Always loved big adventure stories: Don Hall on ‘Strange World’

New Delhi, Jan 2 (Agency) With a family of adventurers and a dire mission to save the planet from a mysterious ecological crisis, Walt Disney’s latest animation creation, ‘Strange World’ journeys deep into a subterranean world where bizarre creatures and looming dangers await. The Walt Disney Animation Studios’ original action-packed comedy adventure introduces a legendary family, the Clades, as they attempt to navigate an uncharted, treacherous land alongside a motley crew that includes a mischievous blob, a three-legged dog and a slew of ravenous creatures.‘Strange World’ is the latest collaboration of co-directors Don Hall and Qui Nguyen, who previously worked on Raya and the Last Dragon and features the voices of Jake Gyllenhaal as Searcher; Dennis Quaid as Searcher’s larger-than-life explorer father, Jaeger; Jaboukie Young-White as Searcher’s 16-year-old son, Ethan, who longs for adventure; Gabrielle Union as Meridian Clade, an accomplished pilot and Searcher’s partner in all things; and Lucy Liu as Callisto Mal, Avalonia’s fearless leader who spearheads the exploration into the strange world. The story has been produced by Oscar recipient Roy Conli with the film’s music composed by Henry Jackman.

The story of Strange World was crafted in the spirit of pulp novels and movies inspired by them.Director Don Hall further explained and said that he always loved adventure stories that explored a hidden world. “I always loved big adventure stories, the specific adventure story where explorers find a hidden world that was unknown to them or anybody else. And that goes back so far into the late 1800s, early 1900s—Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. That was sort of the birth of the big adventure story in novel form. ‘King Kong’ is a good filmic reference that had a group of explorers find a new hidden world. I wanted to evoke that in this movie,” Don added.Strange world focuses on three generations of men in the Clade family—Jaeger, Searcher and Ethan. Their journey takes them into a world nobody knew existed, where they’ll encounter a bevvy of never-before-seen creatures—some weird, some wonderful and some downright dangerous. Perhaps the biggest discovery that awaits the Clades is the key to their relationships, what the future holds for them if they find it and what their journey means in the bigger picture.This New Year, venture into a hidden yet beautiful world of the Clades in Strange World on Disney+ Hotstar.