Tag: Pixar

First Details and Concept Art for Pixar’s New Film ‘Elemental Revealed

While Pixar is busy promoting its upcoming animated film Lightyear, which will take a closer look at the inspiration behind Toy Story’s Buzz Lightyear, the news has arrived on what we can expect from their upcoming release on June 16th, 2023. It turns out the next feature film will be titled Elemental and Disney has released a first look at the key concept art behind the Pixar film.

The feature film will be directed by The Good Dinosaur‘s Peter Sohn with producer Denise Ream attached. It’ll follow the story of an unlikely pair named Ember and Wade. While polar opposites due to their elemental backgrounds, they will swiftly learn they have something in common in their world where people made of fire, water, land, and air reside. Sohn goes on to highlight the inspiration for this project.

My parents emigrated from Korea in the early 1970s and built a bustling grocery store in the Bronx. We were among many families who ventured to a new land with hopes and dreams—all of us mixing into one big salad bowl of cultures, languages and beautiful little neighborhoods. That’s what led me to ‘Elemental’.
Peter Sohn

In a world where elements are alive, it’s an interesting concept to see how they interact with each other. The concept art already teases how water and fire may not quite mesh well and who knows what other types of characters might find their way into the story. It sounds like a concept that perfectly fits into Pixar’s creative take on storytelling and we’ll see how they bring life to elements in creative ways.

May 16, 2022
Meet the Cast and Characters of ‘Lightyear’

Pixar movies don’t just come to life through animation. It’s through the voice and performances of the actors behind the visuals that these characters are fully realized. And Lightyear boasts a cast of talented performers. During the early junket of the film, members of the press, including Murphy’s Multiverse, were given a primer on who was playing who.

It didn’t take long after Chris Evans‘ Avengers: Endgame victory lap for him to be attached to Lightyear. It was a peculiar choice at the time of the announcement but was quickly justified in the 30-minute presentation we saw. According to producer Gayle Susman, it was a no-brainer.

When casting Buzz, it was important to differentiate our hero Buzz from the toy that’s made on his character and represented in the Toy Story movies. So that meant we needed a new voice for Buzz. He needed to have that nice rich sound, able to be both dramatic and comedic. And most importantly, he needed to be heroic without coming off as arrogant or dense. And that’s a tall order. And we immediately knew we had to ask Chris Evans. What we didn’t know is that he is a huge animation fan and would bring that love and passion into the project. He even attended an animation dailies and gave the team a pep talk.

Opposite Chris Evans is Uzo Aduba‘s Alicia Hawthorne. The film quickly establishes Hawthorne and Lightyear’s friendship, centering her as the heart of the film that compels Buzz to set out on his journey. From the brief glimpse we got of her, Aduba gives off a heartfelt performance which was only given credence by Susman’s description of her:

The emotional anchor for act one is Buzz’s best friend and the commander of the mission, Alicia Hawthorne. Both commanding and compassionate, a straight shooter who cares about living a good life. If you watch just two minutes of Uzo Aduba’s Shirley Chisholm in Mrs. America, you see all of that. She’s just an amazing talent, and we are so fortunate to have her on the team.

The time travel element of the film means that there will be a revolving door of characters for Buzz to interact with. While the first act of the film focuses on Buzz’s friendship with Alicia, for most of the film, Buzz sees himself paired with an unlikely group of misfits decades later. The first of which is Izzy Hawthorne, played by Keke Palmer. Izzy is a character that isn’t present in the first 30-minutes that were showcased so we have yet to see what she’s like. However, from Susman’s breakdown, Izzy seems like the perfect successor to her grandmother Alicia.

Izzy Hawthorne, Alicia’s granddaughter, has a striking resemblance to her grandmother until she’s put in a tough spot. She has spunk, she has the courage, but she’s completely untrained and unproven, and not sure that she can live up to the family name. Keke Palmer brought just the energy and the heart we were looking for for this role

An ensemble isn’t complete without comedic relief and this ensemble is rounded off by Mo and Darby, played by Taika Waititi and Dale Soules respectively. Like Izzy, we haven’t a clue on what these characters are like but their descriptions and character designs all seem exciting.

