Tag: Lee Unkrich

Review: Coco

Disney•Pixar’s COCO had an inauspicious start when the House of Mouse tried to trademark the term ‘Dia de Los Muertos’ for publicity purposes. Cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz led the activism against the company, who in turn brought him on as a consultant. The result is a film that is not only respectful of Mexican culture, but one of the most authentic and original films to come out of Pixar in years.

Miguel (voiced by Anthony Gonzalez) is an aspiring young musician, but his career is hampered by an ancestral ban on music in his family. Searching for his great-great-grandfather, a legendary singer and the father of the titular Coco, Miguel inadvertently enters the Land of the Dead. In order to return home and follow his passion, he must solve the riddle of his family’s past before sunrise.

When we think about the best Pixar films over the years, from Toy Story to Finding Dory, they are the ones that reveal a world hidden just alongside ours. This is precisely what COCO does, blending this motif with the sensibility and cultural specificity of a Studio Ghibli film. Think of it as sitting thematically somewhere between Spirited Away and The Nightmare Before Christmas.

The Land of the Dead itself is bursting with energy. With whole sections built as a perpetual Baz Luhrmann-esque party based around the egoistical singer Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt), there’s a perpetual motion that extends to the film’s punchy pace. Yet even within this, Adrian Molina and Matthew Aldrich’s screenplay never strays far from Disney•Pixar’s textbook adherence to story. For every gag about there being “no restrooms in the Land of the Dead,” the film can just as easily break your heart as the dead are ‘forgotten’ by the living.

Director Lee Unkrich (Toy Story 3, Monsters Inc.) and his team have really pushed the boundaries of animation on COCO. There’s a level of detail to the characters hitherto unseen in one of their films. You can see every line and minute hair on the titular Coco’s face, for example, but it’s not just the characters. The photography, including lighting and depth of focus, gets just as much attention for crowds as they do on individuals. An impressive feat given that every scene is literally created from scratch.

As Pixar’s first original film since 2015’s The Good Dinosaur, and sandwiched as it is between two forthcoming sequels (The Incredibles 2, Toy Story 4), COCO is a breath of fresh air. Filled with beautiful imagery, a handful of soulful and memorable Mexican songs, and a strong story, the film also offers a heartwarming missive on dealing with death and embracing your place in the land of the living.

[stextbox id=”grey” bgcolor=”F2F2F2″ mleft=”5″ mright=”5″ image=”null”]2017 | US | DIRECTORS: Lee Unkrich | WRITERS: Adrian Molina, Matthew Aldrich | CAST: Anthony Gonzalez, Gael García Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Alanna Ubach, Renée Victor, Ana Ofelia, Murguía Edward, James Olmos | DISTRIBUTOR: Disney | RUNNING TIME: 109 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 14 December 2017 (AUS) [/stextbox]

December 18, 2017
Pixar short film ‘Dante’s Lunch’ introduces ‘Coco’ characters

Disney-Pixar’s COCO may not hit cinemas in the US until Thanksgiving, and Boxing Day in Australia, but this new short film introduces us to one of its canine stars. Although it runs for less than 2 minutes, we get a sense of the Mexican setting and the Dia de los Muertos inspired style.

In a plot reminiscent of the 1940’s Pluto short “Bone Trouble,” DANTE’S LUNCH – A SHORT TAIL follows the titular mutt as he attempts to retrieve a morsel for lunch, even if his meal seems to have a mind of its own. It’s a delightful return to the classic style of Disney storytelling, and a promising signs of things to come from Pixar’s first non-sequel since 2015’s The Good Dinosaur.

Directed by Lee Unkrich, who helms the feature film, this is not so much a short as an animation test that the director wanted to share with hungry fans. One of the fun aspects of the short is Dante’s tongue, a characteristic of the frequently toothless Xolo breed of dogs. “We thought we would kind of embrace that and make it part of Dante’s character. So his tongue is almost its own character, separate from him.” Indeed, even in this short character introduction Pixar manages to put more pathos and narrative thrust into their lead than most feature films.

