When Hollywood wants a big bang for its buck, it calls producer Jerry Bruckheimer. His movies invariably share several traits - they're populist, they're explosive, they're bombastic, and they're successful. When his Down Under caper movie "Kangaroo Jack" wasn't scoring well with test audiences, he introduced a talking kangaroo and turned it into a movie for kids! He reveals more about the film here...
When you think Jerry Bruckheimer, you don't automatically think kangaroos. Why did you make this movie?
That's exactly why! Because I haven't done this before. I try to do things that are different, and we wanted to do something for little kids. And this one is for little kids. We want to entertain the whole family, so we're trying for the seven-year-olds now!
How much of it was real kangaroos and how much was digital technology?
I'd say about 90% of it is technology. Originally it was going to be a lot less. We thought we could train the kangaroos. That didn't work, they wouldn't be trained. Then we had an animatronic kangaroo, and that didn't work either. So we ended up with the most expensive actor being the CGI kangaroo.
You picked director David McNally to do "Coyote Ugly" and then you chose him again for "Kangaroo Jack". Why?
He's just a fun guy. He has a great sense of humour and a wonderful eye. He's a terrific guy to work with.
So what do you like most about the finished film?
It's about friendship. That's the theme of the movie, and I think that's what kids walk away with. It's about how important friendship is.
