Director Lee Unkrich speaks about Finding Nemo 3D

By James Colt Harrison

A wonderful animated film called Finding Nemo was released to critical accolades and huge box-office receipts more than nine years ago. The animation was skillfully “drawn” by computers, the color mix was dazzling like a Gauguin painting of the South Seas, and the story was touching and had heart. The Pixar Studio had another triumph under its belt. How could that ever be improved upon for a new crop of movie-goers a decade later? With the addition of 3D, of course! Pixar has provided us with an interview with Lee Unkrich, a co-director on the film. Here are his thoughts about the film and its conversion to three dimensions.

ARTSNFASHION: What were your thoughts about converting Finding Nemo into 3D?

LEE UNKRICH: I remember us constantly looking at images and moments from the film, and thinking, wow, this would look really cool in 3D. So really, of all the films we’ve made up to this point, this is the one that seems to have screamed out the most to be in 3D. It’s the same movie we saw 9 years ago, but now I think (it’s)

a completely different experience.

FASHION: What was the most challenging thing converting Finding Nemo into 3D?

UNKRICH: One of the things that was difficult for us when we made the movie originally, was trying to dial in the visual ingredients that would cement the illusion that the fish were really in water, and not just swimming through the air. We did a lot of studying of water, of the way light transmits through the water, the way particulate works, you know, those little things floating in the ocean.

FASHION: You felt it made sense to do the film over in 3D.

UNKRICH: We did a lot of research. There was a lot of snorkeling and scuba diving we did both here and at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Watching the film in 3D brought back a lot of those memories of what it was actually like to be in the ocean, and experience that world in three dimensions. And, just in that regard. I thought it was a really fun experience watching it in 3D.

FASHION: Were you working hands-on with the 3D process?

UNKRICH: No, not at all. We have a really amazing 3D team at the studio led by Bob Whitehill. They do it with an eye towards not damaging the story in any way. The last thing we would want is for people to suddenly be distracted by a lot of 3D gimmickry and stop paying attention to the story.

FASHION: Is there anything you’d change in the original movie if you could go back and work on it?

UNKRICH: I don’t think so. You know, there are some things that we’re better at now, like human animation. The humans in Finding Nemo are way better than they were in the first Toy Story.  But I think it’s just a gorgeous looking film. The lighting is beautiful, and I think it stands up against anything that is made now, ten years later, from a visual perspective.

FASHION: What made you happiest about seeing the finished film?

UNKRICH: That it was so embraced the world over. It ended up being bigger than anything we created and experienced, and it was very exiting and rewarding. We didn’t have any doubts about the movie. We were happy with it. 

FASHION: Any thoughts on why Finding Nemo has been so successful?

UNKRICH: You know, I think it’s because everybody’s fascinated with the ocean. It’s this big part of our planet, but it’s the place that people don’t really get to visit. Very few people go underwater. Everyone’s fascinated with it. It’s beautiful. It’s colorful, and it’s scary. It’s kind of everything.

FASHION: How did it all begin for you at Pixar?

UNKRICH: I was hired to be an editor--- a film editor on the first Toy Story, and it was just supposed to be a four to six-week freelance job. And they kept having me stay and stay and stay. And now, 18 years later, I’m still there.

  

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