Squirrel-loving Dug is back in a Disney+ Original Series of new Pixar shorts titled Dug Days. Dug won the hearts of audiences back in the 2009 film Up, which follows Carl, an elderly man who ties thousands of balloons to his roof in order to preserve the home he once shared with his late wife Ellie from real estate developers. He unknowingly takes Junior Wilderness Explorer Russell on his journey to Paradise Falls, a dream destination for Ellie, and along the way they meet Dug, a kind-hearted golden retriever who has the ability to communicate with humans thanks to his high-tech translating collar. Filled with thrilling adventures and humor, Up quickly became an animated classic. Now, fans will get to see Dug and Carl continue their humorous misadventures in a suburban neighborhood setting. Voice of Dug, Bob Peterson, writes and directs a series of five new shorts that follow Dug and Carl as they set out to conquer backyard adventures and learn how to take care of each other.

The five shorts are set at Dug and Carl’s new home, with each story told from Dug’s perspective. Fans get the chance to explore facets of dog behaviors as Dug learns to identify his feelings and adjust to his new life with Carl. Carl is also learning to take on new adventures while also making time for his new woodworking hobby. Every episode is filled with fun-loving moments between a man and his dog.

Last week, we got to screen all five of the new Dug Days shorts and virtually sit down with director Bob Peterson and producer Kim Collins to discuss what goes on behind the scenes.

Disney and Pixar have a long history of "human and dog" shorts, all the way back to Mickey and Pluto. What is it like as animators to continue that legacy?

KIM COLLINS: I think what’s really cool about streaming, and Disney+ in particular, is it's a whole new way to share those shorts, so you feel you can continue that tradition.

BOB PETERSON: Pluto is my all-time favorite, then you have Lady and the Tramp. Dug kind of fits in the middle. There's no accident that dogs make their way into our entertainment, because they're so connected to us — they’re family members — and I feel honored to be the voice of a dog. We’re thrilled that we can put a dog on screen.

Which Dug Days episode is your favorite?

PETERSON: For me, there’s two favorites: the fireworks episode, called “Flowers,” and my favorite moment of this series is at the very end of the science episode where Carl and Dug are in his front room and Carl is describing what it's like to have love for your pet — your dog protects you, and gets you through your day, and is your best friend, and that’s my favorite moment in all [of] these.

COLLINS: I love them all. They're all very different in tone, but going into it, the science episode was my favorite. The flowers episode about the fireworks quickly became my favorite as it went through production because people brought so many amazing ideas. 

What are the key messages that you would like fans to take away?

PETERSON: I think the main themes are relationships with your pets, and how much they mean to you and how much you mean to them. Also what's going on inside your pet’s head — they react to things and they have emotions. Take time to think through what’s happening inside your dog’s or cat's head, because it is complicated and wonderful.

Bob, you’ve done a lot of voice acting, but this is the first time you’ve directed yourself in a leading role. How was that creative process?

PETERSON: I'm very hard on myself. It's important when you're performing to gather others, because sometimes you can't hear the performance in your head. I’ll think I was great and then others will say, “I think there’s more there.” I’ve done [voice acting] for so long now for so many things, [so] I generally have a pretty good sense of what’s working or not, but it took me a while this time — since it's been 10 years — to get back into that voice and all that dog talk. It clicked a couple weeks in, but I have to have those external ears listening.

Do your dogs have any of the fear of fireworks that inspired that story in Dug Days?

PETERSON: My dog had real trouble with that. We literally had to bring the dog in and close its ears. This one was about dogs' fears, and I didn't want to do it if we didn't solve the problem in the end. Dug is just trying to save Carl through this whole thing, but yes, my dog did have these issues and that’s what inspired this. I'm so glad that Dug and Carl found a way to solve this issue.

Keep an eye out for these Dug Days Easter Eggs that Peterson and Collins noted:

• Carl and Dug’s new address, 333, is the same as Bob’s grandmother's house from his childhood.
• The ferris wheel in the flowers episode is from Toy Story 4, a project that Collins worked on prior to joining Dug Days.
• Carl’s front-room shelf is home to a number of Easter eggs. The ceramic frog represents Carl’s nature alarm clock from Up, and the baseball cap on the coat rack has the initials “JR” in honor of Up producer Jonas Rivera. 

From puppies to… SQUIRREL! Peterson had plenty of inspiration for Dug's upcoming adventures. “Everything is new and he’s excited about all of it,” says Peterson. “But the smallest things can distract Dug, never mind an actual squirrel.”

You can catch Dug Days now streaming exclusively on Disney+.

For more Disney+ news and updates, follow @DisneyPlus on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 

Among the things we are most excited about for Pixar Pier at Disney California Adventure is the food, and it turns out our wait is partially over, because as of today one of those delectable food establishments is now open!

