Preserving Parks is a Main Theme in “The Nut Job 2”
Brand-new animated movie “The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature” brings back Surly Squirrel and the gang to save their Liberty Park home from ending up as a dangerous amusement park. However, according to Jeffery Dickson, the film’s storyboard supervisor, and Cal Brunker, director and cowriter of the film, the story runs way deeper than cute animal antics.
The storyline of the movie “is all about preserving green space in our cities,” explains Dickson, in addition to the film’s larger theme of inspiring audiences to not be intimidated by the obstacles they’ll face or the odds against them. “It’s more than just a story about a squirrel. It’s a story about Surly dealing with something bigger than himself for the betterment of the community.”
“It happens to be a story about animals, but the theme is really about us all taking care of each other,” Brunker adds. “We’re all human beings and we’re all in this together. We’ve got one world and we have to look out for each other by looking out for our planet,” Brunker credits his own childhood visits to his local park as inspiration for coming up with the script for this new movie.
We’re all human beings and we’re all in this together. We’ve got one world and we have to look out for each other by looking out for our planet. Cal Brunker, director and cowriter of "The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature"
Even though this might seem like one of the only conservation-based animated films out lately, it isn’t Hollywood’s first brush with nature. In fact, according to an article in Parks and Recreation magazine, movies like 1942’s “Bambi,” 1992’s “FernGully: The Last Rainforest,” 2006’s “Over the Hedge,” and 2006’s “Happy Feet” are just a few animated, environment-themed films that come to mind. These stories serve as the perfect medium to bring awareness to animal and nature-based issues, such as preservation, pollution and climate change.
So, how exactly did the filmmakers manage to perfectly imitate animals from the real world as characters on the big screen? “We’re really interested in how things look in the animal world, so we would go to parks and shoot photographs close up of little clusters of animals and [observe] how they interact,” Brunker says. Conducting research in actual parks, the animators of the film really focused on nature’s specifics, like how moss grew on a tree’s roots or how pebbles collected in clusters. Everything in the 3D environment needed to appear natural and give the story authenticity.
“I think all of that time in nature really makes you appreciate this amazing planet that we live on. And …when you see the destruction of the park in the movie, you’re really rooting for the characters to fight back and protect [their home],” Brunker states.
Swank is proud to exclusively offer this movie to show in your park starting this October, which makes it a perfect choice for any community-building or conservation programming this fall. However, this movie is also a great title to keep in mind for next year’s Earth Day festivities! For more information on obtaining a license for “The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature,” simply contact us.