What’s new MMT family? Get the kiddies ready, because opening this weekend in theaters nationwide is Rio 2, the sequel to the hit animated blockbuster, which features the voices of Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Andy Garcia, Jamie Foxx, Will.I.Am, Tracy Morgan, George Lopez and Bruno Mars to name a few! I must admit I had not seen the first film, but I was very impressed during the opening sequence, which depicts New Year’s in Rio with a magnificent CGI display of vivid color and lively sounds. It also helped that the opening number included a fantastic song, “What is Love,” featuring soul siren Janelle Monae, and gave a really cool introduction of the main characters for us newcomers. 🙂
“Rio 2” finds the main characters Blu and Jewel, escorting their family on an adventure across the Amazon to locate others (Blue Macaws) like them. Unknowingly, they are followed by the villain Nigel and his cohorts, who are seeking revenge against Blu, and will become instrumental in protecting the natural habitat of those closest to them.
When I asked Carlos Saldanha how he came up with the storyline and narrowed down the themes discussed he shared, “Well it’s interesting because when we start we have all these ideas. And you put them all on the board, and you’re like this is all great. But then you start to make the movie, and you go – the movie has to be three hours long if I want to tell all these stories! So you start to pare down and find what’s relevant to the story. For me it always has to be (told) through the main character.”
Now MMT fam, I did ask Mr. Saldanha the signature question and he couldn’t think of a musical artist that he would write/direct a biopic about that hasn’t been done already. However he did share, “he’s not a musician, but he’s a guy from Brazil that was one of the first guys to create an airplane, during the time of the Wright Brothers. His name is Santos Dumont, but in Brazil we call him ‘the Father of Aviation.’ And there are a lot of books written and movies made about him, but I’ve always had a fascination with that character.”
Check out more of my interview with Saldanha on Examiner here, and get more info about Rio 2 at the official website here. You can also check out the video to “What is Love,” with Janelle Monae and a few familiar faces from the Rio cast below.
Until next thought family, Thomasena
Music Movies Thoughts 
1 Comment