That’s right: Adorable Snowman Frosted Treats (named after Monsters, Inc.’s least abominable monster), is now open at Disney California Adventure! Here are some of the tasty frozen treats you’ll be able to get there:

Chocolate, Vanilla, or Non-dairy Lemon Soft Serve

We have a feeling these are going to taste especially delicious on summer days. These soft serve flavors can be served in a cup or a cone, depending on what you feel like.

Pixar Pier Parfait

This parfait will layer non-dairy lemon soft serve and blue raspberry frozen beverage to create a delicious, colorful and Instagram-ready treat. But wait! There’s more …

It’s Snow Capped Lemon Soft Serve

What you see above is a non-dairy lemon soft serve topped with a white chocolate “snow-cap,” and we can’t wait to try it!

Fountain Soda and Soft Serve Floats

Perfect for when you want a frozen treat on your way to the next attraction.

Pixar Pier officially opens at Disney California Adventure at Disneyland Resort this June, but you can bet we are already on our way to get ourselves some sweet goodies from Adorable Snowman Frosted Treats! 

With all of the amazing, constantly increasing offerings on Disney+, it can be hard to decide what to watch next. Well, let this article be your guide! In the United States, February means Black History Month, and Disney+ has a Celebrate Black Stories collection that’s filled with some of the best content Disney+ has to offer. Spotlighting Black voices, culture, excellence, and joy through incredible storytelling, there’s a variety of films, series, and shorts available to stream on Disney+ that will satisfy any vibe you’re looking for.

Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur

Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur follows the adventures of 13-year-old super-genius Lunella Lafayette and her giant T. Rex, Devil Dinosaur, as they work together to protect New York City’s Lower East Side from danger. Based on the popular Marvel comics, Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur comes to Disney Channel on February 10 and starts streaming on Disney+ on February 15.

The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder

All episodes of the second season of The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder are now streaming on Disney+, and it’s not a moment too soon. Filled with more laugh-out-loud funny, authentic, and heartfelt moments from Penny Proud, Suga Mama, and the rest of the Proud family, the series also features exciting new guest appearances from Gabrielle Union, Normani, Chance the Rapper, Leslie Odom Jr., and much, much more.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

The highly anticipated sequel to 2018’s Black Panther, Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever sees Wakanda and its inhabitants — including Shuri, Queen Ramonda, Okoye, and M’Baku — dealing with the fallout of Wakanda’s emergence as a world power and the loss of their beloved leader, King T’Challa. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is now streaming on Disney+.

“Twenty Something”

Coming in at seven minutes, Pixar’s SparkShort “Twenty Something,” is the perfect short watch for when you have just a brief window available. Directed by Aphton Corbin (who previously served as a story artist on Pixar’s Soul), “Twenty Something” tells the story of Gia’s twenty-first birthday and the imposter syndrome that can come with that period of early adulthood — relatable whether you’ve already gone through that stage or if it’s yet to come. 

Rise

The Disney+ Original movie Rise tells the unforgettable story of the Antetokounmpo brothers, who in 2021 became the first trio of brothers to each win an NBA championship. Emigrating from Nigeria to Greece, the Antetokounmpo family was undocumented and living with the fear of deportation while Giannis, Thanasis, and Kostas learned to play basketball and worked hard to become world-class athletes. Giannis and Thanasis are played by real-life brothers Uche and Ral Agada in this heartwarming film.

Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur begins airing first on Disney Channel on February 10, then starts streaming on Disney+ February 15. Everything else is now streaming on Disney+!

We’re feeling all the best emotions right now because word is that next year, an Inside Out-inspired ride is coming to Pixar Pier in Disney California Adventure!

As if we didn’t already have enough reasons to visit Pixar Pier, the Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind is making its grand debut in 2019! The attraction will be located within the Inside Out Headquarters on the western end of the pier. Take a look at this captivating concept art:

Currently crying tears of joy. 2019 is going to be a wild, emotional ride at Disney California Adventure. But Pixar Pier opens tomorrow so in the meantime, we’ll be having a blast experiencing the Incredicoaster, trying the adorable Pixar-themed Disney Parks treats and delicious food at Lamplight Lounge, and so much more!

In the days leading up to Coco’s release in theaters, we learned a lot about the research trips that the Disney•Pixar filmmakers went on to inspire the story and worlds of the film.

Well, I am here to tell you that dreams do come true, because last week I was lucky enough to accompany Coco co-director Adrian Molina and the film’s Layout and Animation Manager Jesus Martinez on a trip to Oaxaca, following in the footsteps that Adrian and others took in previous years to research the film and learn about Día de Muertos.

