Charles Later return to dubbing with ‘A Samurai Hero: The Legend of Hank’ the new film from acclaimed director Rob Minkoff, director of titles such as ‘The Lion King’, ‘Stuart Little’ or ‘The Adventures of Peabody and Sherman’, along with Mark Koetsier and Chris Bailey. The film, which hits theaters on August 5, is an homage to classic cinema with a family adventure story. “The animated cinema is becoming aware that it not only has to be liked by children, but also by the adults who accompany them“Defends the actor and comedian.
International production between the United Kingdom, the United States and China, ‘A Samurai Hero’ tells a story set in feudal Japan, turned into a country ruled by cats. Ika Chu, a high-ranking official, seeks to succeed the Shogun and thus wants to further extend even his gigantic palace. Therefore, he decides to destroy the village of Kakamucho, an impoverished town near his domain. The feature film shows how, given its intriguing characterchooses to send a dog, Hank, to be the new samurai of the shiredespite the fact that dogs are prohibited in the region.
For Latre, it is his return to dubbing, since he had not returned to the lectern since 2018, when he gave voice to three characters from the animated film ‘Bikes’, directed by Manuel J. García. “For me dubbing is a little like being at home, it is that universe to which I like to return from time to time. Of course, you depend a lot on being called, that’s true. It is a completely different discipline to the others that I do”, he explains in an interview with Europa Press.
“When you get to dub a film, you feel as if you were entering a bubble, because you are alone with the film and your character, with the director, the technician and the people from the production company. A very nice professional bond is created. Then, It is a very different job from what I usually do, although it also has to do with the voice, with diction, with technique. It is something that remains forever, you can even appreciate your vocal evolution. It’s a world I love,” she continues.
“VILLAINS ARE MUCH RICHER IN NUANCE”
Latre lends his voice to Ika Chu, the scheming officer and antagonist of the feature film. With the original voice of Ricky Gervais, the actor and comedian had the challenge of embodying the main villain of the film, something he had done before in the aforementioned ‘Bikes’ and in ‘El Cid: The Legend’.
“The villains are much richer in nuance. Ika Chu has millions of inflections. Suddenly he is bombastic, grandiloquent, haughty, but suddenly he becomes cowardly and fragile. He is a cat, but he behaves a bit like a rat. He is very evil and histrionic, but he has a stuffed cat point. He has many roads and exits“, he exposes, emphasizing that the antagonists “are the opposite” of him. “I have a more good-natured image and a bit of a dog, going to the cat world has been very interesting,” he adds.
‘A Samurai Hero: The Legend of Hank’ is inspired by a western that was also a satirical comedy, ‘Hot Saddles’, directed and written by Mel Brooks in 1974, who also participates in the original English dubbing of the film, as well as in the script. “He has a lot to do with this version, he is a teacher and being able to recover him for one of the characters has been great. The film has a lot of classic homage and also a more adult cinema, I think the public will be surprised, “he says.
Both because of this side of more acid humor and because of its animation style, Latre defends that ‘A Samurai Hero’ is a proposal that goes beyond its target audience. “Without forgetting that children continue to be the main spectators, I believe that animated cinema is also thinking of that adult who has to accompany them and that is why it has to offer something more“Latre points out.
Directed by Rob Minkoff, Mark Koetsier and Chris Bailey, ‘A Samurai Hero: The Legend of Hank’ is written by Ed Stone, Nate Hopper, Mel Brooks, Norman Steinberg, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor and Alan Uger, based on a story by Bergman. Produced by Minkoff, Adam Nagle, Peter Nagle, Guy Collins, Yair Landau and Susan Purcell. In its original English version, it features the voices of Michael Cera, Ricky Gervais, Mel Brooks, George Takei, Aasif Mandvi, Gabriel Iglesias, Djimon Hounsou, Michelle Yeoh, Kylie Kuioka, Cathy Shim and Samuel L. Jackson.