Ratchet & Clank Movie Cast Interviews

When I was in Los Angeles for the Ratchet & Clank press conference we were able to interview Kevin Munroe – Director of Ratchet & Clank, Bella Thorne – voice of Cora and James Arnold Taylor – Voice of Ratchet. It was a different interview set up than I am used to, but it was pretty fantastic having the three of them together to feed off of each others answers.

Because the voice talent was running behind we had some awesome alone time to interview Kevin Munroe. He told us that with Ratchet & Clank it was “all about finding a good story.” There are so many story lines within the video game he could have used so he decided to start at the beginning and introduce everyone to how Ratchet & Clank met and became heroes. I’m grateful he took this direction because I wasn’t familiar with the game, the plot or the characters. This film has introduced me to the story and allowed me to become big fans just like the gamers who already love Ratchet & Clank.

Speaking of the gamers, they can be a critical bunch but Kevin said that the “fan base has been supportive.” As I was prepping for this trip I was amazed to find tons of gamers online who are so excited and anxiously awaiting this movie. I hope they are pleased and love it, I know I do!

My favorite part of this entire interview was when someone asked Kevin if he got any pressure to include innuendoes or humor for the adults so that the parents would enjoy watching the movie as well. His response was fantastic! He said (I’m going to block quote this because if you only read one thing, read this)

This has always been for those who consume it, not their parents. Sure we could make a PG-13 Ratchet & Clank but there wasn’t a need for that.

He wanted to stay true to what Insomniac Games had created. I LOVE that. Ratchet & Clank was made for the children that love the game and play the game. It was meant to enhance the story of the video game they love. It wasn’t mean to entertain their parents. As a parent, who also only wants to watch innocent movies without bad language, adult humor or innuendoes, I REALLY appreciate his stance. I appreciate how clean and innocent this movie is while at the same time being funny, full of action and adventure and having several fantastic messages.

Eventually Bella Thorne and James Arnold Taylor came into the room. James stole the show with his beaming personality and wonderful sense of humor. He has a pretty healthy YouTube channel so he filmed his own behind the scenes of the day. You can check that out here and see if you can spot me when he comes in the room! AWESOME!

So interesting fact: James Arnold Taylor is the voice of Ratchet in the video games and as well as now this movie. Cool, huh? So we asked him how voicing the movie was different than voicing the video game and he said that when you do the voice for a video game you are completely isolated and alone and just read lines. When working on the movie he was able to work with different cast members at the same time (except Bella, and she was not happy about it). He said there was a “seamless transition from the game to the film.” I’d be interested to hear all you gamers opinion on that!

James is a pretty incredible voice actor and has done the voices for tons of characters such as Fred Flintstone, Wile E. Coyote, Johnny Test, Leonardo the Ninja Turtle and many, many more. He even did a little sampling of a lot of his character for us, it was cool.

My biggest take away from James was his positive attitude. He said “I want other people to achieve what I have achieved. I want to stay positive.” He attributes his success to his positive attitude.

Bella Thorne is a funny, sassy girl! A self admitted tom-boy she loved playing the part of a “bada** female chick.” She enjoyed speaking in a deeper, intense voice for the role of Cora. She said that she is a lot like Cora because she is bossy, and does like to perhaps “shoot first and ask the plan later.” While she has done a lot of live action TV and movies, she enjoyed being the voice of Cora but said her methods were pretty similar. Even though we couldn’t see her she still used her whole body as she saying her parts.

Bella has big goals. She would love to write and direct a short film to have ready for next year film festival season! I could tell from her answers that she likes acting but really wants to be creating and be the one behind the camera. She is definitely multi-talented.

At the end of the day the the lesson Kevin Munroe hopes the viewers take from Ratchet & Clank is that it’s not just the act of following a dream but sometimes you have to find your dream. He also said that it isn’t just the big things that make an impact, it’s the right things.

What I learned from Ratchet & Clank was that sometimes the most unlikely person can become the hero. I have had some very unlikely people become the heroes in my life and it makes me want to be a better person so I can be someone else’s unlikely hero.

Ratchet & Clank is in theaters April 29. See it! It’s awesome, completely kid friendly and will make you laugh!