*I was invited as a guest of Disney to the early press day of Zootopia for purposes of this post*
The other month, I had the pleasure to meet a few friendly critters… like Judy and Nick here—who are a rabbit and a fox—natural enemies by definition, so they don’t exactly get along at first. They come to the relationship with ideas about each other—beliefs that aren’t informed or accurate. They’re a little pushy… but definitely *NOT* camera shy! 😉 They both live in a magical place called Zootopia, which I was able to get a first look at while I was visiting.
Zootopia isn’t like any other city you’ve ever been to before. It is made up of neighborhoods that celebrate different cultures. There’s ritzy Sahara Square for desert animals, Tundratown for the polar bears and moose, the hot and humid Rain Forest District, Little Rodentia for the the tiniest mice, and Bunnyburrows for the millions and millions of super adorable cute little bunnies. The downtown area, Savanna Central, is a melting pot where a wide array of mammals from every environment come together—a place where no matter what you are, from the biggest elephant to the smallest shrew, you can be anything. When Rookie Officer Judy Hopps arrives, she finds out that being the first bunny on a police force that is run by a lot of big, tough animals isn’t so easy. Having a deep desire to prove herself, she jumps at the chance to crack a case, even if it means partnering with a fast-talking, scam-artist fox, Nick Wilde, to solve a mystery…
So what do these different neighborhoods look like exactly in Zootopia? Before going into more depth of the characters (in a future post), you’ll want to have a better understanding about the layout of the land! 😉
THE BIG SIX
Filmmakers had endless possibilities to explore when it came to creating different lands for Zootopia. They needed to narrow down the districts of Zootopia. Ultimately, six key areas were agreed upon, giving each a specific color palette and details.
Sahara Square: The glitz! The Glamor!The lights! Sahara Square is made up of sand dunes and buildings that are shaped like sand dunes. “The heart of Sahara Square is inspired by Monte Carlo and Dubai,” says Matthias Lechner, art director of environments. “We learned that desert animals are mostly nocturnal because it’s too hot during the day. So we built lots of nighttime activities—casinos and a giant palm-tree hotel with an oasis surrounding it.”
Just in time for Thanksgiving, comes an unlikely tale about a dinosaur named Arlo and his human companion, Spot. Disney*Pixar takes us on another emotional roller coaster with this one, so be sure to have some tissue on hand because you will need it. This movie will bring up all the emotions from Pixar’s previous hit, “Inside Out” as we watch and feel for Arlo as he goes through events bringing up feelings of Fear, Sadness, Anger,Joy and Disgust. Messages of family, friendship, facing your fears and making your mark on the world in your own way can be taken away from seeing this heartfelt film that is bound to steal your heart.
Inspired by the American Northwest, filmmakers found that even towering dinosaurs could feel small in the right surroundings, which worked to intensify Arlo’s fears. According to producer Denise Ream, the stunning and often overwhelming landscape that artists created ultimately played an important role in the story that is set in a beautiful world untouched by a meteor and extinction. The graphics are beyond stunning and do a fabulous job of bringing the dinosaur landscape to life. Jackson Hole, Wyoming was used as the inspiration for all of the landscaping in “The Good Dinosaur“.
As we begin this epic journey into the world of dinosaurs, we meet an Apatosaurus couple who are awaiting the arrival of their little ones. We see the cracking of three eggs, one of them being significantly smaller despite hatching out of the largest egg. Arlo is born the runt of the litter. A bit different from his other two siblings, he needs to learn to get over fears that keep getting in the way of living life as he needs to in order to survive. Dad tries so hard to help him out, but tragedy strikes and Arlo has to find his own way home. While traveling through a harsh and mysterious landscape, Arlo learns the power of confronting his fears and discovers what he is truly capable of as he learns to forgive and find it in his heart to make friends with a creature that he feels has caused him so much pain in order to be able to survive in this great big world.
On his journey Arlo encounters a variety of unique personalities who all contribute to his evolution. But the friendship he builds with Spot has the biggest impact. Although Spot cannot speak, he gives Arlo the kind of loyalty and unconditional love that fuels his self-discovery, even in the beginning when he wants nothing to do with Spot. His father always knew what he was capable of achieving, but it’ll take this emotional journey for Arlo to realize it. Funny and clever and filled with a lot of deep emotions. You will fall in love with Spot right along with Arlo. Their bond is interesting and unique. It’s a very special movie.
This one may be a bit too scary and sad for the really young ones out there, but only you know if they are able to handle it or not. It’s a very real world movie, with events that happen in real life. So it has lots of life lessons for us all about the circle of life. The message that family isn’t just who you are born with or who you create a family with, but it’s who you make it with that is important and is something I can completely relate to, not really having a family of my own (ie: husband/children of my own, that I’d so love to have). Friends are largely who I consider my family and who are the ones that are there for me the most when I need someone. Spot and Arlo’s relationship doesn’t start out on the greatest of terms but, Arlo ultimately realizes that he needs Spot to survive. Arlo’s fearfulness also shows us all that we can get over our fears and that being a little bit different is ok. Being different isn’t wrong and should be embraced. Arlo made his mark in his own time. It took a lot longer than the rest, but he kept preserving and he was successful. Success comes at different times for each one of us, and that’s ok. Hard work does pay off.
