Academy Award-winning Pixar movie director Lee Unkrich will speak via Zoom to the Ohio Wesleyan community from 7-8:30 p.m. Sept. 1.
To register for the upcoming event, please visit https://forms.gle/kVBkLBe627ExzBiD8. Registrants will be emailed a link Sept. 1 to join the online event.
Unkrich’s long list of credits include directing Pixar’s “Coco” and “Toy Story 3” and co-directing mega-popular movies including “Finding Nemo,” “Toy Story 2,” and “Monsters, Inc.” Unkrich was a member of the Pixar team from 1994 to 2019, serving in creative roles on nearly every animated feature film made at the studio for more than two decades.
His OWU presentation will be a look at “U.S. Views of Mexico/Mexico’s Views of America as Seen through the Making of ‘Coco.’ ”
Since the film’s release in 2017, “Coco” has earned more than $800 million worldwide. It also was named Best Animated Feature at the 90th Academy Awards as well as awards for best animated movie at the Golden Globes, Baftas, New York Film Critics Circle, and Producers Guild.
When Unkrich announced his retirement from Pixar, the company’s chief creative officer, Pete Docter, told Vanity Fair: “Lee arrived at Pixar as we were crafting ‘Toy Story,’ and he’s had a profound effect on all Pixar films since. He literally taught us rookie filmmakers about staging, composition, and cutting. His artistry and expert craftsmanship as an editor and co-director became a major reason for the high quality of our filmmaking, and as Lee went on to direct, his ability to find the deep humor and emotion enabled him to create some of the strongest films we’ve made.”
Unkrich’s OWU presentation was arranged by OWU politics and government professor Sean Kay. Like Unkrich, Kay grew up in the Cleveland suburb of Chagrin Falls.
Kay said he hopes OWU students, employees, alumni, parents, and Lifelong Learning Institute students RSVP for the Sept. 1 Zoom event — and he also has a special request:
“I hope everyone will bring their favorite ‘Coco’ or ‘Toy Story’ toy to the virtual event and hold it up to the screen for Lee to see,” Kay said. “I will bring mine!”
Source: Dept. of Politics & Government.