Having two kids of his own, Dana Carvey knows what they want to see when they go to the movies. And as a father who has to sit next to them, he also knows what amuses their parents. "I really wanted to make a movie that kids could enjoy, along with their parents," notes Dana Carvey. "Being a father, it's kind of rare to find that combination. There are times when kids will entertained in a movie theatre while mom and dad are snoring next to them. We were after something that would keep them awake together!"
In this quest, Carvey teamed with writer Harris Goldberg to craft a funny and fantastical story which would also allow the actor an opportunity to fearlessly do what he does best...bring myriad characters to life... but this time, all in one movie.
For Carvey, his strange and wonderful talents began in childhood. "I used to tape-record characters off of movies and practice them," he recalls. "All kids like to make believe. I mean, Halloween, what's more fun than that?" Carvey translated his childhood musings into an uncanny, career-long ability to endlessly invent other personas, and inhabit them with the greatest of ease. And with his latest invention, Pistachio Disguisey, Carvey gets to have his cake and eat it too, because he not only gets to become Pistachio, but as a Master of Disguise, a couple of dozen other characters as well.
Just who is this Pistachio Disguisey? "He sort of has a case of arrested development," explains Carvey. "He's been kept under wraps by his parents for his whole life, because his father was so fearful that he would discover the true nature of his identity. So Pistachio is sort of an innocent, very naive, and he's hardly ever been out of his neighborhood. He's a dreamer, and he also feels like a bit of an outcast because he feels out of place in his world...until he finds out the true secret of his destiny.
"Pistachio's mother is from Dublin," continues Carvey, "and when his father, Frabbrizio, met his mother he was too shy to approach her, so he disguised himself as a beer mug. Frabbrizio comes from the village of Disguisey in the Italian Alps, so it's kind of a mixed marriage. Mama Disguisey isn't the crunchiest chip in the bag, and maybe Pistachio inherited a bit of that. But nonetheless, he's a true Disguisey. The family is sort of like The Flying Wallendas. It goes back generation to generation, and they have this freakish skill for masquerade and mimicry."
Carvey and executive producers Adam Sandler and Jack Giarraputo, and producers Sid Ganis, Alex Siskin, Barry Bernardi and Todd Garner had no doubts as to who they felt the best director would be to bring the tale of Pistachio Disguisey to life... one who hadn't actually done it before! Perry Andelin Blake had demonstrated his ample talents as production designer of numerous films either starring or produced by Sandler, including Mr. Deeds, Little Nicky, Big Daddy, The Waterboy, The Wedding Singer and Billy Madison. And there was no doubt in anyone's mind that he would make a seamless segue into directing.
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