Review by C.J. Bunce
Yesterday here at borg I reviewed the new Skydance Animation movie Swapped, now streaming on Netflix. All the sensibilities of a folk tale or classic storybook, and a compelling theme–empathy–combine with action, and fun for kids of all ages. But it all comes alive thanks to its vivid fantasy world, blending a world of beautiful plants and trees with incredible, fantastical new creatures. Its environments and landscapes are like nothing you’ve seen before. You can dig deeper into the artwork and development of the story for the film in The Art & Making of Swapped, available this week here at Amazon. In it Ramin Zahed interviews the production team and artists to learn how they infused realities of the natural world into an emotional tale of friendship.
Executive producer John Lasseter, director Nathan Greno, and writers John Whittington, Christian Magalhaes, and Robert Snow, worked on the idea for the film for several years. In interviews readers will learn how they researched the natural world as they developed the story, which changed its focus and form several times until they landed on the theme of empathy. The story is about Ollie the Pookoo, an orange or brown hedgehog-like little fellow. When he reacts to others, Ollie looks quite like the Disney version of the man-cub Mowgli from The Jungle Book. In a simple act of well-intentioned selflessness, Ollie makes a mistake that results in the devastation of all the Pookoos.
Via a magical mechanism, Ollie swaps form from Pookoo to Javan, a bird-like creation. Once in that form he begins a friendship with Ivy, another Javan, and that Freaky Friday-esque vibe delivers on the theme over time: What is it really like to walk in someone else’s shoes–or in this case, fur and feathers? Readers will learn how that story idea developed, and how creations like the tree-elephants called Dzo changed from a major focus to a supportive focus in the final edit.
But most importantly the book is about the film’s stunning visuals. Ollie explores the waterside for the first time. Three new friends embark up a giant waterfall. The California wildfires are intentionally echoed and addressed via the acts of the story’s villain–the Fire Wolf. What begins as a tranquil, pastoral world turns to one of chaos, then to one of mass destruction.
The Skydance artists pulled off what is sure to be a classic animated film in league with the greats of the classic Disney era. The best feature of the book is watching sketch after sketch of the development of Ollie, Ivy, and the Dzo. You get a feel for how tedious and time consuming it is to try out a change here, a change there, all building toward a final image that hopefully everyone else agrees is adorable. The book features the work of Noëlle Triaureau and Riccardo Pagni and their teams of artists and visual effects designers.
Readers will also see thumbnail color guides, storyboards, and 3D models used to develop the creations. The book has some of the best in-depth views into the story building process, which here involved many players in different locations. They discuss tapping Peter Wohlleben’s The Hidden Life of Trees to inform their understanding of the communication possibilities that exist between plant life to develop story elements for the movie.
It’s a beautiful companion to a breathtaking movie. For fans of the new Netflix movie and modern animation filmmaking, you won’t want to miss The Art & Making of Swapped, now available here at Amazon. Swapped is now streaming on Netflix.
