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My Zootopia Recording Studio Experience #ZootopiaBluray

Lolli — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 15:55:32 +0000

I had the chance to step inside the Zootopia recording studio at one of Disney’s animation studios last month while I was in Los Angeles for the #ZootopiaBluray and #ThroughTheLookingGlassEvent press trip. Travel, accommodations and activities were covered by Disney, but all thoughts are my own. Amazon affiliate links are included in this post.

I have always been the type of person who is more comfortable behind the camera or the computer. I like to watch and learn…and not be the one others are watching and learning from (I’m totally fine in a classroom or speaking in front of a group but the camera makes me uncomfortable).

Before my first recording studio experience, I figured that doing voice over for an animated character would be the same. Imagine my surprise when I found that I actually love it! I was excited to be in the recording studio again to voice a scene from Zootopia. And, if I do say so myself, I make a pretty good Fru Fru the shrew bride in this scene:

Being in a recording studio is NOT what I envisioned animated voice over work to be. I used to imagine the actors recording scenes in a big room together…not alone, on-by-one, in a recording studio. The semblance of privacy when you’re in a small room staring at a script and a screen is actually kind of nice. It was hilarious to be on the other side of the recording booth window while everyone else in our group recorded their lines. Let’s just say…it’s not always easy to get the timing just right to sync with finished animation.

Luckily, we had some help (both technical help and helpful advice) from Paul McGrath, Dialogue Mixer on Zootopia. He explained to us that even though everything on the animation side has been digitized and often computer generated, the voice-over portion of making an animated film is still done in largely the same way that it was done back when they made Snow White. Typically, they start with the script and actors record their lines. Most of the time, animation comes afterwards. However, Paul McGrath said, “The thing about the recording room is that we’re involved from the very beginning of the film through the very end.”

Zootopia In-Home Global Press Event ©Disney

We were curious about how many times an actor has to read the lines to get it right. Paul said that it’s not uncommon for them to read the line 50 to 60 times. (I guess I should feel extra happy that it took me 2 times, right?)

Photo @Disney

Paul mentioned that, “…the Directors (Rich Moore and Byron Howard) will always say, especially with Mr. Big, ‘Make the line your own. Say it how you want, (how it) will feel comfortable to you.'” They make changes, they make tweaks, they do several different versions of the same line.”

Paul McGrath

We were also curious if any of the outtakes that happen in the studio end up being written into the movie. Paul answered, “Yes, yes. I think the accidental mistakes they do– that everyone just cuts up in the room and it wasn’t on the page (are great). Maurice LaMarche (Mr. Big), a lot of things that he did were not on the script and then wound up in the film, as well as Ginnifer Goodwin (Judy Hopps) and Jason Bateman (Nick Wilde). They were always adlibbing.”

My short scene as Fru Fru the Shrew may not be the beginning of any professional voice over work, but I sure did have fun!

Get Zootopia on Blu-ray/DVD/Digital HD NOW!

Photo ©Disney

Zootopia Blu-ray Bonus Features #ZootopiaBluray

Lolli — Tue, 07 Jun 2016 20:14:19 +0000

Disney’s Zootopia is available on Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD today! Zootopia is one of my favorite family movies in a LONG time, and I’m so excited to share a little sneak peek into the Zootopia Blu-ray bonus features and content.

And even better? I am giving away a digital copy of Zootopia to one of YOU! This post is written in conjunction with the Zootopia Blu-ray press event that I attended in LA last month. Travel and accommodations were covered by Disney but all thoughts are my own. Affiliate links are used in this post.

Note: All images are Copyright Disney

If you haven’t noticed already from my previous gushing posts….I LOVED Zootopia! If you haven’t had a chance to see Zootopia yet, take a minute and hop over to my Zootopia movie review post, which by the way, includes some really FUN printable activity sheets for the kids.

I’m thrilled that Zootopia is finally out on Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD. As much as I loved the movie when I saw it in theaters, I’m even more excited to have it at home now. We watched Zootopia on our way to Pennsylvania about a week ago (or should I say, the kids watched and I listened) and we each fell in love all over again.

