Do you believe in spirit animals, otherworldly guides who appear in your life to offer love, healing, and support during difficult times? I ...

Do you believe in spirit animals, otherworldly guides who appear in your life to offer love, healing, and support during difficult times? I do and I have one!

Note: Disney and Pixar invited me on this all expense paid trip for the Disney*Pixar COCO Event. While I will share different events and activities during the trip, any personal views expressed are always 100% my own.

But I'm not the only one. Many cultures also believe in spirit animals or totem animals including the Mexican culture who have Alebrijes, brightly colored folk art sculptures.

To learn more about Alebrijes and how they fit into the world of Disney•Pixar’s COCO, I attended the "Create Your Own Pepita" Alebrijes workshop. While there I had the chance to paint my own Alebrijes, while learning some fun facts about these colorful creatures.


In 1936 Pedro Linares Lopez created Alebrijes after recovering from a illness and fever dream. In the dream Linares saw inside a forest, unusual animals including donkeys with butterfly wings, a lion with an eagle head, and many different colorful animals who were chanting "Alebrijes".

When he felt better, he started making Alebrijes out papier-mâché. Modern Alebrijes are now made out of a special type of copal wood and have became one of Mexico's most recognized forms of art. .

Alebrijes don't have any mystical or religious symbolism to them. The artist decides how a Alebrijes is formed. Each artist brings their own tastes into the sculpture. The colors and brightness of Alebrijes are the same type that you would see all over Mexico.


While the Alebrijes are not related to Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead), the animators wanted to bring the art of Alebrijes out into the world and into Pixar’s COCO. So they made them spirit guides.

Pepita is a Chimera like animal, so a mix of different animals. There's a tail that's lizard-like, feet that are eagle-like, feather on the upper body, gorilla-like front arms, ram horns and a tiger face.

While it was fun to learn about and paint my own Pepita, that's not the only spirit animal found in Pixar’s COCO. Dante might seem like a regular dog but there's lots more to him.


Dante is actually based on a real dog breed, the Xoloitzcuintle or Xolo for short. The Xolo is considered a hairless dog breed that is native to Mexico and Central America. While they're considered "hairless" they do have tuffs of hair at various parts of their bodies.

These dogs have been around since "ancient" times and are used to safe guard homes from bad spirits, believed to have healing powers and serve as spirit guides for the dead as they travel from the land of living to land of the dead.

Dante is suppose to be a street dog. So he's animated a bit slim and scruffy with ripped ears. The missing teeth are a common trait in Xolo dogs. This led to having the tongue sticking out. The animators referenced Hank from Finding Dory. Hanks tentacles did a lot of movements so used the same animation "rig" when working with Dante's tongue to get a free range of movement.

Dante is considered a puppy is a adult dogs body. So his moves are a bit clumsy. To get the correct movements the animators watched YouTube videos of dogs. They found dogs are naturally entertaining. So Dante has a lot of stumbles, etc.

I was amazed how the animators brough both Dante and Pepita to life. They both serve important roles helping Miguel find his family and his destiny in Disney•Pixar’s COCO.

To learn more about Disney•Pixar’s COCO, visit - www.movies.disney.com/COCO

Facebook: www.facebook.com/PixarCoco
Twitter: www.twitter.com/pixarcoco
Instagram: www.instagram.com/pixarcoco

The GOODBYE CHRISTOPHER ROBIN film premiere after party happened this week at the Gottesman Hall at The New York Public Library and it was a...

The GOODBYE CHRISTOPHER ROBIN film premiere after party happened this week at the Gottesman Hall at The New York Public Library and it was amazing.

Note: I was invited as media to the movie screening and premiere after party. This post was written in partnership with the Role Mommy Writer's Network. However any personal views expressed are always 100% my own.

Since I'm covering the film, I was excited to attend an advanced screening to interviewed the director, Simon Curtis, then attend the premiere after party and meet the cast!


I first met Domhnall Gleeson, who plays children's author A. A. Milne and father of Christopher Robin in the film. He was super nice!


Then I tried to meet Margot Robbie, who plays the wife and mother of Christopher Robin. But as you can guess she was very popular. So I settled for just taking a photo. It was still nice to see her in real life.


