Here at The Nerds of Color, we’re always fortunate to get to sit down with some of the best, most talented names in the industry today. Usually it’s in the form of a wonderful actor, like Keegan-Michael Key, whose interview for Transformers One we debuted yesterday. But rarely are we given the honor to speak with a studio executive who helps greenlight the biggest films.
As such, it was a terrific privilege to sit with the President of Animation for Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon, Ramsey Naito, to discuss Transformers One!
Naito was actually the driving force behind greenlighting Transformers One. And it’s because of her we have the best Transformers movie ever made. We were able to sit down with her to discuss animation as cinema, and why it was the perfect medium to tell the story in Transformers One.
Here’s what she had to say!
NOC: Ramsey, it’s an honor to talk to you, especially after the great work you’ve done with Transformers and in animation. What made Transformers One and the Transformers mythology perfect for the animated medium?
Naito: Well first of all it was such an honor for me to work on this film. I’ve loved the Transformers ever since I was a little girl in Japan. I was introduced to them in the ‘80s, with the first movie. But making Transformers One, given my background and being introduced to it as a child, was a dream come true. And making it as an animated film was perfect. I think the universe is perfect for animation. And Transformers One was prime to make it as animated. Because this film takes place on Cybertron, and it’s a planet made of metal. It’s just gorgeous. Every detail, to the light reflections, the color palate — it’s immersive and it transports you to a world we’ve never seen or felt. And the vision of it was executed with such care and meticulous creativity in a way you couldn’t do in live action. It’s just impossible to be immersed in this world like you would be in animation.
And it’s just amazing! Josh and the team at ILM knocked it out of the park!
100%!
I haven’t seen them look this good since 1986!
I know! And I think another really great example is that in animation, we were able to tell a story that really aligned with the design of the main characters. When you first meet Optimus Prime — or rather Orion Pax, and D16, and young Bumblebee, they’re cogless. They’re workers. And their design is unlike we’ve seen before. And there’s something incredibly relatable about seeing the young versions of the characters grow into who we know them today. In the film, that really is delivered upon in the design of the animation.
It’s one of the things that’s my favorite thing about this movie. I love the live action films — especially the first movie and Bumblebee. But in this movie there’s a particular emphasis on putting character first. And the animation compliments it so perfectly. Well done there. As the President of Animation for Paramount and Nickelodeon, sometimes this industry can be biased and folks won’t see animated films as legitimate forms of cinema. They may see it solely as a “kid’s medium.” Given how we’ve gotten amazing movies like Spider-Verse, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, and now Transformers One, being the best versions of these charcters that we’ve seen on screen to date, what would you have to say to critics who look down on animation?
You know, for this film, and all our films in Paramount Animation, we celebrate the style. And for Transformers One, what that meant for us was that we forewalled the film around Josh and his vision. And supported him in every way to deliver a spectacular Transformers film with a look and emotional core that is moving and relatable. The movie is funny. But it presents something so bold, with such great soul and meaning. It embraces animation as cinema for sure. It is a film-film. What I love about it thematically is that it’s a story of these revered characters — Optimus Prime and Megatron — but tells a story of this origin, that presents a thin line between love and hate. And it’s so dramatic. Almost biblical. It delivers on the genre and embraces animation as cinema. It appeals to the masses with its highly artisitic approach to executing this world, but it appeals to everyone. Fans, non-fans, all genders, families, kids — everyone’s going to love this movie, and you don’t have to be a superfan to enjoy it and be immersed in this incredible tale.
I’ve said in my review of this movie that this is the most mature Transformers film to date. There’s a scene at the end with Megatron and Optimus Prime where things just change completely. It’s one of the darkest and most complex scenes in any movie featuring these characters. It emphasizes that even though it’s animated, this is a mature movie that treats these characters as real characters and not just props for action set pieces. Now Josh has done an amazing job! But as the President of Animation, where do you find the balance between full creative freedom for Josh, and possible studio notes?
That’s a hard question! These movies are so hard to make. They take a long time to make. Three to six years. There’s no secret recipe. It is so talent-based. And while Josh is the director — he’s at the helm of this film, and the leader of making decisions for the film — he also has a team that is working for him. A leadership team comprised of head of story, a picture editor, production designer, art director, head of VFX, head of animation, head of cinematography; all of these leaders working for him together manage up to 300-600 artists. It is a highly collaborative medium where the good ideas win, and the good ideas are heard by communication and transparency and the culture of being inspired. That’s what I love about animation. I know that’s what Josh loves about animation.
And I think the culture of transparency, and culture of creativity and being inspired — where the best idea wins — means you have to spend the time to listen, and talk through notes, and weigh out what should be considered or not considered based on the story you’re trying to tell. The other beautiful thing is that animation is such an iterative process, that you have the time period to push and pull, or mold and sculpt our storytelling through these scenes with this incredible team. How do we manage the great ideas? You have to protect your director and support your director to help and guide the best ideas and make sure the best ideas show up on screen. It is a fine line. And there’s no easy way to answer your question. You hope you have the time and the mechanism and culture to hear all the great ideas. Because you want them for the movie. But I will say that our goal, our mission, is to tell stories that are helmed by vision and creativity, and embrace cinema as sophisticated storytelling that appeals to the masses. We are trying to appeal to the masses, and make films that everyone wants to see. And our theatrical films really have to embrace something spectacular that gets them into theaters because there’s so many good choices today.
You gave me a wonderful response, and the type of culture your describing is one where, if I were a filmmaker, I’d want to be part of. Because that sounds like a very story-first culture, a very character-driven culture, and the results speak for themselves because Transformers One is truly wonderful.
I just want to give my compliments to you as we wrap up. Thank you for doing everything that you do for entertainment, animation, and cinema. Because everything you’ve done so far, especially with Transformers One, has been wonderful. As a Person of Color as well, I want to thank you for breaking through the glass ceiling and getting yourself into a position where you can reshape this industry. Because it’s an inspiration to all of us who want to do the same thing!
Thank you so much! I know what it means, and I take it seriously every day.
Indeed. It’s folks like Naito that truly remind us that the heights within this industry, as challenging as they may be to reach sometimes, are in fact attainable. And given the terrific work Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon have demonstrated in the past few years with projects like Mutant Mayhem and now Transformers One, I truly believe she, and all of the hard working folks in the Animation department at the studio, are truly on the forefront of changing the industry as we know it!
Transformers One is hitting theaters this Friday, September 20! Make sure to catch it!