Disclosure: I was provided an all-expense paid trip to the #TomorrowlandEvent in Los Angeles California in order to facilitate this post; however all opinions and admirations for the genius work of Brad Bird and Damon Lindelof expressed are my own.

I’m sure you’ve seen the incredible trailers for Tomorrowland by now. We interviewed Director/Producer Brad Bird and Producer/Writer Damon Lindelof while we were in LA earlier this month. They were quite a pair of characters!! That was a really fun interview.

The thing about movies is that you just go and watch them. You don’t consider everything that GOES into making the movie – but it’s VERY interesting to see. What’s even more interesting, is getting to know the minds that create the movie and the thought process.

How Disney Brings Tomorrowland to Life…

The very first question, right off the bat, asks that very thing.

Q. How did the information from the Disney archives help you to bring tomorrowland to life on the big screen?

Damon answers: “I think that we are both fascinated with Imagineering and particularly Walt’s futurism. A lot of that stuff was rampant in the early days of designing the Parks itself. And in tomorrowland obviously he came up with the concept in the 50s and 60s but I think that this sort of treasure trove of roads not taken, the part that Brad and I particularly zeroed in on was the 1964 world’s fair where there were a number of attractions like Mr. Lincoln, carousel progress, Magic skyway, Small World, and we just felt like it would be really great to see those on the big screen kind of re-create that feeling. Our initial ambition was a lot higher but again the world’s fair as what they represented at the time, particularly in the 60s, the connection to Disneyland that was really the stuff that we kind of locked in on.”

Then Brad Bird finishes the answer with: “But it’s also that world’s fairs in and of themselves were a thing where people would bring together their brightest minds and talk about the future. And they were semi regular event where people came together from all over the world and kind of traded ideas. And they had a utopian aspect. And when we were talking about what happened to the idea of a positive future we kind of started to notice that that great future sort of disappeared around the time the world’s fairs disappeared.”

Coffee Fuels the Storytelling…

I love a guy that loves coffee and can tell a story! This pair can certainly do that!!

Q. You both are very creative and it seems like you just love storytelling. So what do you do to feed that creativity?

Brad answers, “Coffee. Yeah. It doesn’t have to be Starbucks either, by the way.”

Then Damon chimes in, “I think, you know we watch a lot of TV. We go and see a lot of movies. And we tell our wives and children that that’s work. (everyone laughs). But it is the idea of constantly sort of surrounding yourself. I do feel for me in particular and I think that Brad shares this, is we sort of grew up in that culture and the idea of saying like, I want to do this one day. But where we start almost every time that we get together is oh, did you see this? Did you read this? What do you think about that? And I think that we are so steeped we are fans of this material ourselves. The fact that we get to make it. I think in a lot of ways this movie as Brad was just saying is a little bit of a response to these other you know, to the sort of apocalyptic storytelling that we’ve been kind of barraged with. And we love the Hunger Games. And I want to see Mad Max.”

Photo Credit: Disney Wikia

The Discovery of the 1952 Box…

Isn’t there always something intriguing and interesting about a discovery of something unknown? The guys were asked about the 1952 Box and how it was their inspiration.

Q. Can you tell us more about the discovery of the 1952 box and how that inspired you in the movie?

Damon answers, “Yes, probably 80% of the items were completely and totally uninteresting. But the ones that were interesting to us felt like, what if we were kids in third grade and someone put this box in front of us and said, tell us a story about the things that you find in this box. How would they all connect? And we took some things like the design for the, it’s a small world ride and Flushing Meadows in 64. And this weird kind of like disk that might have been an animation that Orson Welles might have had some interest in. And we said, what if Walt Disney was a member of this secret group of geniuses. And Tomorrowland itself was actually a cover for a real place that they built in an alternate dimension? And then we were kind of off to the races. And the box became just sort of you know, just sort of became a part of it.”

When the interview was over, we all piled up for a group shot with this dynamic duo! Seriously, such nice guys and I love how their imagination works!!

Mark Your Calendars for the PG rated, Family-Friendly Movie, Tomorrowland – Friday, May 22nd!

Plan on taking the family to Tomorrowland on Friday, May 22nd. It’ll be in theaters everywhere!! Think “retro futuristic”. That’s sort of the theme for the movie.

Like TOMORROWLAND on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DisneyTomorrowland

Follow Disney Pictures on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DisneyPictures

Visit the official TOMORROWLAND website: www.Disney.com/Tomorrowland

Disclosure: I was provided an all-expense paid trip to the #TomorrowlandEvent in Los Angeles California in order to facilitate this post; however all opinions and love for Britt Robertson and her Girl Power personality expressed, are my own.

Photo Credit: Louise Bishop Momstart.com

I shared my George Clooney interview the other day for the new Disney movie, Tomorrowland! That was such an exciting experience. The same day, we also had the opportunity to interview the one and only Britt Robertson, who plays the role of Casey.

She is just this beautiful ball of energy! Definitely a girl I could hang with on a Friday night. She’s very down to earth and it’s obvious that she loves life and she loves being an actress.

