The latest, and last, look at Inside Pixar is here. The final five episodes of the Pixar docuseries were released today on Disney+. This collection, titled ‘Unpacked,’ explores a broader range of topics than the previous collections.
The passing of time, a good villain, the range of background characters, are all elements that appear simple on the surface. In reality, it takes a great deal of effort to figure out how each component can be refined to maximize emotional impact.
For example, Pixar characters are clearly designed with broad audience appeal in mind. But it’s not as obvious how tricky it can be to stylize a character while maintaining a sense of 3D world realism.
Erica Milsom and Tony Kaplan served as directors for these five episodes. They are no strangers to Pixar’s behind the scenes, being part of the in-house documentary team.
‘Unpacked’ also gets a new narrator, W. Kamau Bell, in his first time working with Pixar. Bell does a fantastic job walking us through the topics of story construction, design, and animation.
These episodes do not follow a particular employee or even a specific department. Instead, Bell explains the storytelling elements and techniques Pixar uses to craft well-rounded stories.
In “About Time,” we see how the charm of old home videos influenced the nostalgic feel of Up‘s opening.
“Everybody Loves a Villain” explains what makes antagonists compelling, whether the major conflict in the story concerns them or not.
We get to see employees drawing caricatures of each other in “The Squint Test” and learn how artists respectfully emphasize personality in character design.
“Inner Drive” is an entertaining review of the many modes of transportation in Pixar films.
As the episode name might suggest, “No Small Roles” reveals how much vibrancy in Pixar story-worlds comes from the variety of background characters.
We don’t know yet if there may be a season 2 of the series in the works. There’s also the possibility that future looks into the making of Pixar films will be through a different show or a new format altogether.
For anyone interested in the making of Pixar magic, Inside Pixar is the series for you. If you haven’t watched the series yet, we highly recommend all 20 episodes!
Tags: Inside Pixar Last modified: May 21, 2021
