Far From the Tree, the brand new animated short that debuted along with Disney’s Encanto, packs quite the emotional punch. Taking inspiration from the idiom “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” this story takes place on an idyllic beach in the Pacific Northwest where a raccoon mother struggles to keep her curious and precocious child safe from the dangers that lurk around every corner. An honest and beautiful metaphor about the struggles of parenthood, the short is a call to not slip into old patterns of behavior and instead live life with an open heart and an irrepressible sense of curiosity about the world.
In this Goggler exclusive, we speak to director Natalie Nourigat and producer Ruth Strother about what inspired them to tell this story and how their short ended up being the opening act to Walt Disney Animation Studios’ landmark 60th feature.
Umapagan Ampikaipakan: These shorts tend to come from an incredibly personal place. Can you talk to me about what inspired the story in Far From the Tree?
Natalie Nourigat: You’re absolutely right. A lot of shorts do come from personal places, and this one is no exception. It’s inspired by my childhood growing up in Oregon and going to this one specific beach called Cannon Beach. It’s not like a sunny California beach. It’s kind of rocky and rainy. The trees go all the way to the water. And it’s really fun as a kid.
But I went back a couple of years ago with my parents and it suddenly felt very different. As an adult coming here, I was like, “Mom, Dad, this place is kind of dangerous, isn’t it?” There’s like really sharp rocks. There’s nature. There are sneaker waves that pull people out to sea and driftwood that rolls on top of people and pins them down. I mean, my parents made it a really nice experience for us, but I was wondering how what they felt about bringing kids there.
And my parents were like, “Yeah, it’s really tough being a parent sometimes because you want your kid to see the beauty of the world, and be a kid, and run around and enjoy it. But you also know that they’re going to get hurt eventually, and you want them to be ready for when you’re not there. So some of that is necessary, but you also need to keep them alive. So it’s this very tricky balancing act.
UA: Oh yeah, keeping them alive is pretty important.
NN: Well, yeah, that’s a basic part of it. Parenting is a really tricky job. It’s very complicated. And that felt like a really juicy place to go with the short and explore that transition from child to parents.
UA: Now, if you wouldn’t mind a silly question. How do you decide which wild animal is going to be the villain of the piece? I ask this because there’s always someone out there who has an association or an organization that protects foxes and wolves who gets annoyed. I love watching shark movies, but they’ve kinda colored the way the world sees sharks. So how did you pick your bad guy?
Ruth Strother: We learned a lot about the actual natural world, and we did a lot of research about what the natural predators to raccoons were. And we didn’t want to villainize an animal because, to your point, people love coyotes, and foxes, and wolves. So we were very conscious of not wanting to do that.
We also had some conversations with people who said it’s a natural animal doing what they do. The coyote is not doing something evil. It’s just doing what it does. It’s doing what it’s programmed to do in the natural world. We tried to make it very beautiful, and lovely, and just doing what it should.
It’s a great question because we did have conversations around that.
UA: I’ve always been curious as to how a short ends up being picked as the opening act of a Disney movie. How did yours end up in front of something as big as their 60th animated feature?
NN: Well, we were making our short this whole time, hoping it would go in front of a movie, but not being sure. We just tried to make the best possible short film that we could. This theatrical release is such a dream. We’re just so happy that it’s being paired with this beautiful movie, and the themes line up so nicely. But we didn’t know this whole time if it would.
RS: And we didn’t get to see behind the curtain. I wish we could tell you more because we literally kind of got notified that this is what’s happening. But I do know that Jennifer Lee and Clark Spencer thought really deeply about what the right pairing would be and what what shorts would go with what movie. And I know that there was a real agreement that because of the themes of family, and forgiveness, and legacy, and generations, that they would work together well. So we feel very fortunate.
UA: Before I let you go, do you guys have a favourite Disney short?
NN: Feast. I think Feast is mine. I love Feast.
RS: I loved Bao. And I can’t wait for her feature. The trailer for Turning Red looks so good.
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