Emma Stone gets animated in family feature 'The Croods'

NEW YORK, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Hollywood actress Emma Stone says she loved seeing how her animated movie "The Croods" came together after she and her co-stars separately recorded the lines for their characters.

"I had such an incredible time watching the movie," the 24-year-old Arizona native said at a recent press conference in New York.

"It is such an incredibly visual movie, but it's also such a sweet and funny and full-of-heart story. I just loved it," she said.

Featuring the voice talents of Nicolas Cage, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine Keener, Clark Duke and Cloris Leachman, the movie follows a pre-historic family as they struggle to change their old-fashioned ways and adapt to their environment. Stone plays Eep, the oldest child in an over-protective family, while Reynolds is Guy, a well-traveled suitor, who challenges her father's limited world view while trying to help the clan.

"I'm assuming the children of every generation have had to get out of the shadow of their parents or separate themselves. Birds leaving the nest is just an age-old story," Stone observed.

The actress -- who previously starred in "Zombieland," "The Help," "Crazy, Stupid Love" and "The Amazing Spider-Man" -- said she liked the way Eep looks with her wild hair and curvy figure, as well as how well the teen can run and climb.

"She's pretty compact and strong," Stone noted of her animated alter-ego in "The Croods."

She also got a kick out of taping all the grunts and growls Eep emits as she hunts her dinner or scales mountains.

"That was actually my favorite part. Any physical exertion or the sounds of physical exertion were my favorite part because it was what I didn't really think about when I signed on to the movie," Stone explained. "I was just thinking about the fun of playing Eep. I didn't really think about when she runs and swings and hits and throws someone over her shoulder. That was the most fun and the most imaginative. It was really playful in the room. There was a lot of movement."

Written and directed by Chris Sanders and Kirk DeMicco, "The Croods" is now available on DVD and Blu-ray.