Taika Waititi is a man of many talents. He is a director, actor, and an award-winning writer. However, despite his impressive and growing list of credits, the star has revealed that he still feels as if he can learn a thing or two about the craft of screenplays and filmmaking in general. And who would be his teacher, you ask? Well, none other than the animated movie giant Pixar.
Waititi recently starred alongside Chris Evans in the Pixar movie, and Toy Story spin-off Lightyear. Telling the story of the space ranger who would go on to inspire the merchandise which ushered the Toy Story character Buzz into Andy’s collection in 1995, Lightyear is a fun adventure that shows Buzz trying to right the mistakes of his past.
In an interview with Collider, Waititi, who currently has two upcoming animated series in the works with Netflix, was asked what he learned during his time working with the acclaimed studio. “I would say the thing about Pixar that I’ve always been inspired by and come back to a lot, and also ripped off a lot when I’m trying to write stuff, is that their screenplays, structurally, are perfect, “he said.
“They get it right every time,” the filmmaker continued. “It’s economical, emotional, and I’m trying to think of another E-word because I just realized that would be three E-words.”
As we said above, currently, Waititi has two animated series in the works with the streaming service Netflix. One of the shows will be based on the characters and world seen in author Roald Dahl’s book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The Second series is an original take on the Oompa-Loompas in the fictional factory, who often sing words of warning to greedy children.
Only time will tell if the upcoming animations will have a Pixar flavour to them following Waititi’s experience on Lightyear. However, as there is currently no release date for either show, we may be waiting to find out that fact for a while.
In the meantime, fans can check out the filmmaker’s latest MCU movie, Thor: Love and Thunder, which hits theatres on July 7.