This summer, Pixar fans will get to reunite with their favorite fish in the long-awaited animated sequelFinding Dory, arriving in theaters June 17. Pixar has a long tradition of introducing newanimated shortsin front of every project, andFinding Dorywill be no different, with the new shortPiperdebuting alongside the sequel.Entertainment Weeklyhas our first look at the title character, a diminutive sandpiper exploring the beach.
The story centers on a baby sandpiper who is trying to both find food, and overcome hydrophobia, the fear of water. LongtimePixaranimatorAlan Barillaromakes hisdirectorial debutwith this short film, which was inspired by the numerous birds he used to observe while running along the shoreline, just a mile from Pixar’s Emeryville, California headquarters. Here’s what the director had to say about this young bird who was afraid of the water but had to go near it to eat.
“Seeing the way these sandpipers react to waves and run, I always felt, ‘Gosh, that’s a film, that’s acharacter.’ It’s always fun to show a world we’re familiar with but from a different perspective. We’ve all been to the beach, but have we ever viewed water from just an inch off the sand? That could be very fearful from a bird’s perspective.”
The director has worked as a Pixar animator for nearly two decades, starting with his work on 1998’s A Bug’s Life. He also worked onMonsters Inc.,Finding Nemo,The Incredibles,Ratatouille,WALL-E,BraveandMonsters University, along with the shorts Jack-Jack Attack,Igorand Lifted. The first-time director explained that he originally started toying with the character as a test, but he got plenty of encouragement to keep working on the story from his mentor,Finding DorydirectorAndrew Stanton.
“You always want to show directors, ‘Hey, are these cool tools you’d like to use to make films?’ So I showedAndrewthePipertests thinking I was very much just showing him a test, but he kept poking at me, like, ‘It’s a cool test, but keep working on that story.’ And thenJohn [Lasseter]did the same. There’s remarkable encouragement at Pixar that when you think of an innovative idea, don’t forget the story. It was their encouragement or else I would have stopped at the test phase.”
With the June 17 debut just a few months away, it isn’t known when we may see the firstfootagefrom this six-minute short film, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted with more details. Until then, take a look at the first image fromPiperbelow. Are you looking forward to this new Pixar short? Chime in with your thoughts below.
