I was invited by Disney to attend the LA Red Carpet Premier and Press Junket for the #MoanaEvent, #ABCTVEvent and #StuckInTheMiddleEvent. This special invitation is an all expense paid trip, but all magical opinions are mine alone.
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Growing up I was an avid reader and read many books from author Roald Dahl. For me it was the magic and imagination he put into all of his writing. Then after our Exclusive Interview with Lucy Dahl and The BFG, I got a little bit more insight. Learning on what amazing imagination Roald Dahl had in real life.
Photo Credit: Ruth from vivaveltoro.com
Exclusive Interview with Lucy Dahl and The BFG #TheBFGBluray
I grew reading books such as Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and James the Giant Peach. I read The BFG later on with my daughter when I found that Disney and Steven Spielberg were coming together to bring this story to life. I believe that no one other than Disney and the amazing Steven Spielberg could have brought such depth and imagination into the big screen. In all honesty, those are some big shoes to fill and I’m not taking about the BFG himself.
About The BFG:
The talents of three of the world’s greatest storytellers – Roald Dahl, Walt Disney and Steven Spielberg –
finally unite to bring Dahl’s beloved classic “The BFG” to life. Directed by Spielberg, Disney’s “The BFG” tells the imaginative story of a young girl and the Giant who introduces her to the wonders and perils of Giant Country. “I think it was kind of genius of Roald Dahl to be able to empower the children. It was very, very brave of him to introduce that combination of darkness and light which was so much Disney’s original signature in a lot of their earlier works like in ‘Dumbo,’ ‘Fantasia,’ ‘Snow White’ and ‘Cinderella,’ and being able to do scary, but also be redemptive at the same time and teach a lesson, an enduring lesson, to everyone, it was a wonderful thing for Dahl to have done, and it was one of the things that attracted me to want to direct this Dahl book,” says Spielberg.
The BFG (Mark Rylance), while a giant himself, is a Big Friendly Giant and nothing like the other inhabitants of Giant Country. Standing 24-feet tall with enormous ears and a keen sense of smell, he is endearingly dim-witted and keeps to himself for the most part. Giants like Bloodbottler (Bill Hader) and Fleshlumpeater (Jemaine Clement) on the other hand, are twice as big and at least twice as scary and have been known to eat humans, while the BFG prefers Snozzcumber and Frobscottle. Upon her arrival in Giant Country, Sophie, a precocious 10-year-old girl from London, is initially frightened of the mysterious giant who has brought her to his cave, but soon comes to realize that the BFG is actually quite gentle and charming, and, having never met a giant before, has many questions. The BFG brings Sophie to Dream Country where he collects dreams and sends them to children, teaching her all about the magic and mystery of dreams.
Having both been on their own in the world up until now, their affection for one another quickly grows. But Sophie’s presence in Giant Country has attracted the unwanted attention of the other giants, who have become increasingly more bothersome. Says Spielberg, “It’s a story about friendship, it’s a story about loyalty and protecting your friends and it’s a story that shows that even a little girl can help a big giant solve his biggest problems.” Sophie and the BFG soon depart for London to see the Queen (Penelope Wilton) and warn her of the precarious giant situation, but they must first convince the Queen and her maid, Mary (Rebecca Hall), that giants do indeed exist. Together, they come up with a plan to get rid of the giants once and for all.
Make sure to check out my full review of The BFG and all the Bonus Features included in The BFG Blu-Ray + DVD! If you haven’t had a chance to read The BFG I highly recommend it and make sure to also pick up The BFG Blu-Ray now available! It’ll make the perfect holiday stocking stuffer!
Photo Credit: Ruth fro vivaveltor.com
I have to say that one of my favorite things about interviewing Lucy Dahl was the fact that she was so opened with us about her life growing up with her father Roald Dahl. To me it sounded like an adventure everyday and a kids dream come true!
It was really amazing growing up with Roald Dahl as my dad because everything was a fairy tale, really because we were sort of his lab rats so to speak. He would test his ideas and his characters and people on us, although we didn’t know it at the time. We just thought that we were getting great stories and he created this whole sort of kingdom of where we lived.
When speaking about The BFG you could tell that Lucy Dahl has a special place in her heart for the character and the story. Listening to her really made you think of the story and how much more significant it was for her and her sister.
The BFG, is real to me. He lived under our apple orchards which was beyond our garden and every single night he would blow dreams into my sister and my bedroom. We just thought it was a story and then even in the middle of winter, even if it was snowing outside or blizzarding, we would always have to leave out little old bedroom window open a crack. After he told us a story, he would say goodnight, and we would lay there and we would wait for the BFG to come and blow dreams into our room and sure enough, this band with stick would come and it would always speak to Ophelia first which annoyed me, I have to admit because Ophelia was outside and I was inside. Then it would go this way and I would get my dreams and then it would retract and then that was just it for years and years and years while we were young growing up and then when we got to age where we thought that maybe, when our friends started to say there’s no such thing as the BFG, as they do, we questioned dad, and Dad said, you must not, the minute you stop believing in magic, it will never happen. It also must have worried him tremendously because the next morning when we woke up his precious lawn, his garden, he was an avid gardener, and the grass had huge brown spots that said BFG across the whole garden, that he had done with weed killer.
Photo Credit: Ruth fro vivaveltor.com
Just like any precious toy or stuffed animal children don’t like sharing with others. This is how Lucy Dahl felt about her and her sisters BFG.
There was no Giant Land in BFG’s story, so when it became a book and the BFG didn’t live under our orchard, he lived in Giant land, I didn’t like that. Just like, no, no, that’s not the way that goes. But I was actually a little offended when he put our childhood story into a book because he was my BFG and Ophelia’s BFG and nobody else’s and, and you don’t really want to share.
She also shared with us that she wasn’t very fond of the book, just because it wasn’t exactly how she remembered her dad telling them and plus now the entire world got to read something that was so dear and close to her.
I also loved the fact that she was on set during the making of the film The BFG. In fact she said that Steven Spielberg treated her like a queen and took her everywhere he went. “I felt really like my father was walking around with me around the set as delighted as I was.”
I really had a fantastic time listening to stories about Roald Dahl and what an amazing father he was with his daughters. Can you imagine living in such an imaginative world all the time? I know that my girls would absolutely love that! Special moments like that stay with our children forever as we can see from Lucy Dahl. She still remembers all the details and the love her father had for them.
Now being able to watch one of his books come to life in such a fantastic way is how his legacy will live on.
Check out this fun scene from The BFG:
Make sure to get The BFG on Blu-Ray this holiday season! Your kids will fall in love with Sophie and The BFG’s adventure!
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