Amazing and colorful worlds aren’t new in the world of Disney. In fact, they’ve been feeding us with great and remarkable ones—San Fransokyo and Zootopia for example.
Fans of these type of worlds are very ecstatic to see the upcoming film ‘Strange World’.
‘Strange World’ tells the world of Avalonia, a city that has been enhanced by a revolutionary plant called Pando. However, when it appears to be diminishing, Searcher Clade (voiced by Jake Gyllenhaal), the farmer who years earlier discovered this miraculous plant, is tasked with journeying to a strange new world to find a way to save it and Avalonia. He is joined by his family – wife Meridian, voiced by Gabrielle Union, and his son, Ethan, voiced by Jaboukie Young-White. Dennis Quaid is the voice of Jaeger, Searcher’s larger-than-life father and a legendary explorer — a path that Searcher chose not to follow. Joining them in the cast is Lucy Liu, who voices Avalonia’s president, Callisto Mal.
Production Designer Mehrdad Isvandi said that the inspiration came from all their ideas that were both a challenge and a nightmare. Another inspiration was to create a world without green.
“We reserved green for Pando, and we got away from blue in the sky. Our brain is adjusted to seeing blue skies. Removing that option and thinking of something else to make the image beautiful was an exciting challenge throughout production.”
Head of Environments Sean Jenkins said that Avalonia is also unique and that there are also elements that are familiar like mountains, a city with big buildings, and beautiful farms. He also said one of the big references for the look and feel of the farms were the images that Director Don Hall sent the team of his family farm in Iowa.
Co-director and writer Qui Nguyen also opened the idea of this being a film about diversity and representation.
“The diversity extends throughout the whole studio. I think that allows us to not just tell stories with diversity, but also be able to come from an authentic place.”
‘Strange World’ is heading to theaters this November 23.
Watch trailer here:
