Elton John and David Furnish at the premiere of "Gnomeo And Juliet" in London, Jan. 30, 2011. (Lia Toby/WENN.com)

BEVERLY HILLS - British rock-pop star Elton John says fatherhood has had a profound impact on his life and that of his longtime Canadian partner David Furnish.

The couple had their first son, Zachary, via a surrogate birth on Christmas Day. John says Zachary didn't influence songwriting for their new Disney animated family comedy, Gnomeo & Juliet, because the movie -- opening Friday and executive-produced by John and co-produced by Furnish -- took 11 years to get to the big screen. That's not an abnormal gestation time in the animation world.

"The thing with animation films is you have to write the songs quite a long time ahead because you're writing for the storyboards and you have (to place) things in them," says the 63-year-old John in front of a packed news conference with Furnish and other crew and cast members beside him.

Of course, that doesn't mean Zachary won't have a big influence on both his and Furnish's creative lives.

"I never thought one day actually I'd be a father," says John, who has many godchildren while Furnish, 48, has many nephews and nieces.

"But I'm very pleased I changed my mind. Children are extremely important. They are the future of the world. As long as David and I bring him up to be a loving and compassionate boy, then I'll be very happy."

Zachary's surrogate birth came after John and Furnish were unable to adopt two young orphaned brothers (one HIV positive) in the Ukraine in the fall of 2009.

And, now, the couple will one day be able to show Zachary their first family film together: Gnomeo & Juliet.

"Adventures in daddyland -- oh, it's fantastic," John continued. "I love the smell of nappies, diapers. Obviously, it's been the most wonderful thing that's probably ever happened to me, after meeting David.

"The most surprising thing is that it's been very relaxing. This little soul that you're feeding, changing, bathing and telling bedtime stories to is a blank palette, a blank canvas. All it needs is love and nurturing ... When he gets to talking and running around, I'll probably feel a little different."

Gnomeo & Juliet, which is being released in both 2D and 3D, is a comical take on Williams Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. It's set in the world of garden gnomes and has a strong British-Scottish cast led by James McAvoy and Emily Blunt as Gnomeo and Juliet. Other notable actors who provide voices include Michael Caine as Juliet's father, Maggie Smith as Gnomeo's mother and Ozzy Osbourne as a concrete fawn.

Furnish, who was pleased to have Toronto's Starz Animation work on the film, admits the choice of garden gnomes bewildered many. But the filmmakers stuck to their guns.

"(Garden gnomes) have always been poking around as objects of ridicule and derision. There was a famous press story in Britain where they were banned from the Chelsea flower show," Furnish says.

"And when the idea first came to us, we loved the opportunity to take the high art of William Shakespeare and turn it on its head with the low art of the garden gnomes because most people think garden gnomes are tacky, ugly, not fashionable, laughable.

"And when you take those two elements together, you get a great level of irony, which gives you a fantastic opportunity to spin Shakespeare on its head and get lots of comedy. And, hopefully, we've done that."

Of course, John previously enjoyed major animated film success in 1994 when he and Tim Rice composed the music for Disney's The Lion King, which garnered him his first Oscar.

Next up film-wise, John says, is a biopic about his colourful life, which has included great musical success and AIDS-fundraising while battling booze, drugs, bulimia, overspending and during a brief marriage to a woman before his 17-year relationship with Furnish, whom he entered into a civil partnership with in England in 2005.

"I'd just like to make a great film about my life story," John says. "We have a great script by Lee Hall, who wrote Billy Elliot (the musical that John co-wrote). Obviously, it's not going to be your normal run-of-the-mill film because my life has been kind of crazy. I think it's important to do a sort of surrealistic take on my life. I'd love to do that."

But, for the most part, John says he likes not knowing what is around the corner.

"This business is so incredible," he says. "In 1993, I got a phone call from Tim Rice (who asked if) I would do The Lion King ... At that time, all I was doing was making records, touring and doing videos. It gave me the opportunity, with that one phone call, to suddenly write musicals for the stage, film scores; it just opened so many things ...

"If you'd have said in 1990, 'You're going to make a film about garden gnomes (one day),' I'd have said you're crazy!"

Soundtrack a greatest hits album

Many of Elton John's greatest hits -- Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting, Your Song, Don't Go Breaking My Heart, The Bitch is Back, etc. -- provide the soundtrack for the new animated family comedy, Gnomeo & Juliet.

But the 63-year-old British singer-songwriter-pianist says that wasn't the original plan until former Walt Disney Studios chairman Dick Cook, who resigned in 2009, suggested it.

"I thought it was maybe a good idea. I'd never done that before," John told a press conference.

"So I enlisted the help of (arranger) James Newton Howard. (James) used to be in my band so I had a great relationship with him. And from that point on, I really just handed it over to James and the rest of the team to put (the songs) in there. I didn't really take an active part saying, 'This should go there.'

"On the whole, I think James did such a great job because even though it's our (his and lyricist Bernie Taupin's) back catalogue, it doesn't feel as if it's overbearing and it's an Elton John movie. It feels like Gnomeo & Juliet with some good music in it."

Among the two new songs composed and sung by John in the film are Hello Hello, co-written and featuring Lady Gaga.

"The Lady Gaga duet really came about by me tying her down and hitting her over the head and saying, 'Will you do this song with me?'" John said.

"No, she came to the house last year at Windsor. We do a ball each year to raise money for AIDS and she was the entertainment. She stayed at the house for two days. We just mentioned the film and the song and she said, 'I'd love to do it.'

"Because she has an incredibly hectic schedule, she did it between dates somewhere either in Scandinavia and a little bit in New York. We did it completely separately, but she added so much of her own magic to the song. She gave it new life. Because obviously it was a duet and I was looking for someone to sing it with and because she's one of my new best friends and I love her to death, it was nice that she was so excited to do it. So that was a real plus for us."

Canadian Nelly Furtado also joins John for a new recording of his '70s classic Crocodile Rock.

"We actually wrote four new songs for the movie, and two of them got left out," John said. "One of them was a great song that Lily Allen sang. But the storyboards change, the story evolves and things just get left by the wayside. That's the way you have to accept it when you write for a musical or you write for an animation movie that has music in it."

Elton's a 'Gnomo-sexual'

Elton John was in top form on many subjects during a recent press conference to promote his new film, Gnomeo & Juliet, which he provides the music for and executive-produced. Here's the best of the rest of what he had to say:

"Not really. We started the film 11 years ago and if we'd have had the foresight to do that I'd have said we were f---ing genuises!"

On whether the feud between the red and blue garden gnomes was a metaphor for the current polarized political landscape in the U.S.

"I don't know Kate and William so I'd made a joke that I'd probably be busking outside. But as far as I know, I don't think so, no. It'll probably be someone like Barry Manilow. Someone younger and more attractive."

On whether he'd be playing at the royal wedding.

"Chance to see it? We've decorated our whole apartment in it!"

On the US Weekly cover picture of himself, Canadian partner David Furnish and their new son, Zachary.

"There I am, Glam Gnome, the Gnomo-sexual in the film!"

On his animated self in the movie.

"Obviously, ballet's not an option."

On what he has left to do in his career.

"I can remember things. I don't take drugs anymore. It's a whole new world out there."

On performing live now versus 30-40 years ago.