Pixar’s next feature release The Good Dinosaur opens in theaters this November, but a short film titled Sanjay’s Super Team will open the movie.
Continuing their tradition of attaching an original short film to their theatrical releases, Disney and Pixar’s newest short story is unique as it’ll focus on one particular religion.
Sanjay’s Super Team follows a boy who still has some learning to do about his father’s religion. The first concept art from the film is depicted above.
“The seven-minute short begins with young Sanjay watching cartoons and eating cereal in a bland, beige room as his father jingles a bell, beckoning him to join in meditation. Reluctant and bored by the ceremony, Sanjay begins daydreaming a kind of ancient, Hindu version of ‘The Avengers,’ with the gods appearing like superheroes. As the daydream progresses, the colour, light and animation of the film grows increasingly dazzling and cosmic, and Sanjay grows closer to understanding his father’s inner world,” describes the LA Times.
The concept art suggests that, when the movie begins, the boy will have very little interest in his father’s Hindu roots. That’ll change as the short progresses.
The short was directed by Pixar artist Sanjay Patel, who, as an offspring of two parents from India, was inspired to take on the project after going through a similar experience. “My parents’ whole world revolved around their gods, the Hindu deities,” he said. “Our worlds were diametrically apart. I just wanted my name to be Travis, not Sanjay.”
As noted by Patel, exposing a wider audience to the Hindu religion will leave an important impact on the minds of children. “If I could, I would go back to the 1980s and give my younger self this short,” he said. “I want to normalise and bring a young brown boy’s story to the pop culture zeitgeist. To have a broad audience like Pixar’s see this … it is a big deal. I’m so excited about that.”
Before The Good Dinosaur and Sanjay’s Super Team, Pixar will release Inside Out and its accompanying short film Lava this June.