Brian Fee has never been to India, but is confident that his first directional "Cars 3" will start off on the right note in the country. The American director says he doesn't like to restrict his creative soul by sticking to a specific audience to tell a story, and instead embeds a universal theme to ensure the saga appeals globally.
"We can't really think specifically about different audiences because once you try to make something for a certain audience, you are guessing what they want. And when you are guessing what somebody wants, you are not doing it from the heart. You are trying to (provide) a service. It is not creatively worth it. So, we make the movies we want to make," Fee told IANS in a candid chat at the Pixar Animation Studios, Emeryville here.
"We make movies that move us that we find emotional and that we find entertaining, and we hope that if it moves us it will move other people too," he added.
"Cars 3" is the third part in the "Cars" franchise. The first one came out in 2006 and the second in 2011, and both the films did quite well in India.
The tale of youngster Mowgli wandering in an enchanting Indian forest with an entourage of his animal friends in "The Jungle Book", took the Indian box office by storm in 2016. The trend continues this year too with "Beauty And The Beast", "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" and 'Wonder Woman" being cases in point.
Fee, who is not familiar with the Indian animation industry, hopes "Cars 3" gets to drive on the same path.
"I have never been to India but it kind of feels that everyone (and every culture) is always the same when it comes down to it. So, I trust that the universal theme will translate (well in the country)."
Disney-Pixar's "Cars 3" infuses life into a fantasy world of cars where they are not just metal bodies, but talk and feel like humans. It narrates the story of racing car Lighting McQueen. This time, McQueen is facing the threat of being taken over by a young sports car, and takes viewers through the journey around how he works hard to retain his position.
Scheduled to release in India on June 16, actors like Owen Wilson, Cristela Alonzo, Chris Cooper, Nathan Dillon, Dan Whitney and Kerry Washington are voice talents in the film.
Fee started off as a storyboard artist on films like "WALL-E", "Ratatouille", " Monsters University" and the first two "Cars" films.
"Cars 3" turned out to be a learning experience for Fee.
He said: "There were lot of things for me that I didn't know how to do since it was my first time? I didn't know how to direct animators and actors. I had to learn on the job. I was able to fall back on my training as a story artiste."
The first-time director mentions that "as a story artiste you are already a mini-director".
"You are exercising all the core duties that the director does... All the other aspect of filmmaking come together as a story board process. I think I had some training here at Pixar having worked at so many films as a story artiste."
Fee points out that the animated industry has undergone transformation, but it hasn't touched the storytelling process.
"I don't think storytelling has changed at all. Film tools have changed and now we can do something that we couldn't ten years ago. But the process of how we develop the story has been the same. The Walt Disney principles have not changed."
Fee is optimistic about taking the "Cars" franchise forward with "Cars 4" and is waiting for a "good idea" to strike.
With "Cars 3" nearing its release date, Fee is eager to go off on a vacation to Hawaii.
He says he will start working on an original after the short break.
(The writer's trip was at the invitation of Disney. She can be contacted at sugandha.r@ians.in)
--IANS
sug/rb/bg
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