Mo and Darby are a bit of comic relief, as well as being uniquely able to challenge Buzz where he most needs to grow. Mo is a feather in the wind, never quite able to commit to any one direction. Taika is able to bring a likeability to that kind of character when they can often be a little annoying. His improvisational skills really brought a depth and warmth to Mo. Darby is the classic tough curmudgeon with a record. She’s handy, inventive, and extremely salty, a great addition to the team.

April 21, 2022
How ‘Lightyear’ Became a Time Travel Story

It’s hard to imagine how an in-universe movie in the Toy Story world would work, let alone one that is centered on time travel. But that’s how Lightyear, the film that inspired the toy that Andy would one day buy, posits itself.

Pixar was kind enough to showcase to Murphy’s Multiverse the first 30-minutes of the film which unveiled the film’s core time travel mechanic. Described as time dilation by director Angus MacLane, the concept sees Buzz Lightyear undertake a recurring mission that brings him several years into the future unaged while his headquarters gets older and older.

MacLane explained to the press that the decision to make it a time travel story had to do with their experiences working on individual Pixar movies for years on end while the world around them changes.

So, we have a story where Buzz would be traveling rapidly through time because of his job. And because of that, it would separate him from society and his loved ones. This felt like a natural fit for Buzz. The hero lots of times is a well-worn story for the science fiction genre. The idea felt like fertile ground for both our own personal experiences and the core-defining character trait of Buzz Lightyear. So Buzz is a fish out of water story. It’s like Rip Van Winkle trapped in a future he doesn’t recognize, desperately trying to get back to the past to correct the mistake of his youth. A hero out of his own time.

Having seen the 30-minute footage, it’s awe-inspiring to see the makers of Lightyear take a huge swing for an iconic character even if the time dilation concept quickly skips past a lot of potentially good character work. It’ll be interesting to see how the concept affects the larger scope of the narrative.

April 21, 2022
Staff Uproar Has Led to the Restoration of a Same-Sex Kiss in Pixar’s ‘Lightyear’

There has been quite a bit of controversy surrounding Disney, most notably CEO Bob Chapek. His handling of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill has had some important consequences, as LGBTQ employees and allies of Pixar sent statements that “overtly gay affection” was being cut out of films by the studio. According to Variety, the same almost happened with the upcoming Pixar film Lightyear, which features the character of Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba) who was going to kiss another woman in the film. The recent uproar has led to the scene being added in once again. For many, this is a hopeful turn for the company and its handling of LGBTQ representation.

Pixar has long fought the battle to include LGBTQ representation in their projects but was consistently hitting a wall when working on their projects. The recently released Luca was also going to include a scene with the character Giulia. While it was claimed that the issue came from uncertainty with adding a girlfriend character to highlight the character’s sexuality, it seems that the Disney corporate review process has been their main issue. The statement included the following statement:

Nearly every moment of overtly gay affection is cut at Disney’s behest, regardless of when there is a protest from both the creative teams and executive leadership at Pixar. Even if creating LGBTQIA+ content was the answer to fixing the discriminatory legislation in the world, we are being barred from creating it

Sadly, this is quite an international issue with films like Onward featuring a lesbian cop getting banned in Kuwait, Oman, Quatar, and Saudi Arabia. Marvel Studios has shared a clear statement on their official account and has ensured that their recent release of Eternals wouldn’t get censored in any way. The fact that the scene was added back in for Lightyear is hopefully a big showcase for a more welcoming future, especially for the employees that have been fighting for it.