Then I met Will Tilston, who plays Christopher Robin. OMGosh he's SO sweet! And just as adorable in real life as he is in the film. The dimples!


Lastly I met Kelly Macdonald, who plays "Nanny" to Christopher Robin. She was also really sweet.


Simon Curtis, the director of GOODBYE CHRISTOPHER ROBIN, was also at the premiere. I thought about asking him for a photo but since I had already met him for the interview, I thought I should just let him enjoy the party. LOL.

Speaking of the interview, here are a few things I learned.

After screening the movie, I wanted to ask the director, what is his favorite scene?

SIMON CURTIS: “I love the sequence when father and son play together in the summer. Those images of childhood that we are lucky we have. And you can see him almost falling in love with the idea of being a father and I think that is the heart of the film.

We were lucky because the two actors bonded really well in the film. When we were filming in the forest, which actually was the Queen’s special woods. It wasn’t actually a forest. One of the crew found this frog and handed it to him and suddenly Will just walked in with a frog. It was totally improvised. I’m quite proud of that.”


Ironically, my son, who I took to the screening, also had a question to ask.

My son asked: Why doesn’t Billy like being called Christopher Robin?

SIMON CURTIS: “It’s quite a complicated idea, but in the family they think the character in the book is Christopher Robin, and their boy at home is called Billy. So they were able to make the distinction between those two. But the world didn’t see it like that. They just assumed they were one and the same. That was part of the problem. The books became famous and he got all the attention that he didn’t want.

Other questions Simon answered included

What made you decide to film this?

SIMON CURTIS: “I just loved the script when I read it. So many films this day and age are absolutely about nothing. This (script) seemed to be about so much. And so many things that are important to us. Noticeably, family actually. And it has a message, as the nanny says on the bridge ‘pay attention to the people who are around you as they are not going to be around forever’. And I think that’s a good message to be reminded.”

What was filming like at the original place where A.A. Milne lived with his family?

SIMON CURTIS: “I think it’s kind of moving that we were thinking that if they would have sat on that actual rough foot bridge, the bridge, the pooh sticks bridge, is the bridge that the father and son would have invented that game on. It was meaningful for us to go back.”

Were there parts of the movie that were added to bring more interest?

SIMON CURTIS: “Well our objective is to tell the true story, but you can never be absolutely be sure. But the woman who is an expert in AA Milne, who wrote his biography, was very much on the side. So she approved everything we did. But obviously we can’t say every conversation was exactly what it was, but it is our intention to tell the true story.”

And what an amazing true story GOODBYE CHRISTOPHER ROBIN turns out to be. There's so much about the film that will both surprise and delight you about the family that brought us the world of "Winnie the Pooh".

I'll be sure to share my full review in another post. But I encourage you to plan to see GOODBYE CHRISTOPHER ROBIN when it opens in theaters

To learn more, visit - www.foxsearchlight.com/goodbyechristopherrobin

One of the things I looked forward to during my #PixarCocoEvent trip to San Francisco, was learning more about Miguel and his family. After ...

One of the things I looked forward to during my #PixarCocoEvent trip to San Francisco, was learning more about Miguel and his family. After all Disney*Pixar COCO is about Miguel unlocking the real story behind his family history.

Note: Disney and Pixar invited me on this all expense paid trip for the Disney*Pixar COCO Event. While I will share different events and activities during the trip, any personal views expressed are always 100% my own.

But what is that family history?! And what is Dia de los Muertos?! And what's that colorful bridge all about?! I learned all the answers to these questions and so much more, while meeting the teams behind the scenes and research that went into the storyline for Disney*Pixar COCO.

Adrian Molina (Writer and Co-Director) and Dean Kelly (Lead Story Artist) shared about the research into family history and traditions. They traveled to Mexico to experience Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), a festival where the "souls" of the dead are invited to visit the "land of the living" to be reunited and celebrate.

