Raya and the Last Dragon

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Sotiris
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Raya and the Last Dragon

Post by Sotiris »

I guess Pixar intends to follow through their plans to tell more stories featuring “female and ethnic characters” as Lasseter so awkwardly put it. After Sanjay's Super Team, and Coco, we may get a story inspired by Indonesian folklore. Update: It turns out this research trip to Indonesia was for Dragon Empire, not for a Pixar film.
The head of the Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf), Triawan Munaf, said he and other representatives of Bekraf met with representatives from Pixar in the US last Thursday who were interested in getting some expert insight into Indonesian stories.

"I conveyed to President [Joko Widodo] an interest from Pixar, delivered by John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, to explore and curate stories of the Indonesian people to be adapted and produced by Pixar," said Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) head Triawan Munaf in Jakarta on Monday.

He said a team from Bekraf took on the assignment and compiled information on a number of Indonesian folktales they considered worthy of being adapted into a movie and then recommended them to Pixar. "We then curated and compiled Indonesian folklore for Pixar and are now determining the next steps. We plan to not only involve Indonesian animators but also cultivate the industry as a whole," Triawan said.

However, he also tried to keep people’s expectations realistic by noting that Pixar movies take a long time to make. "Keep in mind, every Pixar animated film production takes three to five years to produce. But this project is important to show the world that Indonesia is rich with local wisdom and culture."
Source: http://jakarta.coconuts.co/2015/11/03/p ... tale-movie
During his recent visit to the US on Oct. 29, Triawan and his team visited Pixar Studios and met with John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios.

“In his presentation, he talked about the studio’s creativity philosophy and at the end he asked, ‘please send me folktales from Indonesia, I will look at them and let’s make something out of it,’” Triawan told the Post on Thursday.

Lasseter, Triawan said, did not set any criteria for the desired tales. After submitting the stories, Triawan said he would visit Pixar in February for further talks.
Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015 ... pixar.html
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Re: Pixar Film Based On Indonesian Folklore

Post by disneyprincess11 »

You know, Disney. I think THIS would be a good time to get a Spanish Princess (Imna from Gigantic may not be qualified due to her age)

But, do you think it could be Pixar's attempt on KINGDOM OF THE SUN?
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Re: Pixar Film Based On Indonesian Folklore

Post by DisneyFan09 »

Well, for all the rant Disney gets for sticking to their components and their cultural exploration and the minor criticism Pixar gets for not exploring other cultures, this is at least a minor progress. It's nice that they'll explore Indonesian folklore, due to it not being explored that much priorly. But how the results will be is another case, haha. Most likely people will rant about several PC-reasons, haha! :p
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Re: Pixar Film Based On Indonesian Folklore

Post by unprincess »

sounds cool to me. Indonesia is not well explored culture as far as animated(or live action)film stories here. Im curious to see what they come up with.

btw we still need a proper Disney or Pixar film about Japanese culture b/c Big Hero 6 was a pretty poor example of it.
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Re: Pixar Film Based On Indonesian Folklore

Post by Disney's Divinity »

DisneyFan09 wrote:Well, for all the rant Disney gets for sticking to their components and their cultural exploration and the minor criticism Pixar gets for not exploring other cultures, this is at least a minor progress.
I agree. Pixar is pretty safe when it comes to financial intake from their films, so they of all companies should be able to explore different cultures.
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Re: Pixar Film Based On Indonesian Folklore

Post by DisneyFan09 »

unprincess wrote:btw we still need a proper Disney or Pixar film about Japanese culture b/c Big Hero 6 was a pretty poor example of it.
Especially since it was a fictional mash-up of American and Japanese cutlure.
I agree. Pixar is pretty safe when it comes to financial intake from their films, so they of all companies should be able to explore different cultures.
And while they get criticized for it, they're still labeled as flawless geniuses, so it's just a minor complain.
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Re: Pixar Film Based On Indonesian Folklore

Post by JeanGreyForever »

