By Geoffrey Golden
It’s been a long, long ride to get to Planet 51, which opens in theaters tomorrow. 
Since 2002, Illion Animation Studios has been perfecting their first feature length animated movie for theaters. Seven years of re-writing, re-recording and re-animating later, they finally launched their film into theaters, but will it be a smooth landing with audiences?
The best CG animation sweats the details, whether it’s tweaking a story beat or perfecting the bounce of an antenna, so it’s no surprise that Illion wanted to get everything just right for their debut feature. On the visuals, they scored a home run. A perfectionistic attention to detail makes the film pure eye candy.
The textures are especially well-crafted, from the peach-soft alien skin to the glossy metallic shell of Rover, the dog-like space exploration robot. 
You also can’t help but admire the backgrounds and visual touches, like the glossy bowling alley and the humorously stylized poster for the alien horror movie poster, “Humaniacs 2.”
“They showed me some art early on that got me really excited,” said Planet 51 star Justin Long in a press junket for the film held at Griffith Observatory, which inspired another well-crafted location in the movie. “Very turned on… but not like that.”
“Even in the early stages, the animation was gorgeous,” said co-star Dwayne Johnson. “You couple it with the fact that those guys are so incredibly passionate about this project… I call them The Spain Boys. They’ve been with this project since 2002, so it’s been a long labor of love.”
However, “The Spain Boys” would soon learn there are downsides for continuously tweaking a film over a seven year period. For example, normally in animation, a voice track is recorded and then animated to. That wasn’t exactly the case for Illion’s first film. “Initially, we recorded it all and we were able to see [character] art,” said Long. “As they got our recordings, they started animating to the ones they liked, but then we’d have to go back over it for rewrites.”
“It was an ongoing process,” added co-star Jessica Biel.
The result is that some of the vocal performances are noticeably inconsistent throughout the film. This is especially the case for Long, who said his voice “apparently changed” over the course of the production.
It sounds like another problem they had was an over-abundance of ideas… and creative folks in the kitchen. “At one point there were six guys in [the recording booth], all giving their directorial opinions,” said Johnson. “You had to interpret everything they were saying, which made it challenging. And fun.” 
Of course, with a background in professional wrestling, The Rock might well enjoy the conflicts that come with clashing personalities.
However, you have to admire the Illion crew’s enthusiasm. Certainly, the technology department was up to the task. “The filmmakers, artists, everyone was constantly bringing in new ideas to improve the film,” said Gonzalo Rueda, Illion’s Director of Technology. “It became clear that we would have to implement all those ideas, regardless of the technological challenges they presented.”
There’s a great variety of visual ideas in the film. First of all, what do aliens look like? How would our 1950’s be re-interpretted by this alien society? What does alien suburbia look like? There were a wide variety of species to design, from humans to aliens to robots to the aliens’ pets, who bear a winking resemblance to those terrifying creatures Sigorney Weaver keeps running up against.
Another way Illion makes their film stand out visually is with surprisingly subtle character animation. In a genre that encourages huge, over-the-top, “cartoonish” acting, the facial expressions in Planet 51 are — ironically — more down-to-earth than in most animated features. Granted, I wouldn’t describe the performances as understated, but kudos to first time feature director Jorge Blanco for finding an enjoyable middle ground.
Still, while watching the movie, I wondered if Illion’s technically savvy team was actually inhibited by the film’s setting. When I think of an “alien planet,” I don’t necessarily imagine America’s 1950’s as inhabited by little green men. I imagine the sort of lush, exotic universe that will be the setting for James Cameron’s upcoming Avatar. I also vividly remember the old ET ride in Universal Studios, where you got to travel to ET’s jungle-like home planet. One Google Image search for “alien world” later and I realized I’m not alone in this conception.
Perhaps letting Illion’s expert team of perfectionistic animators loose on an Avatar-style planet would have been a better use for their skills, rather than trying to figure out what the alien Marilyn Monroe would look like. Isn’t that truly the comedic reversal of the classic aliens land on earth scenario? A human lands on this crazy, lush planet full of weird alien creatures, but it turns out they’re just as prejudiced and scared as the people he left behind.
When I asked whether Illion’s producers and directors showed signs of nervousness while creating their first animated film, Biel said they were somewhat nervous. A moment later she added, “a mixture of nerves and excitement.” They’ll probably remain apprehensive until the box office and critical results are in. I don’t envy any studio releasing a movie opposite Twilight: New Moon, which will likely be a box office phenomenon. Maybe they can capture a solid #2 slot by targeting kids too young for Twilight and their parents, but who knows if that take will be enough for Illion to really get off the ground.
Well, here’s hoping that Planet 51 allows Illion’s animation team to tackle new projects and new worlds. The beautiful artwork and meticulous attention to detail has me eagerly anticipating Illion’s next animated adventure. Or to put it another way, let’s hope space is not Illion’s final frontier.
Looking forward to this one! It looks cool and I’m very happy to support Spanish animation production. I wouldn’t mind living there someday!