‘Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile’: How VFX Team Used a Stand-In Actor to Bring the Singing Reptile to Life
Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor The creative mandate for the VFX team on “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” was to deliver a premium film with a singing and dancing CG character that both adults and children could believe was real. Based on the children’s book by Bernard Weber, the film follows Josh (Winslow Fegley), a young boy struggling to fit in, his dad (Scoot McNairy) and stepmother (Constance Wu). Upon moving to the city, the family finds out their new home is inhabited by a singing crocodile named Lyle, voiced by Shawn Mendes. Josh Gordon, who co-directed the film with Will Speck, says it was important that Lyle didn’t come off mean or menacing. Gordon explains, “That’s part of the character — he scares people — but Lyle is somebody who people judge by his cover. They don’t understand that underneath he is incredibly soulful and sweet.”