I'm really excited that Pixar will be exploring Indonesian culture. It's not really something we see much of so it will be great exposure.
disneyprincess11 wrote:You know, Disney. I think THIS would be a good time to get a Spanish Princess (Imna from Gigantic may not be qualified due to her age)

But, do you think it could be Pixar's attempt on KINGDOM OF THE SUN?
I think Disney feels they have that demographic covered with Elena. I doubt Imna will count, considering she is a child, and a giant child for that matter. Also isn't she blonde in the concept art? Although there are plenty of Hispanics who are blonde, after the debacle that was Sofia and her ethnicity, I would imagine that Disney's version of a Hispanic princess would probably be darker in coloring to avoid controversy.
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Re: Pixar Film Based On Indonesian Folklore

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Pixar's president, Jim Morris, had the following to say during a recent trip of his to Singapore. His statements seem to be contradictory to the story about an Indonesian-set film and Pixar's promises for more diversity. What do you think?
But has there been pressure to set a Pixar feature in an Asian landscape, or perhaps to cast an Asian actor? Morris is firmer on this, saying that such a move would be “disingenuous”

“We make films that directors want to make, (but) we’re not going to put a landscape into something like that just to make it more appealing. That’s not how we make our films. We think that as Americans, we’re not really people that can tell a Chinese story,” says Morris.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/how-pixar-makes-d ... 35896.html
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Re: Pixar Film Based On Indonesian Folklore

Post by Disney's Divinity »

Odd. Not quite on the same page as other media statements being made.
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Re: Pixar Film Based On Indonesian Folklore

Post by Sotiris »

This quote particularly is bewildering considering Disney made Mulan and Pixar's making Coco, a Mexican story directed by an American. :?
Jim Morris wrote:We think that as Americans, we’re not really people that can tell a Chinese story.
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Re: Pixar Film Based On Indonesian Folklore

Post by DisneyFan09 »

OMG! Really??? Honestly??

I really hope they're kidding, since that is the most insipid and dumbest thing that I've ever read!
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Re: Pixar Film Based On Indonesian Folklore

Post by milojthatch »

As long as it's good and family-friendly, I'm all for it. I agree with other comments, Indonesia is a part of the world who's stories have really not been tapped into, so this could be interesting. I just don't want to see Disney, PIXAR, or any animation studio so focus on "diversity" that it becomes a checklist. Just let the stories come naturally and you'll be surprise how diverse thing can become on their own.
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Re: Pixar Film Based On Indonesian Folklore

Post by akhenaten »

Well if by chinese he's referring to rumors on the indonesian project, then i'm offended. The malay archipelago folklores are tales of the austronesian people or malays as theyre collectively known. Westerners need to get their facts right. Not all asians are chinese. Anyway, if they do go ahead with this, itll be the third austronesian disney movie (after lilo and moana). and if they choose the 'wrong' story, there shall be war between malaysia and indonesia (and maybe the phillipines too). Lol.
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Re: Pixar Film Based On Indonesian Folklore

Post by ce1ticmoon »

I think he's making a more generalized statement, and "Chinese" was just an example.

But yeah, it's an odd statement considering they are doing Coco. I mean, no matter what culture they work with, it's likely they won't get everything right, and perhaps they are afraid of getting flack for not representing certain cultures correctly. But, they could always hire consultants and creatives who come from the cultures they are representing to make the films as accurate as possible.
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Re: Pixar Film Based On Indonesian Folklore

Post by Sotiris »

Is Pixar monitoring this board? :huh: :lol: Jim Morris in a new interview took it all back! :?
Morris said Pixar was also keen on creating something that would cater primarily to the Asian market. “Our business and creative model at Pixar is to select people whom we think are good storytellers to be directors. We ask them to develop three ideas that they pitch to us,” Morris pointed out. “So if we had a director that had a brilliant idea that was Asia-based, we would certainly do it.
Source: http://entertainment.inquirer.net/18378 ... -president
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Re: Pixar Film Based On Indonesian Folklore

Post by Disney's Divinity »

Are there any other big Disney forums out there? I haven't looked in a long time. I know one I used to go to died a while back, and a couple others that have very, very little Internet traffic.

