Quote of the day: Inside Outs Pete Docter, on that inspiring Oscars speech to make stuff

MOST ACADEMY AWARD winners, at least those who haven’t been mauled by a CGI bear, are given very little time to make a speech during the ceremony proper. So it’s especially one neat feat when a recipient can say a lot in very few words.

Fortunately, filmmaker Pete Docter — who was even a master at wordless animation with poignant montages in Pixar’s “Up” — has that gift of truncated gab.

When Docter and producer Jonas Rivera won the feature animation Oscar on Sunday for “Inside Out,” they made those seconds of globally broadcast gratitude count. And Docter, who was also nominated for best original screenplay, particularly inspired by reflecting on the themes of his film, in which the viewer sees the increasingly complex emotions within a tween girl.

“This film was really born from watching our kids grow up, which is not easy,” the writer-director said in his speech. “Anyone out there who’s in junior high, high school, working it out, suffering — there are days you’re gonna feel sad, you’re gonna feel angry, you’re gonna be scared. That’s nothing you can choose, but you can make stuff. Make films. Draw. Write. It’ll make a world of difference.”

As a former child artist (for newspapers) who, like the film’s Riley, endured Northern California relocations, I was struck not only by Docter’s film, but also by his own experiences as an artist and a parent. Comic Riffs caught up with Docter to ask him to further illuminate the personal inspiration behind his speech. Here’s what he said:

“The movie talks a lot about the difficulty of growing up, and for me personally the way to survive the self-doubt and confusion of junior high was to express myself in some way. Just making something with your own hands is very therapeutic. My parents were very supportive of this — they’re both musicians, and my sisters are both professional musicians, as well — so the idea of expressing yourself and what you’re going though with art was important in our family.”

— PETE DOCTER

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