When it was released in 2015, the animated film Inside Out (upside down), which tells the story of young Riley and the five emotions – Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust and Anger – which compete for a place in her brain, was a stunning success. Accumulating more than $800 million at the box office, winning the Oscar for best animated film, the feature film quickly became a classic of the genre.
Quebecer Émilie Goulet, who is part of the prestigious animation team at Pixar studios, still pinches herself when she thinks that she had the chance to work on the second part of this cult film. “It’s funny to work on a film and feel exactly what it’s about: performance anxiety. The bar is high. People love the universe and are looking forward to this sequel. We want to deliver something equally extraordinary. »
Like many of us, Émilie Goulet fell into the pot of animated cinema at a very young age. However, despite adolescence, fashions and the transition to adulthood, she never came out of it. On the wall behind her, in the apartment she occupies in Los Angeles, there is also a poster of the film. Sleeping Beauty (1959). “It’s my favorite film, with Fantasy (1940), the very first one I saw in the cinema. I still get chills when I think about it. »
However, it took a beneficial meeting with an insightful guidance counselor, in secondary five, for her to think about making it a career.
Graduated with a bachelor’s degree in animated cinema from Concordia University in 2001, Émilie Goulet first worked at Cinar, before turning to the video game industry. “In cinema, at the time, we were still working with classic animation techniques. Video games allowed me to train in computer animation. But my ultimate dream was to work in the film industry. »
The delicate pre-production work
Arriving at Pixar in 2016, she was notably able to collaborate on the films Incredibles 2 (The Incredibles 2), Toy Story 4 (Toy Story 4), Onward (Ahead) And Drunk (Soul). Inside Out 2 (Upside Down 2) however represents a special milestone in his career. In fact, it was the first time she worked in pre-production. She notably participated in the development of a new character — Ennui — which was subsequently used by the other animators in their respective sequences.
“With a very small team of animators, I was put in partnership with an artist called a caricaturist, whose mandate is to build the digital puppet of the character. My role was to test this puppet to make sure it was ready for the animation scenes. It’s more technical work, but extremely stimulating, because it allows you to understand even more how other departments work, how they communicate. It gives another level of appreciation. »
The host, who says she is a great admirer of the works of the National Film Board of Canada, was in the front rows to develop the introductory scenes of Ennui. “I quickly understood how little we need to communicate this feeling. My first versions moved too much. We refined, refined, until the final result. »
In all, nearly a hundred animators worked at one time or another to animate the endearing characters who populate Riley’s head. The latter, now 13 years old, is invited to participate in a training camp for the high school hockey team to which she is registered for the fall, with her two best friends. Excited and motivated, the young girl finds herself slowed down by an unwelcome guest: puberty.
Thus, her basic emotions are now discarded by Anxiety, Envy, Boredom and Embarrassment, which – we guessed it – will do great damage by attempting to rewrite Riley’s identity in order to ensure that she will part of the team and that she does not find herself alone and isolated in her new school.
In addition to having participated in the development of Ennui, Émilie Goulet has vivid memories of her work on a very funny sequence in which Riley accidentally slips a teammate’s mouth guard between her teeth — provoking a strong reaction of Disgust.
“It was really exciting to animate a legendary character like Disgust, and to work with people who designed him and whom I admire greatly. » Émilie Goulet insists that animation is first and foremost teamwork. “We don’t work alone in our corner. We show different versions of our scene in a meeting, and everyone comments and contributes their ideas. The animators, we are a bit like the first audience of the film. If a joke falls flat, we remove it. On the contrary, if we’re still laughing after ten viewings, we know we’re on to something. It’s a very joyful process. »
The host is also very eager to come back home, to Montreal, to continue to spread this joy and watch the film in theaters with her loved ones. “I’m sure it will be a little magical,” she says, with stars in her eyes.