One of the creative minds behind Disney-Pixar’s “Incredibles 2” movie says he draws his inspiration from the ultimate Creator, God. In a recent interview with Catholic News Agency, visual set designer Philip Metschan shared how his faith helped shape the fantastical superhero world.
Metschan was tasked with designing the landscape of “Incredibles 2,” including the home of the heroic Parr family. To do so, he contemplated the work of God Himself.
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“In a sense, I feel like whenever I’m using [real-world environments] as inspiration, I’m using [God] as inspiration,” he told CNA.
A cool thing about Metschan’s job, he shared, is that he has the opportunity to partner with God, using what he observes in nature and experiences personally “to produce a world that’s never existed – fantastic things that no one has ever seen before.”
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— Disney•Pixar's Incredibles 2 (@TheIncredibles) November 6, 2018
For this designer, there is no separating Creator from creation.
“I am definitely someone who likes to be out in nature and out in the world and experiencing it, because I think there are strong narratives that are created just from the existence of these places,” he said.
As a Catholic artist, Metschen is keenly aware of the divine source that inspires all that is good, true and beautiful. This awareness, he explained, comes with a responsibility to create art that somehow edifies and serves those who view it.
“You feel like you’ve been given some kind of special skill, or a special view of how to execute these new things and you also feel a responsibility that these things you create will be positive and enlightening,” he said.
“Incredibles 2,” a sequel to the successful 2004 movie, “The Incredibles,” centers around a family of superheroes attempting to live a “normal” life while navigating challenges particular to their superhuman abilities.
While not explicitly faith-based, Metschan argues the universal themes of family, friendship and virtue are unmistakably embedded in the animated Pixar films he’s worked on.
“Though we use these fantastic characters to do it, universal emotions are all very central,” he said.
In “Incredibles 2,” he explained, the villain desires to “get rid of superheroes, because of her notion that having special people among us makes us weak, that we rely on these people instead of relying on ourselves.”
Metschan noted that often, “[the world’s] current heroes are not made of the stuff we would want them to be made of.”
“They’re not heroes for the reasons that I think we as Catholics look to our ‘heroes’ for, and the reason we venerate them,” he explained.
But fortunately, he added, “we still have the choice to choose our heroes,” which will likely differ from the individuals our culture chooses to exalt.
“Incredibles 2” is now available on DVD and Blu-Ray. To see Metschan’s work, click here.
(H/T: Catholic News Agency)