The Creator Director 'Moved Heaven And Earth' To Include An Original Anime In The Film [Exclusive]

Director Gareth Edwards included an original anime series in his latest movie "The Creator." While that might seem like a neat little background detail, rest assured, this was not something the filmmaker did with little thought. As he tells it, Edwards actually "moved heaven and earth" to make this original anime part of the film.

/Film's own Vanessa Armstrong spoke with Edwards in anticipation of the release of "The Creator," which marks the director's first film since 2016's "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story." During the conversation, Edwards was asked about the anime series, which the character Alphie (Madeleine Yuna Voyles) is watching during the events of the film. As it turns out, this ended up being one of the very last things they added during production. 

Edwards said: 

"That NOMAD anime was not easy, because we shot with real cartoons, and I thought it'd be a good little trick to occupy Madeline whilst we were shooting scenes — she could just watch cartoons. That's easy money, right? I didn't need to do that, because she's an amazing actress. Then I always felt like, 'We'll replace that cartoon at some point, we'll replace it.' Then it was one of the last things we did in the whole of post-production, was like, 'Oh my God, the cartoon. We haven't got the rights to the thing that we used.'"

That's right: the placeholder cartoons they had on the TV on set weren't cleared to be used, rights-wise. So, what was Edwards to do? Well, since they used anime on set, the director figured it made sense to have anime in the final product. It just wasn't going to be easy to get it done.

"We used anime on the set, and it was like, 'Where are we going to find someone who can do all these designs [of NOMAD] and make it look like anime?'" Edwards explained before adding: "We moved heaven and earth to make that happen." Part of that involved finding animators to come in at the 11th hour to actually put together the anime based on the NOMAD ship that appears in the film. "These great animators came in at the last minute and got the film over the finish line," Edwards said.

Speaking further, the filmmaker, whose credits also include 2014's "Godzilla" and the low-budget "Monsters," revealed that he wasn't even sure if anyone would notice the anime on a first watch. He also explained that the films of Joe Dante ("Gremlins," "The Howling") were an influence when it came to this particular creative choice.

"I was like, 'Is anyone even going to notice this?' I thought it was something you'd have to watch two or three times to go, 'Wait a minute. That's the stuff in the world.' But yeah, I love all that stuff. I mean, my favorite moments are in Joe Dante films where they've got a TV on in the corner of the room, and something very scary and terrible is happening over here, but the music's like a Warner Bros. cartoon or something. I love that kind of contrast."

Edwards, in addition to directing, penned the screenplay for "The Creator" alongside Chris Weitz ("Rogue One," "Cinderella"). The cast also includes John David Washington ("Tenet"), Gemma Chan ("Eternals"), Ken Watanabe ("Godzilla"), Sturgill Simpson ("The Hunt"), and Allison Janney ("I, Tonya").

"The Creator" is set to hit theaters on September 29, 2023.