Pete Docter & Jonas Rivera offers an inside look at how Pixar’s latest, “Inside Out,” was produced

Paul Perrello

9 years ago

It is not everyday that you get the chance to speak
one-on-one with the creative minds behind what you know will be a summer
blockbuster at the box office. That is
exactly the opportunity that I had recently when I sat down with Disney / Pixar's
Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera responsible for some of the best animation to hit
the silver screen.

Doctor and Rivera were in Philadelphia
recently as part of their cross-country press tour talking up "Inside Out,"
what they hope will be the latest accolade in their and Disney / Pixar's
collective body of work.

(L to R) Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera at the premiere of Disney / Pixar's
"Inside Out." Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

"Inside Out" is Disney / Pixar's 15^th feature film
and comes two years after "Monsters University"
and just ahead of this animation studio's Thanksgiving 2015 release of "The
Good Dinosaur." "Inside Out" finds young
Riley uprooted from her Midwest life and relocated to San
Francisco. It
is there that Riley and her emotions, Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness
battle on how to best navigate a new city,
house and school.

For Docter, the movie is personal. Not only the director but the writer of the
movie, Docter says the idea was born out of changes he noticed with his
11-year-old daughter. The
once-bubbly-happy-go-lucky girl turned eleven and Docter said "she got more
quiet, more reclusive and made me wonder, what's going on inside her head. And thinking about emotions as characters
just felt like this is what animation does best." He admits the idea seemed
from the get-go like a "really fun idea."

The concept of a really fun idea was enough to hook producer
Jonas Rivera into the project and the chance to work closely with Docter again. The pair was responsible for 2009's "Up,"
which earned two Oscars at the 82^nd Academy Awards for Best Animated
Feature and Best Original Score.

As for the question whether "Inside Out" is a kids movie, an
adult flick or a family film, Rivera says it really is a movie for everyone to
see. He confides that the number one
rule and perhaps the only rule that Disney/Pixar boss John Lasseter has for his
animators is to "make a film that you would want to see, you would be proud to
show your family." Rivera is quick to add that the creative minds "write and
produce these films for ourselves. We struggle with the question 'who do we
make a movie for' and the answer is we make a movie for all of us."

The latest Disney/Pixar project took five years to make from
initial sketches to edits and re-edits to the final feature. In order to get the emotions right, the
creative team spent a lot of time doing their research which included sessions
with specialists to understand what emotions are and what role do they play in
the human experience. Docter says they
consulted with psychologists, psychiatrists, and neurologists in an attempt to
get to the root of human emotions.

They also spent a lot of time with the voice actors giving
life to the emotions and according to Rivera it began with "Saturday Night
Live" cast member Bill Hader. "We knew
Bill pretty well because he came on early and helped to write," said
Rivera. Docter chimed in by adding that
"he put in a good word for us" as they reached out to fellow SNL alum Amy
Poehler to join the cast as Joy.

Rounding out the cast-mates of emotions are Hader as Fear,
Mindy Kaling as Disgust, Phyllis Smith as Sadness, and Lewis Black as
Anger. Other notable voices lending
their talents to the movie include Diane Lane
as Riley's Mom, Kyle MacLachlan as Riley's Dad, Richard Kind as Bing Bong and
what Pixar movie would not be complete without the vocal talents of John
Ratzenberger as Fritz. Both Docter and
Rivera admit that Ratzenberger has become a good luck charm for the studios'
movies since he has vocalized a character in every Disney/Pixar film. Pixar has
grabbed nearly two dozen Oscars including six for best animated feature since
the studio opened for business.

The success of their films does not get lost on the duo. Both Docter and Rivera admit they are aware
of their contributions to the wonderful world of Disney animation and the
legacy of Walt Disney. Rivera admitted
that "is one of the coolest parts of this experience, and the heaviest, we
don't take it lightly. When we record an
actor we go down to the Walt Disney Studios on the lot in Burbank. We go onto Stage B where they recorded 'The
Jungle Book," 'Cinderella,' 'Peter Pan' and ADR for 'Mary Poppins.' That is
hallowed ground to us. We honor the past but we keep pushing forward and coming
up with new stuff."

To answer that burning question for many Disney fans, "what
would Walt think?" Rivera admits "that is an awesome question. I think he would
be proud of it. I don't mean that in a cocky way, like we are doing stuff that
Walt would love." Rivera continues "Walt
Disney to me was this amazing blend of nostalgia, like one foot in the
nostalgia thing and one foot in the future, literally like Frontierland and
Tomorrowland, which in a strange way is an echo of Woody and Buzz."

Conceding that Pixar is one of the most high-tech places on the planet,
Rivera and Docter agree that the technology is only in service to the
story. "These stories that are rooted in
these feelings we had when we were a kid," that is what sets them apart, adding
that Uncle Walt "would have been proud of the technology and the look of it.
But I think he would have been more proud, of what we're most proud of, which
is the stories and the characters."