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‘Inside Out’ co-director Ronnie del Carmen on film’s Oscar win
LOS ANGELES - “It is quite an honor. It was amazing. We are very happy,” said Ronnie Del Carmen, the Filipino-American co-director of the Disney/Pixar film “Inside Out,” which just bagged the Oscar’s Best Animated Feature Film award at the 88th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
In an exclusive interview with GMA-7, the 55-year-old animator-director—who hails from Cavite and now lives in San Francisco, California—disclosed what went through his mind when they announced “Inside Out” as the winner of the coveted prize. “When they were announcing it, I was thinking, what if it doesn’t win? Is it going to happen? And then they announced that it won. I said oh yes! Five years of work, recognized by the Academy. It is great!”
We told him that backstage in the press room, co-director Pete Docter and producer Jonas Rivera mentioned him, saying, “Ronnie should be up here, too. He should. Absolutely.”
Rivera said, “He is an essential part of the movie. He contributed so much to the emotion, the heart of the movie, and we are incredibly lucky to work with him.”
Proudly Filipino
Amid the #OscarsSoWhite controversy, Docter also made a point about diversity in the animation field. “Ronnie is one of the great visual storytellers in animation, and he comes proudly from the Philippines,” said Docter.
“[Y]ou look at all the nominees tonight in animation, a lot of talk about diversity, you see [in] this category films from around the world, from Japan and from Latin America and from good old California, and we are proud to be among that group. Animation leans that way. Ronnie is a great artist that represents that. We create stories, stories come from everywhere, and so someone like Ronnie really brings that to Pixar. We are proud of him, and he is definitely sharing this with us.”
Del Carmen, for his part, said that making "Inside out" was a big challenge for him, Docter and Rivera because it dealt with a complex subject.
“Nobody knew the roots or complexity of emotions. Not everybody understands that, and neither do we," he said. "But because of the dedication of Pete, his amazing dedication to the story about what is happening inside his daughter’s head, we were able to make interesting stories. I also get to do interesting stories about my daughter or my son.”
Outfits by Oliver Tolentino
At the Governor’s Ball celebration, we asked del Carmen where he and his lovely wife, Tess, were headed next.
“This whole town is about celebration," he replied. "It is like Halloween, Christmas and New Year all rolled together. But it is fun because we get to dress up nicely.”
Talking about dressing nicely, the couple were both wearing creations by LA-based fashion designer Oliver Tolentino: Tess in a green lace gown and Ronnie in a midnight-blue piña tux, which he said he had been getting a lot of compliments about.
“They ask, what is that? And I tell them it was made from pineapple fiber and they said it is amazing. It is so beautiful. Oliver did an amazing job and I am very happy that I am wearing something unique and special. Look at my wife. She is so beautiful. Even her purse is by Oliver.”
"A long shot in the making"
A graduate of the University of Santo Tomas with a degree in Fine Arts, del Carmen (who was honored by UST last year as an Outstanding Alumnus) explained what the victory of “Inside Out” meant to him.
“To all those kids who are growing up in the Philippines—and I was one of them—the victory means a lot,” he said. “I used to dream about working in animation and movies. Those were just dreams. But when you work hard and you try to follow your dreams and make time, your dreams may come true. This feels like a marker that I can extend to those kids that you have to keep on trying and you have to keep on dreaming. I am a long shot in the making too. I arrived here, worked at Pixar and ‘Inside Out’ and [am] now recognized by the Academy. It is a dream come true, but a validation that hard work and dedication and the things that you believe in can pay off.”
Del Carmen added that the Oscar and the other awards the film has received are the "cherries on top."
"We believe in them," he said of awards. "The movie is everything that we wanted it to be, so when an organization like the Academy recognizes it, we are very happy. So whatever happens, the awards are cherries on top.”
Bing Bong's flower
Del Carmen brought not just his wife but their children—Angelo Luis, or Geo, and Francesca Erin, or Gerin—to the awards.
“I brought my beautiful kids with me today aside from my wife,” he said. “They are my lucky charm. They watched us in a viewing party.”
And the significance of the colored flower on his lapel?
“If you watched ‘Inside Out,’ that flower is the one Bing Bong [the elephant] wore,” Ronnie said. “It represents our journey, our travel and our various emotions.” — BM, GMA News
