Piper Creator Alan Barillaro said he’s always been fascinated by sandpipers. When he was younger he’d go to the beach with his family and see that the sandpipers acted as though they were afraid of the water, only to find they would wait for the tide to draw back to get their beaks into some fresh clams that would wash up with each tide.
Piper is the latest Disney animated short brought to the big screen, being played before the highly anticipated Finding Dory (In theaters June 17th). The story is about little Piper, a newly hatched sandpiper who is learning the ropes from her mother. Along the way she gets her feathers ruffled from spats with other birds, gets tumbled in ocean waves, and meets new friends who teach her new tricks. Check out the clip below:
The latest technology that Disney has to use for the animation is breathtaking. Alan Barillaro thought it was very important to make sure that Piper conveyed emotion but still looked organic and not have human-like qualities, so he figured that feathers would help with that show of feeling. Piper also has an incredibly expressive little face that you can’t help fall in love with.
Although Piper is set somewhere on the West Coast (presumably), the crew realized that California beaches were too cloudy and murky, so they headed to Hawaii to shoot the birds, water, and underwater wildlife to create the authentic world of Piper. Piper is the perfect compliment to Finding Dory.
Piper plays just before Finding Dory in theaters everywhere Friday.
