Peter & the Wolf (2006)

Director:

Suzie Templeton

Writers:

Sergei Prokofiev (libretto)
Suzie Templeton (adaptation)
(more)

Release Date:

15 February 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Short | Music

Tagline:

Boys like Peter are not afraid of wolves...

Plot:

An animated retelling set to Prokofiev's suite. Peter is a slight lad, solitary, locked out of the woods by his protective grandfather...

Plot Keywords:

Nap | Sleeping | Sunlight | Tree | Solitary

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 5 wins & 1 nomination

Directed by
Suzie Templeton

Writing credits
Sergei Prokofiev		(libretto)
Suzie Templeton		(adaptation)
Marianela Maldonado		(co-writer)

Produced by
Alan Dewhurst	....	producer
Lars Andreas Hellebust	....	executive producer
Simon Olswang	....	executive producer
Luc Toutounghi	....	executive producer: Archangel SA
Hugh Welchman	....	producer
Zbigniew Zmudzki	....	co-producer

Cinematography by
Mikolaj Jaroszewicz

Film Editing by
Tony Fish
Suzie Templeton

Production Design by
Jane Morton
Marek Skrobecki

Art Direction by
Paulina Majda
Katarzyna Wasiela

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gareth Unwin	....	first assistant director

Sound Department
Petter Fladeby	....	sound re-recording mixer
Bent Erik Holm	....	sound editor
Baard H. Ingebretsen	....	supervising sound editor
Erik S. Watland	....	foley artist

Visual Effects by
Kjetil Foss Birtles	....	rotoscope artist
Geoffroy Givry	....	senior digital compositor
Anette Gjertsen	....	digital data management
Tom Joelsen	....	visual effects coordinator
Yann Larochette	....	digital compositor
Morten Moen	....	visual effects supervisor
Espen Nordahl	....	junior compositor
Kamil Polak	....	visual effects supervisor
Ghislain Rio	....	digital compositor
Otto Thorbjørnsen	....	visual effects editor
Matt Willis-Jones	....	colourist
Artur Zicz	....	visual effects coordinator
Ronan Broudin	....	lead compositor: STORM (uncredited)
Kari Brown	....	digital compositor (uncredited)
Björn Fredriksson	....	compositor (uncredited)
Samuel Karlsson	....	rotoscoping artist (uncredited)
Morten Moen	....	digital compositor (uncredited)
Espen Schei	....	roto artist (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Malgorzata Bednarek	....	camera assistant
Jaroslaw Bedyk	....	gaffer
Magdalena Bryll	....	camera assistant
Hugh Gordon	....	supervising director of photography
Andrzej Gorski	....	camera assistant
Tytus Majerski	....	camera assistant
Jolanta Malicka	....	camera operator
Tomasz Runowicz	....	assistant camera
Tomasz Wochniak	....	camera assistant

Animation Department
Tim Allen	....	senior animator
Magdalena Bryll	....	additional animator
Krzysztof Brzozowski	....	senior animator
Martin Clapp	....	animator
Martin Clapp	....	previsualization artist
Martin Davies	....	animator
Ruth Ducker	....	previsualization artist
Jerome Fournier	....	visual development artist
Wojciech Gierlowski	....	additional animator
Jan-Erik Maas	....	senior animator
Karoly Papp	....	senior animator
Jonny Templeton	....	additional animator
Anna Wojtania	....	animator
Adam Wyrwas	....	lead animator

Editorial Department
Michael Ho	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Mark Stephenson	....	conductor

Other crew
Jerome Fournier	....	visual development artist
Agata Romanowicz	....	assistant to director
Tom Truscott	....	development artist

Production Companies

• BreakThru Films Ltd.
• Archangel
• Channel 4 Television Corporation
• Se-ma-for Studios
• Storm Studio

Distributors

• BreakThru Films Ltd. (2006) (worldwide) (all media)
• CAMI Spectrum (2006) (UK) (theatrical) (premiere)

Other Companies

• Philharmonia Orchestra, The  orchestra

Also Known As:

Piotrus i wilk (Poland)
Sergei Prokofiev's Peter & the Wolf (UK) (complete title)

Runtime:

29 min

Country:

UK | Poland | Norway | Mexico

Language:

None

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Lodz, Poland

Company:

BreakThru Films Ltd.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Family Guy: Play It Again, Brian (#6.10)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Peter and the Wolf

Magical

I saw Peter & the Wolf at its world premier in the Royal Albert Hall, accompanied by the Philharmonia orchestra. That's an electric experience that will be hard to duplicate… But it certainly won't detract from watching the film in future. Is it a re-imagining of P&TW, a reinterpretation, or a modernisation? Actually, it's all three. Peter's stamping ground is visualised in a depressed, cold and windswept forest somewhere in Eastern Europe; it's hard to tell if it's pre or post Soviet economic bloc. It could be any time, and that is the first great achievement of the film. Peter is a wan, pale and sullen young boy, garbed in hoody and dirty trousers, a stroppy kid, the type who lives down the road – yet his surroundings are timeless. It raises the themes of conflict between rural and urban, youth and age and cruelty and compassion with great dexterity. It's an adaptation that speaks both to the past and the present, which is no mean feat.

The plot is well-known and well-worn: the down-trodden Peter escapes the confines of grim homestead and taciturn, unsentimental grand-pappy with his pet duck and a bird with a broken wing (supported by a balloon, in a very nice touch) to go playing in the unbounded, frosty woods. Until the wolf creeps in. After suffering a great loss at the wolf's paws, Peter must rise to the occasion and capture the beast, who is much stronger and more ferocious than Peter is, but less clever… A rites of passage tale and an introduction to the orchestra for children, this version is actually quite gruelling in some respects. Impoverished and inhospitable, Peter's home life is plausibly miserable, and also easy to relate to: his run-ins with better clothed-and-fed peers and ugly hunters convey beautifully the threat of bullies and ignorant adults. Sharp and clever, but morose, Peter is a compelling hero, and the coda with him standing triumphant and grown, will provoke cheering and a quickened heartbeat.

The stop-motion animation is far less slick than that seen in Wallace and Gromit, but extends a naturalistic, un-burnished and at times almost ghoulish appeal. The slightly jerky movements, warped faces and grimy sets combine to create a world at once familiar yet also deformed, blighted by neglect and insensitivity. The animation also works amazingly well with the music, the movements of people and animals alike assuming the beats, leaps and whirls of the instruments. I guess you could call this a true musical, because while the characters may not leap into spontaneous song and dance, the music actually speaks for them. I'm not much of a music critic, nor do I know Sergei Prokofiev's piece (or any of his music, for that matter) at all well, but I still loved the soundtrack. It did sound modern, and had obviously adapted and moulded to fit the film with small nuances and flourishes, but I'm sure Prokofiev would have approved.

Considering the applause the film got, I'm certain no one else minded either.