Disney’s Strange World is a ‘love letter to our fathers and kids’ say its directors

The directors of upcoming Disney animated feature Strange World say the film is a “love letter to our fathers and kids” as well as a story about legacy.

Don Hall and Qui Nguyen said their ambition had been to tell the story “through the lens of three generations” while delivering a “cool action-adventure film”.

Strange World stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Dennis Quaid, Jaboukie Young-White, and Gabrielle Union as the Clades, a legendary family of explorers as they embark on a mission to a strange world beneath the land of Avalonia.

Speaking at the UK premiere of the film in London’s Leicester Square, Hall told the PA news agency: “We love action adventure films.

“The ambition was really to tell a story about the environment and tell it through the lens of three generations and let it be a sort of generational father son story about what it means to be a good ancestor.”

Nguyen added: “It’s also a love letter to our fathers and our kids, right, like another motivation was just to make a great father-son story.

“You can watch it on father’s day with your kid or with your pop [father], I think that’s always a worthwhile thing to do.”

The film features a first for Disney, a gay teen romance. Ethan Clade (Jaboukie Young-White) is a biracial, gay teenager and has a crush on another character, Diazo.

Asked about working with the all-star cast, which also includes Lucy Liu, Hall said: “It was really gratifying.

“They all recorded individually… so I think D23 [convention] was the first time everybody was together.

“They kind of became bound to the role of a family and so they’ve been a joy to work with.”

Strange World is due for release in the UK on November 23.