Director's Commentary

In order to have the audience feel a sense of loss at the end of the film it was critically important for us to impart emotion to our characters. To that end, we named both characters to force the crew to think of them as living people.  Oliver is  our olive oil bottle, and Venus is his lovely balsamic vinegar love.  By the time we see the salt and pepper shakers joining to form their perfect union, we have given Oliver a chance to really react to the other couples' happiness and, hopefully, given the audience a chance to see the heart of our sad sack hero.

Venus, on the other hand, has very little time to connect to the audience, but we quickly establish a sultry/innocent Marilyn Monroe-esque presence with her slinky entrance.

Our entire score and libretto was composed for the film. The lyrics were originally written in English and translated to Italian.  Here's the dialog from their initial encounter where we were trying to put our own twist on a "love at first sight" scene.

Oliver: "Finally someone for me!  For you beautiful."
Venus replies: "He is so handsome."
Oliver: "How lucky for me!"
Venus: "And sensitive."

We designed our cheesy slow-mo sequence to turn the classic lovers running through the field cliché on its ear. The wedding bells you hear mark the beginning of the mood shift. We also ramp the color palette from cold blues to slightly warmer reds, and replaced the operatic singing with over the top melodrama.

We wanted the audience to really feel the pain of Venus' demise. Watch the camera shake as she falls and the swaying of the curtain ropes. Even the cookie jar in the background rattles. All these touches help convey the tragicness, and humor, of Oliver's loss.

As the camera pans down, he laments: "My god, what have I done?" We come full circle to Oliver's tears. The same tears of loneliness that ended up dooming his new found love.

The end credits were hand drawn by Hans Bacher, a famous production designer at Disney Feature animation. We were very excited that he liked the film enough to create a special font and our credits.

Music was integral through out the film to define mood. In the end-credits, we purposely juxtapose lighter Italian music in contrast with the mock-serious opera preceding it to help reinforce the comedic tone of the film.

Tidbits

If you look closely at Oliver's label, you will see that it is named Falcocelli after a crew member (Rob Falco) on our previous film, Salad Bowl...A Carrot's Tale. Venus, our vinegar bottle, also has an inside joke on her label. Dos Miguels refers to producer/director, Mike Blum and co-developer, Mike King.

Notice that Venus arises without her head in the last tag.