Back in April, the first imagery from Pixar’s next short film offering, Sanjay’s Super Team, arrived online. With the film planning a Comic-Con panel at the San Diego event this Thursday, new pictures have arrived via USA Today, with director Sanjay Patel talking up the project.
Sanjay’s Super Team channels Patel’s own childhood, spent growing up in the California motel owned by his Indian immigrant parents and chafing against his father’s wishes that he pay more attention to their religious beliefs. Especially when he was ringing a bell to call the lad to morning meditation. "I knew exactly what that meant: 'Turn off the TV, Sanjay, and get your tail over here. We're going to chant and count mala beads for half an hour,'" Patel says. "And I'm like, 'I don't really want to do that. I really want to watch Voltron.'"
But the ‘toon reveals an unexpected surprise: when Sanjay does join his father, he finds something even more amazing than the likes of Superman and the rest, as three Hindu deities come alive to battle a monster. Patel chose three that were most meaningful to him: the monkey-like Hanuman, Durga the goddess of power and protection and Vishnu, who represents preservation. "I kind of have an insider's point of view so I see them a little bit differently," he says.
Patel, who worked in the layout department of The Simpsons before moving to join Pixar for** A Bug’s Life**, has been working on the idea for a while. He’s created a story without dialogue, and enlisted the help of Mychael Danna, who won an Oscar for his Life Of Pi score, to bring the tale to life, with instruments including a South Asian flute known as the bansuri. "It's a choice that only somebody who really understood the culture would make and something for sure my dad would really appreciate."
Sanjay’s Super Team will be attached to The Good Dinosaur, which is arriving in the UK on November 27.