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A SPARK STORY

"The People Behind the Story"

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What You Need To Know:

A SPARK STORY is a new documentary movie on Disney+ about the creative process behind Disney’s SparkShorts movies. The documentary focuses on two Pixar Animation employees, Aphton Corbin and Louis Gonzales, as they try to complete a SparkShort in the span of six months. The movie highlights their different approaches to story, animation and directing. The two directors work to tell deeply personal stories in a way that appeals to the broadest audiences. They quickly realize it’s no easy feat, but they persevere in seeing their stories realized on the screen.

A SPARK STORY features interviews with Corbin and Gonzales, Pixar CEO Pete Doctor, and various animators and directors at Pixar. It’s an engaging, behind-the-scenes look into how Pixar creates compelling, diverse, entertaining movies. However, it begins to feel disjointed with a constant shift of focus when it keeps jumping back and forth between various topics. A SPARK STORY has some positive moral, pro-family, capitalist content. However, it contains politically correct content about diversity, including a specific short called OUT, about a homosexual couple. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution for A SPARK STORY.

Content:

(BB, CapCap, PCPC, Ho, S, L, A, M):

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:
Strong moral worldview stresses creativity, capitalism and family (for example, one man talks about how he gave up advancing in his career because he wanted to spend time with his children overall), mitigated by some politically correct content about diversity, which includes several brief snippets from a short feature about a same-sex couple

Foul Language:
Two uses of d*mn

Violence:
No violence

Sex:
No explicit sex, but an animated homosexual couple kiss

Nudity:
No nudity

Alcohol Use:
One of the shorts features a cocktail bar, with a menu and customers holding drinks

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:
No smoking or drug use; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:
While the two short films and their directors are supposed to complement one another, the documentary begins to feel disjointed when one interviewee talks about diversity and inclusivity, and the other doesn’t.

More Detail:

A SPARK STORY is a new documentary on Disney+ about the creative process behind Disney’s SparkShorts movies and focuses on two Pixar Animation employees as they try to complete a SparkShort in the span of six months. A SPARK STORY ends up being extremely interesting, with some pro-family content, but it contains politically correct content about diversity, with a same-sex coupe kissing in an animated scene, so extreme caution is advised.

Aphton Corbin and Louis Gonzales receive news that they have been selected for Pixar’s SparkShorts program, which offers employees the opportunity to direct their own short movie. While Corbin is relatively new to the company, Gonzales has worked at Pixar for 20 years.

The documentary highlights their different approaches to story, animation and directing. Corbin and Gonzales run into various obstacles with only six months to complete their movies. They must navigate these issues to see their ideas come to fruition on the screen.

As their ideas begin to take shape, their work becomes more collaborative. Meanwhile, seasoned directors and animators help Corbin and Gonzales think through how to best tell their stories in new and exciting ways while also keeping the Pixar brand.

Each person brings a unique perspective to the filmmaking genre of animation, offering insights into their families, their childhoods and upbringing, as well as their cultures. While the documentary offers a compelling look into the creative process of Corbin and Gonzales and the overarching brand of Pixar, it begins to feel disjointed with a constant shift of focus. At points, the documentary is talking about the animation process and the artist’s inspiration, which will then abruptly change to why Pixar is exploring more inclusive stories. In the end, the constant back and forth, and politically correct language, becomes a distraction from the touching, inspiring personal stories of Corbin and Gonzales.

A SPARK STORY features interviews with Corbin and Gonzales, Pixar CEO Pete Doctor, and various animators and directors at Pixar. It’s an engaging, behind-the-scenes look into how Pixar creates compelling, diverse, entertaining movies. It also has some pro-family, capitalist content. However, it contains some politically correct content about diversity, including a specific short called OUT, about a homosexual couple. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution.

The documentary features interviews with Corbin and Gonzales, Pixar CEO Pete Doctor, and various animators and directors at Pixar. A SPARK STORY contains some light political correct content and features a specific short called OUT, about a homosexual couple. This particular short is featured several times throughout the documentary. A SPARK STORY is an engaging, behind-the-scenes look into how Pixar creates compelling, diverse, entertaining movies, but viewers should exercise strong caution.