Lisa Carroll
The “Tomorrowland” press conference held Friday at the elegant Montage Hotel was brief, yet the panel dropped some interesting facts about the film and a hint at a possible future attraction.
At the center of attention, where reporters and bloggers were vying for a front row view, was George Clooney ; modest yet funny. He fended off personal questions (since it was Mother’s Day that weekend, did he see being a father in his future? Clooney laughed) and talked about having hope in the middle of pessimistic times.
Most of the questions were asked by the moderator, Dave Karger, chief correspondent from Fandango.
Jeff Jensen (story), Damon Lindelof (producer/screenwriter), Britt Robertson (Casey Newton), Tim McGraw (Casey’s father), George Clooney (Frank Walker), Raffey Cassidy (Athena) and Brad Bird (director/writer/producer) were all at the panel.
When asked how discussions about the “Tomorrowland” film started, Lindelof related that he was having a meeting at Disney talking with an executive about Marvel movies and fantasy princess movies, when he said “I don’t know what it’s about, but I would go and see a movie called ‘Tomorrowland.’”
Lindelof added that over the last 20-30 years, several movies had shown him a future he had not wanted “to be living in,” (about apocalyptic wastelands, etc.).
“What about that other future? Is there a way to tell that story? I was really interested in the history of Disney, the Imagineers and the theme parks, particularly how it related to the world’s fairs,” he said.
Bird stated that he was inspired by the idea and admired Lindelof’s work. He had asked Lindelof what he was doing next and was “hooked.”
Since he had three daughters and was in a film playing a father with a daughter, McGraw was asked if the part was very comfortable?
“It did, I was thinking of the scene where we were shooting a scene in this car, doing a long conversation where we were talking about life and talking about God, it was pretty reminiscent of some of the conversations I had with my daughter. In fact, I had to be upset in that scene and I just had been upset with my daughter the night before about something,” McGraw added.
Robertson related that Cassidy played “mom” a lot, “especially with George and I, she was constantly just trying to keep us focused. And funny enough, that’s how she is in life too, not intentionally – she’s so professional and so focused herself.”
Clooney was asked about bold films in his career, what about this one?
“I think first and foremost, I think it was a really bold thing for Disney to be willing to do something that isn’t a sequel and isn’t a comic book and to truly invest in a summer film with this sort of ilk,” Clooney said, although he joked about reading the script and seeing his part as a “55-year-old has-been.”
He added that “We live in a world where you turn on your television set and it’s rough out there, and it’s not fun, and can really wear on you after a period of time, and we see generations now, feeling sort of hopeless in a kind of way. What I love about it is, it sort of speaks to the idea that your future is not pre-ordained and pre-destined and if you are involved, a single voice can make a difference and I believe in that, so I love the theme of the idea that there is still so much we can all do to make things better.”
Bird chimed in when asked about NASA playing a role in the production, saying that he remembered the moon landing. He was flying in from Denver and when they landed, they ran to the nearest TV monitor, watching with 400 other people when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon and cheered and how “that feeling has never left me.”
“When we were first planning the movie, Damon and I, we were at Disney and the space shuttle took its last circle over L.A. Everybody came out and watched it and there was this weird feeling of great pride and sadness, like ‘why aren’t we doing that anymore?’” he related.
Bird added that it was great to film at a NASA launch pad and he hoped it might encourage NASA to do more.
The question was asked, what could be done to make the world better?
Cassidy said she’d get rid of any technology, keep the “cool cars” and have it where people wrote letters to each other.
McGraw joked, “I agree with that, I have three daughters and to see their faces would be nice.”
Mentioning being in a career where there a lot of attention was focused on one’s self, Clooney said he tried to turn that focus on to other things like Sub-Saharan, Africa.
What about a possible Tomorrowland attraction being in development?
Brad Bird commented that he thinks that Disneyland is constantly planning things, however Damon Lindelof added, “We’ll see how the movie does.”
