T
he i
de
a
The i
dea came when I saw f
r
om my wi
ndow a squi
r
r
el i
n a t
r
ee. Thi
s squi
r
r
el was
mov
i
ng i
n a way t
hat made me t
hi
nk about samba dancer
s. So, I st
ar
t
ed sk
et
chi
ng
and st
or
y
boar
di
ng di
f
f
er
ent possi
bl
e i
deas.
Ri
ght f
r
om t
he st
ar
t I deci
ded t
hat t
he ani
mat
i
on shoul
d be l
ess t
han a mi
nut
e l
ong.
I
pr
ef
er
r
ed hav
i
ng a shor
t
er mov
i
e,
but bet
t
er ani
mat
ed,
r
at
her t
han hav
i
ng a l
ong one
wi
t
h av
er
age ani
mat
i
on.
Thi
s deci
si
on hel
ped me dur
i
ng t
he pr
oduct
i
on phase,
wher
e
I had enough t
i
me t
o do ev
er
y aspect of t
he pi
pel
i
ne wi
t
hout r
ushi
ng.
The cor
e of t
he i
dea was t
o hav
e t
he squi
r
r
el sl
eepi
ng and, af
t
er wak
i
ng up t
o t
he
sound of samba,
st
ar
t danci
ng. I pr
epar
ed t
he fir
st st
or
y
boar
d ov
er Chr
i
st
mas br
eak
f
or t
he i
ni
t
i
al
pi
t
ch t
o t
he cl
ass i
n Januar
y
.
The squi
r
r
el
i
s sl
eepi
ng i
n a bench i
n a publ
i
c pl
ace,
an i
ce cr
eam t
r
uck pul
l
s up wi
t
h
samba musi
c at f
ul
l v
ol
ume, t
he squi
r
r
el wak
es up and dances. At t
he end t
he i
ce
cr
eam t
r
uck dr
i
v
er swi
t
ches of
f t
he musi
c and t
he squi
r
r
el
finds hi
msel
f i
n an ex
t
r
eme
pose bei
ng st
ar
ed at by t
he whol
e st
r
eet
.
I t
hen r
efined t
he i
dea mov
i
ng t
he whol
e ani
mat
i
on i
n t
he squi
r
r
el
’
s bedr
oom, and
i
nst
ead of t
he i
ce-
cr
eam t
r
uck t
he musi
c comes f
r
om a Spot
i
f
y adv
er
t t
hat st
ar
t
s at
t
he end of t
he song he was pl
ay
i
ng when he f
el
l
asl
eep.
The scene at t
he end r
emai
ns
si
mi
l
ar
,
wi
t
h t
he cl
eani
ng l
ady comi
ng i
nt
o t
he r
oom findi
ng hi
m i
n t
he mi
ddl
e of an
i
mpr
ompt
u dance r
out
i
ne.
Thi
s i
dea sl
owl
y dev
el
oped i
n hi
m pl
ay
i
ng t
he obj
ect
s he coul
d find i
n t
he r
oom as
i
nst
r
ument
s because findi
ng a good chor
eogr
aphy f
or t
he dance was t
ak
i
ng f
ar t
oo
l
ong and t
he pr
ogr
ess wasn’
t v
er
y encour
agi
ng. Thi
s t
ur
ned t
he ani
mat
i
on ov
er
,
enabl
i
ng me t
o be l
ess r
est
r
i
ct
ed f
r
om t
he dance mov
es and mak
i
ng t
he pr
ocess of
choosi
ng t
he mov
ement
s a bi
t easi
er
.
But t
he r
eal
change was when I had t
he i
dea t
o
3
St
i
l
l
f
r
om Sal
sa Dr
eam
mak
e t
he whol
e r
oom di
sappear dur
i
ng t
he “
danci
ng” par
t
, somet
hi
ng l
i
k
e what
happens i
n t
he “
Fr
i
end l
i
k
e me” sequence i
n Al
addi
n,
(
Al
addi
n,
fil
m,
1992) wher
e when
t
he song st
ar
t
s t
he env
i
r
onment
s become pl
ai
n.
By mak
i
ng t
he squi
r
r
el
j
ump i
nt
o t
hi
s
“
dr
eam wor
l
d” I had t
he chance t
o pl
ay mor
e wi
t
h camer
a angl
es,
l
i
ght
i
ng and musi
c
i
nst
r
ument
s.
4