Every Pixar movie is always paired with an inventive short, sort of as a throwback to the old days when theaters played short films between features. Inside Out, the new film from the Disney-owned studio, is no different. Lava was directed by longtime Pixar animator Jim Murphy and is the short paired with the new feature.
While Lava is certainly a main topic, our wide-ranging interview also got into the behind-the-scenes work at Pixar, John Lasseter’s role and how Pixar shorts are made. So, if you are interested in a behind-the-scenes look at how Pixar works, Murphy provides the details.
TheCelebrityCafe.com: A lot of Pixar shorts seem to bring to life inanimate objects and for yours, it’s a volcano. What made you pick a volcano of all things to animate? It doesn’t move, but you gave it a face, a mouth and personified it.
Jim Murphy: First of all, what I love about animation is that you can do that. In no other medium, can you bring anything to life. So, I always feel like if you are going to animate something, take advantage of the medium.
The other thing for me, was to really capture an emotion, a feeling. I’ve always had this fascination with the Hawaiian islands, the Hawaiian people and the Hawaiian culture. The more I got into it... My wife and I took our honeymoon to the big island and it’s the only island that still has an active volcano. As I was putting ideas [together], I was just looking for ideas that really captivated my imagination and touched me emotionally.
So I had this Hawaiian thing, volcanoes and then I heard Israel Kamakawiwo'Ole’s “Over the Rainbow” and just thought, “Wow, the third component is music. If I could just put in all these ideas together and be inspired by the geology of Hawaii with the volcanoes... What if you told a love story through the mountains.” So, it kind of evolved. It’s just these ingredients that got me excited.
TCC: That leads into my next question. Many shorts also revolve around music. I was just thinking of the Jackalope one from a few years ago. You couldn’t imagine that one without the song. So, did Lava just click the moment you decided that you needed to wed the story of a volcano with a particular song?
Jim: Yes. The way it works at Pixar, everyone can pitch a short, but you have to pitch three ideas. So, when I went to pitch three ideas, I wanted ideas that were very different. And this particular idea featured music and a song. And there’s something about the ukulele that I find so charming and enchanting and hypnotic.... And I love music.
There’s actually a whole brand of storytellers that are musicians who tell these beautiful songs and a lot of them are actually from Texas. These beautifully crafted songs that tell stories in lyrics, melodies and musical arrangements. That was a huge inspiration to me... to tell a full story in a song and use the instrument to help give the color to the emotion.
TCC: Was that the reason why you made sure it was screened at South By Southwest?
Jim: Absolutely. ... There’s a whole songwriting genre that originated here.
TCC: When Pixar decides to match a short with a feature film, is it just timing or do you think about themes that might connect it with the feature film?
Jim: It’s just timing. It’s funny... we were just talking about how serendipitous this pairing has turned out to be. And it’s kind of in an unobvious way. I don’t think I could be more proud to be paired with Inside Out. I’m more excited at the pairing because I think they are both genuine stories about emotion.
TCC: They bring to life different things that you don’t really see as “people.” They put a face on emotions or volcanoes, so that brings the two together.
Jim: That’s what I think Pixar does so well, is use the medium of animation to go to worlds where no other medium can go. But to also tell stories with fundamental emotions that we can all identify with and when you put them into the context of these other worlds, it really transfixes you to another place. I feel like that’s what Pixar has done, doing what Disney started. It’s inspired by that and just keeps the ball rolling.
TCC: Yeah, there’s so many of the great Disney classics that are about trying to get people to believe that animals can talk and care about each other in ways that humans do. And I think Pixar, going all the way back to Toy Story when we’re trying to connect with toys. When I saw that in the theater when I was a kid, I thought, “My toys can think now!” So, I agree that’s part of the link to Disney.
Jim: Absolutely.
TCC: Is John Lasseter [chief creative officer at Pixar and Disney Animation Studios] really hands-on with everything, even the shorts?
Jim: Yeah and I will say that he loves all of them equally. He is so passionate about every single thing. It’s amazing to see... and his ability to remember every detail of the things he’s seen previously and little reviews that you have with him.
TCC: He has encyclopedic knowledge of everything Pixar has done?
Jim: He does, but you know what he’s great at? He’s the greatest collaborator in the world. When he greenlights something, he has a vision of the potential. It may not be a fully realized vision, but I think he knows what the potential is. And he constantly reminds you of that. He really inspires you to improve upon that and to really run with it.
TCC: You’ve also worked on features. So, when you came up with Lava, did that set aside your feature work? Or are people who work on shorts able to work on the features at the same time?
Jim: No. You do the short full-time, but then once you are done with the short, you go back into your feature work. It’s great. It gives you a nice little diversion on a smaller project, and particularly on one that is so meaningful to yourself. It’s really a wonderful opportunity... that Pixar offered us.
TCC: You have been at Pixar since A Bug’s Life, so you have seen the studio go from an independent within Disney to now being completely within Disney. Did that change the environment at Pixar at all?
Jim: I don’t think it has. Disney has been really great about allowing us to preserve our culture and our independence and just keep what we were doing. If anything, I think the bigger challenge is just to sustain it within our own studio. Because these films are so hard to make. It’s been the same challenge since the beginning.
TCC: How long does it take to do a short?
Jim: Ideally, it takes about a year-and-a-half... The problem is that if you could just make it, you could do it in six months [or] a year. But you are at the mercy of the bigger films. So, you really have to wait for little gaps in production on the features to grab some people. You’re doing it in spurts.
TCC: Is there a particular feature in the future that you desperately want to get on?
Jim: Not particularly... Everything coming down the pipeline is super exciting to me.
Of all the films I’ve worked on, I really don’t have a favorite film. I think each one is my favorite for a different reason because they’ve... offered so many unique opportunities, unique challenges. To go from bugs to fish to toys to superheroes is really challenging, but really inspiring and fun. And then to work with [Up director] Pete Docter, Brad Bird, [Toy Story 3 director] Lee [Unkrich]... it’s just phenomenal.
TCC: It’s hard as an audience member to pick favorite Pixar movies. I can’t imagine what it must be like to have worked on them.
Jim: Yeah, it’s been fantastic... and just to work with these guys, too! These directors are so different in their directing styles. That’s just been huge [for directing] Lava. To have worked with John to see how he works, to have worked with Brad Bird and to see how he works... to see how these guys work and to see how they inspire their crews.
TCC: That goes full circle to what you said before - that the Pixar movies are all about emotions. And even though they are directed by different people - even Brad Bird who didn’t really start at Pixar exclusively - but his movies with Pixar still feel like a Pixar movie! They’re all in the same bubble, but as you said, they are all different in some way.
Jim: What I think is funny too is that Pixar has become a brand or even a label, when it really is a director-driven studio. That’s what makes the films so unique and heartfelt because the individuals are passionate about the ideas. But because they come under this umbrella, there’s an assumption that, “Oh, it’s a Pixar movie.” Instead, Pixar [is] a place that really allows really talented individuals with a vision to fulfill that vision.
Everyone will get to see ‘Lava’ when ‘Inside Out’ hits theaters on June 19.
image courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios