Host: Q&A with Jeff Goldsmith
Guests:
Writer director Jared Bush
Director Byron Howard
Writer co-director Charise Castro Smith
Jared and Byron worked on Zootopia together
Zootopia started as animal spy movie on an exotic island
Jared learned to take chances and experiment early
Byron – “be wrong as early as you can”
Charise started as playwright and actor, wrote for TV, wrote for Exorcist, Haunting of Hill House
Jared and Byron were looking for a writer for the “first LatinX Disney musical”
Later asked her to become co-director
During Zootopia, J & B both wanted to do something musical next
Lin Manuel wanted to do something LatinX
Combined the two
Tell story about family but wanting to be unique among Disney films
Exploring notion that family sees us differently from how we see ourselves
Families are fantastic but also complicated
Magical realism
Bunch of magical kids, but one kid was ordinary – this was the hook
Everyone’s felt that sense of lack of self worth
Charise brought concept of Abuela (grandmother) as core, of magical realism
Magical realism is tradition that is rooted in pain, beauty and magic and pain
Started in fall 2016 with Lin Manuel and breaking story with him
Spent a lot of time on theme and family before going to plot
Research trip to Colombia w/ Lin, went all over the country, inspired look of Madrigal Valley, the tall palm trees
Hyper collaborative process
Disney Animation is “aggressively collaborative”
It was Disney’s 60th animated film
Oscar nominated
How they created rules and origin of the magic
Encanto = charmed place, place w/ amazing spiritual energy
Charise’s idea for moment of tragedy, and magic springing from it
Charise’s own family left Cuba and started new life in America – concept of internal displacement, leaving home and starting again
It was Abuela’s love and protective energy that came from this moment of pain
Movies work better with strong antagonism
Tried a railroad baron enemy, a mean family in town, etc
Generally this is external, but it didn’t feel as real for this movie as having the antagonism come internally (from within family)
Family all love each other – but have their own baggage
They have 12 main characters – already a lot, don’t have time for external enemies
Ensemble writing is tricky
Spent a lot of time with each character
Writing so many drafts, process of getting to know the characters deeply
Opening song sets up the personalities and exposition right from the get go
Thru screenings, see which characters pop, give them more time
Bruno
Idea of outcast / black sheep
Idea of kid who could see the future
People don’t really wanna know what’s going to happen in future, what a burden to have this power
Bruno’s role evolved to being more of cautionary tale, in background of story (initially)
Walking away was great act of love, to help / protect his family
“We don’t talk about Bruno”
Song is a big hit
Came late in the process
Lin wrote the song, was excited to tell a spooky ghost story, initiated idea / chords over Zoom very early, everyone else got excited
Charise:
Abuela was one of hardest characters to nail, finding balance in her antagonism
Had internal group of LatinX employees giving feedback, they were very divided in their opinions about Abuela
Once they cast the voice actor, she really helped them make the character work
Editing process
Hard to do everything over Zoom
Needed moment for audience to empathize with Abuela – the pain she was hiding, the sacrifices she made
Editor was completely bought in and committed to the story – made the remote work easier given how much is done concurrently
The ending
One team member pushed for long time for the ending (building house together w/o their magical powers)
House was always metaphor for the family’s health
Toughest scene
Charise – Mirabel and Abuela’s big argument before the house fell down, how to navigate culturally while telling the truth
Jared – Mirabel discovering Bruno in his room (the reveal, and his relationship w/ Mirabel)
Byron – Mirabel’s song (“Waiting on a miracle”), Lin also struggled with this one the most, did a lot of versions / demos, Mirabel’s layered old soul but still a 15yo girl