FILM-DISNEY/ELLEN DEGENERES Ellen DeGeneres, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Ty Burrell and more talk about their upcoming animated films

Record ID: 143744

  • Title: FILM-DISNEY/ELLEN DEGENERES Ellen DeGeneres, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Ty Burrell and more talk about their upcoming animated films
  • Date: 17th August 2015
  • Summary: ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (AUGUST 14, 2015) (REUTERS) ACTOR AND COMEDIAN, ELLEN DEGENERES, SPEAKING WITH MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR AND COMEDIAN, ELLEN DEGENERES, SAYING: "As soon as I went in there the first session, it was like oh, this is what I did, it felt like yesterday. As much time has passed it feels like a really easy thing, and I had a little mor
  • Embargoed: 1st September 2015 13:00
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  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVABXB185XM96KCAAANH4IG47FMM
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Ellen DeGeneres, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Ty Burrell and more talked about their upcoming animated films being released through Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios on Friday (August 14) at the D23 Expo.
    DeGeneres, who starred as 'Dory' a forgetful blue tang in 'Finding Nemo', will reprise the role in the sequel 'Finding Dory' over a decade after her first swimmingly successful animated role.
    "As soon as I went in there the first session, it was like oh, this is what I did, it felt like yesterday. As much time has passed it feels like a really easy thing, and I had a little more experience and education going back into it than the first time. I just feel like I was really ready for this to happen again," the comedian and talk show host, Ellen DeGeneres said when asked if there were any concerns in the significant lapse if time between the two films.
    The film also stars Ed O'Neil who will play an octopus and Ty Burrell who voices a beluga whale. Both actors were thrilled to be joining the DeGeneres led cast, admiring her persistence and patience at getting the film made.
    "Well I think it's great that she had that kind of perseverance, I wouldn't have. I think it's great. I'm happy to be in it to tell you the truth," Ed O'Neil said.
    And Modern Family star, Burrell was also full of compliments for the popular talk show host and LGBT rights activist.
    "I am just a huge Ellen fan like a lot of us are, I've been on her show a few times and she is always a lovely host, but she's kind of a singular voice. She's been an amazing person in America, she's made a lot of progress for marriage equality and I am just a fan all around. And I am a fan of her as Dory," Burrell told Reuters.
    The film catches up with Dory 6 months after 'Finding Nemo' left off as Dory searches to find her family and understand her own identity. Producer, Lindsey Collins, is confident is not over their market audience's head saying that kids 'just get it.'
    "And I always think, I have three kids of my own, they tend to get a lot more than I get out of these movies and they tend to get it a lot quicker. I feel like some of our biggest challenges and highest bars for intelligence come from trying to engage some of the younger audiences because I feel like they like just get it," producer Lindsey Collins said.
    "Finding Dory" bows in theaters June 17, 2016 followed shortly after by Disney's 'Moana', a Polynesian princess tale starring Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson as a spiritual guide.
    Disney, who has been criticised for lacking diversity in its animated roles (white princesses outnumbers princesses of color more than 2-1) will bring a starring female princess of color to screen in Moana, an accomplishment that 'The Rock' says he is proud to be a part of.
    "I really think it is beautiful to empower, to empower females that way, but it's also, what Disney does, they're the greatest storytellers in the world and anchoring their stories with great power by the way. I love that there's diversity in this, and for me being a father of a girl, she's a girl of color, she's a proud girl of color, gives me a lot of great pride," Johnson said.
    Also, coming up in 2016 is 'Zootopia' a buddy-cop tale of an optimistic rabbit played by Ginnifer Goodwin and sneaky fox, played by Jason Bateman.
    Goodwin described the atmosphere at the D23 Expo as a 'Comic-Con on steroids'; Disney and Pixar presented never before seen clips and shared news with nearly 8,000 fans whose cheers could be heard throughout the Anaheim Convention Center.
    "It's like Comic-Con on steroids in the best way. I mean there are 7800 people in there, I don't think I have ever been in front of a crowd that large and they were all laughing and clapping and seemingly loving the clips," Goodwin said.
    Also announced publicly for the first time was the addition of Columbian popstar Shakira joining the cast as 'Gazelle'.
    Zootopia producer, Clark Spencer, shared that the reaction from fans was tremendous.
    "We've been working with Shakira for about two years now and to finally be able to say that in public is an amazing thing," Spencer said.
    "It's hard not to say something like that to people, it's hard to keep that a secret. It feels so good to get that out now," Director, Rich Moore, added.
    The second Pixar/Disney release in 2016 following the box office hit 'Inside Out' will be 'The Good Dinosaur', a tale of a dinosaur and his boy's unlikely friendship.
    "Well it really was that heart of it, a boy and dog story, it was always based in a kind of maturity story but what was fun about this is that we flipped this where the dog is the boy, or the dinosaur and the boy is the dog, so that dog has become this human boy and in flipping that, there's been so much fun in trying to find emotion inside of that dinosaur and try and live with that dinosaur and see what he has to go through to become an adult, and that's been really satisfying in that relationship," director Peter Sohn said, explaining the central themes of the film.
    The film hits theaters in the United States on November 25 this year.
    This is the first time in the history of Pixar for two films to be released in one year and according to Disney Chief Creative Officer, John Lasseter, this will be a long-term trend.
    "This year is the first year that we have two Pixar films in one year and next year we'll have one, and the year after we'll have two and we'll have that kind of cycle to it. And quality is the best business plan, and when you look at this year, the two films we have 'Inside Out', I don't think there's a drop in quality with 'Inside Out' and 'The Good Dinosaur' and trust me there's not a drop in quality with 'The Good Dinosaur' and the same goes 'Finding Dory' following that and so on. And we try to have a real balance of original films and sequels," Lasseter said.
    The 2015 D23 Expo is held over three days from Friday (August 14) until Sunday (August 16).
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