Shake your tail feathers with Blu

The Ice Age series director is back to melt your heart with an animated film that follows an endangered macaw through Brazil as he tries to save his species. Carlos Saldanha talks about the city he grew up in and doing the Samba at Carnival

What was your inspiration for Rio?
The passion for my city. Rio is where I grew up. It's a great backdrop and a photogenic place to shoot, with a vibrant cultural energy that goes well with animation.

Tell us about Blu.
I always liked birds, and I wanted to bring in someone coming to Rio with a tourist's eye. So the main character of Blu, a rare macaw who's been smuggled out of Brazil and hasu00a0 never been to Brazil since leaving the nest. That way, the audience gets to discover Rio for the first time.

How did you recreate the city authentically in animation?
I had to make it as authentic as possible with no excuse for mistakes. I could take some creative liberties, but the essence of Rio needed to be captured, with the landmarks. I drew a map for the animators. They built a digital city that's very close to Rio.u00a0

Whatu00a0 is the essence of Rio?
Because it's a beach town, you always have a carefree feeling. But it's a big cityu00a0 too. It's almost like planting New York in a beach town. Only a few cities in the world have that combination of an urban city so close to nature. That is the essence of Rio: the concrete jungle meets the real jungle.

The climax of the movie unfolds at theu00a0 Carnival?
Carnival is less a religious holiday and more about getting the city to do the Samba. While shooting, we bought costumes and went with one of the Samba schools. It was fantastic!

Rio is playing in theatres in English and Hindi.

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