Interviews
Bryan Fuller On His Adorable ‘Dust Bunny’ Movie Monster [TIFF Interview]
You’ll have to wait until December to discover just how adorable the man-eating monster is in writer/director Bryan Fuller’s Dust Bunny, but the filmmaker’s breakdown of its conception gives a strong indication of the cuteness ahead.
The whimsical gateway horror film, releasing in theaters on December 5 via Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions, follows 10-year-old Aurora (Sophie Sloan) as she enlists her mysterious neighbor (Mads Mikkelsen) to aid her in getting rid of the monster she claims ate her parents.
While Aurora’s neighbor specializes in real-life monsters, it’s safe to say that Aurora isn’t lying about a rather scruffy but vicious beast lurking under her bed. Though glimpses of this delightfully ferocious bedtime monster likely won’t arrive until closer to release, Bloody Disgusting spoke with Fuller about his Dust Bunny after the film’s TIFF premiere about its conception and creation.
Fuller reveals that his monster, which occasionally moves in an almost stop-motion-like manner, is a mix of practical and VFX.
“It’s partial, a big puppet,” he tells us. “There’s a massive puppet that we had that was built by Legacy. They did sort of a ‘friends and family’ because it was like, ‘We have no money, you can cut this out.’ And they were like, ‘We’ll take care of you.’ The other part was our fantastic visual effects supervisor, who had a visual effects house that did the full body. When you see close-ups that are just of the hands or the head, there are a lot of shots that are of the puppet.
“But it all started when I reached out to a fantastic comic book artist named Jon Wayshak, whom I had worked with on the Pushing Daisies comic 15-16 years ago. I always loved his style, so I reached out to him and said, ‘I want to design a monster.’ I was like, ‘It’s part Highland cow.’ Because I love Highland cows, oh my God, they’re so cute. It’s part Highland cow, part piranha, and a little bit of a hippopotamus, and it’s massive. Then he sent the sketch, and I was like, “That’s great, thank you.” When Legacy built it, they made a couple of small tweaks, but it is very much with the underbite and very much Jon Wayshak’s design.”
Stay tuned for more about Dust Bunny closer to the film’s release this December.
In case you missed it: watch the Dust Bunny trailer now.
As the inaugural season of Apple TV+’s stellar new series “Widow’s Bay” barrels toward its finale in two weeks, the latest episode gives Kate O’Flynn the spotlight as her character revisits her trauma with the Boogeyman.
“Your Baggage“, directed by Andrew DeYoung (Friendship), sees O’Flynn’s scene-stealing Patricia once again renew her fight with the Michael Myers-like stalker that slaughtered her peers during her adolescence. Thrillingly, it makes for one extended chase sequence that sees Patricia trying to warn others, while evading the undead killer.
In short, this episode’s incredible riff on Halloween and the slasher subgenre transformed Patricia into a fierce Final Girl.
“Well, that felt like a bucket list that I didn’t know was on my bucket list until I did it, but when I did it, I just lapped up every minute,” O’Flynn tells Bloody Disgusting of her triumphant turn this episode. “It felt fantastic for her to get that moment where she is becoming a badass. That was amazing.”
The actress turned to a few notable references for her performance. “Horror-wise, I go back to my youth, which was referenced in some of the episodes: Wicker Man, Carrie, and Rosemary’s Baby, that sort of thing is my kind of vibe.”
O’Flynn also notes how the series’ unique tone allows for so much creative freedom to make bold swings. “There’s something very freeing about it. Every moment is up for grabs, so it’s like we don’t have to totally land in one direction or another. It keeps it alive.“
Patricia is the eccentric assistant to Matthew Rhys‘ Mayor Tom Loftis, who’s at the forefront of trying to solve the island’s pesky curse predicament. Rhys felt the same about “Widow’s Bay” and its rare ability to make you laugh and scream in equal measure, stemming from series creator Katie Dippold.
“The mandate was, ‘It’s a real world with real people. You play for real.’ There’s no playing for comedy or horror,” Rhys echoes O’Flynn’s sentiments on how freeing the series’ tone has been.
New episodes will release every Wednesday through June 17 only on Apple TV+.
Kate O’Flynn in “Widow’s Bay,” now streaming on Apple TV.
You must be logged in to post a comment.