Interview, by Rafy Mediavilla, with Disney Pixar’s Animator, Daniel Gonzales III who worked in the Disney Pixar’s movie “Luca”. Where we talked about recreating the Riviera, giving live to the characters, & working with writer/director Enrico Casarosa, among other subjects.
Disney Pixar’s “Luca” Now Available In Digital, 4K Ultra HD™, Blu-ray™ and DVD.
Set in a seaside town on the Italian Riviera, Disney and Pixar’s Luca is a coming-of-age story about a young boy experiencing an unforgettable summer. Luca shares his amazing adventures with his friend Alberto, but their fun is threatened by a deeply held secret: they’re sea monsters from a world below the water’s surface.
Criticólogos:
I think the first question must be about recreating the Riviera and how much is it just, you know, a picture on picture replica or how much is just something artistic or personal?
Daniel Gonzales III:
So, I think First off with creating the Italian Riviera, it is an art form, so you do not want to copy. You could just take a picture. You could just feel my action, but with animation or with all art you change a little. You exaggerate fixture compositions and so we get inspiration. From a specific place and we could combine a lot of it, and you must do your homework. Otherwise, somebody in Italy is going to know, if you did, if you cheated, if you made it up.
Criticólogos:
Going from sea monsters to the real life, how did that come about? What point did they gave you coming into the story with the script and, you know, I know sometimes they don’t want to give everything away. So how did those two characters come about?
Daniel Gonzales III:
Well, there’s a technical side, and the metaphorical side, because being sea monsters, and nobody can know that you’re a sea monster. That’s it’s getting out of your comfort zone and being comfortable in your own skin. We were forced to go back to our childhood when we’re vulnerable and we’re a little scared to be ourselves. And so, there’s that that helps us decide how we’re going to make the characters develop their personalities because we must get very specific. Enrico (Writer & Director) thinks of the Grand vision of how the story is going to go. Animators, we go into the scenes. How are they going to drink the cup of water? Because everyone is going to drink it differently. But how does this one character do it? And it’s a whole process.
Criticólogos:
How much information do you get when you’re going into doing your side of the project again? Just I know Pixar specifically, they are so perfectionism about everything, and want to make sure everything gets done in a specific way.
Daniel Gonzales III:
We know all the story because we must be on the same page, and we must work with the progression of the story. If the director tells me to make Luca excited right now. I can’t make them more excited than he is at the end of the film. So, we must know what other animators are doing and we talk to each other a lot and it’s very collaborative, very back and forth because sometimes we don’t do it perfectly the right way the first time, so we go back and forth and through just sweat and tears. We make it happen.
Criticólogos:
I think that brought me to my next question is which is what do you find most challenging? Take into consideration that his at collaborative process when you constantly mentioned this psychological process and what do you find, what do animators find is dealing with the most tough thing to manage?
Daniel Gonzales III:
It’s this is a very important question because it’s very tough when you first become an artist, an animator because you must change the way you think when somebody say we’re at a table with other animators and we’re thinking of ideas of like the next movie. And one animator says, hey, I got the next idea. It’s going to be cats in space. My responsibility as an artist cannot be to say that is the worst idea ever heard in my life. I must think If this is idea we were forced to make. How can I make it even better? Well, how what can I add to it? I don’t want to take it down and I don’t want to just make it the same. How do I add to it? Because they’re taking a chance, telling their ideas is very vulnerable, very vulnerable thing to speak your mind. And if I do that. I know when it comes. It’s time for me to tell my ideas, my peers, and my fellow artists. They’re going to have my back.
Criticólogos:
I want to end this interview with a question I think is somewhat personal but did you when you saw finished product, did you identify with any other characters or the story in any way whatsoever. Again, is so beautiful, a story about friendship. Did you in any way identify with the characters or the story?
Daniel Gonzales III:
I like Alberto. Alberto and personally and it’s because Alberto puts up a mask like, he says everything is fine and he’s very confident, but he’s overcompensating, and he’s overcome saying because he doesn’t have his parents and he doesn’t have all the answers, but he pretends he does and that was very relatable to me.
See bellow for the full interview:
