Jasmine Derry, a Mesquite-raised Effects Technical Director at Pixar Animation Studios, helped make the humans and pandas go *poof* in the new animated feature 'Turning Red,' now on Disney+.
Preston Barta // Features Editor
In addition to making us a sobbing mess with their captivating storylines, Pixar Animation Studios has this laser-focused attention to detail with their brilliant animations. The amount of effort that goes into each frame is plastered with Easter eggs and blink-and-you’ll-miss-it pieces that further immerse audiences into their striking worlds.
When the trailer for Disney and Pixar’s latest film, Turning Red, dropped last year, viewers were already marveling at what they saw. In the trailer, we learn that the film follows the story of Chinese Canadian teen Mei Lee (voiced by Rosalie Chiang). Amid a particularly awkward puberty stage, she discovers her ability to transform into a giant red panda when emotionally provoked.
Some trailer watchers spotted child characters wearing glucose monitoring devices and plenty of visual references to other Disney and Pixar movies. Look closely, and you’ll recognize Toy Story‘s Pizza Planet truck in the background and the always referenced “A113” on a concert ticket (an inside joke that refers to the classroom original Pixar animators used as animation students). That’s the beauty of Pixar; you can pause the film, frame by frame, to find all kinds of gorgeous fine points.
One of the effects artists responsible for such details is Jasmine Derry, an Effects Technical Director at Pixar from Mesquite, Texas. Anytime you see Turning Red’s Mei change from human form to panda, and vice versa – with all the pink, fluffy stimulation – Derry had a hand in those creations. She was also responsible for the scenes featuring bubbles, sparklers, and tears from the characters.
To discuss some of these incredible details, film critic Preston Barta of the Fresh Fiction sat down with Derry via Zoom Video. In the below behind-the-scenes discussion, we chat about the Dallas-Fort Worth art scene, Derry’s journey from Texas A&M to working at Pixar, and what the teen version of herself would think of Turning Red.
Enjoy the talk, and catch Turning Red on Disney+ today!
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