Over a decade ago, Finding Nemo director Andrew Stanton approached animator/director Angus Maclane and told him he was worried about Dory. There was more of the story to be told and Maclane was soon on board to co-direct Finding Dory with Stanton. They picked up Max Brace, a story artist on more than 10 Pixar films and his plan was in motion to realize the directors’ vision.
To catch you up on where the movie left off, Dory is living happily in the reef with Marlin and Nemo when she suddenly remembers that she has a family out there who may be looking for her. The trio take off on a life-changing adventure across the ocean to California’s prestigious Marine Life Institute (MLI), a rehabilitation center and aquarium. In an effort to find her mom and dad, Dory enlists the help of three of the MLI’s most intriguing residents: Hank, a cantankerous octopus who frequently gives employees the slip; Bailey, a beluga whale who is convinced his biological sonar skills are on the fritz; and Destiny, a nearsighted whale shark. Deftly navigating the complex inner workings of the MLI, Dory and her friends discover the magic within their flaws, friendships and family. I sat down with both Maclane and Brace in Monterey last month and listened and watched intently as they guided us through the process of taking Dory’s story from inception to production. The work that goes on to create a Disney Pixar film is fascinating beyond belief, and here are some fun facts from script to storyboard I learned about Finding Dory!
*We watched some exclusive footage of the movie, not all of it but enough to get us excited for the film, and one segment was focused on the Touch Pools. This may end up being my favorite sequence in the film and it was what Max and Angus decided to focus on during our interview. It was after brainstorming that the film would be set at the MLI that Brace remembered visiting aquarium touch pools with his son that created this ‘moment’ that Dory and Hank would adventure through.
*The entire team including the story artists take research trips to aquariums to get ideas for the scenes. In this case, the touch pool area is filled with children who are poking and prodding the starfish and the batrays and think it’s fun and exciting they’re laughing, but looking at it from the animals’ perspective, it’s a war zone!
*Organized ideas lead to the Storyboards that are sketches made up to set the tone of the scene. At one point in the interview, Brace sits down and thumbnails the amazingly creative process. The magic of Disney Pixar is revealed here right before our eyes and I’m frantically writing notes to myself, “don’t ever discourage our daughter when she’s doodling and not doing her homework! Art school would be awesome!” Okay, now where were we?
*Once storyboards are ready, they send them to the director. The director can amp up a scene and in the case of the Touch Pools, make it more violent. The eyes of the animals get larger, more pain in the poking and prodding is evident (Max: “pain is funny!”), then it’s sent to editorial.
*In Finding Dory 103,639 storyboards were created in total that took 3.5 years (blueprint to final)!
*In editorial, recording scratch happens which means temporary music is set, temporary voices are used to set the drama of the scene. Director Andrew Stanton is the temporary voice for Marlin. Sound effects, timing, dialog, and music is all worked in.
*During this process the director realized that this particular sequence was too Hank-centered. The Hank-driven scene took away from Dory’s character journey and emotional arc in the film, so it was tweaked and adjusted so it kept up with the overall plan for making Dory the centerpiece of the movie.
*Brace and Maclane were asked what parts of the movie they were sad to see hit the cutting room floor and they really couldn’t tell us but some of those may hit the DVD’s deleted scenes section and some just end up turning into inside jokes among the staff.
*As we saw the beginning of the film during our exclusive screening, many of us (if not all) were in tears and you’ll soon see why. We asked the story supervisor and director why they did that right off the bat and they explained they did the same in Finding Nemo by killing off many of Nemo’s family including his mom. The goal was to establish a drive for Dory, to focus on her goal for the movie and get that set up right from the beginning. The “right amount of everything” is the goal for the movie as you get all the feels right away. Luckily the scene switches over to happiness pretty quick.
After listening to our recorded interview and reliving our experience last month, I’m in awe all over again on how Disney/Pixar movies are created and am so dang excited for the movie to hit theaters June 17! In a few weeks I’m excited to share our sit-down with Andrew Stanton and Lindsey Collins (Producer) and how much that conversation went straight to my heart with emotions now that I have a daughter graduating high school!
Watch the trailer to get yourself ready for the movie…
For more great information leading up to the premiere of Finding Dory, visit the following social media channels: Facebook/Twitter (#FindingDory)/Instagram/Pinterest/YouTube/Website
My trip was compensated thanks to Disney/Pixar, all opinions 100% my own.
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