BD: The transition from the music hall to rock 'n' roll is analogous to the transition from 2D to 3D in animation. Was that intentional?

SC: No, I wasn't thinking at all about that at the time. But then now I can see the resemblance. And the resemblance is something very simple: I thought that with the live performance you could take the whole family, and then there was an end to it and they appealed to the teenager. And now is it the same with animation? I don't know. They are making more and more things with animation. But I really liked WALL•E, which is a really well directed film and you can really see that the vision of the future is very political and very dark and I thought that was amazing.

In keeping with Tati, The Illusionist avoids close-ups or moving camera, becoming a more theatrical experience but still cinematic.

SC: I'm going to try live action: one is a musical and one is a bit more fantasy.

BD: What are you most excited about in trying live action?

SC: Well, the thing is in animation you're used to being in control of everything. The only thing in live action is that you have to give the actors some freedom. Of course, in live action there is a realization you have to establish between the director and the actors. But it is very interesting because I bring a love and a very lively way of shooting. It takes too much time to do an animated film, especially in 2D. You need a lot of patience and I don't have any patience, which is my nightmare. And sometimes you need a change in life, so we'll see.

Bill Desowitz is senior editor of AWN & VFXWorld.