How ‘Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile’ Directors Made a Singing Croc Feel Like the Soul of Shawn Mendes

thewrap.com:

“Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” tells (and sings) the story of a stage-shy crocodile who has the voice of an angel (Shawn Mendes). Lyle gets discovered by Hector P.

Valenti (Javier Bardem) in a last-ditch effort trip to Eddie’s Exotic Animals, where he hopes to find his hail mary magical animal act to make money and repay his growing debt.

Gordon directed alongside longtime moviemaking partner Will Speck.“I think [Hector], is potentially at the end of the road when we first see the beginning of the movie, and I think he discovers and comes upon something that is completely pure and untouched and innocent,” Speck said. “And partially out of selfishness but a lot out of the joy and excitement of what it feels like to be in the presence of such genius, he’s looking for a new path or a new start or an answer.”Lyle becomes the star of the story in his own way, with the help of character and live actor Ben Palacios, who wore a specifically crocodile-designed helmet with a snout, sensor and a girth suit to take up the space that a 900-pound crocodile normally would, as well as the vocals of talented musical artist Shawn Mendes.“The challenge of making a movie with a CGI character at the center of it is always for us, especially, to try to make it feel as real and emotionally present as possible, and so on set, we had a stand in that would play a Lyle for the other actors so that they had something real to react to,” Gordon said. “Especially the children and also our cinematographer, camera operators, and everybody bringing these musical numbers to life could actually be interacting with a real living presence.” Mendes’ casting in the role added a whole new layer to the creature, who has a lot to say through song, but never speech..