Chapter 664: As long as you want, anything is possible!

After the script and production plan for The Curious Question House were finalized, the Creative Director of Pixar Animation Studios, John Lasseter, personally made a video call to Lin Mo.

"Lin." John said enthusiastically on the other end of the screen, "Although the script has been finalized, our animators want to gain a deeper understanding of Nuan Nuan's daily gestures and small movements, so that the character can be more vivid and lifelike."

"What exactly do you need?"

"We want to send our lead animator Andrew Wilson to China for half a month to observe and record Nuan Nuan's daily life," John explained. "Andrew contributed to the character design of Coco and Inside Out; he's best at capturing characters' unique small movements and expressions."

Lin Mo pondered for a moment: "Okay, but there are a few conditions: it must not affect Nuan Nuan's normal life, all filming must have my approval, and..."

"Moreover, the final product must receive your final approval," John interjected with a laugh, "That's a given, you're our executive producer."

They chatted a while longer before ending the call.

One week later, Andrew Wilson arrived in Mo Du with his team; this middle-aged man with a full beard is a senior animator at Pixar, who designed countless classic movements for Miguel in Coco.

On Monday morning, as Re Ba led Nuan Nuan out the door, Andrew was already waiting at the doorway with his camera.

"Mom," Nuan Nuan tugged at Re Ba's shirt hem curiously, "Why is this uncle holding a big camera?"

Re Ba crouched down and gently explained, "This is Uncle Andrew; he's going to film Nuan Nuan's adorable self to make an animation."

Nuan Nuan blinked her big eyes and greeted in childish English: "Hello! I'm Lin. Z.!" (Hello! I'm Lin Zhixia!)

Andrew's heart melted at that baby voice; he quickly put down his camera: "O! What. leprincess!" (Goodness! How adorable this little princess is!)

On the way to school, Andrew kept a proper distance, his sketchbook quickly capturing Nuan Nuan's bouncing walk; when Nuan Nuan pointed at the roadside dandelion and exclaimed, he hurriedly noted that surprised expression.

"This is perfect," Andrew whispered to his assistant, "This kind of spontaneous surprise is exactly the material animators crave."

At the school gate, Nuan Nuan's classmate Xiaoyu ran over curiously: "Nuan Nuan, who is this foreign uncle?"

Nuan Nuan puffed out her little chest proudly: "This is Uncle Andrew; he's going to film the animation I'm starring in!"

The children immediately gathered in a circle, chattering away:

"Really?"

"What kind of animation?"

"Can I be on TV too?"

Andrew looked at this lively bunch of kids, inspiration struck, and he quickly jotted down in his notebook: "Group scenes can include more kid interactions..."

During class, Andrew was permitted to film from the back of the classroom.

When the teacher asked, "Who knows why the sky is blue?", Nuan Nuan was the first to raise her hand: "Because blue is the color of the sea, and the sky reflects the sea onto itself!"

After school, Andrew went to Lin Mo's house to continue working. Nuan Nuan ran over holding a picture book: "Uncle Andrew, want to hear a story?"

Her expressive changes while telling the story with feeling, her adorable hand-waving and foot-kicking, all became precious material for Andrew's sketches.

At dinner, Nuan Nuan's "Hundred Thousand Whys" time came again; Andrew recorded while remarking, "Every question's expression is so rich—she's a natural animation prototype!"

On the day the half-month observation period ended, Andrew's team had already accumulated over a thousand sketches and hundreds of hours of footage. At parting, he wistfully told Lin Mo: "Thank you for letting me witness all this. Nuan Nuan reminded me why I love the animation industry—because we must always keep a childlike heart."

Nuan Nuan also specially gave Andrew a drawing, depicting a big-bearded uncle and a little girl with ponytails: "Uncle Andrew, this is for you! It's you drawing my likeness!"

Andrew gratefully accepted the drawing: "Thank you, I will treasure it forever!"

After Andrew left, Nuan Nuan suddenly asked Lin Mo: "Dad, can I still make animations in the future?"

Lin Mo looked at his daughter's sparkling eyes and softly said: "As long as you want, anything is possible."

One month later, Pixar's animation production team arrived in Mo Du in great numbers. John Lasseter personally led the team, setting up a temporary creation base in Chenguang Entertainment's animation studio.

"Lin," John exclaimed, pointing at the design drawings, "We've decided to place the main production in Huaguo, so we can have Nuan Nuan participate in voice acting and motion capture at any time, and better incorporate Huaguo elements."

When Nuan Nuan first entered the animation workshop, she was stunned by the walls full of concept art: "Dad! Are these all me?"

The walls were covered with concept designs based on her: a little girl with ponytails running under the starry sky, making a wish to a dandelion, falling asleep while hugging a picture book... every motion was vividly lifelike.

"Little Princess," John crouched, pointing at the motion capture room, "Want to play a game? We're going to record all your movements."

Nuan Nuan curiously put on the motion capture suit, her body covered in sensors, as the technician guided her: "Nuan Nuan, can you jump around as you usually do?"

Nuan Nuan immediately began performing: "I'll imitate a little rabbit!" She raised her fingers to her head and hopped around the whole space.

The animators happily recorded: "This is perfect! This bouncing rhythm is exactly what we need!"

Thus, the feature-length animation of The Curious Question House officially entered the production stage.