While I was in LA, I was able to meet with the talented people behind the making of Zootopia and hear their personal accounts of what went in to creating the story and the characters. I was excited to delve into the bonus features to share those same behind-the-scenes looks with my family.

ZOOTOPIA – OFFICER HOPPS — Judy Hopps (voice of Ginnifer Goodwin) believes anyone can be anything. Being the first bunny on a police force of big, tough animals isn’t easy, but Hopps is determined to prove herself. ©2015 Disney. All Rights Reserved.

Zootopia Bonus Features

Here’s what you’ll find on the Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD combo:

Zoology: The Roundtables – Ginnifer Goodwin hosts an in-depth look at the movie’s characters, animation, environments and more. The artists at Disney Animation give a rare and in-depth look at the complexities of bringing an all-animal world to life from the ground-breaking technology behind the characters’ fur and clothing to the varied and vast environments of Tundratown, Sahara Square and the Rainforest District as well as the deep thought and research given to bringing 64 unique animal species to life through animation.

The Origin of an Animal Tale – Follow the story’s development from its origins to a big story shift that turned the film upside down. In this feature-length documentary, filmmakers give a candid look into the difficulties of creating the story of Zootopia and the bold decision to switch the main character late in the production process, putting one resolute rabbit center stage.

Research: A True-Life Adventure – The filmmakers traveled the globe to find inspiration for the diverse characters and amazing city of Zootopia. They reflect on the importance of research and how a deep dive into animal behavior at Disney Animal Kingdom theme park and a deep immersion into animal society on the African savanna shaped and inspired the characters of Zootopia and changed the filmmakers’ lives forever.

A WORLD FOR BIG AND SMALL — Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Zootopia” features a vast world where humans never existed. With advanced transportation systems that accommodate mammals of all shapes and sizes, the modern mammal metropolis was built by animals for animals. ©2016 Disney. All Rights Reserved.

Z.P.D. Forensic Files – Find the movie’s hidden Easter Eggs. Every city has its hidden gems, especially when it has been created by the filmmakers of Disney Animation who love nothing more than sprinkling hidden references to some of Disney’s greatest animated features throughout the story.

Scoretopia – Academy Award-winning composer, Michael Giacchino spotlights five of cinema’s greatest percussionists and how they brought an organic, animalistic sound to his powerful and emotional music score.

Deleted Characters – Directors Byron Howard and Rich Moore introduce citizens of Zootopia who did not make the final cut.

Deleted Scenes:

Alternate Opening – Young Judy Hopps rescues a fellow classmate and realizes she can reach beyond a life in carrot farming to a future in law enforcement.
Wild Times! Pitch – Nick desperately pitches the bankers of Zootopia on funding Wild Times!, an amusement park made exclusively for the predators of Zootopia and a sure-fire, money-making scheme for Nick and his friends.
Alternate Homesick Hopps – After a frustrating first day on the force, Judy has a conversation with her parents. See how this scene changed from a heartfelt conversation with her parents to tough love when her parents discover their daughter is only a meter maid and not a “real cop.”
Detective Work – Judy borrows a fellow police officer’s computer to conduct research, which turns out to be no small task.
Alternate Jumbo Pop – In this early version of the story where Nick was the main character, the filmmakers and Jason Bateman were able to take hustling to a new level.
Hopps’ Apartment – When Judy’s entire family pays her a surprise visit they are shocked to discover the company she’s keeping.
The Taming Party – In this emotional clip from an early version of “Zootopia,” Judy attends her first “taming party” and gains a deeper understanding of the plight of the predator.

+Plus “Try Everything” Music Video by Shakira

Win a Digital Copy of Zootopia!

One winner will receive a digital download code (Disney Movies Anywhere). I received an extra digital copy during the press trip and wanted to pass the goodness on to one of you! This giveaway is open to anyone and everyone. The only requirement is that you have access to the free Disney Movies Anywhere app. Please note that this is not a DVD, but a digital download code.

Good luck!

