It’s a Picture Book, a Novel, a Movie in Book Form …

How does it feel to have Martin Scorsese planning to direct a movie of "Hugo"?
It feels really great and really incredible. John Logan is writing the script. He wrote "The Aviator." I have seen the first draft, and it's really good so far. It's just a thrill to know I made something that Martin Scorsese likes.

Your book already makes readers feel like they're watching a movie. NPR even said it "unfurls like a silent film." How is Scorsese going to handle that?
Scorsese is also a scholar of film history. So his movies are filled with references to the history of cinema. Throughout "Hugo," I'm making all these references to movies. I know that when Scorsese was reading my book, he saw the scene of Hugo with his turtleneck pulled up over his neck in jail, and he said "that's Antoine Doinel from 'The 400 Blows' by Francois Truffaut." In the cinema, we'd actually be able to see that clip.

What made you decide to set the story in a Parisian train station in 1931?
That came directly out of Méliès' biography. He really did lose all of his money and end up working in a Parisian train shop in 1931. All of the stuff about Méliès and his films being melted down, and his parents owning a shoe factory, that's all true.

Your Web site, theinventionofhugocabret.com, includes a bunch of links to "friends' sites" (Robert Sabuda, Mo Willems, Andrew Clements, Paul Zelinsky) and to "weird websites I like" ("click here to see an artist who does amazing things with cut paper" http://www.petercallesen.com/ ). Do you surf the Web a lot?
I surf the Web, and I have friends who search the Web and send me excellent links. I've always liked these little strange tidbits that could lead to stories.

Can you tell us what your next book is about?
I don't quite know yet. I have a couple of ideas, and I'm finishing up illustrations for the third "Doll People" book. When that's done, hopefully next week, I'll be able to dive into figuring out what the next book is going to be. I'd like it to be something that's illustrated along the lines of "Hugo," but it won't be about the cinema. The reason for the use of the pictures will have to change.

You won't do "Hugo Part II"?
As far as I know, there's not going to be a sequel to "Hugo" because everything I wanted to have happen to Hugo happened to him.

© 2008