Interview with Director of Rio 2, Carlos Saldanha

Q: Why did you decide to set the film in the Amazon?
A: “I didn’t want to repeat myself. That is why I decided to go for a place that’s very far from Rio, and in a way, very foreign, even to Brazilians. Amazingly enough, the Amazon is not very well known by our own people, so it's a mystery for Brazilians as much as it is for everyone else. I was born in Brazil; I go back all the time, but I had never been to the Amazon, until I decided to make a movie about it. I went there and I was amazed by how different it was from my perception. It's unique.”

Q: What is the starting point of RIO 2?
A: “The story is a continuation of the first one, RIO, but it’s been expanded, so now Blu and Jewel have a family and they have to decide, based on their individual personalities, the best way to deal with the kids. Blu is more domesticated; Jewel is more wild. When they find that there are more of their species out in the Amazon, they have a family meeting, and they decide to go on a journey to find out if there really are more birds like them. It is a family trip. When they get there, to their surprise they discover there are other birds of their kind, who happen to be family. It is her family though, not his and that creates the conflict between the two of them.”

Q: How does Blu face these challenges, including the fact that Jewel’s father isn't exactly enamored with him?
A: “Because of the rejection by Jewel's father, he has to work extra hard to try to fit in. So the story is all about Blu coming back to reclaim his family and by doing so, he becomes part of the bigger family. In essence that's the main drive of the story. Parallel to that, there are stories that feed into the main story. Nigel is going after him for revenge for example.”

Q: What is it about Anne Hathaway and Jesse Eisenberg that make them so well suited to these characters?
A: “Anne and Jesse are gems and have been wonderful throughout this whole process. Blu would not be Blu without Jesse. That was one of the hardest casting decisions we had to make originally with the first film, because I couldn't find the perfect voice, the perfect attitude or the perfect personality for Blu. But when Jesse came to his first session with us, we knew instantly that he was Blu. It was some kind of magic that happened. He'd start talking and I would see Blu through his voice. He's so smart, so professional and dedicated that he made the character come to life. And his collaboration through the process was incredible. The first movie was about discovering and working together. Now he has a template, so when he came in for RIO 2, he was totally engaged and he continued to be outstanding. He also had new challenges, because Blu is a little different as he tries to become more proactive in trying to get his family back. In a way, he becomes a bit of an action hero. Jesse really puts his heart and soul into the character.”

Q: What about Anne Hathaway?
A: “The same thing applies to Anne. She's so professional. She's in love with the character and she completely embodies the character. She asks questions and contributes, which I love. She will say, 'as a mother, I would be angry right now.' Or she will say: 'I need to be more understanding in this moment.' She understands the character, and she was thrilled about Jewel's evolution.”

Q: Can you talk about Nigel’s (Jemaine Clement) role in the film?
A: “I always wanted to do more with him in the first movie, I always felt that Nigel was super endearing and super interesting, but I didn't have enough time in the story. So when I began thinking about the sequel, we started to plan ahead for him to have a bigger role. I love villains. They are strong or funny, and in our case, I think they add to the story quite a bit.”

Q: Can you explain a little about the casting process with the supporting roles?
A: “Every time we start to develop the characters, we create a profile for them, so we try to discover their personality. We work with a casting director in LA, and we brainstorm a lot. We grab voices from their previous movies or interviews that they've done and we get audio clips, so we can put the voice against the character, and we see which one matches. For example, with Eduardo (Andy Garcia), I had to pit him against Blu and Jewel and see which voice worked with each character, so it's a long process. It's very meticulous, because we need to make sure that the movie feels right.”

Q: How important is the musical dimension of the film?
A: “It is central and about the same as the last one, with the same number of musical set pieces. We wanted to look at different musical flavors, sounds and exciting new beats. I think the music is more integrated into the plot line than in the first one and we have a lot more original music.”

