TV Interview!
Interview with Candace Cameron Bure, Adam Reed and Lino DiSalvo of “Reindeer In Here” on CBS by Suzanne 11/3/22
This is a really good animated Christmas special on CBS. I hope you watch it! This panel was fun but a little confusing at first because they didn’t tell us who would be there, and they put up a photo of the cast right beforehand, which made me think that the cast would all be on the panel. However, most of them weren’t, so that was also disappointing. I was the one asking the first question here, and I was using my tablet, which sometimes only shows part of the panel on the screen if it’s a large group, so that’s why I asked if there were more. Also, one of the panel members has said some controversial remarks since this panel occurred. I hope that no one foregoes watching the special because of her. She plays a very minor role, and the special is very good. It’s based on a book, or series of books, and a new one is coming out, so it has that product tie-in, along with the toys they mentioned.
Here’s the transcript of the panel!
CBS 2022 HOLIDAY PROGRAMMING PANELS
REINDEER IN HERE
Candace Cameron Bure
Adam Reed, Executive Producer/Creator
Lino DiSalvo, Executive Producer/Director
Virtual via Zoom
November 03, 2022
© 2022 CBS. All rights reserved.
TRACEY RAAB: Hi, there. I’m Tracey Raab from the CBS communications team. And on behalf of our entire group, we want to thank you for joining us for our holiday collection press day. We’re excited to be adding even more content into our already robust annual slate of animated specials, movies, concerts, and more. Today we have some first looks and great panels on deck and, at the end of our presentation, a sneak peek at a special one‑hour holiday episode of our hit comedy “Ghosts.”
Hopefully you all saw the announcements this morning for the cast of our newest animated Christmas special, “Reindeer in Here,” and information on a few of our annual traditions: “A Home for the Holidays,” “The Thanksgiving Day Parade,” and the “National Christmas Tree Lighting.” Also, we have two special episodes of “The Greatest At-Home Videos” for Thanksgiving and the holidays, hosted by Cedric the Entertainer, airing November 11th and December 16th.
Throughout the day, please check your inboxes for a link to video content we hope you will share on your social platforms. And finally, a reminder to use the raise hand function to ask a question during our sessions. We will now begin with our first panel, “Reindeer in Here.” Enjoy.
(Clip played.)
KATE FISHER: Hi, everybody. I’m Kate Fisher. On behalf of myself and my counterpart, Victoria Saavedra, we’d like to welcome you to the “Reindeer in Here” panel. We’re so excited to share a sneak peek today of our new animated holiday entry, a heartwarming tale featuring Blizzard or Blizz, a young reindeer living at the North Pole who bands together with his unique group of friends to save the future of Christmas.
The animation and story line are truly unique, and the special is a wonderful addition to our holiday slate. The special premieres Tuesday, November 29th, on CBS and will stream live and on demand on Paramount+.
Now, please welcome our panelists, star Candace Cameron Bure, executive producer and creator Adam Reed, and executive producer and director Lino DiSalvo. I’ll turn it over to Adam first for some opening remarks and a sneak peek at a scene from the special before taking your questions. Over to you, Adam.
ADAM REED: Hey, everybody. Thanks for having us. We’re super thrilled to be here. You know, just a little quick back story. When I sat down six years ago to write this book, it was out of a need for my own family that I couldn’t find a positive Christmas tradition that also didn’t stress me out as a parent. And so I really kind of sat down and tried to write a story that I felt would be unique and different and you would fall in love with the characters at the most magical time of year and hopefully someday become a Christmas classic.
And when I sat down with my illustrator and we were looking at different reindeers, because, of course, reindeer are the most magical thing outside of Santa, there was one reindeer that we focused on specifically, and that one reindeer had one antler smaller than the other. And that is the hero of our story, Blizzard or Blizz. And the reason is because he’s a different reindeer. Right? And every child at some point in their life feels different, because being different is normal, and our film celebrates the uniqueness of every child and of course shows that Christmas wishes really do come true.
