‘Strange World’: Jake Gyllenhall is the long-suffering son of an adventurous Dennis Quaid in the new Disney animation

As head honchos of multimedia production, the company of the mouse has always sought to offer stories about the threads that unite us between relatives, be it from the magic of Charm (2021), the transcendental love of Coconut (2017) and as will soon also happen with Avatar: The Way of Water (2022), among many other examples.

On the billboard, following the same line, a new title appears this November 24 that adds to the list, but with its own honors. Is about Strange Worlda family adventure that spans three generations and also wants to make us reflect on how we relate to our natural environment.

About the behind the scenes of this tape lively, Live had the privilege of speaking with the film’s co-directors Don Hall and Qui Nguyen, producer Roy Conli, production designer Mehrdad Isvandi, as well as environment design director Sean Jenkins.

‘Wakanda Forever’: Marvel’s biggest challenge to date opens in theaters

Strange World presents the journeys of the Clade family. First on screen is Jaeger Clade (voiced by Dennis Quaid), a burly man who is the quintessential adventurer.

As Raeger continues his intense explorations of the world, the story introduces his son Searcher (played by Jake Gyllenhall), who is a young man not so interested in living life on the edge.

As Searcher grows up, he realizes that his father’s chosen trade is not his thing, so they go their separate ways. The young man wants to dedicate himself to being an academic, far from the adrenaline that involves facing nature, so they stop seeing each other for years.

What causes father and son to meet again is a threat that stalks their town and that could destroy the ecosystem. Inevitably, father and son will have to merge their abilities to prevent it.

For this new mission, Ethan (Jaboukie Young-White), the last of the Clade, will also be joined, who is seduced by his grandfather’s adventurous spirit.

‘The Menu’: Anya Taylor-Joy will have a frantic dinner on film that will leave you on the edge of your seat

“We were always very clear about what we wanted to do,” says Don Hall, who has been in charge of other company projects such as Raya and the last Dragon (2021) and Big Hero 6 (2014).

“We were excited to be able to create a deep story about how human beings relate to their environment. For the development of the adventure, there was an essential seasoning: creating a completely new universe, loaded with colors and textures that made the film a fantastic journey. This was priority. We always wanted to compose a visual landscape that would excite adults and children alike,” added Sean Jenkins, who oversaw the film’s environment designs.

Together with production designer Mehrdad Isvandi, they were able to envision a universe where danger was felt around every corner, so that the leads always behaved on the edge.

“It has been an experience filled with enthusiasm by a unique creative team,” says Isvandi, “because Strange World It does not belong to an already established franchise, but it is about putting together an entire imaginary from scratch”.

For co-director Qui Nguyen, for his part, the result of this effort is satisfying because there was always a clear goal in mind: that this universe was an allegory for planet Earth.

“It needs to be made clear that what is being criticized in the film is for the way we treat our world. What is the world that we inherited to our children like? What can we do? Those are part of the necessary questions when discussing the film”, explains Nguyen.

For producer Roy Conli, Strange World means a unique step in Disney’s bet for this decade, since it is a completely fresh story, which wants to depart from the stories already known as Star Wars, Marvelamong other consolidated sagas.

Of course: for the final product to be satisfactory, more than four years of joint work was carried out so that everything happened in the best way.

“I have never seen a cast so dedicated to history,” says producer Conli, who has been behind productions such as Big Hero 6, Born in China (2016) and penguins (2019).

“From day one, all the actors and talent poured their energy into this story. That’s the wonderful thing about animation, that it’s a cooperative art form. In this project, for example, there were more than 450 people who have contributed to making moving images bring unforgettable characters to life. This has been a great job that leaves us very satisfied” he concluded.

can enjoy Strange World in your favorite cinema circuit, starting this November 24.