Mexico's Riva Brothers, Pantelion Films to Release Egg-Centric Animated Film in US
Mexican filmmakers and dynamic brotherly duo, Gabriel and Rodolfo Riva Palacio are gearing up for their animated introduction in Hollywood -- and let's just say that they are collecting a lot of golden eggs in their professional basket.
The duo has teamed up with Pantelion Films to premiere "Un Gallo con Muchos Huevos" (A Rooster with Many Eggs), the first Mexican animated feature film to be distributed in the U.S.
Calling their Hollywood debut "a dream come true," Gabriel Riva told EFE, "We're very pleased about the quality we achieved."
"Un Gallo con Muchos Huevos," which will also be distributed in Mexico, cost $5.3 million to make and employed a production team of 500 people and, according to Riva, it's their "best project to date."
Gabriel adds that the adorably animated film's price tag will raise many eyebrows -- especially in the American movie industry that pays bookoo bucks to make films.
"People won't believe we made it on such a small budget, above all because of the quality," Gabriel said about the film, which is produced by Huevocartoon Producciones.
"This is our first movie that begins to compete on the international market, but to go up against DreamWorks and Pixar we still need a lot more money, talent, time, training and studies," he added.
The film reportedly got a little bit of a rough start in the quality department, but it was eventually brought up to par.
"If we want an exceptional result, we have to make an exceptional effort. There's no other way," Gabriel said, adding that they were trained by foreign experts and that their team responded "gloriously," even on weekends, EFE points out.
What makes "Un Gallo con Muchos Huevos" 'eggstra-ordinary?'
It plays off of one of the Riva brothers' repeated themes and mixes comedy with drama. It's also based on the lovable leading cartoon characters Toto the rooster and a bunch of eggs that have a huge following on TV and digital media in Mexico. They have even sparked ad campaigns.
Mexican artists Angelica Vale, Omar Chaparro, Ninel Conde and Carlos Espejel were among the actors who lent their voices to the characters in the film.
In 2006, the Riva brothers' first feature film, "Una Pelicula de Huevos," (A Film about Eggs) attracted more than 1 million moviegoers the weekend of its premiere.
"What is a little egg's problem? Just that it doesn't want to be somebody's breakfast and wants to chat with a chicken. And afterwards we said, well, now it's a chicken and what do we do with a chicken?" the director said, EFE reports.
In 2009, this egg community starred in "Otra Pelicula de Huevos y un Pollo" (Another Film about Eggs and a Chicken). The project was all-inclusive and involved a team effort of more than 400 graphic artists, editors, musicians and creatives.
"Un Gallo con Muchos Huevos" will premiere on Aug. 21 in Mexico and on Sept. 4 at more than 400 movie theaters in the U.S.