And I will tell you my Christmas wish has come true because I know we announced our amazing ‑‑ our amazing cast this morning. I’m so thrilled to have Adam Devine, Henry Winkler, Candace Cameron Bure, Jo Koy, Donald Faison, Melissa Villaseñor, and of course Jim Gaffigan as Santa. So we are so thrilled to be here.
And just to toss to the clip, you’re going to see a little moment here that has almost all of our main characters in it. It has a little bit of funny, a little bit of emotion, and a lot of heart. And we hope you enjoy.
(Clip played.)
KATE FISHER: We’re so thrilled to start taking your questions. As a reminder, if you have a question, please raise your hand in the chat feature and unmute yourself.
QUESTION: Hey. Thanks for talking to us today. Is ‑‑ I can only see four of you on the screen. Is everybody else there? Or is it just the four of you?
KATE FISHER: Just the four of us for this panel.
QUESTION: Oh, okay. I was confused. Sorry.
So how long did it take to make this special? I really enjoyed it, by the way. I thought it was very cute and clever. How long did it take to make? And how long did it take for the actors to work on their voices?
LINO DISALVO: Adam, you’re muted.
KATE FISHER: Adam, you’re still muted. I should remind the panelists ‑‑
ADAM REED: Apologies. Sorry, guys. You know, how long did it take us to make and how long should we have had to make, two different things. Lino, over to you on this one.
LINO DISALVO: Yeah. So we did this in about 13 months. And, you know, you always wish you had a little bit more time, but 13 months. And we had actors ‑‑ well, the thing is, is that going back and forth in total, from casting and finding just the right actors, I would say three ‑‑ three weeks, four weeks.
ADAM REED: And by the way ‑‑ and Candace can speak to this. You know, typically, before COVID times, we would be in the VO booth with all of our actors working with them. And of course, you know, during COVID times, we can’t do that. So everything was recorded remotely. Candace, do you want to talk about that a second?
CANDACE CAMERON BURE: Oh, sure. Well, we did, I mean, lots of work on the computer over Zoom first, but then went into the recording booth solo. And you guys were all on monitors in the booth with me. And it was really only a day, day and a half, maybe, of working on that. So much fun.
QUESTION: And does that include all the animation as well?
LINO DISALVO: Yeah, the animation was about ‑‑ was about eight months.
QUESTION: Cool. Thank you.
LINO DISALVO: You’re welcome.
QUESTION: For Adam, I can’t help noticing that this is the exact opposite of Archer in so many ways. I mean, Archer just ripples with cynicism, and this is the precise opposite. So what was it like to go from one to the other? And which one of those two is really you?
ADAM REED: Well, here’s what I’ll tell you. I’m actually not the Adam Reed that created Archer. That is a different Adam Reed, and that Adam Reed and I always get confused. He gets my e‑mails; he gets ‑‑ and I get his e‑mails. So very, very different. So luckily, to answer your question, this is my only baby.
QUESTION: Okay. And let me ask you, what’s it like for so often people to assume you’re the other Adam Reed? Do you enjoy that or is it weird?
ADAM REED: No, look, we were at the same agency for a long time, and we’ve never actually met. So, you know, it’s just kind of funny.
QUESTION: Okay, thanks.
QUESTION: Hi. Question for Lino. Obviously you’ve been a head of animation before this, but I believe this is your first time as director. I was curious to know how different that responsibility has been for you being that you used to lead a team of just animators and now you’re managing the whole pipeline.
LINO DISALVO: Yeah. I love it. I mean, especially that ‑‑ I think when you find a script that speaks to you and feels honest to you and you can relate to the characters, it’s really enjoyable. It’s wonderful. I mean, you know, the team that I was leading at Disney was ‑‑ you know, I would oversee a couple hundred people, and I think the crew on our show was less than 200 people. So, listen, I loved it. Like, as an animator becoming a director and working on a holiday movie, dude, I’m thrilled. I loved it.
QUESTION: Okay. Thank you.
LINO DISALVO: Thank you.
