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The head of the Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf), Triawan Munaf, said he and other representatives of Bekraf met with representatives from Pixar in the US last Thursday who were interested in getting some expert insight into Indonesian stories.

"I conveyed to President [Joko Widodo] an interest from Pixar, delivered by John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, to explore and curate stories of the Indonesian people to be adapted and produced by Pixar," said Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) head Triawan Munaf in Jakarta on Monday.

He said a team from Bekraf took on the assignment and compiled information on a number of Indonesian folktales they considered worthy of being adapted into a movie and then recommended them to Pixar. "We then curated and compiled Indonesian folklore for Pixar and are now determining the next steps. We plan to not only involve Indonesian animators but also cultivate the industry as a whole," Triawan said.

However, he also tried to keep people’s expectations realistic by noting that Pixar movies take a long time to make. "Keep in mind, every Pixar animated film production takes three to five years to produce. But this project is important to show the world that Indonesia is rich with local wisdom and culture."

During his recent visit to the US on Oct. 29, Triawan and his team visited Pixar Studios and met with John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios.

“In his presentation, he talked about the studio’s creativity philosophy and at the end he asked, ‘please send me folktales from Indonesia, I will look at them and let’s make something out of it,’” Triawan told the Post on Thursday.

Lasseter, Triawan said, did not set any criteria for the desired tales. After submitting the stories, Triawan said he would visit Pixar in February for further talks.

DisneyFan09 wrote:Well, for all the rant Disney gets for sticking to their components and their cultural exploration and the minor criticism Pixar gets for not exploring other cultures, this is at least a minor progress.

unprincess wrote:btw we still need a proper Disney or Pixar film about Japanese culture b/c Big Hero 6 was a pretty poor example of it.

I agree. Pixar is pretty safe when it comes to financial intake from their films, so they of all companies should be able to explore different cultures.

disneyprincess11 wrote:You know, Disney. I think THIS would be a good time to get a Spanish Princess (Imna from Gigantic may not be qualified due to her age)

But, do you think it could be Pixar's attempt on KINGDOM OF THE SUN?

But has there been pressure to set a Pixar feature in an Asian landscape, or perhaps to cast an Asian actor? Morris is firmer on this, saying that such a move would be “disingenuous”

“We make films that directors want to make, (but) we’re not going to put a landscape into something like that just to make it more appealing. That’s not how we make our films. We think that as Americans, we’re not really people that can tell a Chinese story,” says Morris.

Jim Morris wrote:We think that as Americans, we’re not really people that can tell a Chinese story.

Morris said Pixar was also keen on creating something that would cater primarily to the Asian market. “Our business and creative model at Pixar is to select people whom we think are good storytellers to be directors. We ask them to develop three ideas that they pitch to us,” Morris pointed out. “So if we had a director that had a brilliant idea that was Asia-based, we would certainly do it.

Triawan Munaf, chief of the National Creative Economy Agency also known as Bekraf, is set to meet with executives of Pixar Animation Studios in the United States this weekend in a follow-up meeting to present a background on Indonesian folklore to the giant animation studio.

Deputy chief Ricky Pesik told the Jakarta Globe Triawan will be seeing Pixar co-founder and chief creative officer John Lasseter to further elaborate on the landscape of Indonesian folk stories. The two of them previously met in October when Pixar expressed an interest in developing a feature film based on Indonesian folklore.

"The purpose is to give a background about Indonesia's diversity," he said. "We gave ten sample stories to depict various genres, characters and geography. Those are not a recommendation, but purely for illustration."

Bekraf recruited anthropologists, experts in children stories, animators and representatives from the film committee at the Jakarta Art Council and assigned them to write a comprehensive report, which will be presented to Pixar this week.

Disney Animation Studios has been firing on all cylinders the last 10 years with their animated films such as Tangled, Frozen, Big Hero 6, Zootopia, and Moana. Fans were looking forward to Gigantic, a twist on Jack and the Beanstalk, which to the surprise of many was shelved last year due to creative differences. Now we have information on what’s in store for the legendary animation studio.

Paul Briggs who was head of story on Big Hero 6 and Frozen will make his directorial debut alongside Tangled animator Dean Wellins on Dragon Empire. Not much is known about the story but Disney is currently meeting with actors for various roles. Kiel Murray who wrote Cars and Cars 3 is developing the script, with Osnat Shurer (Moana) on board as a producer.

We also have some character breakdowns to share with you.

JAN-NIN: Female lead character said to be the heroine of the film. Jamie Chung has shown interest in the role, Disney fans will know her as the voice of Go Go in Big Hero 6 and the brand new series on the Disney Channel .

BOLIN: The lead male character who is expected to be comic relief, and a 900 year old mentor to Jan-Nin.

KATSU: Supporting male character not much is known regarding Katsu.

It is not known yet if Dragon Empire is taking over the release date of Gigantic held of November 25, 2020, or if it will receive a brand new release date beyond that. One thing is certain though Disney is hard at work getting this project developed and fans are ready for a new story from the studio.