OVERLAY REPORT

In the 2009 animated film *Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs*, the directors, **Phil Lord and Christopher Miller**, actively encouraged improvisation to give the movie a more "live" and spontaneous feel. They specifically sought out comedic actors like Bill Hader, Anna Faris, and Andy Samberg because of their background in sketch comedy and improv. Below are the most notable scenes and instances involving improvisation and ad-libbing: ### 1. The "Email Scene" (Flint and Tim Lockwood) The most famous example of improvisation in the film is the climactic scene where **Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader)** has to walk his father, **Tim (James Caan)**, through the process of sending an email while Flint is in a life-threatening situation. * **The Detail:** Because the directors wanted the frustration to feel authentic, they recorded the two actors live while they were on the phone with each other from different cities (Bill Hader in New York and James Caan in Los Angeles). * **The Result:** Much of the back-and-forth bickering about where the "arrow" or "little envelope" was on the screen was ad-libbed. The directors even used outtakes of the actual technical awkwardness between Hader and Caan to make the scene more relatable and funny. ### 2. The Booth Riffs (Flint and Sam Sparks) While it is common in animation to record actors separately, Lord and Miller brought **Bill Hader** and **Anna Faris** into the same recording session on several occasions. * **The Detail:** They were placed in the same booth with a glass partition between them so their audio tracks could remain separate for editing while still allowing them to see and hear each other in real-time. * **The Result:** Many of the "nerdy" interactions and overlapping dialogue between Flint and Sam were born from the two actors riffing off one another. This includes the rapid-fire scientific jargon and the socially awkward pauses that define their relationship. ### 3. Andy Samberg as "Baby" Brent **Andy Samberg** was given significant leeway to develop the character of "Baby" Brent. * **The Detail:** The directors described Brent as an "appalling" character and let Samberg play with the absurdity of a grown man still clinging to his fame as a diaper-wearing sardine mascot. * **The Result:** Samberg’s constant use of his catchphrase **"Uh-oh!"** and his bizarre physical comedy (which the animators then matched to his vocal performance) often came from Samberg experimenting with different "ego-driven" takes on the character during recording sessions. ### 4. Mr. T as Officer Earl Devereaux While Mr. T followed the script for major plot points, his high-energy delivery was so specific that the directors allowed him to lean into his own persona. * **The Detail:** The line about his **"chest hair tingling"** when he senses danger was tailored to Mr. T's unique intensity. * **The Result:** The animators often filmed the actors during their recording sessions and used their real-life facial expressions and gestures as references for the characters. Officer Earl’s hyper-athletic movements were partially inspired by the "over-the-top" energy Mr. T brought to the booth. ### 5. Steve the Monkey (Neil Patrick Harris) Though **Neil Patrick Harris** had a very limited vocabulary for the character (mostly just saying "Steve!", "Banana!", or "Hungry!"), he was encouraged to provide dozens of different emotional inflections for those single words. Many of Steve's interjections were decided in the booth based on what Harris felt was funniest for the moment, rather than being strictly dictated by a script.