There are no Latino voices in the new prehistoric animated comedy The Croods, a modest new hit from DreamWorks Animation…but behind the camera, Latino animation professionals like William Arias and Louis Flores are making the movie happen.
Arias is the Lead Lighter on Croods. He’s been with Dreamworks for more than half a decade, and worked in the same capacity on Madagascar 3, Puss In Boots, MegaMind and more. Flores served as Visual Effects Lead; he’s been in the field since the turn of the century, and his leadership position is well-established, including similar credits on the Kung Fu Panda series, Monsters vs Aliens, and How to Train Your Dragon, among many others. Both of them appeared at a special Para Los Niños event last week, where they showed clips from the film and spoke to kids from kindergarten to 6thgrade about the jobs they have and the careers they’ve chosen.
“The at-risk students, who come from low-income backgrounds, interacted with them and talked about the hard work that they had to endure to get to where they are at,” the Dreamworks release told us. “William and Louis instilled in them the value of a good education, hard work and the perseverance that it takes to be a successful person.” And–not so subtly–showed them that Latinos and people of color in general have carved a permanent niche in the production and animation niches of Hollywood as well, from camera people to editing to sound…and animation.
The Croods is a 3D comedy adventure that follows the world’s first modern family as they embark on a journey of a lifetime when the cave that has always been their home, is destroyed. Traveling across a spectacular landscape, the Croods are rocked by generational clashes and seismic shifts as they discover an incredible new world filled with fantastic creatures—and their outlook is changed forever. The cast includes Nicolas Cage, Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone, Catherine Keener, Clark Duke, and Cloris Leachman.
