[PEPPY MUSIC]
Let's get ready for "Nona"!
[CROWD CHEERING]
Yeah!
The Pixar SparkShort "Nona" is about a grandmother
who plans to spend her day off shutting out the world
and watching her favorite TV show, EWW Smashdown Wrestling.
When her five-year-old granddaughter Renee is
unexpectedly dropped off, Nona is caught between
her two favorite things--
Renee and wrestling.
We got to talk to the director of "Nona."
Take a look.
[WHOOSH]
Louis Gonzalez, welcome to the show.
Thank you for having me.
So tell us about your history as an artist
and what led you to be a story supervisor at Pixar.
When I was young, I knew I wanted to draw for a living.
I didn't go to art school, and I didn't
have anybody in my family that was an artist, you know?
I just was-- you know, I just wanted to draw all the time.
And so my mom and dad, they worked in L.A.
Unified School District, right?
They drove buses.
And so they would bring home these reams of, like,
green and white paper that they used to use, you know,
that they would throw away, and they would bring
that home for me to draw on.
So I would sit there and draw on these long pieces of paper
and tell, like, these long, you know, stories of battles
fought.
It was just a place to lose myself, you know?
And it was a beautiful thing.
And it still is, because I feel like I'm so lucky to have
started there, that excitement that I felt when I was
a kid drawing, you know, what I thought
was the coolest stuff ever.
I'm still trying to do that.
I'm still trying to draw and tell
stories about the coolest stuff ever, but I
just look a little older--
just a little bit.
How did you get into graffiti art,
and what skills or techniques did you carry over
into your storyboarding work?
The thing that I discovered looking back at graffiti,
the thing it gave me is it gave me that sense of community
that I didn't know really existed.
As a matter of fact, I think that's kind of what helped fuel
and add, you know, gas to the fire of trying to be an artist,
was that I was around all these people.
I wanted that for the rest of my life.
I want to be in a community of people that are like me, that
are passionate about drawing and just-- you know, just creating.
You have such a cool story.
And look, what's cool, too, is that it seems like your family
was very supportive of it.
Oh, yeah, my mom and dad were really supportive.
I remember the first time they saw my name in the credits
on a movie, my first movie I'd worked on, I was like, Mom,
you see the movie?
And they were like, yeah, it was good.
My sister then calls me, you know, and she's like, man,
Mom's over here talking our ear off about the movie
that you were in, and duh, duh, duh, duh, duh,
and, like, how much she's so proud of you and all this.
[LAUGHS]
That is such a parent thing-- like
don't give the credit to you, but then,
like, tell everybody else!
Let me tell you what my kid did!
[LAUGHTER]
Pretty much!
Well, now you have a short of your own here with "Nona."
I definitely want to hear how you came about putting
together this story.
The way the story came about was,
you know, you kind of have this character
that's exciting or interesting, you know?
It's like I had this thing that--
I had this tough grandmother that loves wrestling.
I really only have one memory of my grandma
and I talking about wrestling.
I'm at a holiday thing.
I'm kind of by myself, and my grandma is like, hey,
you like wrestling, right?
And I was like, yeah, I love wrestling, Grandma.
And she goes, you know, Stone Cold's my favorite.
And that got me, as a kid.
I was just like, what?
Like, Grandma, you watch-- you watch wrestling?
Grandma!
Like it kind of knocked me back, and it me smile,
like, oh my god, you love something I love?
As an adult?
No offense, I love my mom and dad, but they weren't going,
like, I love wrestling, too.
They were like, oh, you're watching wrestling again?
[LAUGHS] - Great, go to bed.
You have school tomorrow.
You know, and that was it, right?
They were being parents, but my grandmother was,
like, doing the grandma thing.
It was a connection that I just never forgot.
It always sat with me.
And I have those connections, right?
We think we all do.
Someone just shows you a kindness.
Someone just comes in and, without warning, goes,
oh, you like that?
I like that, too.
And all of a sudden, you know, like the walls drop,
because someone took an interest in me.
I actually watched wrestling a lot, too, growing up,
but no one really knew about it.
I just watched it on my little TV.
[LAUGHTER]
Meanwhile, I'm the kid in your short that's like,
let me turn to the cartoons!
[LAUGHS]
Yeah!
So that's it, though, right?
And that's what I would hope for,
is that there's something for everybody.
Because I feel like I should be telling
stories that have a truth, that are trying to connect people--
you know, trying to connect us.
That is the dream for me.
Do you have a favorite Pixar feature that you've worked on?
I think my top project really was "Ratatouille."
I felt like that was such a special
and really unique movie.
It's, you know, got that sense of small-world character,
like the rat in the kitchen.
The metaphor is beautiful.
"Anyone can cook" is a fantastic metaphor.
As a person of color in the animation space,
what do you hope to see more of in the future?
My hope is that business becomes a little bit more
of a level playing field, and seeks out, you know,
more voices--
you know, voices that aren't represented.
Movies are a powerful mechanism that--
it's utilized in a way that, you know, we can do more with it,
I think, and I think we should.
I think it's our responsibility to.
What advice would you give to artists
who wanna get into the industry, but maybe feel like they
don't know how to do it, or don't think
that they would fit in it?
Like, how would you encourage others
to want to get into this space?
My biggest advice is just be open to it, you know?
Whatever it is that you think you want to do as an artist,
It's better to be open and take more in.
As an artist growing up, like, I wanted to do everything.
I want to learn how to sculpt.
I want to learn how to paint.
I want to learn--
I want to at least try it.
All of it comes together.
Like, none of it is wasted.
Like, any time you spend doing something in your life
is not usually wasted.
What do you want your audience to leave with after they watch
the Pixar SparkShort "Nona"?
I want them to take away that idea that, you know,
connection between generations, or connections between people,
is important.
Thank you so much.
It's been such a pleasure to talk to you
and to hear more about your story, which is amazing,
as well as hearing about the Pixar SparkShort "Nona"--
which, can't wait to see it.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, Andre.
Thank you, Jenny.
Stream the Pixar SparkShort "Nona" now on Disney+.
Also watch how these two new Pixar SparkShorts came to life
in the documentary, "A Spark Story," launching exclusively
on Disney+ this September.
[DIGITAL EFFECTS]
[RHYTHMIC MUSIC]