This week marks five years since Ron’s Gone Wrong premiered as the headlining act of the 65th BFI London Film Festival on 9 October 2021. Before it became a story about a defective B-Bot learning friendship, it was a much smaller idea—and its road to cinemas was anything but smooth. Here are eight things you didn’t know.
It began as one paragraph and a question
After founding Locksmith Animation, Sarah Smith wanted to explore the impact of the internet on children’s relationships and self-esteem, a realisation she had after watching Her (2013). She approached Peter Baynham with a one-paragraph story about a robot that learns through imitation. Smith said Baynham asked, “what if it was an idiot and it was annoying?”
Jack Dylan Grazer was 13 when he started Barney
Grazer first began recording lines for Barney in 2017 when he was 13 and did not finalize his role until early 2021 by the time he was 18. He said it became difficult to maintain his 13-year-old prepubescent voice. He was originally introduced as a test voice for early animatics, but Smith kept him on after being astounded by his emotional range.
Zach Galifianakis was asked to give less emotion
Galifianakis was instructed to perform much of his dialogue for Ron in a deadpan voice, to convey that Ron is run by an algorithm and is not very emotional. He called it challenging and unusual because no directors had ever asked him for “less” emotion.
Ed Helms did six versions of his own lines
Smith praised Helms for skillfully improvising lines and contributing additional “touches” to the film. As she put it: “You give him the lines and he’ll do six versions of his own and he’s hilarious.”
A British film set in a US suburb on purpose
Despite creating a British animated film, Locksmith made a creative decision to set it in a United States suburb. Co-founder Julie Lockhart explained that the big tech companies all being in California made it feel like the right setting, and the studio was making films for a global audience rather than one specifically about British culture.
The distribution journey had two sharp turns
In May 2016, Locksmith formed a production deal with Paramount Pictures, but Paramount abandoned it after Brad Grey was replaced by Jim Gianopulos. In September 2017, Locksmith formed a multi-year deal with 20th Century Fox. When Disney acquired Fox in March 2019, Smith described the acquisition as “terrifying” and promoting the project to Disney executives as “carrying coals to Newcastle,” though Disney was ultimately supportive.
Henry Jackman scored it at Abbey Road and Air Studios
Henry Jackman composed the score and said it has its own identity, similar to Wreck-It Ralph or Big Hero 6, with the same musical landscape and color. Smith wanted a contemporary John Hughes feel, a classic high school movie vibe, and the orchestral scale and emotion of E.T.. The score was recorded at Abbey Road Studios and Air Studios in London. Liam Payne performed an original song, “Sunshine,” whose music video was released on August 27, 2021.
It finally opened a festival after years of delays
Early release dates included 6 November 2020, 26 February 2021 and 23 April 2021 before the film settled on 22 October 2021. Its world premiere headlined the 65th BFI London Film Festival on 9 October 2021, and it premiered the same day at the 36th Guadalajara International Film Festival. It played exclusively in theaters for 45 days before digital platforms.
That B-Bot has more baggage than it lets on. Which of these Ron’s Gone Wrong details is your favourite?
Facts from Wikipedia: Ron’s Gone Wrong, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Film images from TMDB. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.