Q: Why did you decide to make a sequel?
A: “I have done a lot of sequels, going all the way back to ICE AGE When I did the first ICE AGE a decade ago, we had no idea we would do a second one. The movie ended up being a huge success, and we had to say to ourselves: 'okay people want more, so let’s tell another story.' We had to really work hard on that sequel and it took a long time to get there, because we were caught off guard. After that, we learned our lesson (laughs). We understood that if the audience likes the story and characters and wants to see more, you have think early on about how to continue the story. Not that you plan a sequel, when I make a movie, I just want to work on the one I am doing. RIO was a success of course, everybody liked it and once it came out, we took a break. But I was already starting to think about a second film, although nothing was set in stone until they said, 'let's find a way to do a sequel.' But by that time, it wasn't a surprise and it just came naturally. We knew that there were kids in the new story and we continued to think about their adventure and the future of the birds and what we could do with them.”

Q: What is the secret of a strong sequel?
A: “The rule is that you only have a sequel if your first one is successful and it's always good to go into a sequel knowing that you love the characters. But the tough side of it is that I always create a movie to be unique. With a film like RIO you have large shoes to fill, so the pressure is on. But it's fun.”

Q: Your films all have wonderful energy. You always seem so enthusiastic – never jaded. How do you keep your films fresh?
A: “Hard work (laughs), it doesn't come easily, I have to say. It's not an easy task. Sometimes you have an idea and you trust your gut instinct, and you're like, 'okay guys. This is a good idea. This is going to be fun.' And then you get everybody involved and it blossoms into something unique but sometimes we get stuck. We are always finding a way to follow our instincts and follow our heart. That is the toughest part of my job, because sometimes my gut instinct gets diluted by a lot of information. Therefore, you have to make sure that you're always focused. Sometimes you make mistakes. Sometimes you hit it right, perfectly.”

Q: How much is it about trusting your team and staying open?
A: “You have to keep your channels open and filter through all the ideas. I think the success of these movies lies in the fact that it’s a collaborative effort with a lot of amazing minds. I would love to say that I did everything, but it’s not the case. You look at the drawings from our artists, or the sculptures or the animation and you get completely blown away. If somebody comes in with a better idea than I had, it’s like, ‘you’re in.’ That idea is in the movie.”

Q: Was it challenging animating the Amazon?
A: “It was challenging because the Amazon is vast. I studied different clusters and combined them into our fictitious Amazon. I created my own Amazon. If you’ve been there you will recognize the color of the water, the animals and some of the trees. We got a cluster of maybe five or six different trees from the Amazon, and tried to build them. So we created a forest.”

Q: Is there an environmental theme in the story?
A: “There is a warning about the environment. The Amazon, like a lot of ecosystems around the world is suffering, so the story is about protecting the home of the birds. The overall concern is that now they have found more birds, how are we to protect them? Linda (Leslie Mann) and Tulio (Rodrigo Santoro) were the ones protecting the birds in RIO. They continue to protect the birds, but on a bigger scale. The main story centers on the birds and how they interact with the new family, but there are the external perils as well.”

Q: When you make a movie, do you have a good idea which characters will win the hearts of the audience? Or are there sometimes surprises?
A: “When you start making a movie, you never know which will be the break out characters, the stars of the movie. That happened to us with Scrat (the saber toothed squirrel in ICE AGE.) We didn’t know that Scrat was going to be a superstar. Scrat doesn’t diminish the central ICE AGE characters, Manny, Sid and Diego. And I think same thing is true here. If Nigel and Gabi eventually become superstars, that will be great. But I don't think they would take the place of Blu and Jewel. I have to say Nigel is super funny in this film (laughs).”

Q: Do you have a favorite scene, anything that really stands out?
A: “I love the moment that Jewel is reintroduced to her family. There's a nice musical number that is quite special and very vibrant that we call 'The Reunion Moment.' It is hard to say which are favorites though, because it's like your children, you love them all equally.”

Q: What tone do you go for in a family film like this?
A: “We set out to create a movie we enjoy. If you walk around the animation department, you see that our animators almost live in a little playground with their toys. They all have their sandbox. Even though the main target audience is kids, it is for parents too. I have kids and when I take them to movies, I want to enjoy them as well. I want to be entertained. I hope I have created a movie that parents will enjoy as much as kids. At Blue Sky we are kids at heart, so we create a movie for ourselves.”