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Flash from Zootopia Has Advice For New Drivers #ZootopiaBluray

Lolli — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 18:03:47 +0000

While I was in Los Angeles for the Zootopia Bluray press day, I had the opportunity to sit down not only with Raymond Persi, the voice behind Flash from Zootopia, but with Flash himself! What a fun (albeit SLOW) experience! Zootopia is coming to DVD/Bluray/Digital this week (June 7)! My travel, accommodations, and activities were provided by Disney, but all thoughts are my own. Affiliate links are used in this post.

If you had the chance to sit down with Flash (ie, the fastest sloth at Zootopia’s DMV, of course), what would you ask him? I admit I was a little out of my comfort zone when I sat down with Flash to interview him on camera last month, but it was an experience I wouldn’t have traded for anything. I mean…it was Flash. He clearly stole the show with his winning personality (how can you not smile when Flash speaks?).

See what Flash from Zootopia had to say about teenage drivers (I’m sure he has seen a lot of them at the DMV):

We also had the chance to chat with Raymond Persi, the voice behind Flash, as well as a story artist for Zootopia. Before coming to work with Disney, Raymond was a director on The Simpsons. Director Rich Moore asked him to be one of the story artists on Wreck It Ralph several years ago, and he has since worked on Frozen and the shorts Get a Horse and Feast.

Raymond Persi at the Zootopia In-Home Global Press Event. Photo ©Disney

He described to us how he landed the job of voicing Flash: “A lot of times when we are creating our rough versions of the films, we don’t really know who’s going to be cast yet. We don’t even know if characters are going to stay in the film. They’ll bring in a lot of artists and other people to come in the recording room. So, you might be at your desk working, and all of a sudden, (they want you to) be a gorilla now. Every now and then they like what the voice sounds like and they’ll stick it in there. In my particular case, I got to be that little annoying brat Gene from Wreck It Ralph and then the zombie from Wreck It Ralph and then in Get a Horse I was another little annoying character, the horn…”

Raymond Persi and bloggers at the Zootopia In-Home Global Press Event. Photo ©Disney

He continued, “And then for Frozen, I just had one little line in there, but the guy talking, his wife calls after him and she says, ‘Faster, Persi!” so they used my last name which is a fun little treat for me.”

And then came Flash. “When you’re asked to do a sloth, what’s your first instinct? You think, I’m going to talk slowly, but Rich Moore and Head of Story, Jim Reardon, had a different idea. They wanted him to speak normally, but with just a lot of pauses in between, so that was fun. I sat down and we recorded scratch for half an hour or so and then I guess my voice sounded stupid enough because they kept it in.”

I wouldn’t say stupid enough. I think he was absolutely perfect as Flash!

Raymond’s role as Flash has extended beyond the workplace, although he has been afraid to use Flash’s voice around friends for fear that they’d hit him. Ha! He said, “For the first time, I think my mother understands what I do for a living. And my nephews and my nieces, they like (the fact that I am Flash). What’s great (is that) they’re really hyper, but when I go there, they want to walk really slowly. It’s a great game for me because then I don’t get tired.”

Photo @Disney

Flash’s DMV scene is still one of my favorite parts of Zootopia! I can’t wait to see which roles Raymond will end up playing in the next Disney animated films. I have a feeling we’ll be hearing more from him!

Zootopia is coming to Disney DVD, Bluray, and Digital download on June 7, 2016. Order it now!

Chatting with Zootopia Animators Renato dos Ajos & Chad Sellers

Lolli — Thu, 02 Jun 2016 23:28:01 +0000

While I was in Los Angeles last month on my latest Disney press trip, I had the opportunity to sit down with Renato dos Anjos, head of animation, and Chad Sellers, an animation supervisor for Zootopia, which is coming to DVD/Bluray/Digital on June 7!

Writing a story, I get. Performing lines, I also get (although actor, I am not). But animating an animated feature film? It still astounds me how much time, talent, and detail goes into that. Talking with two of the head Disney animators that worked on Zootopia was fascinating!

