03 Yukon Check Engine Light Came On

Five minutes with John Lasseter


In the parlance of journalism, film, a "junket" means organized marathon of interviews with paramilitary precision, during which the character of the moment is virtually nailed to a chair, a camera and microphone pointed her, and meet a set of interviewers who succeed in the armchair opposite. And camera operators are the same, so you save on preparation time lighting and framing. And the minutes for the meeting are counted: usually five or six, although in rare cases you can sneak an extra minute or less. It is the interview speed dating, there's just time to get to say a few words on the movie to a standard TV service a couple of minutes. In the words of a press office with whom I spoke in the days of Venice, is not not even a real interview, it is pure promotion.

There are those who submit to junket reluctantly, and get even more from the same five to ten ready-made answers to break away (just, you know, movies are the interviewers for 98% of the incompetent who can not come up with a decent demand not even to save his life) and who has become very good at exploiting the best time to be able to communicate something that gives at least to those who interviewed him, giving him the illusion of something personal.

John Lasseter I had met him several years ago to another junket, that for "Toy Story 2," and even then, in the seven minutes that we had a disposizione, mi aveva dato risposte articolate, interessanti e appassionate. E anche qui a Venezia, nonostante l'argomento non fosse strettamente un fim bensì il Leone d'oro alla carriera (sua e della sua Pixar) e un nuovo titolo di cui tuttavia non sapevo praticamente nulla, l'incontro è stato prezioso. Anche perché si è parlato di un argomento avviato qualche mese fa con Katzenberg , ossia il passaggio a 3D di film d'animazione concepiti, originariamente, per essere fruiti sul tradizionale schermo piatto. Le righe che seguono sono un junket , più che un'intervista, ma trattandosi di Lasseter mi sembra che valga comunque la pena di trascriverle.

In genere ci vuole una vita to get a Golden Lion. You've had it after fifteen years ... even if it is true that, in animation, fifteen years is a long time. How do you feel?


Receiving the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival was very exciting. I am particularly proud because they gave it to me only, but to me it's Pixar. This is the first time in history that the award is given to a study. Because we are one. We are not just a group of individuals, we study a . We work very closely and we are extremely focused in an effort to make good movies.



I am curious your initiative to make three-dimensional some of your films that are not initially been made in three dimensions. The fact that computer-generated allows you to have all the necessary information to make a 3D version?

Well, as we see it, we always film in three dimensions, which until now only looked at them with one eye closed. This is because inside the computer is really a three-dimensional environment in which we make all our films. The exciting thing is that since it is data, computer data, we can go back in, update your information to our current operating system. At that point we can produce another point of view inside the exact same scene. We have not changed only one thing in "Toy Story" or "Toy Story 2." It is exactly the same movie, only you can see it in 3D. It is also a fun, exciting, like a lot to me because people can again see "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2" on the big screen, that is, in ways they had been conceived.

intrigues me very much the idea that the first move by John Lasseter, founder of Pixar, Disney once entered into, was producing an animated film after the traditional Disney itself, in the wake of Pixar's runaway success, he abandoned this system.


Well, the whole mia carriera si deve ai film di Walt Disney. Sono stato tirato su da artisti Disney, ho lavorato come giovane animatore agli studi Disney, poi ho cominciato a interessarmi di animazione al computer, cosa che mi ha portato nel nord della California. Ora, quattro anni dopo che la Disney ha acquistato la Pixar... non appena sono rientrato ho detto: "Faremo di nuovo un fim di animazione disegnato a mano", perché amo quella forma d'arte. L'obiettivo è fare un grande film, non importa quale mezzo si usi. La questione è intrattenere il pubblico. Ho chiesto a John Musker e Ron Clemens, due cari amici (e i registi di "La sirenetta" e "Aladdin") di tirar fuori un'idea: loro sono venuti fuori con questa fantastica nuova rilettura the frog and have called it "The Princess and the Frog." There is a very strong female character and is a return to the fairy tale, a return to musical, it's beautiful ... There are wonderful characters - both human and talking animals ... so ... has all the elements of a classic Disney movie. But it is brand new.

Since you mentioned the acquisition of Pixar by Disney, and then: what it is, today, Disney and what it is, today, Pixar?


study is not a building ... A study is made of people. Pixar Animation Studios has a group of filmmakers and animators who work there, as well as the Disney Animation Studios. Really, are different groups of artists, but both studies are directed by filmmakers - that's what we do. We are the filmmakers, but also those responsible for the studies and ideas are by these artists in the studio. There is a difference, and it is in tradition. Both studies are very proud of its tradition. Pixar is a studio that we started from nothing, founded to develop new technologies and has always made great films in computer animation ... Disney is the studio built by Walt Disney ... has never closed, has always made animated films. It is a great tradition and the artists who are part of it are enormously proud. And moreover This partnership moves up the bar: we we do at those movies made by Walt Disney, otherwise it makes no sense to bear the Disney name. I see it. And the "Princess and the Frog" is at that level. It's a great film.

Pleurisy Or Heartburn

Ten minutes with George A. Romero


Among the interviews that I could record during the 66th Venice Film Festival, the George A. Romero was one of those who waited more impatiently. I got to meet him once before, several years ago, but we had talked about the film, "The Dark Half," as no contemptible was far from having the thematic richness of any chapter of his forty years saga of the undead.