Also, as a special treat, Pixar has placed an amazing short that shows right before the film, called “Sanjay’s Super Team.” The veryaccomplished artist, Sanjay Patel uses his own experience to tell the story of a young, first-generation Indian-American boy whose love for western pop culture comes into conflict with his father’s traditions. We watch as Sanjay is completely absorbed in the world of cartoons and comics like many children do, while his father tries desperately to draw him into the traditions of his Hindu practice. Reluctantly Sanjay gives into his father, then we quickly turn into an awe-inspiring adventure as the boy embarks on a journey he never imagined, returning with a new perspective that they can both embrace. Directed by Sanjay Patel and produced by Nicole Paradis Grindle, “Sanjay’s Super Team” opens in theaters on November 25, 2015, in front of Disney•Pixar’s “The Good Dinosaur.”
“Sanjay’s Super Team” Disney*Pixar
The Good Dinosaur is out in Theaters now, so be sure to go see it with the ones you love this Thanksgiving! 🙂
Have you ever thought what it would be like if Dinosaurs roamed the earth alongside us humans? Well, Disney/Pixar’s “The Good Dinosaur” asks this very question: What if the asteroid that forever changed life on Earth missed the planet completely and giant dinosaurs never became extinct? Pixar Animation Studios takes us on a wild epic journey, straight into the world of dinosaurs where an Apatosaurus named Arlo makes an unlikely human friend named Spot. While traveling through a harsh and mysterious landscape, Arlo learns the power of confronting his fears and discovers what he is truly capable of. “The Good Dinosaur” is very unique in many ways, it’s not like other Disney/Pixar films. Here to tell us some special facts about the film, we have the cast and creators to share with us how “The Good Dinosaur” came to life.
First we spoke with the very talented Peter Sohn, who directed the film and Denise Ream, who produced the film. They enlightened us with some very fascinating facts about the film.
“The Good Dinosaur” had a very rough beginning. Originally the film had been in production with a different team for many years. It was shut down in October of 2013 because the story was not going in the direction that it needed to go. Then Peter Sohn came on board and helped to get the film moving in the right direction alongside Denise Ream in December 2013, begining with research. Peter Sohn suggested, “Let’s plan a trip. And Denise was like, “Let’s get lost out there, and let’s just do what we started with this project Let’s go out there.” The team then went to Wyoming, where they began to discover the beauty as well as the dangers of the region, and became inspired to write the story.
2)Easter Eggs
Pixar is known for planting numerous Easter Eggs in their films and “The Good Dinosaur” is no different. Peter Sohn told us that there are some Easter eggs such as the Pizza Planet Truck, A-113, and Dory. There are more, so keep a watchful eye out for them! 😉
Next we met with Jeffrey Wright (voice of Poppa) & RaymondOchoa (Voice of Arlo) who also had lots of fun information for us.
3) A lot of Research
Raymond Ochoa did a lot of research for his role as Arlo. He credits his parents for all of their help. “I have great parents and they are so helpful in everything I do, so when I knew that I was an apatosaurus, they helped me on what it actually was.They helped me Google stuff.They helped me Google facts and good things about what it actually looked like, because I had no idea what it looked like.I didn’t know what an apatosaurus was at the time, and I looked it up.I was like, “Wow, okay.”I saw a picture of it, and I was like,“This dinosaur doesn’t look that mean.”But, you know, it doesn’t look kid-friendly at the same time either. If you saw that thing walking around, you’d be scared of it. I think that was what really helped me get the part was because I did go in with the understanding of what it actually was, rather than an average person who just says lines in front of a thing and being like, “okay, let’s send it over.”
4) A Love for Pixar
Jeffery Wright and his family have a deep love for Pixar. “I live vicariously through these things with my children, it was intensely exciting for me because it was so for them. It was beyond the popularity of the movies and, the prominence that they have for kids my kids’ age and Raymond’s age now, they are really good stories.It’s really become, seriously well-considered storytelling. The themes of this one, which are so universal and fairly obvious around parenthood and family and love and responsibility and nurturing, all of these things are so resonant, so that’s really very gratifying to be a part of.On top of that, it makes me — you know, Hunger Games went a long way in this regard, but now a Pixar movie makes me even that much cooler with the kids, my kids, and their friends at school, so that’s always advantageous.
Last for “The Good Dinosaur we got to chat with Sam Elliott (voice of “Butch”), Anna Paquin (voice of “Ramsey”) & AJ Buckley (voice of “Nash”)
5) They Didn’t Work Together
We found out that they didn’t rehearse together. At all. They had not all gotten to meet in person until that day at the press junket! AJ Buckley told us, “That’s the crazy part, none of us actually , worked together. Until this morning, it was the first time we’d met.I was the last person cast.I didn’t hear their voices in the scene.Just heard sort of where — you know, a scene here and a scene there, and it wasn’t mixed yet. That’s how Peter, how he took — he was very, very specific, if it wasn’t for Peter and his ability to walk us into a room with an empty canvas and tell us exactly what it was going to look like, that and more. That’s an enormous compliment to the entire process.
6)Landing a Kid Friendly Role
Anna Paquin usually does not have kid friendly roles, so she was overjoyed to learn that Pixar wanted to work with her. The coolness factor? “I won’t know till the movie comes out, ’cause then the real cool points will start racking up.I mean, aside from the fact that I’d always loved Pixar, and had been sort of trying to figure out how to get ’em to want to hire me, and then it kind of just happened, I was like, “That’s really cool and awesome, and sort of spooky.” It definitely gives me good street cred as a mom, you know? Just like, “My mom’s a T-Rex.What’s your mom’s superpower?”
7) Character Similarities
You might notice that some of the characters in the film have the features of those voicing them. You will see that Sam Elliott’s character, “Butch” who is a T-Rex with an overbite that looks like his moustache and other prominent facial features.
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