QUESTION: Hi. Thanks, Kate. Hi, everyone. Candace, you’ve obviously got a lot going on this holiday season, like a lot. And you’re very associated with another network these days. Do you have a special ‑‑ I don’t know if the word is “out” or “out clause” or whatever ‑‑ in your deal with them that if something like this comes up that’s animation only, it’s okay for you to do it for another firm? And also, did this fit in comfortably with everything else that you’ve got going for this holiday season?
CANDACE CAMERON BURE: So to answer your question, yes. Obviously I’m in the project, so I was ‑‑ I was able to do it. And it’s been a huge dream of mine for a very long time to be in something animated that’s very special. And it was so fitting to ‑‑ for my first animated movie to be in a Christmas one. So that was very exciting for me. And I’m forgetting the second part of your question.
QUESTION: I’m sorry. The “yes” part was to that you have a special out clause with the other network in terms of doing something with animation? Was that what the “yes” was for? I’m sorry. Was that ‑‑ there were two questions. I’m sorry. The “yes” that you gave was to the question about ‑‑
CANDACE CAMERON BURE: Oh, that, yes, I was able to do this project. And, yep.
QUESTION: And then the other question was ‑‑ I guess the “yes” takes care of both of those. Thank you.
CANDACE CAMERON BURE: Okay.
QUESTION: We’re good. Thank you.
ADAM REED: And can I say one thing that is super important? When we started concepting this movie and how it was going to be, the first person we had in mind was Candace. She is obviously the queen of Christmas and just an amazing human being. And so when we created the roles, we ‑‑ you know, she literally was the first person we thought of. And she is so incredible at this role, there is even a little Pinky plush that ‑‑
CANDACE CAMERON BURE: Oh, I have her.
ADAM REED: ‑‑ everyone is going to love. That is her character and as amazing as she is.
CANDACE CAMERON BURE: Adam, thank you. That was so sweet. I have the little Pinky plush right here. All my nieces are going to get this. And godchildren.
And, yes, I ‑‑ you know, I did remember the second part of your question, if this movie was fitting into all of the other things that I’m doing. And the answer to that is yes. This movie is such a beautiful story that’s so heartwarming and so encouraging to kids to celebrate our uniqueness, and I just ‑‑ I absolutely love it as a mom first and what the message sends. And then of course as an actress, it was just delightful to be in.
QUESTION: Thank you.
QUESTION: Hi, everyone. Thanks so much. I love the special. My two‑year‑old daughter has a little reindeer in here. Her name is Ida.
ADAM REED: Oh, I love that.
QUESTION: And, yeah, we’ve had her since last year. So she was home sick yesterday, so she actually watched the screener with me, and then all day today, she wants to watch the Ida movie. So I really ‑‑ it was really great.
But I was just wondering, did you ‑‑ because the book is done in, like, obviously a different animation style than the show. Were other animation styles considered when you did the special?
ADAM REED: Well, I want to toss that to Lino in a second. The only thing I want to say is you will see very quickly this year there’s a new vision of the book and plush set. So the art is elevated. It’s a completely new and fresh look. And it was very important that we not only elevate it, but we kept it classic. And when Lino and I first started talking, we wanted to have ‑‑ look, for us, we want this to be a Christmas classic, right? To outlive us all, like Rudolph. So for us, we wanted something that was contemporary but also had classical feels to it and felt hand‑painted. And I got to give Lino all the credit for that. He was the one that said, “Look, it’s CG‑looking, but we’re going to hand‑paint all these elements.”
Lino, can you give some context to that?
LINO DISALVO: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I wanted to capture the charm of the illustrations from the new book that’s coming out. So, you know, a lot of times in CG, you’ll put this default fur on a character, and it’s very challenging to art‑direct the silhouette of the characters. The two things that’s very common and which makes illustration so appealing is when you handcraft and suggest fur in silhouette, you do the little drawings of a tuft of fur on the elbow.
So you’ll see ‑‑ when you watch Blizz, you’ll notice that he has these little hero elements on him that really stand out and are really handcrafted. And the other is a lot of the times, you know, when two textures meet on a CG character, they kind of blend together. And I wanted to celebrate, again, what the illustration ‑‑ what illustration artists would do, which is maybe use a dry blush to blend in the textures. So when you look at Blizz again, if you look at his nose, like at the top of his nose, there’s a dry brush stroke there.