Source: Variety

March 18, 2022
‘Turning Red’ Director and Producer Share Hopes for a Sequel

Director Domee Shi brought a heartwarming story about puberty and family to Disney+ with Turning Red. We get to meet a colorful cast of characters, who introduce us to the magical land of Canada. Jokes aside, our time with Meilin and her friends offers quite a few cute and awkward moments that any teenager goes through. Even though it just arrive don Disney+, there’s quite some interest in a sequel that further explores Mei’s time as a giant red panda and seeing her get to spend more time with her friends. Luckily, Shi has revealed that the ending was meant to keep the door open for more..

We are open, but we haven’t talked about it. But yeah, it’s an invitation at the end for more stories.
Domee Shi

Producer Lindsey Collins also highlights that they hope the audience connects with the film’s cast and that it keeps people wanting a chance to spend more time with them.

Hopefully, at the end of a movie, you’ve fallen so in love with the characters that you have a hard time letting them go. I mean, as the filmmakers, not even as the audience, I feel that way. I love these characters. I never got tired of them. I was always like, ‘I’d go hang out with those characters again.’ I want to see what they’re up to. So, yeah. Who knows?”
Lindsey Collins

While there are no definite plans, it does seem like the team behind the project is definitely all in for a sequel. With Disney’s new streaming home, they aren’t restricted to just a film and could also explore a TV series. They have also been quite vocal about other animated projects being franchises that will continue to grow, and Turning Red is a perfect addition to their ever-growing library moving forward. So, here’s hoping.

Source: Comic Book

March 11, 2022
EXCLUSIVE: ‘Turning Red’ Producer on The Film’s Big Finale

Warning: spoilers for Turning Red below

The intimate story of Turning Red takes a huge turn in the finale when it turns into a massive fight rivaling a tentpole superhero movie. The sequence, which both director Domee Shi and producer Lindsey Collins confirmed to be hardest to get right, shows a big kaiju fight among family members.

In an interview with both Shi and Collins, I asked how early in the writing process did they come up with such a left turn for the story. Collins had this to say:

A version of it was in there from the get-go. Not [the final] version but we always had this desire to have this kind of normal mother-and-daughter argument set against this massive monster scale. Especially if you’ve been bottling up that kind of argument for that long, it’s what that feels like. When you finally release all that pent-up anger, frustration, and sadness, it’s like a monster.

Turning Red’s finale almost makes the story collapse on itself but thanks to Shi’s incredible story instincts, the finale remains tethered to the movie’s most crucial themes. It’s a finale that will go down as one of Pixar’s most memorable ones undoubtedly.

March 11, 2022
EXCLUSIVE: Domee Shi on ‘Turning Red’s Humor and Horror

More than any other Pixar film, it’s Turning Red that taps into the sensibilities of preteens the most. A film about a preteen going through puberty, the film tackles themes and topics that otherwise wouldn’t be covered by a Disney film. Topics like those inevitably come with a sense of humor apt for its age range, which is what allows Turning Red to be funny in a way audience haven’t seen in a Pixar movie.

Jokes about strippers, crushes, and bodily changes are some of the things Turning Red doesn’t shy from. I spoke with director Domee Shi and producer Lindsey Collins and asked how they got the green light to do such suggestive jokes. Collins admitted that she was surprised when the executives didn’t bat an eye.

There are certainly a couple of moments in there that I was surprised we didn’t get pushed back for. I was kind of half-expecting it. But they didn’t. For the most part, they knew the film they were getting. They knew the filmmaker they had. We were also unapologetic from the very first screening. They had the opportunity to say “Uh oh” but they didn’t.

Shi was confident about their choices, saying that a lot of the jokes were rooted in important character work and thematics.

We also could defend those decisions too. All of the humor was connected to themes of the movie which were girl adolescence, puberty, and generational perspectives.

Early in the movie, Turning Red shows a dream sequence that is utterly bizarre and borderline unsettling by Disney standards. In line with the earlier question, I asked Shi what prompted them to create a scene inspired by filmmaker David Lynch and how it tied into the film’s themes.

