Director O’Callaghan shares, “Because George doesn’t speak, he just makes his little monkey sounds and expressions, we need him to be curious and expressive. The Jack Johnson song that we introduce George with is called ‘Upside Down’ [the first single to be released from the film’s soundtrack]. It’s very energetic, and Jack is a terrific artist. He really brings the soul of George out onto the screen. He has the ability to lay music that sucks you into that feel; it doesn’t overwhelm George, but it taps into his character in a perfect way.”
Universal Pictures’ president of film music, Kathy Nelson, offers validation for the selection of Johnson. “As luck would have it, Jack just had a baby, and he adores Curious George,” she notes. “So it was sort of a freaky coincidence, but he completely embraced the idea of it.” Just like with Curious George, “If you go to a Jack Johnson concert you’ll see everybody ranging from every age—the parents, the teenagers, the kids, the infants.”
Johnson would watch the scenes from the movie pre-paint to get inspiration for the songs he wrote for the film and its album, “Jack Johnson and Friends: Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the Film Curious George.” He thinks, “George is basically like a kid in his terrible twos—he doesn’t have bad intentions, he just gets himself into a lot of trouble by being curious.”
With a son of his own who just turned two, Johnson can relate to George’s need to touch and feel his universe. “I’ll show my kid one thing one day, then I’ll see him doing it by himself in the corner the next day.” The musician feels, “There couldn’t be a more perfect time than when you’re just sitting around playing songs for your kid. Even though George is in a little monkey body, there’s really no difference between him and a little kid. I think the neat opportunity in this movie is to try and sing songs that kids will get something out of…and somehow hopefully grow into better people because of them.”
Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment present A David Kirschner-Jon Shapiro Production: Curious George, starring Will Ferrell, Drew Barrymore, David Cross, Eugene Levy, Joan Plowright, Dick Van Dyke. Original songs for the film are by Jack Johnson; music is by Heitor Pereira. The editor for Curious George is Julie Rogers; the production designer is Yarrow Cheney. Executive producers of the film are Bonne Radford, Ken Tsumura, James Whitaker, David Bernardi. The film is based on the books by Margret and H.A. Rey. Curious George is produced by Ron Howard, David Kirschner, Jon Shapiro. The film is from a story by Ken Kaufman and Mike Werb and a screenplay by Ken Kaufman. Curious George is directed by Matthew O’Callaghan.
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