Despite his belated return to the theme, "The Land of the Dead", had not really shown up to the expectations generated by the extraordinary original trilogy ("Night of the Living Dead," "Zombie" and "The Day of the Dead "), the next" Diary of the Dead "was the reaction among the new crop concerned and enthusiastic. And this "Survival of the Dead" - plus a sequel to "Diary" that one-sixth installment of the series - it sounded particularly intriguing for being the first zombie movie to be accepted in the official selection of Venice.


Hosted by the festival audience with pleasure even though perhaps without excessive enthusiasm, "Survival" is far from a perfect film, and certainly not standing to undermine the positions of an ideal ranking first in the series ... but full of intriguing ideas and variations on that promise for the next film developments are particularly striking. Some of which Romero was able to talk to me in the few minutes of conversation that the timing of the exhibition allowed us to get slaughtered, beginning with a western cut even surprising.


The genres almost always have significant potential metaphorical, especially when they are encoded as the western and horror. How did you get the idea of \u200b\u200bmaking them collide and recombine in "Survival of the Dead"?

do not know, sometimes capture the ideas on the fly. By doing this movie, we had a lot of freedom - I had the chance to say "hey, let's give him a bit 'western flavor" and is not nobody got to say "no." I am always looking for something that can give my film a slightly different cut. It is true that genres should be used as metaphors but, unfortunately, very often they are not ... I always try to do it, to find some element undercurrent that helps me to focus on the theme of the film. Very often I see that other directors do not. As for the metaphorical possibilities of the Dead and western, I guess some connection there is, there ... and I have talked to the designer and editor ... but it is not that we have worked consciously aiming for that. We had great location and talking with the costume, I told her: "Come on westerns, we make these kinds of cowboys." At the end of this work is also fun ... and be able to say "let's do this or let's do something." Because these are independent films and I can do it without losing control. For better and sometimes worse! (Laughs)


Despite many exceptions, generally tends towards the western individualism, while his zombies have always had a revolutionary significance, expressing the change and transformation. In this film, the characters most associated with the western strive to preserve the status quo at any cost, despite an apocalyptic scenario flow.

is a sea change, but these old enemies are not able to forget their enmity and continue to shoot each other instead of shooting them. The basic theme of this film. But the link that you have done is very interesting. Actually I'm a bit 'to the revolutionary element of the road after the first four zombie films ... somehow I feel I have closed that chapter, be returned to the first Night of the Living Dead and started over. This time I am much more interested in creating a set of rules e. .. explain my kind of zombie ... and also take out a human theme, at the same time. This to me is a film about war, about people who do not even remember what he started the war but continue to shoot him.


Just I thought that was the metaphor of the film more interesting. Since the days of "zombie", it is shown that, beyond the search for food, the living dead try to keep doing what they used to be dead to do it live. In this film, what you do is continue to shoot at us - it can be seen in the very last shot of the film. I found it interesting that the expression of the emptiness of most of human activity, here, focusing mainly on the uselessness of fighting each other.

is the theme of the film: people fighting each other until death and beyond. (Laughs) The theme is this. The characters go on an island, thinking that there will be more secure, and yet the island found that these two clans are constantly ... that are at war ever since. And do not stop.


Just now you mentioned the importance of having made this film independently, a bit 'as it had for the first series title. What has changed in forty years, in a film far from the control of large corporations?


in the sixties when I made "Night of the Living Dead", worked in complete independence, we were a group of young people who wanted to make a film that managed to pull up some money and they did . We had people around in a tie, any form of responsibility ... we promised to do a movie and someone gave us money. Now of course it's different, everything is more formal ... but in the last two films, "Diary of the Dead" and this "Survival", we had creative control over everything. So in that sense the experience is very similar. It was wonderful to be able to take a breath of fresh air ... when we did "Land of the Dead living "behind us and we had the Universal ... everything was great! And of course, eventually earned a considerable sum, but I always felt that my fans - I mean, my diehard fans - well, they said: "Ah, Romero has sold out to Hollywood ... Look, Dennis Hopper in the cast ... "I was being criticized for something that from my point of view was very good and fun ... And then, the way in which distributed the film ... I felt that should give a better distribution. These are some of the factors that played a role in the desire to return us back to make the film independently. The screenplay for "Diary" there since before we had to do "The earth "... and when We finished "The earth" we found some lenders are ready to go ahead and do it so we left. As regards the procedure ... then we had a different approach, we just go around asking for money. Today, of course, everything is more formal but as regards the act of making a film - apart from the fact that now I know more about how to move the goal - everything is quite the same as always. Sure, it's very liberating ... beautiful is not to be compelled to write a memo every time you want to change something. (Laughs)

Towards the end of the film, after some players have struggled to teach the living dead to feed on human flesh, the zombies devour a horse. Apart from the fact that development seems to open the door to a further chapter, the news further down a dividing wall between the living dead, and normal human beings. By the time the zombies, in addition to continuing their original activities from dead, eat human flesh ... which is now the difference?

Well, this is a theme I'm working on since the days of "The Day of the Dead" I started working on ... in essence, there are more contact points than differences. So what I would do - what try to do with this film and the next, if there will be a neighbor, is to set some 'rules, some differences, and make zombie more human. The goal is to bring the audience to sympathize with the point where the living dead - in the same way I do.