Duck of the Irish
Aidan Beatty talks with Mark Hodkinson, writer The Ugly Duckling and Me, an Irish-French-German-British-Danish animated feature.

Aidan: Can you tell us first about your background and how you got into writing for animation?

Aidan: I worked in animation for a long time. I started out working on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in about 1989; I was the cameraman there. Then I moved to Germany and was still working in animation. I was working on a series there and they were looking for writers, without getting professionals – they wanted someone cheap. So I got in that way. Then I came back to Ireland but I still had work with companies in Germany, writing for TV series. I came down to Galway and began working for Magma.

Is there a difference in writing for animation compared to writing for live action?

In a lot of ways it’s easier writing for animation, there’s a lot less restrictions. You can set it anywhere, props aren’t a problem, neither are special effects. Then in animation there’s supposed to be a lot more weight on action; I don’t know if that’s true though.

Is there is a huge difference between writing for children and writing for an adult audience?

Yeah, I’d have to think about that. I guess it’s more restrictive writing for children. But then that can be a good thing too; defined boundaries can make things easier.

What was the writing process for Ugly Duckling and Me?

Well A. Film in Denmark had the characters, Ratso and the Ugly Duckling. They wanted a feature, they wanted to do a parody of the original Ugly Duckling story. They had ideas before this, they had a story – and the original Hans Christian Anderson Ugly Duckling story is actually quite short, if you’ve ever read it. So obviously they needed to make a lot of changes and add a lot to make it a feature. A lot of their early ideas weren’t really working so they got on to Magma looking for a writer, and that’s when I came in. So we wrestled it out until we got a story that everybody liked. Then I came back to write a treatment, fifteen pages or so, and once everyone was happy with that it went to draft. But then there was still financing to come up with, and as each financier became involved they’d obviously want changes. There were a lot of compromises since there were more and more people to make happy. And when that’s spread between Denmark, France, Ireland and Germany – there is a general sense of humour but then the fine details of humour do differ from France to Denmark and Denmark to Germany and Germany to Ireland.

And did you play a role in the production itself or was your job finished by then?

It probably was. I didn’t have much sway after that. Though I did get to go along to auditions and I was asked for my opinion, though I don’t know how much sway I had. And A. Film were very good, they kept me up to date and sent me scenes and storyboards so I could look at it.

What do you think is the future for animation in Ireland and in Europe?

I don’t know if I’m qualified to say, but I think it’s looking good. Between Brownbag and also Magma, who’ve done a lot of scripting in recent years. I know they have a lot more projects coming up, including another feature due to come out next year. I think Boulder Media also, in Dublin, have some great stuff going on. So I think it’s positive, because it took a huge dip a few years ago. There are a few companies, and things are looking brighter – though animation in Ireland may not get back to where it was.

Would you have any advice for people who are starting out as animators or training as animators?

I’ve always heard great things about Ballyfermot. Years ago when I was working in animation companies, Ballyfermot would get great things said about it. Dun Laoghaire is getting a really good name now too. Though I’ve been scriptwriting for about ten years now, so I’m out of the loop really when it comes to animation studios and that kind of production work.

What about people who want to work in writing for animation?

I think the jump from live action to animation isn’t really that big at the scripting stage. As I was saying, you have a lot more freedom in animation with characters and that. When you’re writing, whether for animation or live action, you’re still just sitting alone in your attic working away, so there isn’t really a huge difference.

Finally, what plans have you got for the future? What are you working on at the moment?

Myself and another writer, Richie Conroy, have a short film script that we got funding for from the Galway Film Centre and RTÉ, so I’ll be doing that this summer and it’s my first chance really to direct something. As far as writing goes, I’m still working on some TV series for European companies and maybe also for Magma again. I set up a company with Richie Conroy, Snowluke Pictures, so we’re just trying to get some projects off the ground and at the same time pay the bills by doing scripting service work for other animation companies.

The Ugly Duckling and Me! is released on 6th July 2007.
Read review here