Review Fix Exclusive: Q & A with ‘Jackboots on Whitehall’ Directors Edward and Rory McHenry

In “Jackboots on Whitehall,” directors Edward and Rory McHenry wanted to make a World War II inspired animated film that not only made you laugh, but was technical proficient in every way possible. Channeling Michael Bay, the brother-duo have more explosions in this film than the last Transformers film.

Mission accomplished.

But if you thought the film was all about action, you’d be wrong.

Not only did they get Ewan McGregor to voice the main character, Christopher, but also nabbed stars the likes of Dominic West, Tom Wilkinson, Timothy Spall and Alan Cumming to play roles.

The end result is solid English satire that is far from historically correct, but fun nonetheless.

In this Q & A, Edward and Rory McHenry discuss their new star-ladden World War II animated film and the process behind it.

Review Fix: What was the inspiration for the film?

Edward McHenry: Mainly from films we both love and grew up on. From the Indiana Jones series to more classic British cinema from the post war period – the Ealing Comedies like The Titfield Thunderbolt and Presberger and Powell Films like A Canterbury Tale. Those two in particular were a great influence on the feel of an old lost English countryside. Then every single war film ever made…

Review Fix: The type of animation used for the film is incredibly time consuming, considering that, how long did it take to complete the film?

Edward McHenry: It’s not stop frame animation as in a Wallace and Gromit, it was done with animatronics and rods. This meant that it was approached from a live action angle when we were scheduling it and especially shooting it. In all it took 10 weeks to film. The animation took place in the post-production period with animating the facial expressions.

Review Fix: When was the moment that you felt the film was coming together the way you would have liked?

Edward McHenry: While looking at the rushes during the filming. Our editor would give us a DVD every Friday during the shoot with the assembly of the current film on it. It was great to see the film grow week by week, but there was always a worry during week one of “is this idea of using puppets as people actually going to work – is it going to cut like a film with actors?” We soon found out that it did, but as we had prepped so hard and drawn every shot in storyboards – of cause it did!

Review Fix: How difficult was it to acquire the tremendous cast [Timothy Spall, Dominc West, Ewan McGregor and Alan Cumming] the film has? Any interesting stories as to how they were retained?

Edward McHenry: That was one of the easiest parts! I think because we approached them through voice-overs rather than a live action deal made it easier. It mean that they could come in and play historic characters for a few hours and then go home. We started out by going to a couple and one by one the momentum grew over a few weeks and by about week three we had everyone we wanted.

Review Fix: What is your favorite part of the film and why?

Edward McHenry: I think the scenes at the start of act 2 just after the Nazis have invaded are the best. When our hero’s are all grouped together in a barn in the countryside, the baddies are all in London and Churchill is stuck underground in his bunker with only Rupee and the Punjabi’s to defend him. I love those scenes as every character has been introduced and the story is now rolling with all our characters heading off on an adventure and all interlinked by the SOS radio message from Churchill.

Review Fix: Who is your favorite character and why?

Rory McHenry: Probably Fiske. During the filming it changed every day, mainly because some of the puppets were a lot easier to work with than others. Braveheart was a nightmare! He never seemed to do what you wanted him to do and kept catching fire. Daisy was very easy to work with; she was very professional.

Review Fix: If you could change one thing about the film, what would it be and why?

Rory McHenry: More explosions… There were a lot more sets and London monuments we could have blown up!

Review Fix: Many viewers who see the trailer for this film will instantly think of “Team America: World Police.” How would you explain its differences to them?

Rory McHenry: They are very different movies, although there’s obviously the puppet thing. What Matt Stone and Trey Parker did with Team America was a definite parody of those Gerry Anderson shows like Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet, and they got it spot on with the strings and the funny walking and stuff. What we wanted to do was something more cinematic – not necessarily make jokes about the characters being puppets. But we love Team America, Matt Stone and Trey Parker are absolute geniuses.

Review Fix: How do you want this film to be remembered?

Rory McHenry: As the smallest big action movie ever conceived.

mm
About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13801 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*