Camouflage and Espionage is a new project from the animation studio Blue Sky, which previously became famous for such hits as Ice Age and Rio. The inspiration for the creators was a series of spy films about James Bond, and the result, in their opinion, was a mixture of fantastic ideas from the foreseeable future and the style of the last century. The choice of voices for the main characters is also a guarantee of the audience's interest. They are voiced by Hollywood superstar Will Smith and new Spider-Man actor Tom Holland.
Plot and actors
Lance Sterling and Walter Beckett - the main characters of the animated film "Camouflage and Espionage" - a super spy and a scientist who join forces to complete complex and demanding tasks. But in fact, there is very little in common between them. After all, Lance, like a real secret agent, is strong, agile, has excellent manners and is able to charm any woman. Whereas Walter has to compensate for the lack of social skills with intelligence and ingenuity. It is he who creates the awesome gadgets that Sterling uses in his secret missions.
But one day events take an unexpected turn, because of which this strange tandem will have to learn to trust each other and together save the world from a serious threat. But the methods of work of one do not suit the other. Lance is unhappy with Walter's new ingenious idea to turn him into a dove. While birds on city streets are numerous and inconspicuous, perfect for espionage, Sterling has a hard time following the weird Beckett. Unfortunately, there is no other way out, and the main characters begin to work as a team.
Since the actors' play is recreated on the screen by computer animation, the stars play their roles behind the scenes, breathing life into the invented characters with the help of their voices. Will Smith, one of the most popular and profitable actors in Hollywood, was hired by Blue Sky to voice Lance Sterling. In addition, he has previously had occasion to embody secret agents on the screen in the Men in Black series of films.
Smith was accompanied by rising movie star Tom Holland, who gave his voice to Walter Beckett. The young actor is known to the audience, first of all, as the leading role in the fantastic blockbusters "Spider-Man: Homecoming" and "Spider-Man: Far From Home". The rest of the characters were voiced by Ben Mendelssohn, Rashida Jones, Karen Gillan, DJ Khaled, Masi Oka, Rashan Nadine Scott.
Creation story, trailer, premiere
Camouflage and Espionage was directed by animation veterans Nick Bruno and Troy Kwon. For both of them, this work was their debut in directing. The creators were inspired by Lucas Martell's short animated film "Pigeon: Impossible" from 2009. The city, in which the events of the spy comedy unfolds, the production designers have stylized as Washington in the 60s. As conceived by the authors, the entourage should inspire the audience with the atmosphere of the very first James Bond films. To achieve the required accuracy, experts studied the details of agent 007 and even visited the International Spy Museum.
At the same time, Camouflage and Espionage was to remain a modern, high-tech project. Therefore, Walter's inventions presented in the film, although fictional, are based on real-life things and objects. According to director Troy Kwon, all the spy gadgets they invented can be seen as a message to the near future.
The official trailer of the film was released on November 1, 2018, and the Blue Sky studio postponed the world premiere several times: from the beginning of January 2019 to April, and then stopped at the date of September 13. Russian fans of animation will have to wait a little less, because in our country "Camouflage and Espionage" will be shown almost a month earlier: it will be released on 15 August.
The animation studio has high hopes for this project, since their new films have not yet managed to repeat the success of the Ice Age and Rio franchises. Such animated works as "Epic", "Snoopy and the Pot-bellied Little Thing in the Movies", "Ferdinand" did not gross at the box office and 300 million dollars with a budget of about 100 million. So from Camouflage and Espionage, the creators expect financial success, which will mark the end of a streak of failures.
