I received the following information as a blogger via Walt Disney Publications. While I attended an expense paid trip by Disney to the press events for The Good Dinosaur, Inside Out, and Miles From Tomorrowland, all opinions are 100% my own.
Woo hoo! I’m so excited that THE GOOD DINOSAUR finally opens this week on November 25th! We couldn’t be more excited. Continuing my coverage from my press trip out to San Francisco for #GoodDinoEvent, today we are chatting about story development. Hopefully you’ve already had a chance to read about our evening with Director Pete Sohn, where he discussed the research trips behind the film. Additionally, I also posted about my experience chatting with the art department and animators who worked on the film, as well as those in special effects, set supervision, and visual design.
While visiting Pixar, we visited the room where the story for THE GOOD DINOSAUR was actually created! We met with Story Supervisor Kelsey Mann and Screenwriter Meg LaFauve (pictured below).
The room we met them in serves as a Digital Story Room, however it didn’t always serve a digital purpose. Filmmakers on THE GOOD DINOSAUR often referred to it as “The Bullpen.”
Kelsey explained that Pete is all about socializing! I can vouch for this because at the #GoodDino even the previous night, Pete was very outgoing, friendly, and sociable with the crowd.
Kelsey explained how Pete liked everyone involved, and everyone pitching in. The Bullpen would be filled with story artists drawing and pitching little ideas. Very often music is playing to keep the vibe light!
I have to say, it was pretty cool to be sitting in the same room where the film was in a way “born” there at Pixar. Kelsey explained that the story artists actually use Cintiq graphic monitors, as well as good old fashioned paper and pencil, for the artists to capture the characters and story boards.
In the Bullpen there we could see story boards on the walls. This was a great way for the artists to always see them, without having to look at the boards digitally every time.
Photo by: Marc Flores. ©2015 Disney•Pixar. All Rights Reserved.
Meg and Kelsey walked us through the story boarding experience. They explained how someone comes in and reads the script out loud, while the artists listen and draw.
Matt Nolte ©2015 Disney•Pixar. All Rights Reserved.
Often Meg would join the artists to check out their drawings. This was for her to make sure the artists were capturing the right feel of the character, but it also helped her to perfect the script. It kind of works both ways in helping one another! The screenwriters and story artists are able to working together to create a concept that Pete will this is right for the film.
Photo by: Marc Flores. ©2015 Disney•Pixar. All Rights Reserved.
Again I was totally blown away by the amazing technical and artistic work that goes into Pixar’s animated films. Taking a glimpse behind the scenes gives you a new appreciation for all the hard work ethic that goes into these films.
The Good Dinosaur Official US Trailer
Don’t forget to connect with THE GOOD DINOSAUR on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, and YouTube!
THE GOOD DINOSAUR opens in theatres everywhere THIS WEEK on November 25th! That’s Thanksgiving!
Now if your little one is excited for THE GOOD DINOSAUR as much as my little guy, you may want to check out these fun coloring and activity sheets to download and print! Plus check out my Dino Fossil eggs tutorial! This fun activity was inspired by the film as well. My son had such a blast creating the eggs (and eating them too!).
Want to see more of my adventures in San Francisco? Take a look at my Twitter (@AshBG) and Instagram (@ashb4211). Make sure you follow the hashtags #GoodDinoEvent, #InsideOutBloggers, #MilesEvent, and #Waltagram.
This looks like such a good movie and you are so lucky to get a behind the scene look at how it was developed. The digital aspect is just amazing to me. My son is studying digital development right now and would love this! :) Glad you had a great time!
I have been hearing a lot about this and it sounds like such a cute movie. My sister still has grandkids who are small and I bet they would enjoy seeing this. I will ask her if she has heard about this movie.
We’re so excited to see this movie and seeing behind the scenes just makes viewing that much more intimate.
That is pretty cool that you had such an interesting behind the scenes experience! We can’t wait to see this movie, it looks so cute!
This movie looks so good, my kids are already eager to see it!