March 30, 2017
First magical trailer for Disney•Pixar’s ‘Coco’ arrives

Following much anticipation, the first teaser trailer for Disney•Pixar’s next animated film COCO has arrived. Directed by Lee Unkrich (Toy Story 3), and co-directed by Adrian Molina, it hits US cinemas on 22 November 2017. It is expected to hit Australian shores in December.

Despite his family’s baffling generations-old ban on music, Miguel (voice of newcomer Anthony Gonzalez) dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz (voice of Benjamin Bratt). Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead following a mysterious chain of events. Along the way, he meets charming trickster Hector (voice of Gael García Bernal), and together, they set off on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel’s family history.

Followers of the film’s production will no that it has not been without controversy. Originally titled Dia de los Meurtos, Disney came under fire from cultural groups when it tried to trademark the name of the largely Mexican holiday. The trailer shows Unkrich’s “love letter to Mexico,” wisely taking on-board vocal opponent Lalo Alcaraz as a cultural consultant.

Before COCO hits cinemas, Pixar will have Cars 3 as their summer flagship. However, it’s important to note that COCO represents Pixar’s first non-sequel since 2015’s underwhelming The Good Dinosaur, and we won’t see another non-sequel until at least 2020.

March 16, 2017
Review: Finding Nemo 3D

Pixar’s classic returns in a whole new dimension, adding depth to the deep blue world so lovingly created by these masters of animation.

[stextbox id=”grey” caption=”Finding Nemo 3D (2003/2012)” float=”true” align=”right” width=”200″]

Director: Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich

Writer: Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson, David Reynolds

Runtime: 100 minutes

Starring: Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould, Willem Dafoe, Geoffrey Rush

Distributor: Disney

Country: US

Rating (?): (★★★★★)

More info

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When Finding Nemo hit cinemas in 2003, Pixar could do no wrong. Indeed, almost a decade later – with the possible exception of Cars – there has been nary a misstep in the cinematic canon. The winners of no less than three Best Animated Feature Oscars, a number of their recent films (Up and Toy Story 3) have even been nominated for Best Picture of the year by the same Academy. While their debut Toy Story may have been the film that put the then-radical Pixar Studios on the map, and was the impetus for birth of a number of other rival computer-generated animation houses, it is arguable that Finding Nemo was the film that shot them into the stratosphere. Coming only second to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King at the box office that year, and remains one of the highest grossing animated features of all time.

When clownfish Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks) loses his wife and most of his spawn to one of the ocean’s more sinister creatures, he becomes the overprotective father his sole surviving son Nemo (Alexander Gould). After reluctantly letting Nemo attend school, tragedy strikes when Nemo is snatched by a group of human divers. Frantic, Marlin swims out into open waters in search of his boy. Teaming up with forgetful but optimistic blue reef fish Dory (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres), Marlin must face sharks, jellyfish and other ocean dangers in the quest to find Nemo.

Regardless of the increasingly outlandish settings of Pixar’s films, more recently taking us into space and away on a balloon-powered house, the attraction of the films have always been their emotional core. Just as the Toy Story films were about dealing with mortality or outliving one’s usefulness, Finding Nemo deals with the very human issue of dealing with children growing up and knowing when to let go. Marlin may be the quintessential overreacting parent, but whether we are parents or not, we can completely relate to the pain and angst this orange clownfish feels. Pixar have an incredible ability to make audiences cry within the first ten minutes of a film, most notably in Up and Toy Story 3. The opening scenes of Finding Nemo are devastating, but are also fundamental in helping us identify with Marlin’s pain and providing a sense of urgency and immediacy to his quest, which begins not too long after the initial tragedy. Part of the reason Pixar is still spoken of in revered tones is not simply because of the quality of their animation, which is sublime, but because their ability to evoke feeling in everything from fish to robots falling in love is genuine and heartfelt.

