Rasmus A. Sivertsen: “As an animator, I want to get back to the feeling I had as a child”

After its conquest of Norwegian kids and their parents (254,286 admissions), Rasmus A. Sivertsen’s Captain Sabertooth and the Magic Diamond is setting sights on Iceland (June 5), Denmark (June 18) and Sweden (pre-launch June 5, official launch June 26).

Sivertsen has an impressive lineup of award-winning films and B.O hits to his credit, from Kurt Turns Evil, Ploddy the Police Car, Two Buddies and a Badger, the stop motion trilogy Louis & Luca and the Snow Machine, Louis & Luca-The Big Cheese Race and Louis & Luca-Mission to the Moon, and In the Forest of Hucky Bucky. 

Captain Sabertooth & the Magic Diamond was co-directed with Marit Moum Aune for Sivertsen’s company Qvisten Animation. Nordisk Film handles Scandinavian distribution, Sola Media world sales.

When you set out to make a new animated film and invest several years of your life and creative energy-what are the key elements that make you choose a specific story and universe?
Rasmus A. Sivertsen: I grew up with animation. My father was an animator who inspired my brother and I. We would spend our time drawing, make short films, discussing animation.  As an animator, I want to get back to the feeling I had as a child. Somehow, that feeling is still embedded in me and I want to give that back to the general audience. I’m looking for films that have humour, warmth, adventure to grab the audience’s attention. 

Captain Sabertooth was another major dive for you into a Norwegian national treasure. What makes the character created by Terje Formoe and his universe so special? You already worked on the franchise with Stig Bergqvist in 2003…
RAS: The character was created 30 years ago, yet he is still hugely popular with kids. I think it’s because he is both scary and mysterious. The kids fear him and at the same time identify with him. They feel they are allowed to take out the inner darkness in themselves and be like him. I could see that with my own kids. This is really interesting and part of the success of the franchise. 

Screenwriter Karsten Fullu is your long -time partner. How do you collaborate and what makes his writing for family animated films so special?
RAS: Karsten and I first collaborated on my first animated full-length feature film Kurt Turns Evil [2008]. We always discuss humour, technicalities of jokes as we love hearing audiences laugh while watching our films.  We’ve also found out a fantastic way to work together. At script stage, I spend eight weeks doing a storyboard with animatics. We then do the voices, add music and make a cheap film. We look at it together with Karsten and the producer, check what works or not. Then Karsten writes again, I do another eight weeks of storyboarding, editing and we discuss it again. This goes on for over a year. I know that Disney and Pixar also use this technique. I was at a Disney seminar about the making of Moana. They spent three years just on the screenplay, even before starting the animation.

How did you share the directing duties with Marit Moum Aune who had never worked on an animated film before?
RAS: That was a fantastic experience. I come from animation and had never learned how to work with actors. So when we decided to innovate with the voices, gathering actors together and shooting them live while recording their movements and voices with microphones attached with a headband, that was a revelation. I was inspired by the making of Where the Wild Things Are by Spike Jonze. 

Will you use this technique again?
Yes for my next animated project Kardemomme by (‘Cardamom Town’). I am already rehearsing with some actors. 

There is a fantastic energy in Captain Sabertooth and the Magic Diamond not only because of the storyline, but also in the visuals, with a large range of backgrounds, colours, costumes etc. Can you tell us about the visual style for the film?
RAS: We put a lot of effort with our designers to find the correct look. Lifting the quality and range of the background was something we wanted to do also to sell the film outside the Nordics. We know that buyers look at the details in the animation and the quality of the images, to evaluate a film’s theatrical potential. Our sales agent Sola Media was very pleased as the film was sold to more than 50 territories. 

How many creatives work at Qvisten?
RAS: We have 50 people working at Qvisten. It’s a fantastic place to work, with so many talented people working with the same goal. It’s like a Willy Wonka factory with animators and creators. It’s super fun!

You’ve directed so many wonderful films with puppetry and stop motion-what is your favourite animation technique or do you simply enjoy alternating techniques?
RAS: The technique is linked to the film you’re making. With the three stop motion films about Solan & Ludvig (Louis & Luca) we wanted to have the tactility of the drawings of artist Kjell Aukrust on whose stories it was based on. With this film, it would have been impossible to make a stop motion film as we wanted to recreate the ocean and use sophisticated special effects. For each film you have to choose the most-adapted animation technique.

Qvisten Animation was created in 1994. Are you the biggest animation studio in Norway today?
RAS: We’re probably one of the biggest studios in Scandinavia at the moment. There are many animation studios here in Norway and it’s fantastic that there is such a level of production in such a small country. There are many grants available.

How do you see your company grow?
RAS: I’d love to co-produce more with Europe. Finding partners in France, Germany who think likewise and create bigger animation films that have the potential to reach larger audiences worldwide would be the next step. Even if a film is successful at home, it’s still challenging to get it out into the world. So co-producing would be a way to achieve this. 

What’s lined up at Qvisten? RAS: We have just finished Knutsen & Ludvigsen 2-Det Store Dyret (Two Buddies and a Badger 2-The Great Big Beast) co-produced with Tordenfilm and we have Jul på KuToppen (Christmas at Cattle Hill) that will be this year’s big Norwegian Christmas movie. We’re also preparing Kardemomme By (Cardamom Town) based on another story by author Torbjørn Egner [In the Forest of Hucky Bucky]. It will be another stop-motion film. I love working with the puppets, being on the set, doing like a miniature film. 

Your films are based on celebrated IPs, children’s books. Would to like to explore new types of storytelling in the future?
RAS: Absolutely. I’d like to create original stories. Animation films are expensive and investors are usually reluctant to bet on original material, but perhaps now I might be able to create something totally original, a contemporary story relevant for youngsters and families. That would be super exciting!