Canadian artist finds hope in Missing Link
Trevor Dalmer helped create animated film that’s up for an Academy Award
After the nominees for the best animated feature are read out at the Academy Awards on Feb. 9, concept artist Trevor Dalmer will be on the edge of his seat.
The Hamilton native is part of the team at Laika studios that created the nominated film Missing Link.
The other films up for the award are: How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, I Lost My Body, Klaus and Toy Story 4.
The stop-motion Missing Link is a sweet, funny and thought-provoking story about the ambitious explorer Sir Lionel Frost (Hugh Jackman) and the kind but lonely Sasquatch, aka Mr. Link/susan (Zach Galifianakis).
Dalmer’s role on the film began with the initial script and discussions with director/writer Chris Butler about his overall vision.
“I get a script right off the bat. That is the first thing I am given. I read through the whole thing and make notes, and if something jumps into my head I jot it down. Then I get to have a lot of conversations directly with Chris,” said Dalmer, a graduate of Sheridan College in Oakville, Ont.
“That is the great thing about being part of a show from early on: You get to be part of the early exploration. All ideas are pretty much welcome.”
With an explorer front and centre in the story, there was, well, lots of exploring to be done. Locations included the Pacific Northwest, French Alps and the Himalayas.
According to Dalmer, getting to paint all these very different locations — this is long cry from Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner running past the same cactus over and over again — is what made this a “dream job.”
Dalmer, who has been at Laika for 10 years, has been a key concept artist and end credits designer on three other films for the studio, including Kubo and the Two Strings, The Boxtrolls and Paranorman.
Currently Dalmer, the father of a six-year-old girl who loves Frozen, is busy working on Laika’s new top-secret film, but he admits it’s hard not to think about the upcoming Academy Awards — especially since Missing Link recently took home the Golden Globe for best animated feature.
Dalmer, who was named to Variety’s list of 10 animators to watch in 2019, explained from the Portland, Ore., offices of Laika that winning the Golden Globe was great but it has upped the ante.
“I thought we could all be happy with the good job we had all done then we won the Golden Globe and everything changed,” said Dalmer, who also painted the fur and the clothes for Mr. Link.
“Then all of a sudden it is, ‘We might have a chance at this Oscar.’ Now tensions are high. Now I feel a lot more nervous for us. Unfortunately I think if we don’t win the Oscar it will hit me a little harder because I would have felt like we had a chance.”
Dalmer admits that, despite critical approval, the film’s initial lacklustre box-office numbers — it cost around $130 million to make but only brought in approximately $34 million — were very disappointing.
That, however, could change with the awards hype.
“When it didn’t do that well at the book office, it was quite heartbreaking,” said Dalmer. “I just felt like we had such a great movie and I didn’t for a second question if the movie was good, I was just wondering why people weren’t seeing it, you know?
“I really hope it gets a second life now. With streaming too, maybe it will.”
You get to be part of the early exploration. All ideas are pretty much welcome.