Meet Casey!

Britt Gets the Role of Casey

Casey is this very curious and adamant teenage girl. Her main question throughout the movie is, “Can we fix it?” Meaning, can we fix the future?

Q. What did you feel, or what was your thought when they said, “Okay, here’s the role of Casey…it’s yours.”?

Britt: “When they told me that I was Casey? It was, I mean, to be honest with you, it was like really, it was kind of an, an overwhelming moment. It’s something that I, I still remember in my mind as being like the most euphoric feeling that I’ve ever had. I was happy and I was elated, and I was crying. I was just so excited. It was such a cool movie to be a part of and I loved the story so much and also just the people attached to it. I just knew that it was going to be a changing point for me in terms of career.”

Britt’s Take on the storyline

Britt is a young woman and in the story of Tomorrowland, you’ll find that her role as Casey, is the “hero” and a young one, at that. She’s not satisfied to just “let things be”. She’s ready to make things happen, no matter the cost. She’s ready to take the future into her own hands.

Q. What was it about the movie, that made you want to be apart of it?

Britt: “You know, it was something about when you read the script and the story, you know, the story itself is a, is a really sweet story. It’s an original idea and it’s something that I had never thought about because the themes of the movie, it really covers future and how we look at our future and how, as a society, we can actually influence our future and make it the world that we want to live in and, I thought that that was a really powerful message and especially for a young woman to be the lead in a movie like this was, was really cool for me.”

The Girl Hero

The previous question led into this fun question about Britt being the “hero”.

Q. So my next question for you and rebounding on that was how did you feel about being the hero of the movie?

Britt: “Well, you know, it’s a really great thing, to be the hero of a movie like this. You know, a Disney film, and to be a young woman and, carry a movie like that. I found it really intimidating, but luckily Brad Bird is such a wonderful human being and he’s a family man, you know. He understands people on a very real level, so I think he gave me the encouragement to, to be brave and just take it one day at a time. So that I wasn’t too overwhelmed by being the hero, you know.”

Are Britt and Casey Similar?

This question came up and I was excited to hear Britt’s answer. It’s always fun to know if the actress and the role they’re playing have any similarities or if they’re completely different personalities altogether. I agree with her answer, she’s a pretty cool chick!

Q. How much of you is there in Casey? Any similarities or differences?

Britt: “You know, I think her mindset used to be very different from mine. Not so much anymore because I’ve adopted a lot of her traits and characteristics because I like her!! And I think she’s a cool chick!!”

Britt’s thoughts on George Clooney

It’s really interesting to hear a young actress’s take on working with a legendary actor, like George Clooney. Britt had great insight on him as an actor and as a human being.

Q. So, what was it like to work with George Clooney?

Britt: “Working with George – going into it, you have all the expectations of a person like that. A movie star and what that means. It was so surprising to me, that I was able to be around him and see how he’s just completely being himself. Like, he hasn’t been lost in the process of becoming George Clooney. He’s still the person that he wants to be and working with him, it made me realize you can still be who you want to be in this industry. You don’t have to be tainted by the process or the people. He’s so professional and I, I just learned a lot from him.”

Photo Credit: Louise Bishop Momstart.com

Britt’s Favorite Scenes

There are so many incredible scenes in the movie with Britt but there are a few of my faves. We touched on some of them a bit here in the interview…

Q. What was your favorite scene to shoot?

Britt: “Ah, you know, I loved all the pin experience scenes. There’s one in particular where I end up out in a lake or, not even a lake. It was like a swamp really, and in Florida, but what was so cool about it is, you know, in Florida in swamps there’s alligators. I was on the hunt for an alligator the entire time I was there. We were actually out in the water and they had spotted some! I just loved getting to create the pin experiences, it was just a lot of fun.”

GIRL POWER … and a baseball bat!

This girl don’t play around! The previous question brought up my own question that I asked Britt about the Baseball Bat scene. This is one of my favorite scenes in the movie!! This isn’t a spoiler, no worries – when you see Tomorrowland watch for the baseball scene with Britt. It’s pretty awesome-sauce!

Q. What about the baseball bat scene, how did that feel?

Britt: “That was SO MUCH FUN! What was so funny about it is they actually gave me baseball bat training lessons beforehand. They were like, you know, practice with the bat. Get used to, you know, hitting someone. They gave me a dummy to practice on and I was like, guys, I don’t need to practice for this. All I gotta do is just attack this man like he’s about to kill me and attack him with as much power as I have. I remember after that scene just like really in it and going for it and the whole time! It was very real. They actually let me hit a stuntman and I was a little hesitant, but at a certain point, you kind of just gotta go for it! George’s (Clooney) reaction was like, “okay, that’s enough” and was worried that he needed to protect the guy!”

My thoughts on Britt:

I’m officially a fan of hers. I’m excited to see her roles in future films. She’s a young actress and full of positivity. She’s a great role model for young women and I can’t wait to see where her future takes her!! We were so excited to get this group shot with her after the interview was over. <3 her!

TOMORROWLAND is rated PG and opens in theaters everywhere on May 22nd!