Real Spys...Only Smaller
WRITTEN, EDITED, & DIRECTED BY: Robert Rodriguez
THEME BY: Danny Elfman
MUSIC BY: John Debney
ADDITIONAL MUSIC BY: Gavin Greenaway, Harry Gregson-Williams, Heitor Pereira, Robert Rodriguez
STARRING: Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino, Alan Cumming, Teri Hatcher, Danny Trejo, Cheech Marin, with Robert Patrick, and Tony Shalhoubm, Alexa Vega as Carmen, introducing Daryl Sabara as Juni
RUNNING TIME: 88 Minutes
DISTRIBUTED BY: Dimension Films
Spy Kids tells the story of 2 kids who find out that their average American parents are retired secret agents. They get called back to active duty to deal with an evil genius who is trying to make an army of robotic kids to take over the world. When the parents get captured the kids are sent to a safe house. Once there they start checking out all of the spy equipment that is stored in the house. When the bad guys send some people kidnap the kids they escape with the help of the equipment and decide that they have to rescue their parents.
Once upon a time (back when he was still in school) Robert thought that if he ever became known for one type of film it would be for family films. As a teen Robert make short films with his dad's video camera. Most of them were slapstick comedies where he used his brothers and sisters as actors. He figured that he would probably make films like that as an adult. But when he followed El Mariachi with Desperado and than From Dusk Till Dawn he became known as an action/horror guy. Before getting completely stuck in one genre (think Wes Craven) he decided to make a family film. The idea for this movie came to him while shooting his segment of Four Rooms. Because that movie was set on New Years Eve the kids were dressed in their Sunday best. Robert thought that they boy looked like a little James Bond. That image gave him the idea for Spy Kids. When Robert signed his 5 picture deal with Miramax Dimension he planed to make this one first, but they said he had to do The Faculty first because the teen horror craze was almost over.
As he frequently does Robert wrote the script himself. He and his wife Elizabeth Avellan served as producers. In a rather unique move Robert did not hire a visual effects supervisor, he filled that position himself. In true autour style he cast 5 actors who had appeared in his previous films Antonio Banderas, Danny Trejo (a guy I never expected to see in a children's movie), Cheech Marin, Robert Patrick, and a neat little cameo from George Clooney. Originally Kelly Preston would have been another Rodriguez repeater, as spy-mom Ingrid Cortez, but she dropped out after having a child of her own and wanting to spend time with her family. In her place Carla Gugino (Spin City, Snake Eyes) was cast. For the most important roles in the movie (the kids) he cast 12 year old Alexa Vega (who has been acting since she was 5) and 8 year old newcomer Daryl Sabara. Scottish actor Alan Cumming (Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, Eyes Wide Shut) was cast as kids-show-host/evil-genues Fegan Floop. Tony Shalhoub and sexy Teri Hatcher were also cast.
The film was budgeted at $35 million, Robert's highest and he intended to get every penny on the screen. Robert worked closely with Production Designer Cary White (The Faculty) to create a fantasy world that incorporated everything from James Bond and Mission Impossible to Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. The evil Thumb-thumb robots were based on a drawing called "Thumb Thumbs Playing Eye Ball" that Robert won an award for when he was 12. They were brought to life by the makeup wizards at KNB EFX group (Jason Goes to Hell & From Dusk Till Dawn) in their first ever kiddy film. The digital effects were done by relatively young company Hybride Technologies who did some work on Mimic on which Robert was an uncredited 2nd unit director.
They shot the movie in Robert's home Austin, Texas. Studio Dimension Films (Scream, The English Patient, Halloween: H20) saw this movie as the chance to do something they have never done before. They signed deals to produce a line of toys, action figures, and Miramax's first ever promotional tie-in with McDonalds.
When Robert showed the movie to Dimension Films they were so impressed with it that they greenlighted a sequel before this one even came out. The reason for such quick turn-around time is 2 fold. One being kid moviegoers have short attention spans so better to strike while they still remember this one. Second, the child actors will grow up fast, particularly 12 year old Alexa Vega who will soon look more like she belongs in a teen romance than a children's film. The movie came out on March 30, 2001 and it got Robert some of the best reviews of his career. In a year that had kiddy movies that aim low (See Spot Run) and have nothing more than bathroom humor and fart jokes that no one over the age of 11 would enjoy here is a movie that was compared to the classic Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.
When Robert was doing post-production he had to cut out a scene where the kids swim through a cage full of sleeping sharks. He didn't want to cut it, but did not have the money to compleat the special effects for the scene. Since the movie has grossed $100 million in about a month, Dimension has given him the money compleat the effects. They will re-release the movie August 10, 2001 as a "Special Edition" with this new scene. Robert said that this scene will have almost as many special effects as the rest of the film.