Pixar's Superhero-Inspired Short SANJAY'S SUPER TEAM Gets Images and Details
We have some new photos and information regarding Pixar Animation's new short film they've developed called Sanjay's Super Team. The short is set to screen with The Good Dinosaur when it's released on November 25th.
The short comes from Pixar Animation Studios artist Sanjay Patel, and it's inspired by his own experiences. The story centers on a young boy who engulfs himself in cartoons, and is more interested in watching those than he is in being involved with his family’s religious practices. But the two things end up combining, and he begins to envision the Hindu gods Hanuman, Durga, and Vishnu as a superhero team.
Here are the details of the story:
The seven-minute short begins with young Sanjay watching cartoons and eating cereal in a bland, beige room as his father jingles a bell, beckoning him to join in meditation. Reluctant and bored by the ceremony, Sanjay begins daydreaming a kind of ancient, Hindu version of “The Avengers,” with the gods appearing like superheroes. As the daydream progresses, the color, light and animation of the film grows increasingly dazzling and cosmic, and Sanjay grows closer to understanding his father’s inner world.
The short won't have any dialogue in it, and Patel brought on Oscar-winning composer Mychael Danna (Life of Pi) to create a "fittingly non-Western soundtrack." During an interview with USA Today, producer Nicole Paradis Grindle talks about the short saying:
"Patel’s animation very clearly comes from a different cultural place than all the other stories we’ve told before. And for kids who come from these backgrounds to see themselves on screen, it’s exciting for us."
In a previous interview with LA Times, Patel says:
"If I could, I would go back to the 1980s and give my younger self this short. I want to normalize and bring a young brown boy’s story to the pop culture zeitgeist. To have a broad audience like Pixar’s see this … it is a big deal. I’m so excited about that."
Patel and Grindle have a panel at Comic-Con called “The Super Story Behind the Pixar Short Sanjay’s Super Team.” It takes place on Thursday, July 9th, from 11:00am-to-12:00pm at the Indigo Ballroom at Hilton San Diego Bayfront.