This is the final installment in my series on ‘Inside Out’, from my trip to the Pixar Studios hosted by Disney.
Ronnie Del Carmen, Image Credit: Disney/Pixar
Pixar’s Inside Out, which opens this Friday June 19, is a movie that is for parents as much as for kids. It’s no surprise then, that many of the creators of this film — which takes us inside the mind of an 11-year-old year old girl — are fathers. A few weeks ago, I introduced you to director Pete Docter and producer Jonas Rivera, and this week I’d like to tell you about Ronnie Del Carmen. Del Carmen, who is co-director of Inside Out, has been with Pixar for 15 years. Raised in the Philippines, Del Carmen was inspired by Disney cartoons and comic books, which led him to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts at University of Santo Tomas.
Pixar’s Ronnie Del Carmen, Image Credit: Marc Flores, Disney/Pixar
During my visit to the Pixar studios, we visited room where the Inside Out team worked together for three to five years to bring this concept from script to screen. While they had a general idea for the movie, they actually didn’t have the entire story already figured out when they began the storyboard process. Instead, they spent the first two to three years in story board form, testing different scenarios using sketches on storyboard cards which could be pinned around the room and moved as the plot evolved.
Also read: Meet Pixar’s Patrick Lin
Like director Pete Docter and story supervisor Josh Cooley, who also spoke to bloggers, Del Carmen is the dad of a daughter. Just as any co-workers chat about their families, the Pixar team is often inspired by their own families — and each other.
Image Credit: Disney/Pixar
Del Carmen says the sprite-like character Joy, voiced by Amy Poehler, particularly resonates with him. “I love Joy’s character,” Del Carmen told a roomful of bloggers. “Sne mirrors my journey as a parent.” Like Pete Docter, Del Carmen also drew upon his own experiences of moving a family. For him, it was moving from Glendale in Southern California to the San Francisco Bay Area.
Josh Cooley Image Credit: Marc Flores, Disney/Pixar
While the story of the “voices inside our heads” might seem like a pretty sophisticated theme for an animated film, it’s not too complicated for kids to understand. Cooley, whose daughter is now six, says the children of the Pixar crew sometimes came to the office while the Inside Out script was still in storyboard. “They totally got it,” he explained.
As the production of Inside Out draws to an end, I can’t help but see a parallel between bringing up a child and developing a movie from script to screen. “We have our intention for our kids,” says Del Carmen. We want them to succeed and be happy.”
Want to see the finished product? Pixar’s Inside Out and animated short Lava will be playing at theaters everywhere, starting June 19. You can follow Inside Out on Facebook or #InsideOut onTwitter.
