Making The Bob's Burgers Movie Wasn't An Easy Process
Hand-drawn, 2D cel animation is hard. It's labor-intensive and time-consuming and the leading cause of death for pencils. Who knows, that last bit might even be true. Despite its difficulty, however, there are plenty of artists who still gravitate toward the medium. 3D CGI animation might be readily available in 2023 but for some, it just doesn't capture that same magic.
Loren Bouchard, the creative mind behind "Bob's Burgers," an ongoing 2D animated series, told Looper during an exclusive interview that the medium is, "by definition, somewhat more minimal." Bouchard explained, "It doesn't have to be simple, but it's reducing the world to a line drawing with some color. It's a fascinating process." He noted that CGI incorporates a true perspective of reality, and while he respects and enjoys CG animated films, he hopes that "the art and craft of 2D animation, especially at that higher level, that theatrical level," continues on.
Bouchard's opinion on the topic is particularly relevant here because when looking into the process that ultimately got "The Bob's Burgers Movie" made, it turns out, squeezing a movie into an already full-time schedule of TV is difficult work.
A changing of the guard
In a 2022 interview with Variety, Bernard Derriman — who co-directed "The Bob's Burgers Movie" alongside Loren Bouchard — shared how the animated film came into being. He admitted that there was never any long-cherished, grand design to create a movie, only rather that someone outside the artistic team offered them the chance. Derriman said:
'To be honest, it was really because they asked us [laughs] [...] it had never crossed my mind. Only because we were just so busy making the show and we just did it all year round that it's not like we have a lot of time off to do other things [...] I think it was around the time there'd been a management change at Fox, [but] someone came to us and said, 'How would you like to make a "Bob's Burgers" movie?' We were thrilled, but of course, the first thing was like, 'How [...] are we ever gonna be able to do this?”
To give you an idea of how busy these artists were, Derriman alone has directed over 120 of the approximately 250 (and counting) episodes. When he said "all year round," he meant it. Shoving a movie into the mix? That's no easy feat, even if the studio is asking for it. So, how did they make it work?
Expert animated juggling
As it turns out, Fox really wanted "The Bob's Burgers Movie" to work. Bernard Derriman shared how the studio permitted them to work around the TV show's production schedule, and how the production team for the series made it all mesh together. In that same interview with Variety, Derriman said:
"It was a testament to our production team. Because it's a bit like if you're drawing an analogy, we're a restaurant that's working and have the one chef and we have the people that are all trained up and they're all working seven days a week. And then all of a sudden, someone says, 'Can you open a new restaurant in a new location? That's fancy'. And it's like, 'How do we possibly do that when we're so busy doing this?' But, luckily our production managed to basically try and fit us in and we were able to do it."
Despite "The Bob's Burgers Movie" receiving mostly positive reviews, the film did not turn a profit. In fact, it lost approximately 4 million dollars, and a common criticism in regard to the final product is that it felt less like a movie and more like an extended episode, a trait that could possibly be explained by how the project was created alongside — and in-between — standard episodes. However, there are plenty of folks who loved it and can think of the film each time they watch a new episode of the series, as the opening credits sequence now pays homage to the in-universe film.