FIRST LOOK: Meet PIPER in New HD Stills

In nearly one week on June 17th, audiences can look forward to reuniting with Dory, Marlin, and Nemo in Pixar's latest much-anticipated sequel, Finding Dory! In addition to the whole new sea of characters that we'll meet, we can also look forward to a land-bearing creature: Piper, an adorable sandpiper hatchling who stars as the titular character in her very own short film, Pixar's Piper. This week, USA Today has given us curious movie-goers our first look at Piper in her adorable rendered glory in not one but two beautiful still images. And even better? A short conversation with Piper first-time director Alan Barillaro revealing the creative process behind Piper's conception. Check out our first look at Piper and her mother as well as USA Today's conversation with Barillaro after the break!

USA Today's Conversation with Piper Director Alan Barillaro:

First-time director Alan Barillaro features the adorable beach bird and her mother in a tale of unheralded bravery — tiny Piper leaving the nest for a world filled with treacherous ocean waves.

“This is a story about conquering and overcoming your personal fears — in this case, the water,” Barillaro says. “This is a tale of how to grow up in a world that seems so large and intimidating with the courage to get past those fears.”
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After finishing his stint as supervising animator on Pixar's 2012 hit Brave, Barillaro was inspired by birds scurrying around the surf for food while he was running along a Northern California beach.

In a new short 'Piper,' a hungry sandpiper hatchling discovers that finding food without her mom’s help isn’t so easy.

“Those birds on the shore always looked like they were tearing around in fear, like they were scared of the water," Barillaro says. "That was the impetus of the idea.”

Creating the sandpiper character started as a test of new animation technology, but Finding Dory director Andrew Stanton and Pixar chief creative officer John Lasseter saw story potential with Piper.
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Barillaro took the deep dive and fleshed out the six-minute tale of Piper being prompted to look for clams buried in the sand by her mother (no bird handouts here). She gets knocked down by waves, but overcomes the setbacks. Chalk it up to hunger-inspired fortitude.

“I love playing with something people are familiar with, like a beach, and giving a new perspective, how that might feel as a bird that’s only four inches off the ground," Barillaro says. "The filmmaker in me wanted to have fun with that concept.”

Rock guitarist Adrian Belew composed the film score for the wordless Piper and even contributed to the bird sounds — using everything from his guitar to his sneakers squeaking on hardwood floors to aid sound engineers, who also incorporated real sandpiper sounds.

The growl of Piper’s stomach when she fails to find a meal is actually Belew recording his own daily gurgle.
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“I just put my iPhone to my belly,” Belew says. “Hopefully, I’ll get calls from filmmakers for my stomach growls from now on.”

The 'Piper' scoring session at Skywalker Sound in Nicasio, Calif., with director Alan Barillaro, left, composer Adrian Belew, center, and producer Marc Sondheimer, right.

Piper is a girl hatchling, mostly because of her predominantly female name. “But I love that it’s not a gender-specific (story),” Barillaro says.

He says kids will relate to the story of a youngster overcoming fear and ultimately thriving in the ocean setting.

“There’s also the parent aspect, personal to me,” says Barillaro, a father of three. “Letting your kids grow up, make mistakes and not hovering over them. The mother piper is the parent I wish I was — being there for your kids, but giving them space to grow.”

PIPER debuts before Finding Dory next week on June 17th!

If Director Alan Barillaro's comments don't intrigue enough about Piper, hopefully /Film's very own Peter Sciretta's comments regarding the short will! Following last night's Finding Dory World Premiere at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, CA, Sciretta took to Twitter to weigh in on his thoughts regarding Pixar's latest short:

And Finding Dory comes with the best Pixar theatrical short in a decade -- Alan Barillaro's Piper. So beautiful.... and cute.

— Peter Sciretta (@slashfilm) June 9, 2016

Best Pixar theatrical short in a decade? Here we go again...!!!