TV Talk: Shaler native worked on Pixar’s ‘Turning Red;’ ‘Adam Project’ premieres

For 1992 Shaler High School grad Christian Hoffman, it wasn’t an interest in drawing that led him to a career at Pixar, whose latest film, “Turning Red,” debuts on Disney+ Friday. It was a love of animation that intersected with studying computer science in college.

“I had grown up seeing all of the Pixar shorts,” Hoffman recalled by phone last week. “My dad used to take me to the animation festival when it would come to town in Oakland every year.”

When “Toy Story” was released in 1995 while he was studying computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, Hoffman recognized the animation style as Pixar. During his final semester at CMU in 1996, a Pixar recruiter reached out to one of Hoffman’s professors. A few days after graduation, Hoffman got a job offer from Pixar and two weeks later he moved to California.

Since then he’s had a hand in more than a dozen Pixar films, including “The Incredibles,” “Monsters University,” “Coco” and now “Turning Red,” where he served as the film’s character supervisor.

“It’s overseeing all of the characters for the film,” Hoffman explained. “We get artwork from the art department, drawings of what our characters should look like. So the first thing we need to do is build those characters in the computer. Once we’ve built the characters in the computer, then we add the controls so the characters can move.”

Hoffman’s team works with the animation department to make sure the characters can deliver the desired performance for the film while also perfecting the shading, texture and color of the characters’ skin and hair.

In “Turning Red,” 13-year-old Mei Lee (voiced by Rosalie Chiang) is torn between seeking independence and honoring her overprotective mother, Ming (Sandra Oh), as an obedient daughter. When her emotions overwhelm her, Mei Lee turns into a giant red panda.

Hoffman said all involved in making Pixar movies try to draw on their own experiences and find universal themes that will resonate with an audience.

“Growing up, I was a really shy kid, a really good kid. And I feel like mainly in this film, she’s a good kid as well. She’s trying to stay true to her family and to her culture,” Hoffman said. “Now that I’m a parent — I have two teenage boys — it’s interesting seeing how overprotective Ming is with her daughter. I see those same things in myself and my wife. As a kid, you want that freedom to do whatever you want, but as a parent now, it’s like, ‘No, don’t do that. That’s gonna be bad.’ So I see both sides of this coin.”

Some reports have indicated frustration by Pixar staffers that their movies, created for theaters, keep getting shunted to Disney+ with “Turning Red” following Pixar’s “Soul” and “Luca,” co-written by Point Breeze native Jesse Andrews, in moving from a theatrical release to a streaming premiere.

“It’s hard because the level of detail we put into these characters is designed to be seen on the big screen,” Hoffman said. “But we also want as many people as possible to see this and if that means going to Disney+ because a family doesn’t feel comfortable going to a theater yet, we totally understand that it makes the most sense as far as getting the most number of eyes on this film.”

‘The Adam Project’

Say what you will about Netflix’s original movies, they are at least original titles and not usually remakes or sequels. But at the same time, they often feel familiar.

“The Adam Project,” a big-budget time-travel flick starring Ryan Reynolds and directed by Shawn Levy, who previously teamed on Disney’s “Free Guy,” delivers a rousing, action-adventure story with an emphasis on father-son bonds.

“Adam Project” is the story of Adam (Reynolds) who in 2050 who jumps back in time and winds up visiting his younger self (Walker Scobell) in an effort to rescue his missing-in-time wife (Zoe Saldana) and winds up encountering his deceased father (Mark Ruffalo).

The film, streaming Friday, has a forest chase scene straight out of “Return of the Jedi” – the most familiar element in this particular, Amblin-esque story – but it’s a fairly entertaining flick for the whole family thanks largely to Reynolds’ performance and his chemistry with Scobell.

Sweeps ratings

Nielsen ratings for February sweeps are out. But, due to the Olympics, they don’t really tell us much about local TV news trends except that the Olympics – once a boon for local stations – have become a bust, generally driving down WPXI’s newscast household and key demo (adults 25-54) ratings at 5 and 6 p.m. compared to February 2021.

Ratings released last week by Nielsen include both household ratings that reflect a measure of popularity and the more important-to-stations demographic ratings that are the basis for setting advertising rates.

Because of the Olympics, it’s hard to draw comparisons, but it is safe to say WTAE looks stronger in the mornings, coming in first at 5 and 6 a.m. in households and the key demo. Channel 4 was also No. 1 at 6 p.m. in households.

KDKA-TV ranked first at 12, 4 and 5 p.m. in households and demos and was No. 1 in the demo at 6 p.m. KDKA was first in households at 11 p.m.; WPXI placed first in the key demo at 11, one newscast where the Olympics lead-in helped rather than hurt.

Channel surfing

Ryan Murphy’s “American Crime Story” shows, including “Impeachment,” and the final season of “Pose,” starring Pittsburgh native Billy Porter, are now available on Hulu. … Comcast’s Xfinity 1, Flex and XClass TV have rolled out access to subscription streaming service Apple TV+ including a free preview March 15-21 and three months free for new Apple TV+ subscribers who sign up via an Xfinity device by April 25. … Streaming service Apple TV+ will carry Friday night MLB games once the current labor lockout ends. … Filmed-in-Pittsburgh movie “Cha Cha Real Smooth” will debut on Apple TV+ on June 17.