The Canterville Ghost gets a banner animated adaptation with an all-star British cast. Stephen Fry stars as Sir Simon de Canterville, a 300-year-old apparition cursed to haunt his estate after an unthinkable tragedy. He’s successfully scared away annoying interlopers but meets his match in the Otis family. The annoying Americans aren’t scared by his antics. He becomes an ignorable nuisance and hapless target of hellion twin boys. But Sir Simon does find a friend and eventual liberator in the teenaged Victoria (Emily Carey), a courageous heroine who wears “pantaloons”, fences, and can’t help but fall for the handsome Duke of Cheshire (Freddie Highmore).

Producer/co-director Robert Chandler (The Deep, The Amazing Maurice) discusses the film’s long development and adapting Oscar Wilde’s classic short story. Chandler “announced the film” at Cannes in 2012. He didn’t want to be the guy who “doesn’t deliver.” It took 10 years to secure financing and produce, but beginning interest was palpable due to director Kim Burdon’s initial artwork and a “good script.” Chandler secured Hugh Laurie, who plays Death in a thrilling climax, through his agent. He “didn’t believe” in asking Fry for “favors” to secure his famed sketch comedy partner. Chandler credits casting Emily Carey as “the heart of the film.” She was “better than he could have hoped for.”

The Canterville Ghost looks amazing with stunningly detailed background settings. Chandler comments that “differentiating your animated film is half the battle when you’re taking it out to market.” He has to compete with the blockbuster budgets of “Pixar, Disney, and DreamWorks.” Chandler “didn’t have a bunch of money to just throw at screens.” He prides himself as someone who knows “the tricks” and “ran an animation studio” to “get the most bang for my buck.” This experience was key to getting the film produced remotely in the UK, India, and New Zealand during the pandemic. Read on for our full interview with filmmaker Robert Chandler.

Stephen Fry as Sir Simon
Shout! Studios

MovieWeb: Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie were announced to star in 2012. It’s been a long process getting The Canterville Ghost to the big screen.

Robert Chandler: Let me tell you, when this got started, my hair was black. This is now the color of sustainment. It took 10 years to get the finances together for this film. Then two and a half years to make it, and put it out there. We announced it in Cannes, I think in 2012. I was determined not to be that person who makes the announcement at Cannes, and then doesn’t deliver a film. It went through a lot. Stephen Fry came on board very early, but he wasn’t part of the original makeup of the film. Basically it was myself, my co-director Kim Burdon, and writers Corey Edwards and Giles New. The script was good. Kim did some beautiful artwork showing characters and some of the locations.

Robert Chandler: We sent it to Stephen, just asking him to be a voice in the film. Stephen came back with his business partner, Gina Carter, who became my co-producer on film. This is why it’s Sprout, Stephen’s company, and Space Age films, which is my production. We had a bit of development funding from an investor in the UK. We quite quickly got a cast together. I think people responded to the screenplay. And once they knew that Stephen was involved, they knew there would be a certain quality to it.

Robert Chandler: Actors love Oscar Wilde because he writes good characters. Hugh Laurie was the first. We asked him very formally through his agent. We did not ask Stephen to do favors. I don’t believe in that. Then it was a case of putting the cast together from blue chip, British actors, Imelda Staunton, the just wonderful Toby Jones, who plays the hapless husband of Miranda Hart, who’s larger than life, and her character is larger than life on screen. She plays the ghost hunter. Meera Syal and David Harewood are the mother and father of the family, very strong actors.

Robert Chandler: Then finally, we have our two young lovers. Virginia’s the heart of the film. We won’t tell Stephen that, but Virginia is the one who rises to the surface. Emily [Carey] came on just as she accepted a role in House of the Dragon. She had some animation experience, and was better than I could have hoped for. And Freddie Highmore finding time in his schedule when he’s doing The Good Doctor. When we started the film, he was Norman Bates [in Bates Motel]. When we came to record his ADR, he was the doctor (laughs). I’m delighted with the cast.

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MW: Did you have any trepidation adapting Oscar Wilde, especially when this story has been done many times. I was pleasantly surprised with the Ghostbusters reference. Talk about the script’s evolution and inserting modern themes.

Robert Chandler: That’s the trick of adapting Oscar Wilde. We did allow ourselves a little bit of license in that Ghostbusters joke with the twins. That ghost hunter, we created her entirely, she’s not part of Oscar’s story, which is very funny, it’s very warm, but it does not adhere to the three act structure. Being a filmmaker, I see the value of the three act structure. We did have to bend and reshape it a bit, cut out some characters, and introduce others. Oscar does not describe what goes on in the walled garden at the end. I knew that was our third act. We cut out the older brother and put more emphasis on Virginia’s isolation. And allowed the twin boys to cause more trouble on their own. I think the boys are truly monstrous. They’re much more terrifying than Simon (laughs).

