Us Again premiered in theaters alongside Raya and the Last Dragon earlier this year, and is now streaming on Disney+. It's a very special piece of filmmaking we can't recommend highly enough.
With that in mind, we jumped at the opportunity to sit down with producer Brad Simonsen to pick his brain about helping bring this story to the big (and now small) screen. Joined by composer Pinar Toprak, he had plenty of exciting insights to share, including details on a past film he worked on.
Real Steel was released in 2011 and directed by Shawn Levy with Hugh Jackman in the lead role. The robot boxing movie was an absolute blast, with some great visuals and choreography that helped make it edge-of-your-seat viewing. Boxing is often compared to a dance, so did that help inform what Brad brought to the table on Us Again when it came to adapting complex moves to screen?
"You’ve done your homework. I respect that! That’s amazing. Actually, yes. My background of VFX prior to coming to Disney Animation was perfect for this film, and I’ll tell you why. You used that example of Real Steel, so I’ll use that. When we did Real Steel, what we actually did was we pre-capped all the fights and used that for the actors to act against. For this, we used Keone and Mari’s reference and cut their video of them dancing in. That was what Zach used and we had Pinar score that. We did the animation off that and it was our foundation to give direction to the animators."
It's amazing to hear how one project so far removed can inform the other, and if you haven't already tracked down Us Again, we recommend you do so immediately (Real Steel is also worth a watch).
Set in a vibrant city pulsating with rhythm and movement, an elderly man and his young-at-heart wife rekindle their youthful passion for life and each other on one magical night. The years fade away as the joy of dancing propels them across the exciting cityscape of their youth and revives fond memories and ambitions. Director/writer Zach Parrish (head of animation on 'Big Hero 6,' and director of Disney Animation’s 'Short Circuit' film, 'Puddles,' now airing on Disney+) taps into personal themes, family observations, and a love of dance, and joins forces with award winning choreographers/dancers Keone and Mari Madrid ('World of Dance' champions), and acclaimed composer Pinar Toprak ('Captain Marvel'), to create this experimental musical fantasy. Brad Simonsen, associate producer on 'Big Hero 6,' 'Zootopia” and 'Ralph Breaks the Internet,' served as producer. Jennifer Lee, chief creative officer for Walt Disney Animation Studios, executive produced.
Us Again is now streaming on Disney+.