While in Mexico, they learned about some of the customs which they used in Disney*Pixar COCO including

• Ofrendas - Offerings are put out to welcome the soul of dead family and can include traditional food and items the relatives liked in life. Photos are added to help keep the faces of families in memory. It gives families the feeling that their ancestors are connected and watching over them.
• Marigold Flowers - Used to make a path of petals that guide the spirits to their altars with their vibrant colors and scent. It's also a symbol of the path that brings living and dead families together.
• Cemetery Ritual - During the day families will visit the cemeteries to clean it up and decorate it for when their family spirits arrive. At night the whole family will stand vigil at the graves. There's music and lots of candles all around.

For the Pixar COCO research team, it was important to add this research into the film to add authenticity. They didn't want Pixar COCO to just be a film that took place on "the day of the dead". They wanted the meaning behind these traditions to be a part of the story.


After learning about the traditions, it was time to learn about the worlds of Pixar COCO, especially where Miguel's family is coming from - The land of the Dead.

The land of the dead in a multi layer, brightly colored city with building going up vertical connected by stairways and bridges. The marigold bridge contains the only living vegetation and connections both the worlds together.

Throughout the land of the dead there's hidden skulls and iconography. If you look closely you can see how lights, pathways and building forming together to make different size and shaped skulls


There's generations of people from late 19th century, pre-Columbia and Spanish colonial times. The vertical towers represent layers of history and people, with the newest on the top.

The building have windows with lights to give the feeling that people are actively living inside and outside. There's also trolleys and gondolas to help people travel around. The land of the dead is an active place.

As you can see lots of research and caring when into building both worlds in Disney*Pixar COCO.

To learn more about Disney•Pixar’s COCO, visit - www.movies.disney.com/COCO

Facebook: www.facebook.com/PixarCoco
Twitter: www.twitter.com/pixarcoco
Instagram: www.instagram.com/pixarcoco

Focus Features film VICTORIA & ABDUL has opened in NY and LA, but is also expanding to additional cities. If you like films with a histo...

Focus Features film VICTORIA & ABDUL has opened in NY and LA, but is also expanding to additional cities. If you like films with a historical background then go see VICTORIA & ABDUL.

Note: I was invited as media by Focus Features to the movie screening. However any personal views expressed are always 100% my own.

While the main appeal is the true life and scandalous friendship between Queen Victoria and Abdul Karim, a native East Indian Muslim helper, the film offers a unique depth into the personality of Queen Victoria.



MY REVIEW

While those around Queen Victoria treat as royalty, it's to the point where they forget the person she is. Everyone is just waiting for her to pass on, so her son can become king. A man who is himself more interested in the perks of ruling then getting to know the people he's ruling over.


But from the start of the film when Abdul (Ali Fazal) catches the eye of Queen Victoria (Judi Dench), we see that there's lots more to the quiet, semi bored women. Abdul then becomes the trigger to encourage the Queen to once again be active in life.


Ali Fazal brings such well timed humor and almost hero worship during his scenes. For a lot of the movie he's an objected of hate and ridicule. But he see's past all of that. He doesn't listen to all the gossip and only whats to make The Queen happy. Isn't that true friendship?!


Judi Dench does an amazing job showing the audience the complex emotions and thoughts behind the women who is Queen. And while she has lived a long life, she's not done learning and being excited about life and people. She even starts learning Urdu!

Queen Victoria is an amazing women. Seems Judi Dench feels the same. This isn't the first time she's played the role of Queen Victoria. To hear what Judi thinks about playing Queen Victoria (again!), watch this featurette

"Long Live the Queen" Featurette



Throughout the movie we see how a friendship formed out of curiosity about another person can give our lives more meaning, more focus, more depth.

It's a great message and a very timely considering the worlds current social and cultural drama.



SYNOPSIS:

The extraordinary true story of an unlikely friendship in the later years of Queen Victoria's (Academy Award winner Judi Dench) remarkable rule.

When Abdul Karim (Ali Fazal), a young clerk, travels from India to participate in the Queen's Golden Jubilee, he is surprised to find favor with the Queen herself. As the Queen questions the constrictions of her long-held position, the two forge an unlikely and devoted alliance with a loyalty to one another that her household and inner circle all attempt to destroy.