And, yeah, I really love the idea that the movie is handcrafted and very high quality. We take pride in that.
ADAM REED: And by the way, if you want to be mom of the year, have Ida bring a special new gift, there is ‑‑ we have “Reindeer in Here” PJs this year and blankets. Yeah, at Target. So they just ‑‑ they just launched and they’re pretty awesome. So maybe an early little Thanksgiving gift from Ida.
QUESTION: Very cool. Thank you.
QUESTION: Certainly. It’s a question for Candace. I’m wondering how you ‑‑ you found the voice. I mean, it’s not that very different from your own voice, but, yet, it does have a distinctness to it. How did you find the voice for the character?
CANDACE CAMERON BURE: Well, that was ‑‑ that was Lino. Really, I didn’t know if I was ‑‑ if they even wanted me to try a different kind of voice. And we worked on that, and they initially were like, “No, we just ‑‑ we really want your voice.” I think my voice is distinctive. I hear a lot from people on the street that they’re not sure if it’s me when they see me, but as soon as they hear my voice, they instantly know that it’s me. And so they really did want my voice. So it was just really working on the delivery of the lines and the little nuances of how we wanted her to be.
And I feel like ‑‑ I feel like Pinky, she’s that ‑‑ she’s that friend that tells it straight, but she has a little bit of a motherly quality to her, or that big sister quality, that she’s still gentle in speaking the truth.
QUESTION: Well, it’s a charming character.
CANDACE CAMERON BURE: Thank you.
KATE FISHER: We have another question actually for Adam. Adam, what has been your favorite part about bringing the book to life?
ADAM REED: Oh, my gosh. That’s a great question. Truly, that we get the opportunity to ‑‑ for everybody in the world to see this. For every child at the most magical time of year to celebrate their uniqueness and their differences, to me, is the most important thing. And certainly my Christmas wish, the only thing I ever wished for was that ‑‑ at some point in every child’s life, they feel different, and to celebrate those uniquenesses at the most magical time of year is all I could wish for, and the fact that this is happening is just all still surreal.
KATE FISHER: Thank you. And a question actually for Candace. What was one of the defining reasons you agreed to be part of the animated movie?
CANDACE CAMERON BURE: Well, one of my ‑‑ my longtime friends ‑‑ I have a very close friendship with Jonathan Koch, who’s a part of this movie. And then meeting with Adam. They ‑‑ I talked to both of them, and I was very excited once I heard about the project. But after I read the script, I was like, “Oh, I’m in. Please. Anything. Like, anything that I can do, I would love to be a part of it.”
QUESTION: Thank you. Candace, I’m just curious. We know you so well for all these holiday projects. Has this been a case of you just wanting to do that because you love Christmas so much? Or do you find that when people start talking about Christmas projects, they think of you automatically? And is there a point where you ever went, “Gosh, I’d just like to do an Arbor Day movie”?
(Laughter.)
CANDACE CAMERON BURE: Christmas truly is my favorite holiday of the year. I’m a woman of faith, so there’s no bigger holiday than to celebrate Christmas. I love that I’ve become synonymous with Christmas because of the movies that I’ve done over the past 15 years. So it’s a great joy for me.
But, again, I’ve dreamed of being a part of a classic animated movie for a very long time. And when I was ‑‑ was offered and pitched this project, it was just, I mean, even more magical for the fact that it was Christmas and it’s for children. I ‑‑ you know, I’m a mom of three and I’ve written several children’s books myself.
So all ‑‑ just the culmination of everything was a no‑brainer and ‑‑ and just a delight to be a part of. So I’m ‑‑ I’m happy ‑‑ I’m happy to be, you know, a part of people’s Christmas traditions hopefully for years to come.
QUESTION: Thank you.
