Interview with Chris Noonan

The 'Potter' Spot

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

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Time has a way of making certain movies disappear, while others remain classics forever. Does anyone today remember Gordy, the other talking pig movie that came out just a few months before Babe in 1995? Director Chris Noonan, who received a Best Director Oscar nomination for Babe, does.

"I knew the director of that film," says Noonan during a recent visit to San Francisco, where he sat down for a chat with Cinematical. "I didn't know he was planning a talking pig movie. He told me that he was very interested in what I was doing, and he'd love to see a script. So I sent him a script of Babe, just as a sort of colleague-friendly gesture, well before we shot it. And then Gordy came out soon after. And I haven't actually spoken to him since then."

The Australian-born Noonan, 54, has been a filmmaker since day one. He won a prize at the Sidney Film Festival for a short film he made at age 16. He was one of the first to attend the Australian Film and Television School, along with other future filmmakers like Gillian Armstrong and Phillip Noyce. He began by making short films and documentaries, then worked his way to television and TV movies. Babe was his theatrical debut.

And now, eleven years later, Noonan has returned to the big screen with the new Miss Potter, his first film since... Babe.

(Please read my complete interivew at cinematical.com)

December 18, 2006