JOSIE Trinidad, who has worked on films such as “Wreck-it Ralph,” “Tangled” and “Big Hero 6,”—is a story head of the new Walt Disney Animation Studios film, “Zootopia.”
“Zootopia” explores a city where animals act like human beings and interact with each other. It follows the story of Judy (Ginnifer Goodwin), a rabbit who happens to be a police officer, stereotyped in her community as someone not fit for the job.
The rabbit works in the police department dominated by big animals such as rhinos, elephants, buffalos and hippos.
Judy, assigned to be on parking duty, suddenly embarks on a high-profile assignment when her boss gives her the task of finding missing mammals.
Trinidad said she and her teammates particularly studied common stereotypes of animals during the research phase of the movie.
“We leaned into animal stereotypes—elephants never forget, foxes are sly, rabbits are timid—everyone has a stereotype they’re fighting against,” Trinidad said. “That’s something everyone in the audience can appreciate.”
Since they wanted to make a film about different animals interacting in one environment, the filmmakers traveled to Africa to immerse themselves and learn about animal behaviors.
Jared Bush, the film’s codirector and one of the screenwriters, said that everyone in their team were profoundly changed during their African immersion.
“It’s such an amazing experience, being around hundreds, thousands of animals,” he said. “In this movie, we want to feel that density, which is a lot of work. We came back after that trip with a sincere need to make it right.”
Aside from Africa, Trinidad and her workmates also visited Disney’s Animal Kingdom, San Diego’s Wild Animal Park and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles Country to research and interview experts. They spent a total of 18 months for the film’s research.
Director Byron Howard said they wanted to make a funny animal film. However, as they dig along with the story, they managed to get an opportunity to talk about something important such as stereotypes and bias.
Recently, Filipinos have been making headlines for well-received and award-winning animation films.
These Filipino artists are composer Robert Lopez, who won an Oscar for his work in Disney’s “Frozen,” and Ronnie del Carmen who codirected Pixar’s “Inside Out,” which won this year’s Golden Globe for best animated feature.
Trinidad said she used to work as a story artist and voice talent in her previous projects.
A head of story manages the storyboard and works with the director interpreting story lines to images.
“Zootopia” is running in theaters nationwide.