Diving Deeper Into Disney’s ‘Strange World’ – Behind the Scenes At Walt Disney Animation Studios

It’s an exciting time over at Walt Disney Animation Studios as they get ready to release their upcoming film Strange World and enter the studio’s 100th year. I was given the amazing opportunity of visiting the studio and getting a closer look at the making of the film and some of the innerworkings of the The Powerhouse of Mouse.

A Story of Great Exploration

Before we get into some of the behind the scenes on Walt Disney’s latest animated feature, what’s the film even about? Strange World follows Searcher Clade (Jake Gyllenhaal), a farmer who happens to be the son of the legendary explorer, Jaegar Clade (Dennis Quaid). Jaegar and Searcher Clade make the discovery of a lifetime, one that would benefit their home of Avalonia for generations. Searcher chooses to head home with this new discovery while Jaegar, eager for more, continues onward with the expedition, never to be seen again.

Years later and now Searcher has a family: his wonderfully funny and loving wife Meridian (Gabrielle Union) and their teen son, Ethan (Jaboukie Young-White). Searcher wants Ethan to take over the family farm someday but Ethan feels as if he is destined for something greater beyond the farm. When the community’s way of life is threatened, the president of Avalonia, Callisto Mal (Lucy Liu) calls upon Searcher to journey over the mountains that surround their great city in order to find a way to save the city. When the mission goes south and the group is separated, the family must work together to reunite, and escape this newfound Strange World.

“Indiana Jones meets King Kong, but with the cast of National Lampoon’s Vacation” – Don Hall, Director

Director and Co-Director Don Hall and Qui Nguyen described this movie as the old adventure movies they would watch as kids. Akin to those old pulp magazines, filled with mystery and action, Strange World promises exactly that. When Hall pitched the film to Nguyen, it was described as “Indiana Jones meets King Kong, but with the cast of National Lampoon’s Vacation.”  Just from the few short clips we saw from this film, I was on the edge of my seat, laughing out loud, and surprised with every twist and turn. I really think audiences are going to love this film and it will become an instant classic in every household.

Designing A Whole New (Strange) World

In an insightful Q&A with Directors, Producer, Animators and Artists, we learned about the teams inspiration and goals for how they wanted the film to look. Considering it’s a film about a Strange World, the look of the film needed to feel… strange. Mehrdad Isvandi, Production Designer on Strange World, explains that in order to separate the Clades’ homeland of Avalonia from the hidden underground world, the film team was challenged to not use any earth tones. No greens, no natural colors or anything resembling what we might find in our natural world. Strange World features a world of interesting textures all with this blend of orange, red, and pink that make this environment feel truly strange. But the strangeness doesn’t just stop at the coloring.

The team had to create an all original environment that was vaguely similar to our own, but couldn’t follow the same rules. Everything from the creatures, to the ground, to the “vegetation” needed to be completely different from what you would expect these things to look like, while still conveying that they are similar to its Earthly counterpart. Tricky, I know. While there was no one source of inspiration for the look of these features, audiences can definitely make connections from the world in the film, to the reality we know. Some of the vegetation look like coral or deep sea creatures, some may even say they look like food. Co-Director Qui Nguyen laughed, remembering an artist on the film who used a plate of sausage as a reference image for a creature they were designing. Whatever the inspiration, the designs for the Strange World and it’s environment are certainly original and very fun to watch. Every element of this movie is meant to surprise you.

Bringing Splat to Life

I already briefly mentioned that this film features an assortment of crazy creatures, but none of them are more fun than Splat. Just from the short clips I saw featuring this fun blue blob, Splat will certainly be a fan favorite. Splat is an absolute joy to watch as it is always acting and moving in unexpected ways. One minute, it will be running on two “legs” and the next, it will be wildly spinning on all nubbins to run away from danger.

While the concept of Splat is simple, the mute blue creature was one of Disney’s most technically difficult characters to ever animate. Since Splat has no face or voice actor of any kind (no, not even Alan Tudyk), the animation team on the film had to convey very specific information and emotion through only body language. And how do you convey emotion in a small, gelatinous little guy with seven nubs around its body? Likened to Aladdin’s Magic Carpet or the Magical Brooms in Fantasia, the animation team had to go all in with the pantomiming and easy to read body language. Head of Animation, Amy Smeed, says it’s all “in the timing and posing of the character that sells the emotion…” Everything this little blobby creature does will certainly surprise and have audiences laughing.

Adventure Awaits!

I had an absolute blast touring the Walt Disney Animation Studio and getting a closer look at the strangeness that is Strange World. Seeing how all the environments, creatures, characters, cast and audio come together to create such a new and exciting adventure was absolutely inspiring to say the least. I truly believe that Disney has yet another instant hit on their hands, and I look forward to seeing the love this film so rightfully deserves. Even with the limited footage and art we got to see, I am definitely a huge fan of this movie and cannot wait to view the finished product when Disney’s Strange World comes exclusively to theaters on November 23rd.

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