Despite nine years having passed since Nemo first went missing, a relative century in animation turns, Finding Nemo is as fresh as the day it was released. It is by no means a major departure from Pixar’s earlier (or subsequent) works, essentially sticking to the same mismatched buddy comedy formula that has worked so well in Toy Story, Monsters Inc., Up, Cars, Ratatouille and to a lesser extent, WALL-E. Once again, this reliance on formula has worked for the studio and there was no reason they should depart from it: they have become very good at showing us a secret world unbeknownst to humans. It also provides much of the accessible comedy for both kids and adults: the little ones may laugh at the sheer ditziness of Ellen’s Dory or surfer dude Crush the turtle, while adults will find much to like about a group of vegetarian sharks (voiced by Australia’s own Barry Humphries, Eric Bana and Bruce Spence). Australians are actually depicted as a functioning nation of adults as well, with genuine Aussie voice Bill Hunter as a dentist and Geoffrey Rush as Nigel the pelican. Non-Australian voices, including Willem Dafoe, give additional weight to the film without overwhelming it with their infamy.

Finding Nemo will long remain one of Pixar’s classics, with a timeless quality that will ensure it finds a new audience every generation. Having been the better part of a decade since the film was released, it is time for a whole new audience to discover the wonders of the magical world beneath the ocean. The 3D for this re-issue may smack of a cheap cash-in on the back of the highly successful The Lion King 3D box office run, but there is nothing sub-par about this release. Adding a whole new layer of depth to the already immersive environment, you’ll want to reach on in and grab hold of some shell, dudes. Finding Nemo just keeps on swimmin’.

Finding Nemo 3D swims back into Australian cinemas on 30 August 2012 from Disney.

August 26, 2012
Disney-Pixar Titles The Good Dinosaur and Announces Dia de los Muertos Movie

ComingSoon.Net reports in from CinemaCon with a few bits of terrific news on Disney-Pixar’s upcoming projects. This includes the announcement of the title for the previously Untitled Pixar Movie About Dinosaurs, an update on the The Untitled Pixar Movie That Takes You Inside The Mind and a brand new film announced around the holiday of Dia de los Muetros. The great news is, none of them are prequels or sequels!

First up, the untitled dinosaur film will now be called The Good Dinosaur, and is now due for a US release on 30 May 2014. The film proposes that the evolution-changing asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs actually missed the Earth, and dinosaurs still exist and continue to evolve. It will be directed by Bob Peterson (Up).

The previously hinted Lee Unkrich project, now will be produced with Darla Anderson and will be set around the holiday of Dia de los Muertos. Disney-Pixar describes the film as follows:

“From director Lee Unkrich and producer Darla K. Anderson, the filmmaking team behind the Academy Award®-winning Toy Story 3, comes a wholly original Pixar Animation Studios film that delves into the vibrant holiday of Día de los Muertos”.

Finally, the Untitled Pixar Movie That Takes You Inside The Mind has now been pushed back from 30 May 2014 to 19 June 2015. The extra year can perhaps help them find a title. The official synopsis was released late 2011:

Pixar takes audiences on incredible journeys into extraordinary worlds: from the darkest depths of the ocean to the top of the tepui mountains in South America; from the fictional metropolis of Monstropolis to a futuristic fantasy of outer space. From director Pete Docter (Up, Monsters, Inc.) and producer Jonas Rivera (Up), the inventive new film will take you to a place that everyone knows, but no one has ever seen: the world inside the human mind.

A prequel to Monsters Inc, titled Monster University, is also slated for 21 June 2013. With Brave due out in cinemas very soon, it is an exciting time to be a fan of Disney-Pixar!

April 25, 2012
Lee Unkrich chronicles work on new Pixar film

Pixar’s Lee Unkrich, director of Toy Story 3 and co-director of Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo and Toy Story 2, has announced via his Twitter and Tumblr pages that he has begun work on a new film.

On 23 September, he Tweeted “Tomorrow is a big day that may determine the next four years of my life. Wish me luck”, presumably referring to a pitch at Pixar.

Yesterday, the director added “Today is day one on my next project. Every day I’ll post a new photo chronicling the journey”. Using the hashtag #UnkADay, Unkrich is now chronicling the journey from script to screen.

