Pixar story supervisor says AI not yet used in films

Pixar has not yet incorporated artificial intelligence into its productions, valuing dedication and craftsmanship above all, said John Cody Kim, story supervisor, and Jo Sung-yeon, lighting artist at Pixar Animation Studios.

In a March 10 virtual interview, the two discussed their work on Disney and Pixar’s animated film “Hoppers,” which opened in South Korea on March 4. Kim supervised character development and created storyboards for numerous scenes, while Jo served as the film’s lighting director.

“Hoppers” follows Mabel, a girl whose consciousness is transferred into a beaver robot, as she navigates unexpected adventures in an animal world. The film opened globally with $88 million, marking the highest opening for an original Pixar feature since the 2017 hit “Coco.”

The concept for the film began with a wildlife documentary. Director Daniel Chong reportedly came up with the idea of animal robots while watching documentaries about animals. Kim said, “In the director’s office, the lighting and story teams gathered to share ideas freely and sketch anything that came to mind. About 98% of the thousands of sketches were discarded. Testing so many ideas helped ‘Hoppers’ develop its unique visual identity.”

One of the team’s main concerns was how to depict Mabel’s appearance as an Asian character. Jo said, “If a Caucasian character has blue eyes, the eyes of an Asian character have a different feel. We tried to capture that difference in color and depth.”

Jo joined Pixar in 2000 and previously created an animated short called “Grandmother,” inspired by his memories of his grandmother and Korean history. “When I lived in Korea, I preferred French and Disney films," he said. "Living abroad has increased my interest in Korean traditions. I hope to work on projects reflecting Korean culture in the future.”


김태언 beborn@donga.com