Again!

[LAUGHTER]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

JENNY: Today, we're off to the Great

Fefore to talk "Soul," heading back in time with "Dinosaurs"

and stepping into the unknown for "Myth: A Frozen Tale."

I'm Jenny.

I'm Andre, and this is "What's Up, Disney+," where

we talk all things Disney+.

I'm so excited for our first guest.

He has worked on some of Pixar's top movies, including "Up,"

"Finding Dory," "Ratatouille," "The Incredibles,"

"Monsters, Inc.," and so much more, not to mention "Soul."

Yes, please welcome Robert Grahamjones.

Thank you so much for being on this show today, Robert.

How are you doing today?

Oh, I'm doing wonderfully.

Thank you for having me.

I'm so excited to be here to talk to you both.

So for our viewers who may not know,

will you tell us what the responsibilities

are of an editor, particularly on an animated film?

An editor on an animated film has a couple

of very important duties.

One of them is to cut storyboards.

A storyboard is a black-and-white picture.

It's also called an animatic.

What we do is we cut them with temporary dialogue,

music, and effects to replicate what a film will look like.

You want to know that the story is gonna

work first before you animate.

We'll be cutting storyboards for, I would say,

two years before we start going into the layout phase.

The layout phase is where you put the characters

in a virtual camera.

Once we cut the layout, we turn it over to animation,

and the animators animate to that.

The whole process can take three or four years,

and it's very complicated and very

different than live-action editing.

But I'm very excited about doing it.

Some people are like, oh, animation, it's just they draw,

and it's out. It's like, no.

No.

Clearly, there's a lot that goes on.

And then, once the animation is done,

then you cut that up as well.

- Correct. - Yeah.

Cut it up and put it back together.

I'm sure it's happened, though, where you've had to cut

something that you didn't want to cut,

and you had to for the sake of the story or timing.

That happens all the time.

As editors, what we try to do is think of the story as a whole

and not fall in love with any little part,

because there can be some little performance that's outstanding.

But if it doesn't play into the overall story,

then we can't use it.

We want to look at the film like the audience

is looking at the film.

That makes a lot of sense.

And how did you get started in your career,

and did anybody specifically inspire you?

I started out as an apprentice at this animation house.

I spent maybe 10 years as an assistant editor

in live action, went back into animation.

So my career is kind of balanced all over the place.

But I've been at Pixar now for 22 years.

So I've kind of settled into a groove here.

That's incredible. Yaaass, Pixar.

What is a scene or moment in "Soul" that you're

especially proud of?

There's a scene in "Soul," we call it the barbershop scene.

And it's the scene where 22 and Joe go to the barbershop

to clean up Joe's bad haircut.

On the surface, it looks like a pretty simple scene.

But there are a lot of characters.

It's a pivotal moment in the story where

Joe starts to realize maybe he could look at the world

in a different way.

I feel really proud of the scene,

but I also have a lot of gratitude

that I got to approach that scene.

Yeah, I love that barbershop scene.

It was so good and so authentic as well.

Like, I've been to barbershops just like that.

That brings me up to another question

because you have movies like "Soul" and "Coco."

You have shorts like "Bao" and "Out."

We've seen a lot of great diversity on-screen at Pixar.

Why do you think it's important to have diversity

and representation behind the camera

to enrich the storytelling?

When thinking about the barbershop,

the barbershop has its own rhythms, its own way

that people are interacting.

We really wanted that scene to feel authentic.

As a person of color, a person who's been to barbershops

many times, I felt like I could bring something to that scene

that other people may not have been able to.

You want the storytellers to have

empathy and understanding of the situation

that the story is trying to tell.

So I'm very proud of the barbershop scene.

So I have to ask.

You've been with Pixar for over 20 years.

Is there any project that stands out for you, and why?

"Soul" has been such an amazing project for me

on so many levels.

Part of it is that "Soul" has a Black protagonist.

It's a really exciting story to tell.

There are various pieces of the story

that really affect me also.

So, for example, I play trombone.

They used some of my trombone playing

in the temporary part of the movie.

ANDRE: Wow.

It's just such a crazy thing.

So many of my different interests

kind of came into play in this movie, not to mention

the kind of existential questions

that are so profound and open-ended.

Everybody seems to have a little different take on it.

ANDRE: Yeah. JENNY: Wow.

I think that's a great thing when people have

a different take on a movie because it's just hitting

people in different ways.

"Soul" has been just an amazing film to be associated with.

And I feel really lucky and blessed

that I was able to be on it.

Yeah, this is why it's great to have people like you

behind the scenes working on projects like this because,

like you said, that authenticity shows through.

JENNY: Yep.

Thank you for talking with us today.

