I don’t know if there’s any going back now. I started to feel more confident in the ownership of my voice, and then my Short Circuit short gave me the opportunity to try out my own voice. And then, I got to be an animation supervisor on Wreck-It Ralph and head of animation on Big Hero 6, so I got to see more of how the entire filmmaking process worked and started gaining more perspectives on who I was and what kinds of stories I would want to tell and what I would want it to look like. I was so happy to be at Disney and to get to be a part of the creation of these incredible stories that we get to tell. I don’t know if I ever knew it was possible. Did you always have an eye on directing even then, or was it something that evolved later, as you kept working?
You were first hired at Disney as an animator. It’s a huge honor and I’m incredibly grateful. Any artist would be nervous to measure up, but we have this incredible support at the studio, as far as our studio leadership, but also the crew underneath the film, that is just insane.
It’s a lot of pressure because they’re all amazing films. I’m such a big fan of all of the short films that we’ve had the opportunity to make, as a studio. He also talked about his hope that there will be more opportunities for Big Hero 6 content (he was head of animation on the film), and that he’d like to direct again.Ĭollider: How exciting is it to be responsible for the first new theatrical short from Walt Disney Animation Studios in five years?
Set in a vibrant city, an elderly man rediscovers the youthful passion his young-at-heart wife never let go of, as they dance and reminisce together.ĭuring a virtual junket for the short, Collider got the opportunity to chat 1-on-1 with the animator-turned-director about what an honor it was to get to direct Us Again, how he grew more confident in the ownership of his voice as a storyteller, how this story evolved, how he involved dancers/choreographers Keone and Mari Madrid ( World of Dance), and the desire not to use any dialogue. From director Zach Parrish, the Walt Disney Animation Studios short Us Again weaves dance and music with an emotional story that will surely tug at your heart.