USA: NATHAN LANE AND LEE EVANS TEAM UP FOR THE BATTLE OF THEIR ACTING CAREERS IN "MOUSE HUNT"

Record ID: 387399

  • Title: USA: NATHAN LANE AND LEE EVANS TEAM UP FOR THE BATTLE OF THEIR ACTING CAREERS IN "MOUSE HUNT"
  • Date: 15th November 1997
  • Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 15, 1997) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) (SOUNDBITE ENGLISH) NATHAN LANE SAYING, "WELL, I THINK IT VERY MUCH IS INSPIRED BY LAUREL AND HARDY AND THE KIND OF TWO REELERS THEY USED TO DO WHERE YOU'D HAVE A VERY SIMPLE PREMISE OF, OLLIE, HOW ARE WE GOING TO GET THE PIANO UP THE STAIRS? TO, TO US, TRYING TO RENOVATE THIS HOME WITH A MOUSE IN IT AND SO, YEAH, CERTAINLY, I EVEN DO A LITTLE HOMAGE TO OLIVER HARDY AND I DO THE LITTLE TIE TWADDLE, HE USED TO CALL IT THAT, THE FAMOUS TIE TWADDLE." (SOUNDBITE ENGLISH) BOONE NARR SAYING, "WE SPENT SIX MONTHS, THREE TRAINERS, TRAINING THESE 60 MICE TO DO THESE THINGS AND THE MORE WE GOT INTO IT, WE REALIZED HOW SMART THESE GUYS WERE AND 90 TO 95 PERCENT OF THE MOVIE IS THE REAL MOUSE AND ONLY THOSE SCENES WHERE THE MOUSE WAS IN SOME KIND OF JEOPARDY OR DANGER DID WE EVER RESORT TO THOSE THINGS AND THEY MADE US LOOK GOOD, THOSE GUYS."
  • Embargoed: 30th November 1997 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK AND LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES/ FILM lOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVADX1USV11CKFPTF7SJYC064RFO
  • Story Text: - The cat and mouse capers in the classic cartoon "Tom and Jerry" were tame compared to the hijinks got up to by the characters in "Mouse Hunt" - a new comedy starring Nathan Lane and Lee Evans. In the film, Lane and Evans do battle with an industrious mouse who refuses to vacate their home.

    The real star of the film - Jenny, decked out in her best top hat - attended the film's World Premiere in Los Angeles. Her date for the night was Lane, who said his rodent co-star had been a little nervous about acting with him at first, but, "after a while she really got into the whole filmaking process," he joked.

    The two were joined by a crowd of movie-goers determined to get in on their act. Wearing mouse costumes and cheese slice-shaped hats the revelers got into the spirit of the movie as they queued for tickets.

    In the film, which is the first big-screen comedy from Dreamworks, Lane and Evans play brothers Ernie and Lars Smuntz, who inherit a crumbling old mansion. But they're surprised to discover the dilapidated home is an architectural masterpiece worth millions.

    The two plan to clean the place up and auction it off, but there's one very small problem keeping them from their task: the house is occupied by a mouse, who has no intention of vacating the premises.

    The brothers try just about everything and anything to get rid of their unwanted guest, from a ferocious feline named Catzilla to a deranged exterminator played by Christopher Walken.

    In the process, they're blown up, beaten up and banged up by their very formidable opponent.

    The slapstick style of the film was familiar territory for Evans, who's best known for his trademark verbal and physical acrobatics.

    It's a bit of a departure, though, for Lane, who's better known for starring opposite Robin Williams in "The Birdcage" and for providing the voice of Timon in the Disney animated blockbuster "The Lion King." Lane said he thought the film was along the lines of a Laurel and Hardy comedy with some very difficult acting moments, "It was, ooh it was painful. When I read the script I thought this is humiliation and abuse on a daily basis and so I wasn't sure I wanted to be the one chasing a mouse for tow hours," he said.

    Evens said he thought the film would go down well across the globe. "Physical comedy has this habit of kind of travelling," he said.

    "Mouse Hunt" is the first feature film by commercial director Gore Verbinski who has won four Clio Awards, the top honour in the advertising industry.

    Veteran animal trainer Boone Narr taught 60 mice to perform many of the complex stunts in the film. Grouped in teams of four or five, the mice were taught basic running and climbing stunts, as well as more intricate actions, including climbing into a sardine can bed beneath a tissue paper blanket.

    Narr says his mice were used for almost all the on-camera work required. Only in dangerous situations did the crew resort to animatronic mice or computer generated creatures.

    This is the first film in which Evans and Lane have worked together as a comedy duo. Lane said he had admired Evans's performance in his previous films. "I don't know who's idea it was to bring us together as a team, but I thought it was a very smart one," he said.
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