The Inspiration for Zootopia

One thing that both Renato and Chad mentioned was that Zootopia was a very complicated (and unique) movie to animate because of the large number of species that they had to animate. Instead of making each of the characters move and act like humans, they spent quite a bit of time and energy researching how each animal moved and behaved. In fact, they said that they chose to use life (ie, real, live animals) as their main source of inspiration.

Zootopia In-Home Global Press Event Group Photo ©Disney

Renato dos Anjos said, “When we were working on Tangled, for instance, and on Frozen, once you learn to animate a person, you can use some of that knowledge when you’re animating that. But when you’re animating a mouse, and then you have to animate…

Chad Sellers broke in, “An elephant.”

Renato agreed, “An elephant, for instance, is very different, and there’s not much that you learn from one character that you can use onto another. So, it really became a very complex film from an animative perspective because, you’re constantly having to learn something new, and you can never really use something that you learned on one character onto another.”

Finding Direction in Kenya

The 11-night research trip that the entire team took to Kenya was a huge key to developing the vision for Zootopia. They thought they had done a lot of research before their trip (watching video footage, spending time at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Florida, and more), but once they arrived in Kenya, they realized that they had only scrathed the surface.

Renato explained, “One thing that I wasn’t expecting is how this trip changed our vision for the film. This really set the tone for the movie. We were the working on the movie for about a year and a half (at that point). We thought that we had seen everything that we could see. We watched every documentary we could find, we went to all these different places, and we really thought we had done our homework. But as soon as we landed, within days of being there, it really felt that we were really only scratching the surface.

These animals are free – they’re going to move differently, but there’s a certain aspect to their behavior that’s very, very different and unique, and also the fact that they’re interacting with different species, as well, is something that you don’t see (anywhere else). So that really set the tone and changed our perception on the movie.”

It Takes a Village To Make a Movie

There were about 75 animators in the animation department working 60-68 hours per week. Chad mentioned, “You’ve gotta like the people you work with,” because they end up eating breakfast, lunch and dinner together most days. It’s a big commitment to work on a film like this. They both said that you end up becoming like a family (although it does stink that you don’t get to see much of your actual family while animation is at its peek).

Renato dos Anjos and Chad Sellersat the Zootopia In-Home Global Press Event. Photo ©Disney

We were curious about how the story evolved – and which came first, the animation or the voice acting. Renato and Chad shared with us that it was a constantly-evolving process. of course, they always start with a story and they build around that basic story.

Renato explained that what happened a lot with Zootopia was that, “the schedule to be so hectic where the story kept evolving, and as the story evolved, some of the work didn’t really apply anymore; some new characters needed to be built like the yak – he came in very late. He’s super funny but, you know, it was totally worthwhile, but he came in kinda late.” Other characters that they thought would have a larger part in the movie just didn’t end up working right, so they were either eliminated from the story or moved to more minor characters.

Photo ©Disney

Chad said, “I feel like (animators are) observers for a profession. We really are. We get so lost in something. We look at the interesting way that something moves. It could be a person; it could be an animal, whatever. The weirdest things can inspire you.”

John Lasseter’s Tiny Cake

I wish that I had the clip that we watched to share with you! Chad and Renato told us the story of how John Lasseter acted out the scene at the wedding where Nick ate a tiny piece of Shrew wedding cake. John had a very specific vision for that shot, and his portrayal was hilarious. They used the footage of John acting out that scene to animate what we see in the movie. How cool is that?

Photo ©Disney

BONUS: Did you know? Clawhauser has a hidden Mickey on his cheek?

Zootopia is coming to Disney DVD, Bluray, and Digital download on June 7, 2016, but you can preorder it HERE!

Making Zootopia – Interview with Directors & Producer

Lolli — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 17:21:01 +0000

While I was in Los Angeles recently, I had the opportunity to sit down in a small group setting with Directors Byron Howard and Rich Moore as well as Producer Clark Spencer of Zootopia, which is coming to DVD/Bluray/Digital on June 7!