“Not only is [Coco] based in a real place, in Mexico, but it’s based in real traditions, so we knew it was very important to do the research, to get every detail recorded, so that when we get back to Pixar and we start deciding what is this town going to look like, what is this grandmother going to wear, what kind of dancing and music are they going to listen to, it can all come from an informed place,” said Molina. 

One Coco character that has these research trips to thank is Dante, who Molina told us “was inspired by seeing a lot of really adorable street dogs and a lot of really beautiful Xolo dogs on our trips. And we thought, well if there’s going to be a dog that is going to accompany Miguel, the national dog of Mexico is a great one. And then in a lot of the history we learned that the Xolo dog was actually believed to be a guide into the land of their ancestors. [It was] a perfect match.”

What came to pass on our trip to Oaxaca was a whirlwind tour of many of the beautiful and culturally rich locations (and people) that inspired Coco, and a trip that I will always remember. Read further to learn about how these places helped inspire both Miguel’s town of Santa Cecilia as well as the land of their ancestors.

JACOBO AND MARIA ANGELES’ ALEBRIJE WORKSHOP

Our first stop was the alebrije workshop of artists Jacobo and Maria Angeles, which Coco filmmakers visited as early as 2011. For Jesus Martinez, who was not on the research trips, this was a great experience.

I was probably working on Inside Out when they were doing the research trip for Coco … I would see the pictures and the references, because a lot of animators would use these reference trips for their own investigative purposes, for their shots, and I was jealous. To be here now is pretty cool.

The workshop employs many people in the neighborhood, all who are stationed at different areas of expertise throughout the workshop, be that carving, painting, giving tours, or others.

For the filmmakers, this shop and everything they learned there convinced them to include alebrijes in the film as the spiritual guides in the Land of the Dead.

“We always wanted alebrijes to be seen as something spiritual, because for us there is a lot of respect for our animal protectors,” said Jacobo Angeles.

Without the research trip, this vibrant element of the movie might not have been included. Said Molina, “The benefit for us is that we get to spend the time to live in this world, to soak up all of these elements, and to really allow that to inspire the story. That’s why it’s important to do research really early on, because when the story is still trying to find its legs, sometimes a trip to an alebrije workshop can inspire you to create an entire class of being in the land of their ancestors. You really want to let yourself be open and let the research influence the storytelling.”

While there, we even got to meet the woman who inspired Miguel’s Abuela! She happily posed for photos with us and even got into character!

SHOEMAKER’S WORKSHOP

One of the things we really wanted to know was a real chicken and the egg question: What came first—the idea to have Miguel’s family run a shoe workshop, or a visit to a real-life shoemaker’s workshop? Molina answered that one for us:

They had the idea for the shoe shop first. I think they wanted something that was boring to a 12-year old, and shoe shop was high on that list. When we went to the shoe shop, there was a 14-year-old intern who was working there. His job was literally to take strips of leather, and then stain them, and put them in a pile. The other guy’s job was to collect all the dried glue and put it in a pot.

It turns out the filmmakers were spot on with that one. While Miguel may not be super into the profession, I was! If we had been there longer, I would have ordered a pair of custom-made shoes for myself.

The shoemaker Marco Antonio Vera Santiago’s family was so warm and inviting, offering us apple soda and delicious homemade baked goods, which we couldn’t help but scarf down. This kind of familial hospitality was found everywhere we went.

“That warmth and that openness really was inspirational for a lot of the scenes in the film where Miguel is learning about his own traditions, and Abuelita is transmitting the stories of her family to her children and her grandchildren,” said Molina. “All of that was inspired by the experiences and the families and the people that we met coming to places like Oaxaca and also Michoacan and Mexico City, that really made it easy to be able to create a family that you fall in love with.”

PAPEL PICADO WORKSHOP

The opening sequence of the film tells the story of Miguel’s ancestry through the colorful Mexican art of papel picado.

“We used to have a different opening to the film but at a certain point we really wanted to get into Miguel’s voice and have Miguel tell the story of his family history, but because he doesn’t know a lot of the actors—he’s never met Mama Imelda, he’s never met this walkaway musician—we wanted to tell it in a way that kept all of these people a little bit of a mystery, people who he had only heard of in stories,” Molina told us.

That’s reflected in the storytelling of papel picado, these paper flags that are very beautiful storytelling images. We thought, what better way to be able to seat you in the world of Mexico and seat you in the world of this tradition of telling stories than to have Miguel tell the story of his family in papel picado? And it was something you can only do in animation, so we loved that aspect of it too.

At Artesanias Sánchez, the home studio of Marco Antonio Sánchez Martinez and Margarita Sánchez Martinez, we all got to give papel picado-making a shot, and let me tell you, it’s not easy! You have to carefully hammer custom-made instruments into the paper with enough strength to make a clean break.