The first two photos have been a picture of his keyboard, and his standard lunch. From this we can only assume he is at the writing stage, and eating well. As he noted this morning, “I never promised these would be exciting, folks. You get what you pay for”.

Given the amount of time it takes to create a Pixar film from scratch, we could be waiting sometime before we see anything concrete from the film. We will definitely keep you posted on this.

September 28, 2011
Finding Nemo (Australian Film Festival 2011)

When Finding Nemo hit cinemas in 2003, Pixar could do no wrong. Indeed, almost a decade later – with the possible exception of Cars – there has been nary a misstep in the cinematic canon. The winners of no less than three Best Animated Feature Oscars, their last two films (Up and Toy Story 3) have even been nominated for Best Picture of the year by the same Academy. While their debut Toy Story may have been the film that put the then-radical Pixar Studios on the map, and was the impetus for birth of a number of other rival computer-generated animation houses, it is arguable that Finding Nemo was the film that shot them into the stratosphere. Coming only second to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King at the box office that year, and remains one of the highest grossing animated features of all time.

When clownfish Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks, The Simpsons Movie) loses his wife and most of his spawn to one of the ocean’s more sinister creatures, he becomes the overprotective father his sole surviving son Nemo (Alexander Gould). After reluctantly letting Nemo attend school, tragedy strikes when Nemo is snatched by a group of human divers. Frantic, Marlin swims out into open waters in search of his boy. Teaming up with forgetful but optimistic blue reef fish Dory (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres), Marlin must face sharks, jellyfish and other ocean dangers in the quest to find Nemo.

Regardless of the increasingly outlandish settings of Pixar’s films, more recently taking us into space and away on a balloon-powered house, the attraction of the films have always been their emotional core. Just as the Toy Story films were about dealing with mortality and outliving one’s usefulness, Finding Nemo deals with the very human issue of dealing with children growing up and knowing when to let go. Marlin may be the quintessential overreacting parent, but whether we are parents or not, we can completely relate to the pain and angst this orange clownfish feels. Pixar have an incredible ability to make audiences cry within the first ten minutes of a film, most notably in Up and Toy Story 3. The opening scenes of Finding Nemo are devastating, but are also fundamental in helping us identify with Marlin’s pain and providing a sense of urgency and immediacy to his quest, which begins not too long after the initial tragedy. Part of the reason Pixar is still spoken of in revered tones is not simply because of the quality of their animation, which is sublime, but because their ability to evoke feeling in everything from fish to robots falling in love is genuine and heartfelt.

Despite eight years having passed since Nemo first went missing, a relative century in animation turns, Finding Nemo is as fresh as the day it was released. It is by no means a major departure from Pixar’s earlier (or subsequent) works, essentially sticking to the same mismatched buddy comedy formula that has worked so well in Toy Story, Monsters Inc., Up, Cars, Ratatouille and to a lesser extent, WALL-E. Once again, this reliance on formula has worked for the studio and there was no reason they should depart from it: they have become very good at showing us a secret world unbeknownst to humans. It also provides much of the accessible comedy for both kids and adults: the little ones may laugh at the sheer ditziness of Ellen’s Dory or surfer dude Crush the turtle, while adults will find much to like about a group of vegetarian sharks (voiced by Australia’s own Barry Humphries, Eric Bana and Bruce Spence). Australians are actually depicted as a functioning nation of adults as well, with genuine Aussie voice Bill Hunter as a dentist and Geoffrey Rush as Nigel the pelican. Non-Australian voices, including Willem Dafoe, give additional weight to the film.

Finding Nemo will long remain one of Pixar’s classics, with a timeless quality that will ensure it finds a new audience every generation. Having been the better part of a decade since the film was released, it is time for a whole new audience to discover the wonders of the magical world beneath the ocean.

Finding Nemo screens for FREE as part of the Australian Film Festival next weekend at Coogee Beach in Sydney on Saturday 5 March 2011. It is also available on DVD globally. There is still no word on the Blu-ray release.

March 3, 2011