MAX CHARLES VOICES THE ADOPTED HUMAN IN DREAMWORKS’ 3D “MR. PEABODY & SHERMAN”
Max
Charles, a young actor with an impressive resume at just nine years of age, who
played the young Peter Parker in the hit movie “Amazing Spiderman” stars and
lends voice to a genius dog’s adopted boy named Sherman in DreamWorks’ upcoming
adventure-packed 3D animation “Mr. Peabody & Sherman.”
“Mr. Peabody & Sherman” is an adventure-comedy featuring science fiction,
time travel, outlandish characters and clever dialogue, all of which are bound
together by the unexpected relationship between the titular heroes – a dog and
his boy.
Peabody possesses the genius of Einstein, the wit of Oscar Wilde, the daring of
Indiana Jones, the deductive skills of Sherlock Holmes, the sartorial style of
James Bond, and the culinary skills of Mario Batali. The one thing that
challenges Peabody is keeping up with his adopted boy Sherman. Peabody devotes
himself to Sherman, from whom he learns the one thing even a genius has to
figure out – parenthood.
Charles’ Sherman is open, enthusiastic and over-curious. Growing up with
his adoptive dad – the time-traveling super-genius Mr. Peabody – gives Sherman
many opportunities for adventure. Like most youngsters, Sherman has a
penchant for trouble and sometimes finds himself in over his head, but Sherman
always makes certain to fix even the most difficult problems he
creates.
“Sherman is a genuine kid,” says Minkoff. “He’s quite naïve at times, but he’s
actually a terrific student of Mr. Peabody’s because one of the special things
they do together is travel through history. Peabody has taken the time to
introduce Sherman to many of history’s greatest events.”
As any parent knows, there are children’s “leaps” that can lead to breakage –
and for Sherman, breaking the rules of time travel has extraordinary
consequences. Says Max Charles: Sherman is “a normal kid who gets to do
some unusual stuff, like travel back in time.” Sherman learns a
lot about everything from Mr. Peabody, and as Charles sees it the reverse is
also true. “Peabody also learns a lot from Sherman, like how to be a
little more laid back, and a little more trusting.”
As for Sherman’s animation design, Schleifer and his team ensured that he feels
and looks like a child. “I looked at my own kids to see how they respond
to certain situations, and I discovered interesting kid-like things to make
Sherman feel authentic and support the story of his adventures and
transformation.” A key challenge was dealing was animating Sherman’s
oversized – Schleifer calls it “ginormous” – head, which adds to the
character’s appeal and fun. “The head is so big and it’s attached to a
tiny neck, so we had to incorporate Sherman’s entire body into even a simple
head turn,” he explains. “Or it would look like it would just snap
off!”
Prominent eyeglasses are a key feature shared by father and son. The
animators had to carefully maneuver the specs and the characters’ eyebrows to
ensure that Peabody and Sherman were able to convey the necessary expressions
and emotions. “The glasses cover their eyebrows, so if we did nothing
you’d never see their expressions change,” says Schleifer. “So when
Peabody and Sherman convey excitement, we had their eyebrows go way upon the
tops of their heads. And when things get intense, the brows drop straight down
and cover their eyes.”
“Peabody realizes that Sherman’s imperfections are what make him so wonderful,”
adds Ty Burrell who voices Mr. Peabody, “and that it’s really worth trying to
make himself more vulnerable.” Director Rob Minkoff adds: “Max performs
with emotion, depth, heart and humor. That’s not easy to find in a young
actor.”
A DreamWorks presentation, “Mr. Peabody & Sherman” (available in 3D
and 2D) is a DreamWorks Animation SKG presentation and a PDI/DreamWorks
production, opens March
6 in Philippine cinemas nationwide from 20th Century
Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.
Check out the film’s localized site here http://www.
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