 The very first footage screened for Paramount executives was of a  poorly crafted puppet in front of a background of a badly drawn  Eiffel Tower, prompting one executive in the audience to yell. "Oh  god, they fucked us!" This was a prank pulled by the directors and  the shot then pulls back to reveal a highly refined marionette  manipulating the inferior one, then flies over beautifully detailed  Parisian landscape full of believable yet cheesy marionettes. This  actually ends up being the opening shot of the movie.