Wind (2019 film)

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Wind
Wind Short Film Poster.png
Official poster
Directed byEdwin Chang
Screenplay byEdwin Chang
Story byEdwin Chang
Produced byJesús MartÍnez
Starring
  • Sonoko Konishi
  • Emilio Fuentes
Cinematography
  • Scott Clifford
  • Robert Kinkead
Edited byTim Fox
Music byAndrew Jimenez
Production
company
Distributed by Walt Disney Studios
Motion Pictures
Release date
  • December 13, 2019 (2019-12-13)(Disney+)
Running time
8 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Wind is a 2019 American animated short film directed and written by Edwin Chang, produced by Pixar Animation Studios, and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The fifth film in Pixar's SparkShorts program, it focuses on a grandmother and grandson longing to escape an endless chasm. [1] The short was released on Disney+ on December 13, 2019.

Contents

Plot

Ellis (portrayed by Emilio Fuentes) and his Grandmother (portrayed by Sonoko Konishi) live in a mysterious sink-hole full of floating rocks and strange debris of disused items and machines. They manage to make a small home for themselves out of the garbage and feast on potatoes, the only food they are able to grow. Every day, Grandma has Ellis attach a cord to himself to float out and collect items that they can use for their benefit. In particular, the two are building a rocket so that they can escape from the hole and into the bright light at the top. One day, Ellis discovers an abandoned plane in the wreckage, but is dismayed when he realizes that it can only fit one person. Grandma suggests that he pilot the plane out of the hole and simply pull her up with the cord, to which he agrees.

With the final touches added to their rocket. Ellis gets in and flies upward; avoiding the rocks and debris that he passes by. Despite some turbulence, Ellis makes it out through the top and lands on the outside where he ends up in a lush field and sees birds flying overhead. He then grabs the cord and pulls it up which takes almost the entire day. To his surprise, it is not Grandma at the end of the cord - but a box of potatoes. He hugs the box in tearful gratitude for her sacrifice. [2]

Cast

Production

Development

At Pixar, Edwin Chang started his career as a simulation technical director. [3] After submitting his idea for Wind, he was selected for the program and took a sabbatical from his long-time job, to craft an animated ode to his family history with help from producer Jesus Martinez and a team of animators. [3] In December 2019, Edwin Chang, writer/director of Wind, described the short as "The story itself at its core is an immigration story". [3] Chang felt that "There were all these stories in the news about child immigrants, and while my story wasn't directly related to those, there were a lot of parallels that made those so much more meaningful to us.” [3] His grandmother and father fled from North to South Korea during the Korean War. His father then immigrated to the United States and had to leave his grandmother behind. Eventually she rejoined them, but the separation left an impression on Chang. [3] His family history served as the main inspiration for Wind, and the current political climate made the themes even more relevant. [3]

Music

Andrew Jimenez, who composed the music for the Pixar short film Kitbull , composed the music for Wind. The score was released on February 28, 2020. [4]

Wind (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Film score by
Andrew Jimenez
ReleasedFebruary 28, 2020 (2020-02-28)
Genre Film score
Label Hollywood

Track listing

All music is composed by Andrew Jimenez

No.TitleLength
1."Logos"0:19
2."Wake Up"1:00
3."Gathering"1:24
4."Another Try"0:34
5."No"0:16
6."A New Plan"0:47
7."Build and Launch"1:34
8."Build Intro (Alternate)"0:25
9."Alone"1:00
10."Alone (Alternate)"0:51
11."End Titles"1:08
12."Wind Demo Musical Atmosphere"1:05
13."Wind Demo Themes"0:15
Total length:10:38

Release

Wind was released on Disney+ on December 13, 2019. [5] [6]

Reception

Wind has obtained a generally positive critical response, with writers deeming it "tearjerking" [7] and "magical". [8] Alex Reif of The Laughing Place described the short as "while the ending is a little predictable from the start, it’s nonetheless a tearjerker." [7] Shireen Honmode of MEAWW felt that the short showed "a metaphor of the life of people who struggle to make ends meet". [8]

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References

  1. ↑ Orange, B. Alan (January 10, 2019). "Pixar Announces New Short Film Program Sparkshorts". MovieWeb . Archived from the original on February 21, 2019. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
  2. ↑ "SparkShorts". Pixar. January 18, 2018. Archived from the original on February 28, 2019. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Gentile, Dan (December 13, 2019). "Pixar engineer became a director to tell his immigration story in 'Wind' on Disney+". SFGate . Archived from the original on December 13, 2019. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Wind Soundtrack". Soundtrack.Net . Archived from the original on October 20, 2020. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  5. ↑ Romano, Nick (October 30, 2019). "Pixar previews all six short films in SparkShorts trailer on Disney+". Entertainment Weekly . Meredith Corporation. Archived from the original on December 15, 2019. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
  6. ↑ Wolfe, E. (November 12, 2019). "Disney+ Review: Pixar SparkShorts Float is The Heartwarming Tale of a Very Special Child". Walt Disney World News Today. Archived from the original on December 19, 2019. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  7. 1 2 Reif, Alex (October 13, 2019). "Pixar SparkShorts Review: 'Wind'". Laughing Place. Archived from the original on December 14, 2019. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
  8. 1 2 Honmode, Shireen (December 12, 2019). "Disney Pixar's 'Wind': The SparkShorts film blends magic with realism and leaves you with a beautiful cliffhanger". MEAWW. Archived from the original on December 17, 2019. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
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