Disney’s newest movie, Moana hits theaters November 23rd, and with its inspiring sixteen year old heroin and breathtaking visuals of the beautiful South Pacific, it’s sure to make a splash. I talked to animation supervisor Malcon Pierce about what makes this movie special for both the audience and himself.
What aspects of the animation really capture the unique South Pacific culture?
A good example of this is this thing called a “hongi” which is very specific to the South Pacific where it’s like a hug or greeting but you put your forehead and nose together—you start with the nose and go to the forehead and it’s a really intimate moment. We have a few times in the film where the character does this, and we don’t do that in the Western culture, you know, it’s more like a high five or a hug, so we wanted to make sure we were doing it just right. It was amazing to have the Oceanic Trust as a resource to make sure we were grounded in how things were done. There’s a village meeting in the film, and even in how and where people are sitting we asked like “Did people sit with their feet out or Indian style or on their knees?” So even little stuff like that we got checked to make sure we got it right.
Can you walk our audience through the process of making a Disney blockbuster?
I come in right when the characters are sort of finishing the design process and we’re exploring 3D models. They’ll start out working on the story and script, they’ll story board it out, and at the same time the visual development team is working on the designs for all of the characters. We did so much visual development on this project to see what would really allow it to arrive instead of forcing something, and when I started we had just gotten a sculpture of Moana’s head. The big key word from the whole production experience has been collaboration, especially in working with all the departments we have water and animation working together and then 2D and 3D animation working together for the tattoos. We’re all working together, and it’s a very circular organic process. That’s my favorite part of production where you’re working together to figure out who the character is gonna be.
Would you say you know who Moana is in the back of your mind as you’re creating this character?
You really have to get into the skin of the character in animating—you have to feel what the character is feeling and know how they’re going to respond to something. That’s what so great about Aul”li (voice of Moana) is that her line reads are so genuine, which is gold for us, because it’s much easier for us to get a genuine performance. A lot of the time when we’re working on a scene and working on a certain movement, you can see it on our faces as we draw it too.
Throughout this creative process is there a memory that stands out to you personally that represents what this film means to you?
There are so many moments…. Just really having characters that feel like they’re real, like if you can visualize what this character was like when they were younger or older it feels like they really exist, and then the movie comes out and you see the girls at the park wearing the outfit. One of my favorite experiences from Frozen when I went to the World of Color to watch Let It Go, and I saw a little girl sitting on her dad’s shoulders. When a shot of the movie played, the little girl acted out the animation and I was like, she totally just made that her own. There’s something that’s so rewarding that makes you want to go back out there and do it again, and that for me is the best pay off.
These characters so influence their audience—what do you want children to get out of this character?
I love the idea of knowing who you are and identity, there’s a lot of pressure from every angle to be something, so being okay to be yourself and pursue what calls to you is such an important part of being a child, and I hope that message rings clear. My parents were surprised at first when I went from studying music to pursuing art and animation. When I was little I would always draw on post it notes to make animations, and then I let music sit for a while, but when I picked art up again it was like, oh, this is what I need.
It must be hard to make a new, unique hero for a Disney film.
I felt like that with the music, people would ask like “is there a Let It Go?” The music feels like it can only be in this movie—it feels so right for this film. That’s one aspect that really makes the film unique and special. One thing I love about Moana is that she’s 16, and 16 year olds do things differently, and Aul”li really did that and was fresh and got energy going to inspire the performances.
Who did you make Moana for?
I think anybody-I want this character to be relatable and to feel like people will want to look up to her. She’s such a hero. I want people to understand where she’s coming from and where she’s going and that can help people decide what they want to do.