I’m so glad you mentioned David Lynch. He was an inspiration for that part. There was an even scarier version that we cut. The version you guys saw was a scaled-back version. I like it because it’s kind of weird and it elicited a lot of laughter from the audience. My intention behind the sequence was that it’s the night that puberty arrives. So what does puberty look like as a dream? It is very Lynchian and nightmarish and weird and funny.

March 11, 2022
REVIEW: ‘Turning Red’ Will Be Your Next Favorite Pixar Film

There are two particular jokes in Turning Red that are emblematic of the comedic brilliance of director Domee Shi and co-screenwriter Julia Cho and the confident maturity that Pixar has allowed the film to reach. The first occurs early in the film where protagonist Mei reveals her newfound disposition to her best friends. Her erratic and unpredictable transformations into a red panda have put a halt in their plans, mainly their endgame of attending the upcoming concert of the boy band of their dreams, 4*Town. With a whimpering straight face, 13-year old Mei tells her friends, “Go become women without me.” The second happens shortly after when Mei’s friend Abby shares her displeasure at not being allowed to attend the concert by her parents, “Mine called it stripper music. What’s wrong with that?”

Humor is one of the many defiant traits that comprise Turning Red’s identity. The film, in more ways than one, is akin to its protagonist Mei Lee in that both are at constant odds with their responsibilities and selves. Within the Pixar canon, Turning Red posits itself as the true rebel of the catalog; brash, anarchic, and spunky just like Mei. Pixar films have long examined complex thematics, especially with Pete Docter’s existentialist double-feature Inside Out and Soul, from a heightened fantastical perspective, oftentimes through characters resembling small children.

Soul had 22, a down-on-her-luck soul who can’t seem to find her purpose in life. Then there’s Finding Nemo’s Dory, who in her childlike naivete finds the will to find lost family in the unfathomable ocean. Turning Red departs from this mold with a 13-year old protagonist on the cusp of puberty. The film’s themes, while existentially complex in every sense of the way, are no longer just emotional concepts but physical ones as well. Faced with the overwhelming deluge of hormones, Mei begins to experience everything around her change; her body no longer feels the same, boys elicit feelings she’s never felt, and her parents no longer resonate the same way they did. Both the emotional and physical conflicts Mei and her friends experience allow the space for the filmmakers to examine them through the cultural lenses of a teenager in 2002, all without mincing words.

Domee Shi frames this semi-autobiographical tale in 2002, the cusp of 90s nostalgia and the burgeoning days of handheld tech. A child of that era, Shi uses the cultural touchstones of the era to explore how the characters behave among them. Tamagotchis, flip phones, the first wave of Nokia (or in this case, Jokia) phones, and the boyband antecedents of the era all play a key part in defining who these kids are. The songs by 4*Town – written by Billie Eilish and Finneas – are a particular standout. The duo fuses the new jack swing sound of 90s pop with the dance-pop hooks of the 2000s and the modernity of hi-fi KPOP to create a vibe perfect for this version of 2002.

Contrary to its unruly sense of humor, Turning Red does live up to the Disney brand with its profound and tender sense of heart. Central to this heart is Mei, her mother Ming, and their relationship that keeps that heart beating. Mei, like most Asian children, is weighed down by the expectation of duty and excellence from her stern mother. She’s the top of her class, diligent with extra-curricular activities, honors the family business yet every now and then, feels the urge to not be any of those. It’s only when a generational curse spanning centuries turns Mei into a red panda that those feelings are challenged. By extension, Ming’s role as the well-meaning yet faultless, absolute decision-maker in Mei’s life is also put to the test, as her own dormant trauma is unearthed. Their relationship soon becomes a tug of war between a daughter fighting for identity and a mother escaping from her trauma.

Caught in that tug-of-war are Mei’s friends, who prove to be one of Pixar’s most memorable ensembles in years. Made up of the deadpan Priya, the easygoing Miriam, and the hooligan Abby, whose frenetic wit stands out as a constant scene-stealer, the ensemble is to thank for the film’s funniest and most charming moments. Each of them brings a vibrant authenticity that holds the milieu of the early naughts together. They also not only serve as Mei’s support system but also as a tether to her identity. When the mother-and-daughter conflict comes into view, it’s the friends that are caught in the crossfire. The eventual drama that branches is not only somber but also powerful.

Turning Red nearly falls apart when the torrential family crisis threatens to be an unwieldy explosion of spectacle in its third act; reaching near-superhero levels of scope and literal scale rather than maintaining the intimacy of its earlier conflicts. But director Shi is quick to demonstrate the control she has over the material as she tempers the climax with the emotions of all the characters involved. As the set-piece grows larger, so do the themes that underpin every character’s decision. Character is never lost in the spectacle but also given a chance to shine in a way previous scenes could not. The resulting finale is one that’s not only exhilarating but also full of heart.

Both Mei and Ming are underpinned by fantastic performances from Rosalie Cheng and Sandra Oh respectively. Cheng, who was originally hired as a stand-in while the production looked for the actor they needed, gives a performance so dimensional that you’d be forgiven for thinking she was voicing her 20th animated film. Mei displays a charming yet weighty tenacity onscreen that could only ever work through the candor and earnestness Cheng yields from her voice. The ever so graceful Sandra Oh braces Cheng’s performance with a commanding warmth she engenders in Ming’s spirit. From the mere timbre of her voice, Oh envelopes each scene with a gravitas that gives the space for Cheng to be delicate and vibrant. Though the solemn gravitas eventually seethes into thunderous roaring, Oh never forgets to make it feel heartfelt.

But voice performances can only be so good as a singular element. It falls on the craftsmanship of the animators to make these performances palpable to the eye. Fortunately, Turning Red also happens to be the most expressive Pixar film to date, utilizing a spectrum of techniques derived from anime. An art form known for its stylistic excess, the film embraces the ethos of anime and uses every opportunity to be playful and experimental. Western animation sensibilities are broken frequently as facial expressions frantically contort to mischievous proportions; a star pops up in Mei’s eyes when she’s elated; her pupils shrink to a dot when startled or turn into crescent shapes; giant tears droop from her eyes in times of sadness. Because of this choice, every emote in Turning Red speaks volumes.

Meeting Turning Red‘s anime influence halfway is Pixar’s fidelity to vibrancy and richness. The film’s palette is aptly dominated by hues of red but is also counteracted by Domee Shi‘s vision of a watercolor painting rendered in full 3D. This visual aesthetic is most present during the film’s cutaway dream sequences, where vivid images of unsettling nightmarish creatures plague Mei’s dreams or hazy fantasies of 4*Town flash onscreen, and serene moments of introspection take place in the divine astral realm.

Turning Red marks Pixar’s third consecutive win in a streak of original ideas beginning with Soul and followed by Luca. While franchise installments like Lightyear and Incredibles 2 make stakeholders happy, it’s films like Turning Red that tap into the ethos that made Pixar so great all those years ago. Domee Shi and co. have crafted a film that has all the makings of a Disney classic while embodying a personality and attitude that hasn’t been seen in any of their animated films prior.

March 7, 2022
New ‘Lightyear’ Trailer Reveals Emperor Zurg’s Redesign

The new Lightyear trailer has finally dropped which gives us a look at a reinvented look of our favorite Toy Story character. Pixar tackles the character’s story as Chris Evans’ Buzz Lightyear heads out into space after being marooned on a planet. In his travels, he’ll face various dangers which include the return of a familiar villainous face.

In the trailer, he briefly mentions that they are being hunted by a robot that might be familiar to fans of Toy Story 2, as he wields a triple-barreled weapon which many will instantly recognize as the go-to weapon for his arch-rival Emperor Zurg.

