EXCLUSIVE: Director DAVID FEISS Talks OPEN SEASON: SCARED SILLY And More
In celebration of Open Season’s 10th Anniversary, Open Season: Scared Silly debuts on Blu-ray™ Combo Pack, DVD & Digital HD on March 8th, & we have an exclusive interview with Director David Feiss!
CBM: Tell us a little bit about Open Season: Scared Silly?
David: It’s a Continuation of Open Season One. It doesn’t refer much to Open Season 2 or 3, but it is a continuation of where Open Season 1 stopped. In Open Season 4 Elliot tells a campfire story about a werewolf. Boog believes it’s true and Elliot has to try and get Boog to get over his fear of this werewolf. They see something that they believe is an actual werewolf. Shaw the hunter reappears in this film and he finds out that there is a werewolf lose that means it’s his ticket to get hunting season open again. He convinces the town and the sheriff to reopen open season again.
CBM: The Werewolf is such a big part of the story in Open Season: Scared Silly. How did that character come about?
David: That was something that was presented to me. I worked on the first one and so the idea come up about a werewolf and I was asked what I thought about making the werewolf a character in this film. I thought I would love to see how the characters would react to a werewolf so I started coming up with Ideas and come together with the writers and that is how he developed
CBM: The Humor in all the Open Seasons has what made this franchise so successful, is there a part in Scared Silly that was your favorite?
David: There is an Opera sequence where Mr. Weenie believes he has been bitten by a werewolf and he sings a song about him embracing the fact that he will become a werewolf. He’s not horrified about it he is thrilled. That he is going to be big and have huge teeth and be hairy and all the things he is not with his short little leg.
CBM: How did you come up with the idea of Mr. Weenie?
David: In Open Season 1 there is a lady in a trailer, Boog and Elliot try and break into to steal some cookies. There was a wiener dog that I put in the trailer and named him Mr. Weenie and that is how Mr. Weenie got started. He was just a dog that belong to this lady.
CBM: This is the fourth installment so You are probably attached to the characters. Do you think there will be an Open Season 5?
David: You can never be too sure, but I have a feeling that we will be seeing an Open Season 5. Everybody likes the characters and the movie and the way it turned out, so I would be surprised if there wasn’t a Open Season 5. I know people want to do another.
CBM: You’ve worked on Cow and Chicken, Ren and Stimpy and The Jetsons, What was your favorite project you’ve worked on?
David: Cow And Chicken I created myself so that is near and dear to my heart. When I work on other peoples shows it is always a thrill and great, I do have to mold myself to their way of drawing and thinking. Ren and Stimpy is obviously what cracked open everything, that show is what allowed Cow and Chicken to exist. A creative driven show.
CBM: Have you always wanted to work in Animation?
David: Yes, I have been drawing cartoons since I was very small. At the age of 12 I was bitten by this bug that I wanted to make my drawings move. I discovered an 8mm camera my parents had and it had the capabilities of single frame animation. I knew that is what I wanted to do with my life, and I feel fortunate every single day that I get to do something that I love.
Elliot, Boog and all your favorite woodland creatures are back in a brand new, comedy adventure, OPEN SEASON: SCARED SILLY. When a case of mistaken identity leads both humans and animals to believe there is a monstrous werewolf on the prowl in Timberline National Forest, former hunter Shaw seizes on the opportunity to re-open open season. With Shaw on the loose and all the animals at risk, it's now up to Boog, Elliot, and Mr. Weenie to face their fears, track down the elusive werewolf, and get open season closed permanetly.