As the friendship deepens, the Queen begins to see a changing world through new eyes and joyfully reclaims her humanity.

Cast: Judi Dench, Ali Fazal, Eddie Izzard, Adeel Akhtar, Tim Pigott-Smith, Olivia Williams, Fenella Woolgar, Paul Higgins, Robin Soans, Julian Wadham, Simon Callow, and Michael Gambon

VICTORIA & ABDUL - Official Trailer [HD]


Director: Stephen Frears ("The Queen," "Philomena," "Mrs. Henderson Presents")
Writer: Lee Hall ("Billy Elliot"), based on Victoria & Abdul: The True Story of the Queen's Closest Confidant by Shrabani Basu

To learn more, visit - www.victoriaandabdulfilm.com

Facebook - www.facebook.com/VictoriaAndAbdul
Twitter - www.twitter.com/VictoriaAbdul
Instagram - www.instagram.com/VictoriaAndAbdul

When I first saw the Disney*Pixar COCO trailer, one thing that stuck out to me Miguel's skeleton family (and the other land of the dead ...

When I first saw the Disney*Pixar COCO trailer, one thing that stuck out to me Miguel's skeleton family (and the other land of the dead skeletons). They looked and acted just like real people. Except you know, they had bones. LOL.

Note: Disney and Pixar invited me on this all expense paid trip for the Disney*Pixar COCO Event. While I will share different events and activities during the trip, any personal views expressed are always 100% my own.

While the skeletons looked great in the trailer, turns out animating them wasn't so easy.


As part of my #PixarCocoEvent trip to San Francisco, I had the chance to meet the team behind the animated skeletons: Daniel Arriaga (Character Art Director), Gini Santos (Supervising Animator), Byron Bashforth (Character Shading Lead) and Emron Grover, who each shared their role in bringing skeletons ALIVE.

A few behind the scene facts they shared:


This was the first time that Pixar has animated skeletons. While skeletons was some of the hardest characters they had to create, after much research they found ways to bring skeletons to life for Disney*Pixar COCO.

To get the anatomy correct, they studied skulls and skeletons bodies. They wanted to try and find the appeal and to get different characteristics for each one. They also studied how cloth and clothing would fit on a skeletons.

For the animation of the face, they didn't want the face to be scary or creepy. They wanted clear expression so the audience would understand each character emotions. Having skeletons was a challenge since there's no "face" to show the range of emotions.

A work around was to have "eye balls and eye lids". Adding shape in those area helped to amply the expressions for the character. They also added lips to have clear "mouth" shape and dialogue.

They had to come up with rules and guidelines to give the skeletons expressions, emotions and personality. They start with a "rig", a 3D model that has controls to figure out how the skeletons would walk and move, how the spine moved against the ribs, etc


The directors watched a lot of movement "tests" to see if the personality and behavior of each skeleton was coming through. They loved seeing the tests the animators would bring. It would add more ideas about each skeleton character.

The Hector skeleton walk was inspired by a character named "Ratso" (played by Dustin Hoffman) in the movie Midnight Cowboy. Ratso limp was an injury that healed over and became a part of this walk. But it symbolized his broken-ish as a character and the animators really liked that detail. So they wanted that as a part of this character.

After watching a preview of some of the film, I can honestly say they did a great job adding life to the skeletons! They are one of my favorite things about Disney*Pixar COCO.

Can't wait to see the finished film when it opens in theaters everywhere on November 22nd!

To learn more about Disney•Pixar’s COCO, visit - www.movies.disney.com/COCO

Facebook: www.facebook.com/PixarCoco
Twitter: www.twitter.com/pixarcoco
Instagram: www.instagram.com/pixarcoco

When I heard that Victoria & Abdul- a story of an unexpected friendship between Queen Victoria and an Indian clerk - was opening at The ...

When I heard that Victoria & Abdul- a story of an unexpected friendship between Queen Victoria and an Indian clerk - was opening at The Paris Theatre in New York City, I couldn't wait to go and see it.

Note: I was invited as media by Focus Features to the movie screening and High Tea experience at The Palm Court at The Plaza. However any personal views expressed are always 100% my own.