The design looks great while still keeping elements from the original like his eyes. He noticeably no longer has his cape, but it would seem out of place in what looks like an inorganic world. There was a great sense of adventure and danger for our hero, and it felt very adult for what you usually expect with Pixar’s offerings. So, we’re quite excited to check their upcoming film, which hopefully won’t just end on Disney+ again.

You can check out the trailer right here:

Source: YouTube

February 8, 2022
Everything You Need To Know About ‘Turning Red’

March 11th sees the release of Pixar’s first offering of this year, Turning Red. Directed by Academy Award-winner Domee Shi, the film centers on a kid named Mei, a diligent, studious, and sassy pre-teen who one day wakes up as a giant, fluffy red panda. It’s up to Mei and her support system of friends and her mom to help her navigate life as she enters her first phase of adulthood.

Murphy’s Multiverse were given the chance to attend the film’s press junket that had certain members of the production including Shi herself, producer Lindsey Collins, and their talented crew of production designers and animators. Here are a few things we learned from Turning Red:

Director Domee Shi wanted to create a Pixar film with a female protagonist that was different from the other films

Pixar films have always leaned towards the fantastical and otherworldly. Whether it’s about a superhero family trying to normal lives, a robot living in isolation a millennia later, or a journey through the afterlife, these films are usually far removed from what we recognize in real life. Turning Red seeks to upend that. According to director Domee Shi:

When I first pitched the film, I really wanted it to feel different and unlike any Pixar film you’ve seen before. This is going to be Pixar’s first contemporary teen girl protagonist and I really wanted the world to reflect her character: colorful, chunky and cute, bold and in your face just like Mei. The term I used a lot to the crew was ‘Asian tween fever dream.’ We really wanted a fun, specific backdrop to tell this coming-of-age story, so we decided to set it in Toronto, Canada in the early 2000s.

The decision to keep it contemporary goes beyond the surface. The culture and norms of the era play a big part in giving the film such a distinct vibe. Shi adds:

Not just because it’s when I grew up as a tween, but it was also the height of tween-of teen pop mania in the late 90s, early 2000s, you had those boy bands, pop idols. We also just wanted to avoid social media and just kind of tell this story in a simpler time of flip phones, CDs, jelly bracelets, and Tamagotchis.

Rosalie Cheng was originally the film’s stand-in voice actor and not the star

Rosalie Cheng had no idea she was going to be the star of Pixar’s next big film when she signed on for Turning Red. The plan was to have her voice the protagonist Mei to give the production crew a sense of the character while they were looking for the right talent for the job. As fate would have it, they eventually realized that Rosalie was the right person. Producer Lindsey Collins says:

In our earliest version of this film, we found this local 12-year-old girl right here in the East Bay to record our temp voice for our lead character. And over the next year, we tried to look for other actors to replace her in the final film. Frankly, nobody came close. Rosalie Cheng had become the main character Mei and there was no other choice in our minds.

During the junket, they showed me and several members of the press a heartwarming clip of the moment they told Rosalie she was starring in the film.

It’s a film about growing pains

Turning Red is a lot of ideas rolled into one. It’s about puberty and the confusing physical changes that come with it. It’s about transitioning into adulthood while honoring yourself in the process. It’s about navigating through the cultures of your immigrant family while assimilating in a world that feels alien. As director Domee Shi described it, all of these ideas are distilled into a mother-daughter story about “finally embracing change and all of its messiness even if it means saying goodbye to the relationship they once had.”

Expect some fourth-wall-breaking inspired by Lizzie Maguire and Ferris Beuler

Protagonist Mei is as sassy as they come and with that sass comes the opportunity to have one with storytelling. Turning Red opens with a fun opening sequence that has Mei breaking the fourth wall. The inspirations for that choice are unsurprising but are welcome nonetheless. Shi said:

I just wanted it to feel different, in every way. And I don’t think we’ve done a fourth wall breaking sequence yet in a Pixar film. And, you know, I grew up loving those classic teen movies like Ferris Bueller but also those terrible but awesome Disney TV channel movies, where they had very precocious, sassy fourth wall breaking characters, like Lizzy McGuire. I kind of wanted to just take that energy and put that in this movie. It also kind of sets it in this nostalgic time period as well.