Our discussion was fascinating, and I can’t wait to share it with you. This interview is part of the #ZootopiaBluray and #ThroughTheLookingGlassEvent press trip – all travel, accommodations and activities were provided by Disney, but all thoughts are my own. Affiliate links used in this post.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I saw Zootopia for the first time, but I quickly fell in love – with the characters, the story, and the message. Zootopia is a movie that sticks with you. And now, after chatting with the directors and the producer, I am even more impressed and in love with the movie.

Powerful, Timely messages

Zootopia is full of powerful messages and real-life parallels. One of those messages that we discussed was the universal dilemma of how to live together without killing each other (and we’re not just talking predator versus prey here).

Photo @Disney

I thought it was interesting, since Zootopia certainly had an impact on me and my family, that the team did not start out with the intention to make a statement movie…but it was very important to them to make a movie that had meaning. When they started the project, they had no idea how timely the message would be. The topics of race and prejudice and learning to live with our differences…and to look past our differences to notice more of our similarities…are complex and messy. The Zootopia production team was motivated to make a movie that was as real and authentic as possible. I think they hit the nail on the head with that one.

Photo @Disney

Director Byron Howard said, “We all had to work very hard together to figure out how to make the movie say what it needed to say. The fact that people find Judy so empowering was really inspiring to us.”

Director Rich Moore said, “People have said to us, ‘Did you guys have a crystal ball or something? Did you know like these things were going to happen?’ As we were making the film, these things would pop up in the news. (We said) what we’re making here is very relevant today. And that made us work even harder to make it the best it could be. That it didn’t come across as preachy. That it didn’t come across as ‘this is the message. This is how you cure these things.’ It inspired us to make the movie as genuine and real as possible. That it didn’t pull punches, but it also didn’t try to sugar coat this stuff.”

Real Animals Shaped Zootopia

Bryon, Rich, and Clark spoke about landing in Africa, where their team traveled in the initial research stage for Zootopia. I loved learning how actual wild animals – their habits, their personalities, and their social structure shaped the movie.

Zootopia In-Home Global Press Event Photo @Disney

“I think our favorite part was…when you stepped out of the plane, everything was just quiet. The air feels different. It’s just open. And the places we visited in Africa haven’t changed in 40,000 years. The environment is the same. And the animals have a society that exists. These groups move together like human beings do. It’s like being in their version of a city. That’s where the whole bias idea came from – from us watching these animals around a watering hole.

One of our camps was about 30 feet from a watering hole where we’d watch these animals come in during the day in herds of anywhere from 20 to 500 animals. And we saw that antelope and lions would drink right next to each other at the watering hole. No funny business. No one was attacking each other, there was no aggression. They just got their water, they kinda looked at each other, and then they went their separate ways. And we thought, that’s very much like our own society. Groups don’t always get along.

We have these cities where we all have to figure out how to live together without killing each other. And it was a great experience. That first camp next to the watering hole was a real eye opener for all of us because we had no idea it was going to get into us that much. We had all our leadership on that trip. We had our lead animation. We had our art director. We had our character designer. And those folks all came back with this desire to make the movie so much better because of what we had learned.”

Bureaucracy is Universal

Jim Reardon, animation director and storyboard consultant and co-head of story for Zootopia, said to his fellow Zootopia team one day, “If there’s a DMV in Zootopia, it should be run by sloths.” He said it in fun, but the idea stuck…and it ended up being one of the most beloved scenes in the entire movie.

Photo @Disney

I loved learning that the DMV scene with Flash and his fellow sloths was the most universally loved scene across all markets. Despite the fact that the movie makers were worried about people outside the United States understanding the DMV, the humor ended up landing well with everyone. No matter where movie-goers lived in the world, whether they had a DMV in their country or not, everyone understood the concept of bureaucracy and painfully slow lines and processing times.

Flash was definitely one of my favorite characters and his DMV scene still cracks me up, despite the fact that I’ve seen it so many times. How can you NOT laugh with Flash?

Zootopia is coming to Disney DVD, Bluray, and Digital download on June 7, 2016, but you can preorder it HERE!