Like, this has been so great.

Oh, thank you.

It's been wonderful.

ANDRE: Be sure to check out Robert's work in "Soul,"

now streaming on Disney+.

One of my favorite animated series on Disney+

is "The Proud Family."

Love that show.

So I am proud to tell you that we have a special announcement

from "The Proud Family" producers,

Bruce W. Smith and Ralph Farquhar.

Hey, what's up, everybody?

I'm Bruce Smith.

And I'm Ralph Farquhar,

and we're the executive producers of "The Proud

Family: Louder and Prouder."

And we're excited to bring "The Proud Family" back

for original fans and also introduce this family to

a whole new generation of fans.

So if you're not familiar with our gang, don't worry about it.

We're gonna give you a quick 60-second rundown on who's who.

So let's dive right in.

Penny Proud, center of all of our stories,

14 years old and loving it.

RALPH: Bebe and Cece, Penny's younger twin siblings--

they can talk, y'all, but it's all gibberish.

BRUCE: Trudy, Penny's mom, also the owner of her own business,

Trudy's Pet Ambulance.

RALPH: Oscar Proud, Penny Proud's overbearing dad,

and he's more overbearing than ever.

BRUCE: Uncle Bobby, Penny's uncle, Oscar's brother,

and Suga Mama's favorite son.

Oh.

RALPH: Suga Mama, Penny's grandma, Oscar's mother,

the truthteller of the family.

BRUCE: Puff, Suga Mama's dog.

RALPH: Papi, Suga Mama's unwitting boyfriend

and the father of Felix.

BRUCE: Felix, LaCienega Boulevardez's

dad, and also runs his own construction company.

RALPH: Sunset, Felix's wife--

she and Felix are Oscar and Trudy's

best friends despite the fact that their daughters

are frenemies.

BRUCE: LaCienega, forever the frenemy to Penny Proud.

RALPH: Zoey, Penny's good friend, part of the crew.

BRUCE: And Dijonay, her loyalest friend.

RALPH: Maya, the new kid on the block, and she's woke, y'all.

We're still in the middle of production,

but we just wanted to give you guys a sneak peek

at all of these characters.

BRUCE: We can't wait for you to see what they've been up

to on "The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder,"

coming to Disney+.

THEME SONG: Proud, proud family.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

JENNY: Mark your calendars because we

have brand new Disney+ original series announcements.

ANDRE: It's time to welcome a new generation

of game changers.

Start streaming "The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers"

on March 26.

JENNY: This is a shot he can't afford to miss.

"Big Shot," an original series starring John Stamos,

starts streaming April 16.

ANDRE: On May the Fourth, we have "Star Wars, The Bad Batch,"

which follows the elite and experimental clones

as they find their way in a rapidly changing galaxy

in the immediate aftermath of the Clone War.

JENNY: We think you kind of know where we're going with this.

That's right, season two of "High

School Musical: The Musical: The Series"

starts streaming May 14.

ANDRE: On June 11, you can start streaming

"Loki," an original series from Marvel Studios.

JENNY: Zen mode on.

Season two of "Zenimation" also starts streaming June 11.

ANDRE: One mission will hold the answer

to the world's greatest riddle.

"The Mysterious Benedict Society," an original series,

starts streaming June 25.

JENNY: And in July, it'll take some monster-sized laughs to

generate Monstropolis's power.

"Monsters at Work" starts streaming July 2.

ANDRE: Partner up with "Turner & Hooch,"

an original series, when it starts streaming July 16.

And don't miss the first episode of "Chip 'N' Dale: Park Life"

on July 23.

Hey, Andre, have you ever wondered

what it would be like to grow up in, I don't know,

60,000,003 BC?

Believe it or not, I have.

Being a mighty Megalosaurus would have been meg-nificent.

Tree-pushing at its finest, HYAH!

JENNY: We're, of course, talking about "Dinosaurs."

The series follows the Sinclairs, a family

of dinosaurs living in prehistoric

Pangaea, navigating the ups and downs

of domestic dinosaur life.

I am so glad that "Dinosaurs" is on Disney+,

because I grew up with this show. Love it so much.

Jenny, were you a fan of "Dinosaurs" as well?

Oh, my gosh.

I grew up watching the show.

I actually had a Baby Sinclair doll.

Aw.

It's a great show.

It plays on different layers.

There's stuff for kids enjoy with all

the animatronics, which are amazing even to this day.

Well, speaking of, did you know that not one,

but three performers brought Earl Sinclair to life?

And we are lucky to have Bill Barretta

and Stuart Pankin with us here today on "What's Up, Disney+."

Welcome to the show, guys.

Bill Barretta's here?

Stuart's on this?

Unbelievable.