Black Panther and Mandalorian composer Ludwig Goransson is doing the score

Producer Lindsey Collins set out to form the best team, from top to bottom, to make Turning Red as great as possible. That task includes hiring the right composer to breathe new life to the striking animation. Collins settled on Ludwig Goransson, a composer and producer who has worked with the biggest artists today and has scored music for the biggest films. Collins had this to say about Goransson’s work on the film:

He brought this perfect mix of traditional score and also a deep early 2000s pop knowledge to the movie. I will say that the leap Ludwig’s score took from early demos to final recording was mind-blowing. I think largely because he added so many unique sounds and tracks on top of the traditional musicians’ tracks, it just made the film pop for us in a way that we were just thrilled for.

Billie Eilish and Finneas wrote original songs for the film’s in-universe boyband, 4*Town

Just as they set out to hire the best composer with Goransson, the production team also had the undertaking of hiring someone to compose songs for Turning Red‘s fictional in-universe boyband 4*Town. The boyband plays a huge part in Mei’s journey and therefore needed to be a realized thing. With the help of her kids, Collins’ first choice ended up being the songwriting partnership of Billie Eilish and her brother, Finneas.

Billie Eilish was relatively unknown but adored by my kids in 2016, and her song Ocean Eyes was playing on repeat in our house. So when we started thinking about songwriters who could capture the early 2000s sound and bring something fresh to it, Billie’s name came up. After further research with the Disney music team, we had a better sense of Finneas and Billie and their influences, their style, and figured, you know, why not start with our dream choice?

To nab the biggest popstar and her equally successful producer of a brother, the production set out to make a notebook containing pictures, sketches, and diary logs – as if they were made by Mei herself – to convince them to board the project. The production was successful as Eilish and her brother said yes to Turning Red not too long after receiving the notebook.

Their songs truly brought 4*Town to life. Finneas actually even sings as one of the band members. He’s Jesse. In the end, they wrote three original songs for us.

4*Town was inspired by your favorite boy bands

Being a kid of the 90s, it’s unsurprising to know that Shi drew inspiration from that particular generation of pop culture. 4*Town is made up of a hodgepodge of boy band influences that spans Backstreet Boys and the present-day crazy of K-pop.

They’re definitely a homage to all the boy bands I loved growing up in the late ’90s and early 2000s: Backstreet Boys, N’Sync, O-Town, 98 Degrees. We really wanted them to also feel like multicultural and even though they are like a homage to the boy bands of that era, we wanted to bring like a little bit of a modern touch to them too. One of the boy band members, Tae Young, is a homage to the K-pop boy bands that I got into in-in college.

Anime is a big part of Turning Red’s DNA

Turning Red breaks the Pixar mold in a lot of ways, not the least of which is its distinct animation style that heavily draws from anime, a genre that Shi grew up loving. Animation supervisor Aaron Hartline revealed to the press the ways they sought to imbue a recognizable anime touch with Pixar’s signature hi-fi animation.

We wanted to tap into Domee’s passion for the two genres of animation that she loves, anime being the East and Pixar Disney animation being the West. Turning Red lives somewhere in between these styles. We took influences from both genres and merged them together. We often referenced anime eyes on this film. And one of the great things about anime is that it’s not afraid to push the characters’ designs to the extreme. The character’s eye shapes can be drastically different depending on the mood of the character. They even add hearts. Basically, anything to help the characters emote. In Turning Red, we wanted to use this same eye language. We added stars, highlights, shrink the pupils down to tiny dots and create crescent shapes for her eyes. Luckily, Domee had a really strong design sense. She would give us drawings for how the characters should look.
Aaron Hartline

Turning Red premieres on March 11 in theaters everywhere and Disney+.

February 7, 2022