The Force Goes Global!

Star Wars: Visions Vol. 2 offers an international ensemble of animated excellence on Disney+.

By Jeff Spry

With its makers untethered by canonical restrictions, Lucasfilm and Disney+’s exhilarating anthology series Star Wars: Visions is back for a second season of bite-sized sci-fi films from a galaxy far, far away.

Unlike Star Wars: Visions’ Emmy-nominated debut season in 2021, which was crafted by a collection of Japanese anime masters, this next volume of new Star Wars shorts hails from an eclectic assembly of nine animation studios chosen from around the planet.

Lucasfilm’s James Waugh (Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures) is again on board as executive producer for Star Wars: Visions Vol. 2, alongside producers Jacqui Lopez and Josh Rimes. Waugh and his team methodically selected these nine Star Wars-inspired shorts to provide a truly international canvas for this sophomore season. Each animated gem offers unique cultural perspectives, specific styles and intriguing interpretations extracted from the diverse worldbuilding that forms the foundation of Star Wars mythology.

Putting the Best Visuals Forward

“It’s such a spectacle of different animated styles and so many fascinating talents at play,” says Waugh. “In many ways, seeing it come together has been a dream come true. I have to give Kathy Kennedy a lot of credit for that, because we loved the expressions of anime at the time, but it was still a matter of what’s the best way to do it. She really encouraged us to take swings, to try different ways to add animation and explore the IP, and that’s what kicked it off originally.”

Studios participating in Visions Vol. 2 include: El Guiri (Spain), Cartoon Saloon (Ireland), PunkRobot (Chile), Aardman (United Kingdom), Studio Mir (South Korea), Studio La Cachette (France), 88 Pictures (India), D’ART Shtajio (Japan) and Triggerfish (South Africa).

For the second outing, Waugh and his Lucasfilm co-producers got to a place where the unique cultural vision of Japanese filmmakers and animators was something that inspired them all.

“The other thing we picked up was how that perspective of their culture helped shape the stories they tell, and how they approach Star Wars specifically,” he notes. “We saw Visions as a framework where we could explore different expressions of Star Wars and do things you wouldn’t normally think of with Star Wars. The thing that was really powerful to us with the first volume was that these unique perspectives opened new doors to us that we weren’t thinking of.

“With the rise of streamers, there’s been such a renaissance in the animation space. There are so many incredible animation studios across the world that are doing great work, and we realized that maybe we can expand this canvas even broader. Let’s go to the different regions and see how people interpret Star Wars through their own cultural lens.”

Visions always had bold ambitions to eventually expand beyond anime, and Waugh was fortunate enough to entice a number of admired studios like Aardman, Cartoon Saloon, Triggerfish and PunkRobot, who were all thrilled to hop on this crazy Lucasfilm ride.

“Part of the role of a good producer in this position is that you have to be aware of what’s happening in the industry,” he adds. “You have to be aware of the interesting talent and voices out there. Great work inspires more great work, so we’re always watching everything. Many of these studios we were already huge fans of and had a list of animators we wanted to approach.”

Waugh’s creative crew hoped to obtain a proper balance of storied studios involved, like an Aardman or Cartoon Saloon with all their Academy Award nominations, but they also wanted to shine a spotlight on up-and-coming talent from varied territories to add to the colorful mix.

“The good thing about Lucasfilm in particular is that the studio people are really passionate about the content we make and the medium we work in,” says Waugh. “People came in and had pitches and the next phase was figuring out what’s the best Star Wars story out of these pitches. In our heart, despite all the big spectacle and effects and battles, Star Wars is at its best when it’s about people, their lives and changes, and that’s what we were looking for with all the studios.”

El Guiri’s Rodrigo Blaas is one of the lucky few joining this consortium of compelling cartoons. The Emmy-winning director is best known of his work with Guillermo del Toro on Netflix’s acclaimed animated series Trollhunters and Pixar projects such as Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille and WALL•E, and the Oscar-nominated short La Luna. In 2021, Blaas formed El Guiri Stu- dios with Cecile Hokes. Now, the veteran animator is diving into the Dark Side with his new Visions Vol. 2 segment, which is simply titled Sith

“The initial concept I had was, ‘What if the Force, that’s used for fighting, is used to create art?’” Blaas tells Animation Magazine. “That’s the basic idea of the Sith short. I wanted to push the boundaries of what CG animation can look like. I think animation is in a great creative explosion of different styles and I love what’s happening with other projects out there. We’re definitely pushing different looks that are very linked to the storytelling.”

One expression of Blaas’ story was an incident occurring right after the pandemic where he and his nine-year-old daughter were going outside and she insisted on wearing her flip-flops.

“As a father I’m very strict and was telling her, ‘No, we’re going to go with sneakers.’ She looked at me and told me no, she’s going with her flipflops. In that glance, I saw her grow up. That first challenge I saw in her eyes was a little bit of an inspiration for what our character, Lola, went through in the short. It’s a basic idea of an apprentice Sith and a master that’s looking for her.”

Blaas points out that the essence of color is a major component of Star Wars: Visions and an important driver of the storytelling process in Sith

Viva España!

“We wanted to explore influences from the abstract painters like Miró and Picasso and abstract expressionism in the United States by artists Sam Francis and Joan Mitchell,” he explains. “Rooty Toot Toot was another inspiration for me and how to translate those stylistic choices that they made on those old UPA shorts into CG. It’s connecting with many visual cues and references to the culture of Spain and that was important because we were given free rein.”

What connects everything together for Blaas is a clear and simple mythology that’s helped Star Wars thrive and endure over the decades.

“It’s a fertile mythology that you can bring different types of storytelling and influences from different cultures to,” he says. “Because I was a 10-year-old kid who grew up with Star Wars, I could fill a design bucket list of things I thought of. I wanted to design and create an original lightsaber or speeder, my version of the X-wing or a droid. We were able to create all those things, but make it live in a Star Wars world. Not canon, but at least be a part of cues that the audience and the fanbase will get some thread of connection to the mythology of Star Wars.” ◆

Star Wars: Visions Vol. 2 arrives exclusively on Disney+ on May 4 (Star Wars Day).