Robert Chandler: The themes are eternal. Modernity versus classical old values, love and sacrifice, which is what happens when Virginia offers to help Simon. She’s not helping him take out the trash. She’s offering her own life in order to save his. That’s the greatest sacrifice a person can make, and it’s a testament to Virginia’s character. That bond has become so strong. She’s willing to do that for him. You’ve always got to give something that you can’t do in live action. For me, it was the walled garden sequence of the end. And then, not shy away from the emotional story, but really present it as a love story. This is a film about relationships.

Balancing Humor, Fright, and Romance
Shout! Studios

MW: The Canterville Ghost is a children’s film, but there are these little scares that drive the story. The opening scene with the little teddy bear is absolutely great. Talk about balancing the humor and fright aspects.

Robert Chandler: I’m really glad you raised Mr. Tibbs because he’s a favorite character. If you look closely at the end, when we finally see where his skeleton is, Mr. Tibbs is sitting there. I put that teddy bear there because I wanted to show that when he scared Lord Monroe at the beginning, he kept the bear because he was actually a lonely ghost. And so it’s quite sad. It was more than just a little comedy thing for children. We tried to make it full of life, jeopardy, and fun. It should work for all ages. We did cut back some of the scares. I want children to enjoy it. There are plenty of lessons in the film. I hope children will pick up on the value of life and how precious it is.

Related: The Canterville Ghost Review: A Banner Animated Adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s Classic Story

MW: Let’s discuss the artistry and technical production. The backgrounds are amazing. Is there anything new in the process?

Robert Chandler: Thank you for saying that. Differentiating your animated film is half the battle when you’re taking it out to market. It’s one of the things I responded to when I saw Kim’s paintings. How do we create a world on a fairly low budget that can compete with the $200 million that Pixar, Disney, and DreamWorks are throwing at their films? I really believe in the screenplay. It goes back to that three act structure. There shouldn’t be any scenes in Canterville that are wasted. Everything should set up something and leads you on to the next thing, and so on. We didn’t have a bunch of money to just throw at screens.

Robert Chandler: Canterville itself was almost English landscape paintings. Look at how they created depth. It was fine to use matte paintings for backgrounds, as long as they evoked those paintings. We worked really hard on the trees. Ever since Sleeping Beauty, I’ve been such a fan of trees in animation. We had two worlds to create, which for me is Downton Abbey, and then you’ve got the walled garden at the end. We’re going to use magic power when we can in terms of lighting. Let’s put them riding through a cornfield, so we can bring those lovely yellows. There’s snow on the ground. Every animation studio hates snow because there’s a whole new build, and then you put the footsteps in when the characters will turn.

Robert Chandler: I used to run an animation studio. I know the tricks. I know how to get the most bang for my buck. People were expecting The Amazing Maurice to cost twice as much as it did. I had two art directors, Kim in the UK and a very talented artist with Anil Kumar in India, who had worked for DreamWorks. We wanted to bring that sort of theatricality to the walled garden sequences. A lot of those paintings were done in New Zealand. And the way the carnival tent grows, it’s basically a steampunk carnival. That was the aesthetic, trying to desaturate the colors, so that when we go back outside again, they burst.

MW: What were your best and worst days as producer and co-director of The Canterville Ghost?

Robert Chandler: The best day was Emily Carey coming into the studio. To be honest, we’d taken a bit of a chance on her. She played the young daughter in Wonder Woman. She’d had some experience in animation, but we didn’t really know. Emily came in, and we knew very quickly that she was brilliant. There was a sense of relief. I have a tendency to overpraise because I love seeing actors work. They bring to life a character that you live with in the abstract. I know from a performance that the animators are going to be able to create something.

Robert Chandler: It was a prolonged worst [day]. It was having to make Canterville remotely because of the pandemic. I could not go to the storyboard team in New Zealand. I could not go to the animation studio in India. And I’ve never worked with them before. It was an act of faith. Normally, I would never do that. I would always go there to make sure they’re the right studio, give a rousing speech about the film were making, and bring everyone together. I couldn’t do any of that. I had to do it on faith and that was scary. When there’s a pandemic, I had no choice.

Robert Chandler: As soon as it was lifted, I flew out to the south of India. It’s a stunning place. I ate gloriously. I was able to stand in front of the entire studio unprepared. This was the first time they had the filmmaker telling them about the movie, and the comedy, and the drama, and the depth of tragedy. They really responded to me. I turned my worst into my best. That’s what producers do. We’re eternally optimistic. We’re always fighting to get things made. That means you can never have a worst day, because you always turn it into something good.

The Canterville Ghost is currently in theaters from Blue Fox Entertainment and Shout! Studios.