Monsters vs Aliens features the voices of Reese Witherspoon as Ginormica (her name describes her monstrous condition), Seth Rogen as a gelatinous blob named B.O.B., Hugh Laurie as the mad inventor Dr. Cockroach, and Will Arnett as The Missing Link. 24 star Kiefer Sutherland lends his very recognizable voice to General W R Monger, the military official in charge of caring for these monsters and the man who recommends unleashing the monster pack on the unwanted alien visitors.
Kiefer Sutherland Monsters vs Aliens Press Conference
What made you want to be a part of the Monsters vs. Aliens project?Kiefer Sutherland: "Well, it was a combination of a few things. I believe that, certainly in the English language, Jeffrey Katzenberg makes some of the best animated movies, so he was part of it. I had worked with Reese Witherspoon before and her voice is on a much higher register than mine, and I thought that would be a nice balance. Most importantly, I’ve never chosen films because of a specific character. I’ve always chosen something because of what the story is and how if affects me. And this story, specifically, what I liked about it was that it was geared to young people and it told them that it was alright to be different. And, not only was it alright to be different, but the thing that might make you uncomfortable or make you feel weird could be your greatest quality. That quality, in the context of our movie, it allows Ginormica to save the planet. Certainly, when I was growing up there were times when I felt different than other kids and that scared me, a lot. So, what I liked about this movie is that it told children and young people that it was alright."
What do you think Jack Bauer would have done when the aliens came down to threaten the Earth?
Kiefer Sutherland: [Laughing] "I think Jack Bauer would have been the first person that the aliens took out. I’m sure he’ll be in the sequel, somehow. We would have been certainly been unconscious through this film."
Did you watch a lot of animated films when you were young?
Kiefer Sutherland: "Yeah, of course I did. Walt Disney was actually, whatever anyone thinks of about him, was a very smart guy and he made an animated film every seven years for every generation. And my generation, the film he made for us was a film called Bambi. It’s one of the most dramatic films I’ve still yet see. The mother dies in the first act, and literally, it’s the great coming of age story about how to be a man. So that was my opening to films as much as I must have cried – I must of? I’m pretending like I can’t remember. [Laughing] As much as I cried when that happened, at the end of the film I was just amazed at how much I felt. And that drew me to see other films. So, animated films for me were the doorway to this genre of entertainment that I fell in love with."
How tough is it to do a character voice and not sound like Kiefer? And did you look at any of the military generals that your dad [Donald Sutherland] played in some of his greatest films?
Kiefer Sutherland: "You know, gosh, I wish I had because that would have gone over well during our Sunday night dinner. But I hadn’t. Certainly, all of the animated stuff that I had done before, like The Wild or The Land Before Time and things like that, they had always wanted my voice to kind of sound like my voice so that it would be recognizable. So when I came in to do this, I told [producer Lisa Stewart] and [writer/director Conrad Vernon], ‘I have this idea for a character, is that going to be alright?’ And they said, ‘Not only is that alright, but that’s what we wanted you to do.'"
For the military aspect of the character, I love the voice of the sergeant in Full Metal Jacket. He was so abrasive and loud and kind of Southern. I knew Reese was doing a Southern thing going on, so I thought that would fit. Then, to kind of temper that for some humor, my favorite character is Yosemite Sam. In the Bugs Bunny cartoons that he was in, Yosemite Sam was always sitting in some kind of Western salon and he would start off with a line like, ‘Bring on the heap of rabbits,’ and he would go on like that. So, I did that voice and the producers laughed and we started to kind of joke around with melding the two together and we came up with the voice of the general. Which is actually not very different from what I just did. [Laughing] And we kind of went from there."
Would you called his voice Full Metal Sam?
Kiefer Sutherland: "Full Metal Sam?’ Hey, that’s very cool. I like that. Yeah, Full Metal Sam."
Is there any bit of Dr. Strangelove thrown in for good measure?
Kiefer Sutherland: "This is what is so cool. I’ve been to Berlin, London, Madrid, Rome, Paris, New York and here [in L.A.] and I’ve gotten that everywhere. That’s the power of the animation, and oddly enough, it’s (Dr. Strangelove) is a (Stanley) Kubrick film as well. We had never seen any of the animation. In fact, the entire time I worked on the film all I saw was the placard of the character and that was it. When I saw the animation, this is where I think all of the George C. Scott references come from – is the physicality of the character. When I saw the character he was big. I didn’t think he was going to shrink because of the 49-foot woman. So, he’s almost like a bee. He’s kind of square and physically he kind of reminds me of like Patton and Dr. Strangelove, but the voice references were completely separate. Again, I think the power of the animation and the visual can steer that in that direction very quickly."