For one, I've never been to the The Paris Theatre. Can you believe it?! I walk pass there so may times! Now that I have been there, I recommend seeing a film there when you can. The theater is cozy but very stylish and a great spot to enjoy a film like Victoria & Abdul.



If you do see Victoria & Abdul there, get ready for a very cool perk.

Focus Features has partner with The Palm Court at The Plaza and The Paris Theatre to offer moviegoers regal fare inspired by Victoria & Abdul.

Guests who purchase tickets to see Victoria & Abdul at The Paris between September 22nd and October 22nd, can present their tickets at The Palm Court to enjoy the following:

• In the afternoon, those who indulge in an Afternoon Tea will receive a complimentary glass of champagne.

• In the evening, those dining for drinks or dinner will receive a complimentary Queen Victoria Rose Tea Cake as an ode to the film.

Of course I had to try this promotion out myself. After screening Victoria & Abdul, I wanted to enjoy tea and mini sandwiches along with The Queen and Abdul!


While I've been to The Plaza before for different events, I had yet to enjoy tea time at The Palm Court. Folks! If you go, be prepared to be wowed. And I'm just talking about walking into the The Palm Court. I didn't get to the tea yet!

Before sitting down for tea time I had to enjoy the scenery. There's real palm trees, along with other floral and planet life. All sitting nicely under an amazing roof. Oh so pretty. While I could gaze at the surrounding all day, it was time for tea!


Since I invited a friend to the Victoria & Abdul screening, she also joined me for tea time at The Palm Court. I'm glad she did because then we could each chose something different from the menu. My friend chose "The New York Tea" and I chose "The Classic".


Both came with tea, sandwiches, scones, and pastries. For a little bit more you can also enjoy champagne. We both decided to get the extra treat also!

Let me just say that those sandwiches and others yummy treats were SO good. SO GOOD! I swear I did more snacking then chatting with my friend. But she didn't mind since she was busy snacking and sipping her own tea. LOL


And my tea. OMGosh! I had a Rooibos Des Vahines and couldn't stop drinking it. Seriously. They give you a nice big pot of tea that will last with anyone. But I'm not ashamed to share I nearly drank it all. I really couldn't but I did try.

I was so sad to leave any of my tea behind, so I asked for a cup to carry some with me. They were very gracious to find me one, so I can take my tea with me. I'm not sure if that standard but clearly my waiter understood how much I was enjoying my tea. LOL

As I said my goodbyes to the staff at the The Palm Court, I sipped my tea and left feeling like royalty. What a great way to experience the feeling of Victoria & Abdul after seeing the film.

I highly recommend seeing the film at The Paris Theatre and then enjoying this tea time experience at The Palm Court at The Plaza!


SYNOPSIS:

The extraordinary true story of an unlikely friendship in the later years of Queen Victoria's (Academy Award winner Judi Dench) remarkable rule.

When Abdul Karim (Ali Fazal), a young clerk, travels from India to participate in the Queen's Golden Jubilee, he is surprised to find favor with the Queen herself. As the Queen questions the constrictions of her long-held position, the two forge an unlikely and devoted alliance with a loyalty to one another that her household and inner circle all attempt to destroy.

As the friendship deepens, the Queen begins to see a changing world through new eyes and joyfully reclaims her humanity.

Cast: Judi Dench, Ali Fazal, Eddie Izzard, Adeel Akhtar, Tim Pigott-Smith, Olivia Williams, Fenella Woolgar, Paul Higgins, Robin Soans, Julian Wadham, Simon Callow, and Michael Gambon

VICTORIA & ABDUL - Official Trailer [HD]


Director: Stephen Frears ("The Queen," "Philomena," "Mrs. Henderson Presents")
Writer: Lee Hall ("Billy Elliot"), based on Victoria & Abdul: The True Story of the Queen's Closest Confidant by Shrabani Basu

To learn more, visit - www.victoriaandabdulfilm.com

Facebook - www.facebook.com/VictoriaAndAbdul
Twitter - www.twitter.com/VictoriaAbdul
Instagram - www.instagram.com/VictoriaAndAbdul