Disney’s Strange World Scientists Share Insight Into Making The Film | Exclusive Interview
Disney is releasing its latest animated film, “Strange World” on DVD and Blu-Ray on Valentine’s Day, following its release on digital platforms and Disney+.
The film tells the story of the Clades, who are a legendary family of explorers whose differences threaten to topple their latest and most crucial mission into uncharted and treacherous territory.
Within the special features of “Strange World”, is a featurette about the science behind the film, which explains how the filmmakers wanted the story to take place inside a turtle, but in order to keep this secret until the end, they imaginatively altered the look of the world inside, from the lungs to the t-cells, all while staying true to science and biology. In order to create this world, filmmakers and animators worked with many medical experts, scientists and biologists to learn about the systems of the body.
Recently, I spoke with Dr. Elizabeth Rega (PHD in Biological Anthropology) and Dr. Stuart Sumida (PHD in Biological Sciences and research expertise in Anthropology), to discuss how they helped create Strange World using science and biology.
Check out the full interview below:
During the creative process of making the film, Dr. Stuart Sumida explained how they were involved throughout the film:
So there are multiple meetings, and then over the course of the pandemic, constant communication back and forth. Admittedly we couldn’t do things in person that same way. But there was a lot of communication, and then, once things loosened up, we’re back together with them back in the studio. If all the way up to this point right now.
When I asked the scientists what their favourite character in the film was, Dr. Stuart Sumida explained:
Everybody thinks I’m gonna say splat! And it was. That was a great character. Don’t get me wrong. But it’s important to remember. As Elizabeth said, scale goes all the way from the things inside the body to the family that explored it for me inside the body. The creature character concept. That was the coolest thing for me was the transport system, which is sort of like a blood vessel right, but it’s also like a highway, and it was also the location of one of the most dramatic shots in the entire film, and to do that was for me a remarkable technological and artistic achievement while still keeping the spirit of blood and a transport system for me. That was that was just tremendous.
And Dr. Elizabeth Rega shared what character she liked the most:
Yeah, and i’m gonna go very specific, You know. I I I have spent some of my time on doing fieldwork in caves.and you know you. You’re aware that you’re in an organism when you’re in a cave, because you’re looking up, and there are the bats above your head, and you’re ducking in, you know, and that water is not clean that has bat poo in it. You know you’re making a decision as a scientist as to what your priorities are so. I love those kind of Tyrannodon-looking terrace or creatures that are protecting. You know, the environment we don’t know that all we know is that they’re viciously attacking our protagonists, and later we come to have a different view. But I think that they’re a wonderful mishmash of not only cellular stuff, but some of the paleontological adventure images that were brought in plus things that I brought in for my own experience. Like bats and parasites.
“Strange World” is now available on Digital and Disney+, and it will be released on 4K, Blu-ray and DVD on February 14th 2023.