I only got to include a few choice quotes in the story we ran earlier about Pixar's knack for creating the teeniest, most delicately evocative moments -- but Jonas Rivera, an Up producer and longtime member of the Pixar fam, said a lot of interesting things in our chat. A few tidbits, below:
On what it was like at Pixar when he started, as an intern:
In those days, it was like a mom-and-pop grocery story. There were like 100 people when I started, and now it's this giant cathedral to animation. But at the core it's still the same. It's a collision of scientists and artists -- it has a left-brain, right-brain feel to it. It's like two groups of people that wouldn't normally go to the same parties.
On the creative freedom at Pixar:
We're asked a lot, 'Okay, you're making a movie about a 78-year-old man -- how hard did you have to fight?' I guess the truth is, that question always takes us by surprise, because we didn't.
On Up's throwback, old-school animation aesthetic:
I love animated movies, the old Disney animated movies, and we wanted to make an old one. We wanted it to have the charm and grace of some of the older ones -- and I'm proud of all of [Pixar's movies], but the last few, we're really grown as a company and a studio.... On the line between live action and animation, right in the middle is where we thought Pixar was. Wall-E looks real. That lines has been moving closer toward action, and live action has been moving closer toward animation, as well. We wanted to push it back to Dumbo, to strip things down with it and have a color palette that was bold, and a caricatured look. I'm proud of it because it doesn't look real. Carl doesn't look real.
On whether villian dog Alpha's chipmunk voice was the product of messing around in the studio:
Yes, absolutely.... Bob Peterson did the voice, and they pitched it up and kind of called us all in. I laughed so hard I was crying -- it was such a far-out idea, and we debated, 'Should we do this?!' We put it in and I'll never forget seeing Brad Bird laugh that hard. The [dogs'] syntax is great -- it's like Yoda meets bad Japanese dubbing.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
