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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, January 31, 2014 | 10 Box office hit has director feeling anything but surly by Abigail Cukier Special to the Beaver Peter Lepeniotis didn't get into film school at York University. Today, that's fine with the man who co-wrote and directed The Nut Job, now in theatres. Lepeniotis could draw , so he opted to go to Sheridan College. He graduated in 1993 from the classical animation and computer animation programs. "It really blossomed for me and opened up a new world," he said. "It worked out quite well for me." Indeed. Lepeniotis co-wrote and directed The Nut Job, which finished third in North America at the box office over the Jan. 24-26 weekend. After destroying the winter food supply for the rest of the animals, mischievous squirrel Surly is banished from the park by Raccoon. Surly teams up with his rat friend, Buddy , to break into the nut store to help redeem himself by ensuring the survival of the park animals. Surly finds himself on an adventure that requires him to enlist the park creatures. The movie is voiced by Hollywood stars such as Liam Neeson, Will Arnett, Maya Rudolph and Katherine A scene from The Nut Job, directed by Sheridan Collge graduate Peter Lepeniotis, right. Released this month, the animated movie finished third in North America at the box office last weekend. | The Nut Job Characters and Artwork @All Rights Reserved by Redrover Co., Ltd. and ToonBox Entertainment Ltd. Heigl. It is based on a short Lepeniotis wrote in 2005. Surly Squirrel won audience awards at film festivals in Ottawa and Palm Springs. After graduating from Sheridan, Lepeniotis worked at Industrial Light and Magic, a division of LucasFilm Ltd. He was part of the film Casper, which was the first feature-length film to star a computer-generated image (CGI) character. Lepeniotis was then with Disney for four years, working on Fantasia 2000 and Dinosaur. At Pixar, he was an animator on Toy Story 2. He moved back to Toronto to be with his girlfriend, now wife, Laura, and worked at studios including Cookie Jar, which produced Arthur and Caillou. He then joined his current company Toonbox Entertainment. He took a year off of work to concentrate on creating Surly Squirrel. "Having been in L.A., I always thought their squirrels were so mangy-looking compared to what we have in Ontario. Ours are much thicker and more plush and furrier," Lepeniotis said. "The ones there had this crazy look in their eyes, like they would eat you. They were greedy little things." When visiting a friend, Lepeniotis noticed the animated cursor his friend called Surly Squirrel. His friend agreed that Lepeniotis could use the short film developed from there. "The studio kept saying they wanted to make a feature out of it, but I didn't think anything would come out of it. The next thing I knew, I had to write a script," he said. The film took three years to complete. As director, every detail or question about story, character, animation or editing went through Lepeniotis and he flew to New York City and Los Angeles to work with the stars doing voice work. He took his family, which includes his five-year-old daughter and sevenyear-old son, to walk the red carpet at the L.A. premiere and has been fielding media interviews worldwide. Lepeniotis laughs when he discusses the film's press, which has included some negative reviews. "The movie is for little kids. Little kids don't care that there is no deeper message. They laugh at the ridiculousness of those little rodents. They are loving it," he said. In fact, the producers have ordered a sequel to The Nut Job, expected to open in 2016. "I will be happy to be involved with the sequel in any way," Lepeniotis said. "Right now, I am pretty tired and just enjoying all of this." Wine & Dine Your ! e n i t n e l Va Celebrate at NINO'S Experience Nino's newly upgraded gourmet menu in an elegant dining area. Free Chocolate treat for all the ladies with every dinner. Some limitations apply. Cannot be combined with other offer applies to kitchen cabinets only. Valid only on purchases after January 1, 2014. Offer expires Mar. 31/14 February 13-15 438 Kerr Street, Oakville Please view our updated menu online www.ninopanino.ca 905-338-9393