I doubt they take us into consideration, but I wouldn't be surprised if they kept an eye on us somehow. :lol: There have been a couple random posters here over the years that sounded like Disney mouthpieces.
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Re: Pixar Film Based On Indonesian Folklore

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Triawan Munaf, chief of the National Creative Economy Agency also known as Bekraf, is set to meet with executives of Pixar Animation Studios in the United States this weekend in a follow-up meeting to present a background on Indonesian folklore to the giant animation studio.

Deputy chief Ricky Pesik told the Jakarta Globe Triawan will be seeing Pixar co-founder and chief creative officer John Lasseter to further elaborate on the landscape of Indonesian folk stories. The two of them previously met in October when Pixar expressed an interest in developing a feature film based on Indonesian folklore.

"The purpose is to give a background about Indonesia's diversity," he said. "We gave ten sample stories to depict various genres, characters and geography. Those are not a recommendation, but purely for illustration."

Bekraf recruited anthropologists, experts in children stories, animators and representatives from the film committee at the Jakarta Art Council and assigned them to write a comprehensive report, which will be presented to Pixar this week.
Source: http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/feat ... n-studios/
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Raya and the Last Dragon

Post by disneyprincess11 »

Disney Animation Studios has been firing on all cylinders the last 10 years with their animated films such as Tangled, Frozen, Big Hero 6, Zootopia, and Moana. Fans were looking forward to Gigantic, a twist on Jack and the Beanstalk, which to the surprise of many was shelved last year due to creative differences. Now we have information on what’s in store for the legendary animation studio.

Paul Briggs who was head of story on Big Hero 6 and Frozen will make his directorial debut alongside Tangled animator Dean Wellins on Dragon Empire. Not much is known about the story but Disney is currently meeting with actors for various roles. Kiel Murray who wrote Cars and Cars 3 is developing the script, with Osnat Shurer (Moana) on board as a producer.

We also have some character breakdowns to share with you.

JAN-NIN: Female lead character said to be the heroine of the film. Jamie Chung has shown interest in the role, Disney fans will know her as the voice of Go Go in Big Hero 6 and the brand new series on the Disney Channel .

BOLIN: The lead male character who is expected to be comic relief, and a 900 year old mentor to Jan-Nin.

KATSU: Supporting male character not much is known regarding Katsu.

It is not known yet if Dragon Empire is taking over the release date of Gigantic held of November 25, 2020, or if it will receive a brand new release date beyond that. One thing is certain though Disney is hard at work getting this project developed and fans are ready for a new story from the studio.
http://thathashtagshow.com/2018/05/excl ... on-empire/

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Re: Dragon Empire

Post by DisneyEra »

Will this be a Musical? Why didn't WDAS just announce this at D23 last year? Pixar has not problem announcing that Suburban Fantasty feature. Once again we learn of the latest WDAS original through a leak :shrug:
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Re: Dragon Empire

Post by Sotiris »

The concept seems interesting. I'm glad there's a female lead. I wonder if they'll end up inducting her into the Disney Princess franchise so Mulan won't be the token Asian there anymore. Not so glad the male lead is a comic relief character. The project reminds me a bit of Kung Fu Panda with the Chinese period setting and the old mentor and young protégé relationship. I'm hoping this will be a musical though I have a feeling it won't be.

Dragon Empire will probably be released on November 25, 2020. It's WDAS' next reserved slot, Ed Catmull said that the movie replacing Gigantic was an original film, and for casting to be starting means this one is in a more advanced stage than their other original projects.

There seem to be a lot of a dragon-related animated movies lately. We have How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World from DreamWorks Animation, Wish Dragon from Sony Pictures Animation, and George R.R. Martin's The Ice Dragon from Warner Animation Group. Not to mention indie animated movies such as My Father's Dragon, Dragonkeeper, and Dragon Rider.


By the way, Paul Briggs and Dean Wellins have been working on Dragon Empire since 2015.

Speculation: Disney Head of Story Paul Briggs to Direct an Upcoming Disney Original Film?
https://magicmaniainc.weebly.com/featur ... ginal-film
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