Disney’s “Mars Needs Moms” combines out-of-this-world adventure with down-to-earth humor and heart

Jim Hill

14 years ago

As I was watching Disney’s “Mars Needs Moms” at this past weekend’s press screening, I was reminded of something that Steve Kloves (i.e. the veteran screenwriter who’s adapted all but one of the “Harry Potter” books for the big screen) recently told the NY Times. When asked about his initial meetings with Harry’s infamously hands-on creator, J. K. Rowling (to be specific, whether she had given him any guidance in regards to how to turn “Sorcerer’s Stone” into a motion picture), Steve replied:

“The first day I met her, she said: ‘I know the movies can’t be the books. All that I ask is that you be true to the characters.'”

Well, Simon & Wendy Wells seem to have borrowed a few pages from Steve Kloves’ playbook. For while their big screen 3D adaptation of “Mars Needs Moms” (which opens in theaters nationwide tomorrow) may not be faithful to the exact storyline of Berkeley Breathed‘s 2007 picture book, this film is entirely true to its characters. More importantly, to the big emotions that made “Mars Needs Moms” (the book) such a memorable read.

Mind you, Simon & Wendy have aged up Milo, the 5 year-old boy who served as the protagonist of Berkeley’s charming tale. In “Mars Needs Moms” (the movie), Milo is now a 9-year-old boy who’s recently been giving his Mom a lot of guff. And when these two lock horns once too often right before bedtime, Milo says something that’s pretty unforgivable: He tells his mother that “I wish that I didn’t have a Mom.”

Now I know. Whenever people talk about motion pictures that are produced using performance-capture technology, they always harp on the dead eyes of the characters in these films. How the human characters never quite look right and/or move far too stiffly.

Well, ImageMovers Digital must have used some NextGen performance-capture technology while they were making “Mars Needs Moms.” For the human characters (as they’re depicted in this particular motion picture) are decidedly superior to the ones that we’ve seen in other Robert Zemeckis productions like “The Polar Express,” “Monster House,” “Beowulf” and “Disney’s A Christmas Carol.” Which is why – when Milo blurts out that he wishes that he didn’t have a Mom –the raw hurt that registers on the Mother character’s face is almost startling.

Seth Green and Joan Cusack on set during “Mars Needs Moms”
performance-capture shoot. Photo by Joseph Lederer.
Copyright ImageMovers Digital LLC. All rights reserved

Of course, what really helps here is that Simon & Wendy assembled a first-class cast to handle the performance-capture end of things on “Mars Needs Moms.” Seth Green, Joan Cusask, Dan Fogler, Elisabeth Harnois and Mindy Sterling (among others) all went above and beyond the call here. Delivering highly energetic yet subtle performances which the artists, animators and technicians who actually produced this animated feature were then able to use to make this sci-fi comedy adventure even more entertaining.

Which isn’t to say that “Mars Needs Moms” is a perfect motion picture. I have to say that when Gribble (i.e. the overweight human man-child who’s been living below the surface of Mars for years, hidden away in the planet’s trash heaps) first entered this movie, I thought that the filmmakers had made a serious mis-step. Gribble was initially such a cliché (i.e. You know? That socially awkward nerd who’s super-skilled when it comes to technology & gaming, but absolutely lousy when it comes to dealing with other actual human beings?) that this character actually pulled me out of “Mars Needs Moms” for a little bit.

But then the Wells did a very smart thing. They revealed Gribble’s back story. And then what had initially appeared to be a broadly (perhaps too broad) comic character was now someone genuinely sympathetic. A character that the audience could care about and root for.

And the same could pretty much be said for the character of Ki, the Martian rebel who taught herself English by watching 1970s sitcoms. What had started out as a seemingly clichéd story idea – in the hands of the “Mars Needs Moms” production team – suddenly becomes something deeper, smarter, more moving.

Which – when you get right down to it – is exactly what the Wells did with the rest of “Mars Needs Moms.” They took a 38-page picture book, which – while it was an admittedly fun and ultimately moving tale -wasn’t really enough to support a full-length animated feature. And then Simon & Wendy made some smart story choices that helped extend & strengthen Berkeley’s story. While – at the same time – preserving “Mars Needs Moms” emotional center.

So, yeah. Some people – when they talk about this ImageMovers Digital production – will go on & on about the performance-capture technology that was used to make “Mars Needs Mars” and/or debate how effective the use of 3D in this Walt Disney Pictures release was.

But me? Whenever I talk about “Mars Needs Moms,” I’m going to borrow a phrase from J.K. Rowling. In that, I know that the movie can’t ever be the book. But the film that the “Mars Needs Moms” production team produced manages to preserve what was best about Berkeley Breathed’s book, while – at the same time – teasing the threads of that story out. With the end result being a visually pleasing performance-capture project that has plenty of humor & heart.

So don’t let those “Mars Needs Moms” TV commercials (which – yes, I’ll admit it – make far too many references to Gribble’s Butt Blasters) throw you. For while this new Walt Disney Pictures release may promise an out-of-this-world comic adventure, it’s this film’s down-to-earth emotional message that you’ll wind up remembering.

Your thoughts?