Find out who Pixar’s protagonist is, who was inspired by a famous animator and voice actor from the studio through a caricature
Being inspired by real-life people to create artistic works is something that often happens in the animation industry. Often, the idea goes beyond pencil and paper, as is the case with the character Russell, from ‘Up – Altas Aventuras’.
The adorable little boy scout, who stars in the film alongside Carl Fredricksen and the dog Dug, was inspired by the Pixar director, animator and voice actor Peter Sohnknown for leading production on ‘Elements’ and ‘The Good Dinosaur’, in addition to lending his voice to the characters Emile, from ‘Ratatouille’, Sox, from ‘Lightyear’ and Esguicho in ‘Monsters University’.
In an interview with BuzzFeed in 2023, he reveals that there were many inspirations for Russell, but that one of the main ones can be seen through his appearance, as he describes himself as a ‘chubby, Asian guy’.
In one of the meetings where we drew caricatures at Pixar, (Up) art director Ricky Nierva drew me as a giant thumb with a hat and squinty eyes.”
Peter He also remembers laughing a lot at how comically exaggerated the image became, and that little by little he became more like the Russell we saw in the film. Check out the full interview below!
@buzzfeednow Today I learned Russell from “Up” is a real person! #up#russellup#pixar#elemental#pixarelemental♬ original sound – BuzzFeed Now
In addition to Russell, another character in ‘Up’ was also inspired by a person who existed in real life. The film’s villain, Charles Muntz, was inspired by Charles Mintza former Pixar director who was one of the main people responsible for Walt Disney losing the rights to ‘Oswald the Lucky Rabbit’, a character who preceded the creation of Mickey Mouse.
With this, we can see that, in addition to appearance, people’s character can also be a great source of inspiration in the process of creating fictional characters.
Source: Recreio
