Few things make my nerdy heart quite so happy as getting a peek behind the curtain to learn about the making of movies and television shows. That’s why I’m completely geeking out about heading to Pixar Animation Studios next week to explore their upcoming movie Coco.
I’ve been looking forward to Coco for years now. It’s still a point of pride that I can claim the internet’s first Coco-inspired craft. I obnoxiously tell people about that every chance I get. It’s one of three things I can’t let pass by without comment. 1.) I touched The Rock’s bicep. 2.) Lin-Manuel Miranda turned me into a Twitter meme. 3.) I have the first Coco-inspired craft on the internet. If you mention Coco, Dwayne or Lin, I must speak of these things.
© 2017 Disney•Pixar
But back to my upcoming trip…
The Pixar Coco Event kicks off on Wednesday, August 2 when we head to the Pixar campus to screen footage from the film along with Director Lee Unkrich, Writer and Co-Director Adrian Molina and Producer Darla K. Anderson. (Fun fact: the character of Darla in Finding Nemo was named after her!)
©2017 Disney•Pixar
On Wednesday morning we head back to Pixar to learn more about the film. We start with the music of Coco demo with Michael Giacchino (Composer), Germaine Franco (Orchestrator), Camilo Lara (Consultant) & Adrian Molina (Writer and Co-Director).
We’ll learn about the inspiration the production team took from specific cultural traditions, and how they infused them into their fantastical story set on Día de los Muertos from Adrian Molina (Writer and Co-Director) and Dean Kelly (Story Artist).
Harley Jessup (Production Designer), Danielle Feinberg (DP-Lighting) and Chris Bernardi (Sets Supervisor) will show us how the expansive worlds of both the living and the dead were created through both research and imagination.
We’ll find out how the skeletons in the Land of the Dead were imagined, designed, animated and clothed from Daniel Arriaga (Character Art Director), Gini Santos (Supervising Animator), Byron Bashforth (Character Shading Lead) and Emron Grover (Simulation Technical Director).
In the Land of the Dead, Miguel and his faithful companion Dante encounter not only his ancestors, but also their loyal guardian Pepita, a magical creature based on Mexican folk art. We’ll hear about how they were designed and brought to life from Alonso Martinez (Character/Rigging Artist), Nick Rosario (Directing Animator) and Christian Hoffman (Characters Supervisor)
There’s also a Coco press conference with Director Lee Unkrich, Writer and Co-Director Adrian Molina and Producer Darla K. Anderson.
We’ll end the day learning about the folk art behind Alebrijes and see how the Alebrijes in Coco were brought to life. I’m extra excited about this part because I’ve always been in love with all of the different Alebrijes I’ve seen (and brought home) during trips to Mexico!
We’ll also have chances to tour the Pixar campus, shop in the Pixar store and take photos. I’ve never visited before, but I know from having plenty of friends who have that the campus is basically photo opp heaven. My only goal is to take a picture in my new Rainbow Unicorn shoes with THE Rainbow Unicorn. Yep, they have Rainbow Unicorn. And yep, I have Rainbow Unicorn shoes.
On Friday we’ll visit The Walt Disney Family Museum. While there we’ll go on a guided tour of “Deja View: The Art of Andreas Deja” to celebrate The Lion King‘s release on Digital HD and Disney Movies Anywhere on August 15 and Blu-ray on the 29th.
We’ll also check out the rest of the museum, including “Awaking Beauty: The Art of Eyvind Earle”. The museum is home to Walt Disney’s honorary Academy Award for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs that features a full-size Oscar and seven miniature ones. I’m completely obsessed with getting to see that in person. Oh, and we’ll have another chance to shop while we’re there. Sorry mortgage…I’ll pay you next month.
Follow along on social media with the hashtags #PixarCocoEvent, #Waltagram and #TheLionKing! Don’t forget to check back in the coming weeks for all of the Pixar Coco Event coverage!
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. Directed by Lee Unkrich (“Toy Story 3”), co-directed by Adrian Molina (story artist “Monsters University”) and produced by Darla K. Anderson (“Toy Story 3”), Disney•Pixar’s “Coco” opens in U.S. theaters on Nov. 22, 2017.