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A Closer Look at Alebrijes, Pepita and Dante in the Movie Coco #PixarCocoEvent

In August, I was invited by Disney on an all expense paid trip to San Francisco to be a part of the #PixarCocoEvent. 

As we get closer to the premiere of Coco, I wanted to share fun facts I learned about Pepita and Dante.  I know you will enjoy learning about them too!

 

 

Pepita and Dante are two very interesting characters in the movie Coco. Learning about their design and structure made me realize all of the research and design that goes in to each character.  Christian Hoffman, character supervisor for Coco, Alonso Martinez  animator for Pepita & Dante, and Nicholas Rosario, Directing Animator for Coco shared with us the journey from concept to film for Dante and Pepita.

“Coco” Long Lead Press Day, which included a filmmaker roundtable, presentations about the music, story, characters and set designs of the film, on August 4, 2017 at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif. (Photo by Marc Flores / Pixar)

Dante

Dante was Miguel’s trusted partner on his journey. Dante is a Xoloitzcuinte dog or Xolo for short.  They are ancient dogs named after Aztec dogs.  Xolo dogs helped to  safeguard the home from evil spirits and served as guides for the dead.  They were also said to have healing powers. Another fact learned about  Xolo dogs is that they have dental issues and missing teeth which is common in this breed.

In the concept stages, art sculpture was used to see how Miguel and Dante would play off of each other.  They also looked at other animated dogs to drive inspiration such as the dog from Up, Bolt and Lady & the Tramp.
 Dante is a hairless street dog with light tufting over body. This posed some problems as fur can hide issues. There are lots of wrinkles and skin texture that needs to be paid attention too.
Hoffman shared that Dante’s tongue falls out on side and is almost always exposed.  This could be rig challenge too.
 
Rosario shared about how Dante’s character to help us understand what he is all about. When animating Dante, they watched video clips of dogs.  Dogs are generally entertaining. It was easy to “treat him like a puppy in an adult body”.
 His tongue gags are an extension of his personality.  They were challenged to make Dante more cartoony. He does not have deep emotions.  He has clear expressions.  “The lights are on, but nobody’s home” is the main idea of Dante’s character.  He is a very casual street dog with very sloppy expressions and motion.

COCO – Pepita concept art by Huy Nguyen. ©2017 Disney•Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

Pepita

Martinez told us all about the Alebrijes and animation of Pepita.
Alebrijes are inspired by the folk art of Mexico.
Martinez shared his collection below and as you can see they are beautifully designed.
Created in 1936 by piñata maker name Pedro Linares, alebrijes are colorful characters and are paper mache works of art. They would become one of Mexico’s most popular art forms.  They are made of Copal wood which is soft and easy to carve.
With one look, you can see the detail and intricacy in the figures.
This art form has taken a life of its own. They are not religious.  Instead, the artist puts themselves into it.  Each artist brings own tastes to it.  Some put symbology into them.
With Alebrijes, one will recognize that they are an iconic for being colorful and bright.

COCO – Pepita concept art by Daniel Arriaga. ©2017 Disney•Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

Although alebrijes are not related to Dia de Los Meurtos, they wanted to incorporate it into the film in some way.
In the film Coco, Pepita is a spirit guide. She is a mixture of ram horns, lizard like tail, eagle like feet and wings with a tiger inspired face.
Bringing  life to Pepita involved research.  They needed her to scare people.  So they looked to fierce angry cats as a reference.
They looked at how cats have different shaped claws and how those claws are retractable.
Nick Rosario spoke about how Pepita would look and move on the screen.  They wanted to show how she would be massive yet also be quick.
How big would the wings be.
COCO – Pepita concept art by Greg Dykstra. ©2017 Disney•Pixar. All Rights Reserved.
Shading of Pepita was inspired by folk art.  A challenge would be her lush coat of hair.  How would they get it to move and be colorful?  The length of the hair chosen helped to create the patterns needed.  One of the special things about Pepita is the way she glows.  The glow illuminates her environment too.

Alebrijes Workshop

To help us understand the design of Pepita, all press in attendance were part of a Alebrijes Workshop where Alonso Martinez showed us some techniques for designing our own Pepita.  These 3D images weres especially created for us so we took to the challenge of decorating them.

Press paint models of Pepita, an alebrije, at “Coco” Long Lead Press Day, which included a filmmaker roundtable, presentations about the music, story, characters and set designs of the film, on August 3, 2017 at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif. (Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar)

 

Press paint models of Pepita, an alebrije, at “Coco” Long Lead Press Day, which included a filmmaker roundtable, presentations about the music, story, characters and set designs of the film, on August 3, 2017 at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif. (Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar)

As you know, arts and crafts are not my fortay.  Nonetheless, I was pretty impressed with my final design.  I tried my best to incorporate the shading and bright colors that Pepita has in the movie.  What do you think?

Now that you have learned all about the skeletons,  take a look at the trailer to see how the skeletons will look in the upcoming movie!


Follow Pixar Coco on Social Media to find the latest information

Facebook      Twitter  (#PixarCoco)     Instagram          YouTube DisneyPixar

Stay tuned in the next few months to learn more about the movie Coco!

COCO opens in theaters everywhere on November 22nd!

Comments

  1. I’m amazed at how much goes into the research and design for these movies! No wonder they are so fantastic! It must be fun jobs to be so creative!

  2. It is amazing how this is done. I really like what Pixar has changed for the animation field. All their movies look terrific! This was interesting to see.

  4. This movie is just amazing and I can not believe how creative the producers are and the colors are so vibrant. What a wonderful look behind the scenes.

  5. I’m so excited for my kids to see this movie. There hasn’t been a Pixar film that wasn’t wonderful.

  12. Just incredible the thought and detail that goes into character creations for films. Sounds like you had a great time.

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