The interview that will take you over La Luna!

The moon.  La Luna. We all see it every night.  We’ve all starred at it and I bet we’ve all dreamed under it. Seasons come and go, but the moon is always there.  When is your favorite time to see the moon?

Disney/Pixar is going to release a brand new short film titled “La Luna.”   Again, we were treated to a sneak peek of the short and every time I catch a glimpse of the moon, I think of the short film.  I am a big fan of the short films.  Whenever the kids and I see that it’s on TV, we sit and watch to laugh, smile and sing along.  There is something truly magical about the short films.  I don’t know how to explain it. If you have seen them, then I’m sure you know what I mean.

 

La Luna is the timeless fable of a young boy who is coming of age in the most peculiar of circumstances. Tonight is the very first time his Papa and Grandpa are taking him to work. In an old wooden boat they row far out to sea, and with no land in sight, they stop and wait.  A big surprise awaits the little boy as he discovers his family’s most unusual line of work. Should he follow the example of his Papa, or his Grandpa? Will he be able to find his own way in the midst of their conflicting opinions and timeworn traditions?

When we sat down with the Director of the film, Enrico Casarosa, you can immediately tell where the magic of the film came from.  The first question asked was about how the film came to be and where did the inspiration come from.  Check out his response:

The, the, the core of it is a personal experience of dealing with my dad and my grandfather growing up, um, when my grandmother passed.  We lived, uh, you know, we went and moved and lived with my grandfather.  It was a small house.  My dad and my grandfather weren’t getting along, so if you went, you know, uh, kind of roughly twenty-five years ago, i- in that kitchen, it would’ve been a lot like what you see in the short which is like two guys a- at a table, you know, for dinners, it would’ve been a lot like that.

I would always feel, uh, stuck in the middle.  Um, so I thought that was an interesting, uh, that there was some good, uh, things to explore an- and a boy having to find his own way when there’s two, you know, forces kinda telling him, do it this way, do it that way, and, um, so it’s a lot about, you know, kinda finding your own path.  Um, and that, you know, the things that, that, of course, the more fantastical side of all this story was something that I really just looked for what inspires me.

Isn’t that a great story?  It’s times like these that I wished I had a grandfather to grow up with.  I’ve told you all before that although I did have grandparents, I never grew up with them.  Then I hear stories like this and it makes me kinda sad.  My kids are also growing up without a grandfather close by.  I hope they can tell stories about my mom. And you never know, maybe make a short film about it, too! (:

Like I mentioned earlier, the 3 characters in the movie don’t talk. It’s all about some grunting, gestures, and lots of what one blogger called “gibberish.”   When asked about the absence of language, this is what he had to say:

 I think, um, there’s, it, I think it’s a wonderful question.  A lot of, a lot of what you’re saying is correct.  I wanted it there, I, uh, I, um, I grew up with this wonderful, um, cartoon called La Linea, which is an Italian, uh, animation in which there was this character that was made out of one line, and he was talking this crazy language.  But it was very Italian.  It was, like, [IMITATING ITALIAN EXPRESSIVENESS], and you would know exactly what he is feeling.  You didn’t know what he was saying, of course, but it had a flavor that was distinctively Italian, and I knew that I wanted gesticulating animation, so I thought wouldn’t it be great to still have that, uh, flavor.

 

 

I thought it would go well with, with that, um, the great thing is how universal, of course, that is, you know.  And most of our shorts have been silent, uh, for a while, you know.  So I, at first, actually, some of the feedback we got, yeah, you might not need it, just put some music on it.  So we had to fight to keep it.  Um, yeah, it took us a while to prove it, um, probably because I was doing the gibberish in the story reels with the, the editor, and it was pretty bad, you know.  They’re like, it’s kinda annoying, and I was like, well, that’s because I’m doing it.  Let’s get some performers.  Um, but gibberish is a real art.  We tried, uh, many different ways and we had to tone it down.  If you put too much words, it sounds, it’s a little distracting.

 

As moms, I think we all know a little about gibberish, right?  I clearly remember a friend telling me about how only a mother can understand their own child’s gibberish.  And that is SO true.  I was the only one who was able to know what the maracas my kids were trying to say!  I think this relates to the movie in a sense.

 

 

And finally, we come to my question.  If you see the trailer, here on the post, you can hear the distinct noise the stars make. When you see the movie, you will be able to hear with great clarity the clatter that the stars make as the little boy runs through them.  Read how he answers my question about how he decided about the noise:

 Yes, it, it’s, uh, always, you know, it’s, it’s a question we get, uh, really often, and, and we had such a good time making these pebble-like tiles like, uh, clangy sound.  We wanted, uh, uh, my direction on that, we had a wonderful scene designer.  Um, scene designers are very kind of strange, very, uh, detail-obsessed people.  They, they can drive with a boat to a remote lake at four in the morning to get the sound of the boat, uh, kind of thing.  So it’s, they’re so dedicated.  It’s wonderful.

My direction for that was like I want this to be very mundane.  Dad and Grandfather don’t care about these things.  They don’t see them as the kid does.  So they’re shuffling through them like if they were leaves or, or rocks.  So that’s where that, that got to this kinda like thing that was more tile-like, and I thought that then would give a good contrast once we do get a little more magical with it toward the end, you know.  Um, and that’s a little more how the boy would experience them.  So it’s this wonderful tool that you have to build on your story with giving it some layers.  It’s really, really fun.

 

Please, please take my warning to heart.  Go get your popcorn, your soda and candy BEFORE the movie starts.  Go potty, turn off your cells and do everything you need to do so that you don’t miss this short.

 

Trust me, you won’t be sorry.

 

 

 

This is not a paid post.  All thoughts and opinions are my own. This exclusive event (including transportation and accommodations) is sponsored by Walt Disney Studios. Gracias, Mickey!