Oct 7, 2010

The Familiar Presto

/Film has reported that Doug Sweetland, longtime Pixar animator, will be directing Sony Animation's The Familiars, a story that I was heretofore unaware of, about three wizards who must use their 'familiars'--animal companions including a cat, frog, and blue jay--to escape an evil queen. Sweetland had been rumored to be the future director of Monsters, Inc. 2, so it is somewhat surprising that he's left the Pixar fold. Best of luck to him, though!

I love his little interview in The Pixar Story (below), where he's working on what ended up being the final completed shot of Finding Nemo. According to the director's commentary on the DVD (if I'm remembering correctly), the shot was finished around midnight, so instead of having a big studio-wide celebration like usual, Sweetland and Andrew Stanton simply high-fived, hugged, and went home to bed.

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