Robert Rodriguez Explains '4-D' Smells In 'Spy Kids 4'

Director Robert Rodriguez has made a career out of pushing the filmmaking envelope in various ways, from "Desperado" to "From Dusk Till Dawn" to his very successful "Spy Kids" franchise, which includes the first resurgent 3-D film, 2003's "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over." To mark the release of the fourth "Spy Kids" film, Rodriguez has added another level to the 3-D canon with "Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D." And what exactly makes a film 4-D? A little extra sensory overload provided by what Rodriguez calls an "Aroma-Scope." "Instead of just going 3-D like we did on the last one, we brought in 4-D, which is a very fun gimmick that I found in this old movie in the '80s," Rodriguez told MTV News of being inspired by John Waters' use of Smell-O-Vision for 1981's "Polyester." "It's kind of a scratch-and-sniff [experience] and you get to be really, almost like a video game, interactive with the movie. There are some really surprising smells, and some of the biggest laughs come from that." Rodriguez went on to say that the Aroma-Scope, which is a card with eight numbers on it that audience members are given with their 3-D glasses, provides viewers with a less passive and more interactive film-going experience. "Even my own kids, people today are so interactive with gaming that to go and watch the movie feels so passive, so this really bridges the gap between the two," he explained. "You're watching the movie and then almost like video game numbers come up and you [scratch] the cards and smell almost exactly what the characters are smelling. It's funny, the characters are all reacting to it, the adults are reacting to it — it's really fun." Check out everything we've got on "Spy Kids: All the Time in the World." For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com. Joel McHale, Jessica Alba, Mason Cook and Rowan Blanchard in "Spy Kids 4" Photo: Dimension Films