QUESTION: Yes. For Candace, when you do a regular holiday film, you’re dressed up in the holiday outfits and your makeup, and you’ve got the surroundings of Christmas. How did you get yourself into the holiday spirit for doing this when it’s ‑‑ it wasn’t all decorated ‑‑ set wasn’t decorated?
CANDACE CAMERON BURE: Oh, well, this was so exciting for me. I remember leaving the booth where ‑‑ after recording the voices, and I was just like on the biggest high from recording these. I don’t think I need to have the surroundings of Christmas to feel like I’m in the Christmas spirit. I feel like I’m in Christmas 24/7 because I’m constantly ‑‑ you know, 365 days a year, because I’m always reading Christmas scripts and always developing the next Christmas movies, whether I’m starring in them or producing them.
But it was ‑‑ animation is just a whole different ball game and very new for me. So to be able to voice a character, to see some images on a screen, but then work with such an incredible director as Lino who really just pulled all different kinds of just different performances out of me through the character was so incredibly exciting. And I think that was ‑‑ that’s a challenge as an actor when you are in front of the camera and you’re not used to doing things off camera. Everything about your voice has to change because people don’t get to see your facial expressions. They don’t get to see your hand movements. And I’m a big ‑‑ I move. I had to move around that room. I had to move around the booth and really perform it as an actor. But you have to make sure that it all carries through your voice and you can’t rely on your body.
KATE FISHER: Thank you so much. I’m just going to ask Adam to maybe make a few final remarks to close our panel.
ADAM REED: Sure. Look, Candace and Lino and everybody at CBS, thank you. Look, this movie and the “Reindeer in Here” tradition is really to celebrate the uniqueness of every child and show that Christmas wishes really do come true, not only at the most magical time of year, but year‑round. And this movie, we have created not only to be a Christmas classic that I hope outlives us all, but also is meant for the whole family. This is not just for children. It is funny. It works for adults. It works for children. You can really sit down with your entire family. And the adults will pick up on things that children don’t, and maybe vice versa. But we really hope you enjoy. And thank you, everybody. I’d encourage you to watch the whole film. And thanks for having us. We’re excited to share this tradition with the world.
KATE FISHER: Thank you so much to our panelists and journalists for participating in our “Reindeer in Here” panel.
MORE INFO: Trailer
“REINDEER IN HERE®” ANNOUNCES THE STAR-STUDDED CAST BEHIND THE NEW ONE-HOUR ANIMATED HOLIDAY SPECIAL, PREMIERING TUESDAY, NOV. 29, ON CBS
Cast Led by Adam Devine, Jim Gaffigan, Melissa Villaseñor, Henry Winkler, Candace Cameron Bure, Donald Faison, Jo Koy, Gabriel Bateman and Brooke Monroe Conaway
Click HERE for REINDEER IN HERE Voice Cast Graphic
CBS announced today the star-studded voices behind the new CBS Original animated holiday special REINDEER IN HERE®, which premieres Tuesday, Nov. 29 (9:01-10:01 PM, PT/ET), on the CBS Television Network and will be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+*. The one-hour special, filled with joy and magic for the whole family, will immediately follow the beloved holiday classic RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER (8:00-9:01 PM, ET/PT).
REINDEER IN HERE’s cast includes Adam Devine voicing Blizzard “Blizz;” Jim Gaffigan voicing Santa; Melissa Villaseñor voicing Candy; Henry Winkler voicing Smiley; Candace Cameron Bure voicing Pinky; Donald Faison voicing Bucky; Jo Koy voicing Hawk; Gabriel Bateman voicing Theo; and Brooke Monroe Conaway voicing Isla.
Based on the award-winning Christmas book and plush set created by acclaimed author Adam Reed, written for the screen by Greg Erb & Jason Oremland, and directed by former head of animation for Walt Disney Animation Studios Lino DiSalvo, REINDEER IN HERE is the heartwarming story of how Blizzard (Blizz), a young reindeer who has one antler that is significantly smaller than the other, and his unique group of friends band together to save the future of Christmas. In doing so, they unknowingly create a magical holiday tradition like none other.
Proofread and Edited by Brenda
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