
The prequel series is tentatively set for May or June, followed by the film and
sequel series, so the three collected sets can be published in book form in time
for the film's October 2008 release.
"Igor" features the voices of John Cusack, Steve Buscemi, John Cleese, Jennifer
Coolidge, Arsenio Hall, Jay Leno, Molly Shannon, Sean Hayes and others.
No illustrator has been assigned, but IDW will create a look that duplicates
the film's imagery as it has done with two other CGI film adaptations, Sony Pictures'
"Monster House" and Warner Bros. Pictures/Paramount Pictures' upcoming "Beowulf."
It's just the latest promotional tie-in Exodus has made for "Igor," including
a master licensing deal for toys and collectibles with Corgi International and
a book publishing deal with Simon & Schuster.
IDW also has launched comics based on Paramount's "Star Trek" films and Fox's
"Angel" series. It created the eponymous comic behind Sony Pictures' upcoming
feature "30 Days of Night." The company was purchased by IDT Internet Mobile on
Tuesday, with plans to sell original IDW properties to film and TV distributors.
Other upcoming CG-animated films on Exodus' slate include "Bunyan & Babe"
and "The Hero of Color City," which is in preproduction and set for North American
distribution by Magnolia Pictures.
Izzard is repped by CAA, manager Jeff Golenberg at the Collective and attorney
Kevin Morris at Barnes Morris Klein Mark Yorn Barnes & Levine.
Carl’s
Jr., Hardee’s in Igor’s Lab
IZZARD
REPLACED PIVEN IN "IGOR" LAB