The Martinez family, to this day, has a framed thank you letter from the Pixar team hanging up in their studio.

MONTE ALBÁN

Monte Albán is one of the many Mesoamerican sites that inspired the vertical structure of the land of their ancestors in Coco.

Molina recalled: 

In the research process, we really want to be flexible with the story, and for a lot of the research to inspire what it can inspire. One of the things that we didn’t know when we were going into making the film is, what is the land of their ancestors going to look like? We needed to create a logic to building this world and one of the things that we thought felt like it was of a piece with the tradition and the beliefs was that this is a place where all different generations have come together in the same area. We wanted to build it like a family tree, up from the roots of Mesoamerican, ancient civilization.

This is where structures like the ones pictured above come into play. “Places like Monte Albán, in the stone work reflect this time and past, and more modern buildings are built up out of it,” said Molina. “Coming here we took a lot of photographs and did a lot of research in figuring out how this environment can put Miguel and Hector in a place where it feels like it has a history, and feels like it comes from a real place.”

Overall, visiting these sights and seeing first-hand how they inspired the filmmakers (not to mention eating the wonderful food of Oaxaca and meeting the incredible people!) truly showed me the importance of doing research to make sure that a story feels true to its roots.

The emotional highlight of the trip, for me, and proof of the deep resonance of the film in Mexico, came at our very last dinner. Our chef’s nephew, who was no older than eight years old, learned that some of the people responsible for Coco would be there, so his parents drove him from four hours away just to get the chance to meet them. As it turns out, this boy was not only moved to tears halfway through his first viewing of Coco (though he could not explain why), he had also seen the film fifteen times!

The look on his face as Adrian Molina drew a sketch of Miguel and Dante for him is something I won’t soon forget, and speaks to the power of a film that was made with such respect to the people it was representing. I am so grateful to have experienced it.

Coco is now available on Digital, Movies Anywhere, and Blu-ray!

Summer can’t come fast enough! Today, Pixar premiered its first trailer for their brand-new movie Luca, and we’re already excited. The new trailer showcases jaw-droppingly gorgeous Italian landscapes, some mouthwatering food, and a few peeks at an exciting adventure to come!

Luca is the coming-of-age story of two young sea monsters named Luca (Jacob Tremblay) and Alberto (Jack Dylan Grazer) who are able to appear human outside water. The two boys experience a life-changing summer, spending time in a village on the Italian Riviera. This setting and much of the initial inspiration behind the film was very personal to Italian-born director Enrico Casarosa. With regards to how this film will showcase his Italian culture, Casarosa explains, “The wonderful opportunity we have is that we have these strange outsiders, these two little boys who kind of go and discover this town — so we have the perfect way to kind of discover this culture.” However, friendship is really what’s driving the heart of the film. Casarosa shared, “The [personal] backstory is really growing up and finding an amazing friend. When I was 11, I was shy, timid, and a little bit sheltered, and I found this friend who was the opposite of me. It got me out of my comfort zone.”

Having previously directed the Academy Award–winning Pixar short “La Luna,” Casarosa is no stranger to incorporating elements of his life into his work. While “La Luna” was inspired by his relationship with his father and his grandfather, Luca aims to explore friendship, especially within the context of “opposites attracting and finding our own identities.”

In this film, the character of Luca represents some of Casarosa’s personal journey, and he paid homage to his real-life friend by naming the character of Alberto after him! For Casarosa, this movie gave him the chance to “to talk about friendships and the friendships that help us find ourselves.”

Of course, the cast of Luca couldn’t be more excited to bring this story to life. With talent like Jacob Tremblay, Jack Dylan Grazer, Emma Berman, Maya Rudolph, Marco Baricelli, and Jim Gaffigan, you can’t go wrong! Jacob Tremblay, who voices Luca himself, was especially enthused to be joining the cast of a Pixar movie, having grown up with the Cars movies as some of his Pixar favorites. He looks forward to when kids will eventually end up playing with Luca toys the way he did with Lightning McQueen as a toddler. “That’s what I’m really excited for — for kids to have the same experience that I did when I was younger.”

In discussing his character, Tremblay elaborates, “When you watch this movie, Luca goes on an emotional rollercoaster and you get to see how he grows as a person. He starts as this timid character, but he really wants to explore the world and can’t because he’s a sea monster.”

So, where did the sea monster inspiration come from? Casarosa explains, “I always loved the idea of old maps and the crazy, strange creatures we humans kind of imagine. The lure of the unknown and the fear of it are two of the things that came together in this story.”

Check out the trailer for Disney and Pixar’s Luca here:

For more updates on Luca, follow @PixarLuca on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Luca will premiere in Summer 2021.