- Title: USA: FILM PREMIERE OF THE NEW ANIMATION/LIVE ACTION HYBRID "OSMOSIS JONES"
- Date: 21st July 2001
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (JULY 21, 2001) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) WILLIAM SHATNER SAYING OF THE RECORDING SESSIONS: "The actor goes in, you're all alone in the studio. Not only did I not act with anybody, I didn't know who was in the film. I knew Chris was in it and Bill Murray. So, you're alone and then there's 20 people packed in a booth that was ma
- Embargoed: 5th August 2001 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES AND FILM LOCATIONS
- Country: USA
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA39L5WC1QW3QCE835EVMKPF24R
- Story Text: Bill Murray, Laurence Fishburne, William Shatner and the hit-making team of Peter and Bobby Farrelly were among the stars turning out Tuesday, August 7 in Los Angeles for the premiere of the new animation/live action hybrid "Osmosis Jones."
Taking a break from their trademark raunchy, gross-out comedies, the fraternal filmmaking team of Peter and Bobby Farrelly combine live action with animation for the first big screen venture inside the human body since the 1966 sci-fi classic "The Fantastic Voyage."
Chris Rock provides the voice for the title character of "Osmosis Jones," a scrappy little white blood cell who lives and works inside the body of Frank, a slovenly, overweight and out of shape zoo-keeper played in live action by Bill Murray.
Jones spends his time patrolling the blood stream of Frank, looking for and eliminating germs and viruses that threaten his well-being. But even he is outmatched when a new, never-before-seen virus called Thrax enters the system.
The villainous virus is voiced by Laurence Fishburne, who resorted to wearing a grotesque mask in order to discover and develop a distinctive vocal style for the character.
Aiding Jones in his battle against Thrax are a 12-hour cold capsule known as Drix, voiced by "Frasier's" David Hyde Pierce, a sassy little red blood cell named Leah, voiced by singer Brandy Norwood, and the bombastic mayor of the "City of Frank," Mayor Phlegmming, voiced by "Star Trek" legend William Shatner.
In the live action portion of the film, Murray plays opposite young Elena Franklin as his daughter, "Saturday Night Live" star Molly Shannon as his daughter's teacher, and Farrelly brothers favourite Chris Elliot as Murray's equally bad-habit-addicted buddy Bob.
Despite the cutting-edge special effects and a toned-down "PG" rated dose of Farrelly Brothers humour, "Osmosis Jones"
is, at its heart, an old fashioned detective story, with white blood cells as the cops, viruses as the crooks, and the human body as the big bad city in which the action unfolds.
This is not Chris Rock's first foray into animation voice work. He previously lent his voice to the Eddie Murphy talking animal comedy "Dr. Dolittle." Rock says he likes the work because it makes him feel like he's nine years old again.
Surprisingly, given his deep, resonant voice, Laurence Fishburne had never been asked to voice an animated character before, and at first, he found it difficult to get into the work. But once he donned a mask from his personal collection, he was able to develop a voice, and the nasty "ghetto-fabulous killer virus" Thrax was born.
"Osmosis Jones" opens in theaters throughout the United States on Friday, August 10.
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