Jim Capobianco Archives | Otaku No Culture

Going Behind the Scenes. Secrets From The Inventor as Revealed by Jim Capobianco

In order to make sure The Inventor would appeal to all ages, writer-director-producer Jim Capobianco spent more than a decade fiddling with getting all the details right, like the Maestro would do too!

For our readers unfamiliar with your work, can you please introduce yourself.

I’m Jim Capobianco and have worked in animation for something like 35 years and my latest film is The Inventor, which I wrote and directed. I got my start at Walt Disney Studios working in their story department, and my first work was with The Lion King–I stayed there for five years. Afterwards, I moved to the Bay Area to work at PIXAR (for 19) and have credits on many films, from Bugs Life to Coco.

One movie I’m particularly proud of was Ratatouille, where I wrote the first draft of it with Jan Pinkava, the director, and we were honoured with an Academy nomination. I left PIXAR in 2016, and then it’s proven pretty good. I worked on Mary Poppins Returns and directed the 2D animation segments, and then followed that up with a project called Philharmonia Fantastique–which was kind of a Fantasia piece, and directed the animation for that. And that plays with a live symphony orchestra.

Continue reading “Going Behind the Scenes. Secrets From The Inventor as Revealed by Jim Capobianco”

How The Inventor (2023) Seeks to Change the World, A Movie Review

Leonardo da Vinci’s life has been retold countless times from various perspectives, and not all of them are as charming and magical as this take, simply titled The Inventor!

The Inventor (2023) Movie Poster Sherry Media Group
Now on VOD (Amazon Prime link) and DVD

Nearly everything you want to know but were afraid to ask about the last decades of Leonardo da Vinci’s life is charmingly examined in the stop-motion masterpiece, The Inventor. I couldn’t spot anything that’s worth critiquing on since it’s so perfect in keeping me entertained. Not only does it have an internal rhythm like a nursery rhyme to entertain kids, but also just most of his diagrams and art gets blended in are very dreamlike.

Its whimsical style is as eye-catching as a Cartoon Saloon movie, and without Stephen Fry, I’d probably pass on viewing it. He knows how to keep an audience engaged and is no stranger to providing character voices. When considering his huge resume (which includes The Canterville Ghost), he’s just everywhere, delighting audiences with his performances. The plot, if there is one, really concerns how The Maestro managed to stay out of trouble. Although this movie doesn’t recount his early life, just where it comes in is at the height of his desire to reform Western Civilization.

Continue reading “How The Inventor (2023) Seeks to Change the World, A Movie Review”