April 17th, 2020 
Jackson Murphy 
Just in time for Earth Day, AppleTV+ is debuting a new animated short film on their streaming service today. Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth is a gentle and moving 36-minute CG adaptation of the 2017 book by Oliver Jeffers. It’s about a boy named Finn who discovers all that our planet has to offer on a special Earth Day with his parents.
Here We Are is directed by Philip Hunt, of BAFTA winning animated short Lost And Found, and it’s produced by Sue Goffe, of Oscar nominated animated short A Morning Stroll. (This interview was conducted as an email Q&A.)
Jackson Murphy: What was it about the book that made it worthy of an animated short film?
Philip Hunt: When Oliver shared his early roughs and layouts with me, I was struck by how personal the voice was that tied everything together, within the stream of consciousness and the emotion that made up the book’s narration. I recognized Oliver’s emotional state from my memories as a new parent and felt he had created a book that would relate to readers all over the world. I loved how Oliver translated all of his own chaotic emotions into the book as ‘an introduction to living on planet earth,’ and when I discussed the book with Sue, we realized that we both wished to find a way to replicate these themes in an adaptation. The book is more non-fiction than it is fiction, and I was driven by the desire to take the viewer into Oliver’s world to discover what we could not see, to go ‘between the pages.’
JM: The story is very sweet and surprisingly intimate. How did you approach capturing that feeling?
PH: Our film is not a conventional interpretation of its source material. Oliver and I discussed many ways to approach adapting what is essentially a non-fiction monologue into a storyline, and it was apparent early on that we would lean a long way from where the book left off. Oliver is never afraid to embrace a different take or fresh perspective on his material, and we considered a few ways to develop the book for the screen. In doing so, we channeled how a parent and a child might read the book together and this led us to put a family front and center in the storyline. While we start the film with a nod to the father and child featured in the book, we also decided to look a few years down the line from the opening scenes to a moment when the child could be questioning the world for themselves. In the process, we created a production parallel to the themes of the book, and we’ve given Oliver’s voice another platform for expression.
JM: I love the big sets of stairs at the museum. What design inspiration did you draw from?
PH: Finn’s world initially exists in the few rooms of his apartment, then later in the neighborhood. Venturing beyond his doorstep to the park, the museum and then, in his imagination, the world, we are reminded that to a child such spaces can seem unimaginably vast and full of both wonder and, sometimes, trepidation. The streets go off in all directions, the park seems never-ending, and the hall of the museum is scaled so that he is forever looking up. The interior layout of the museum was intended to be seemingly limitless with room-upon-room and a layout that would defy any attempt to map it (just look closely at the map that Finn’s dad is holding and you’ll see). So, the design was always pushing to invite further exploration, even if we only catch a glimpse of most of it. The world seems so large to Finn, and he cannot imagine how he will ever understand it. Therefore, spaces such as the museum are the cornerstones of the story we decided to tell.
JM: This is one of the first big animation/family releases for AppleTV+. How do you think “Here We Are” fits with their brand?
Sue Goffe: Finding the right partner to make an animated short film like “Here We Are” was something we carefully considered. As luck happened, it coincided with a very early meeting we had with Tara Sorensen, Head of Kids’ Programming at Apple. We pitched the film to her and together decided we would want to launch ‘Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth’ the animated short film for the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day (April 22nd, 2020). During our creative discussions, it was clear that Apple was passionate about telling this story focused on the importance of both family and our planet. Apple encouraged us to lean further into these themes and enabled us to create a project that will resonate across the world.
The film was green-lit eighteen months ago and was completed in early 2020, before we had any inkling of the enormous changes about to envelop the planet. Now, as we launch the film, the story is more meaningful than ever. At a time when we are more uncertain than ever about our place in this world, we have a beautiful story to share with everyone on Earth.
JM: How was it designing the giant globe attraction that the family experiences?
PH: The idea of the museum’s exhibit that combined a planetarium with an ‘experience’ ride around the world came from trying to figure out how we could pull together Oliver’s observations about the planet in the book, with the experience of Finn as a child having his eyes opened to the world. We tried several approaches to this exhibit, but it was always a portal into Finn’s imagination and a stage by which we could bring the world together in one place. It was important to us that the exhibit did not stay rooted in ‘reality’ for long, and right from the get-go, it seems to get more extensive and amazing by the moment. We blurred the lines between what was ‘real’ in Finn’s world and where his imagination overtakes him. We wanted the globe to earn the description from Finn’s dad: ‘That was epic!’
JM: What attracted the great Meryl Streep to this project?
PH: The first writing for the adaptation was the opening and closing narration, which was honed and polished as time went on. The narrator also reappears as the voice of the big Earth globe-ride midway through the film, so we always knew that we wanted someone who could embody the voice of ‘Mother Earth.’ We must credit Apple with suggesting the incomparable Meryl Streep for this role. The performance she delivers binds together the entire film. I can’t speak for her, but we do know that Ms. Streep loved Oliver’s book and is passionate
about the environment – and so we were humbled and thrilled to get her and the amazing voice cast.
JM: Jacob Tremblay has been one of the most popular and successful young performers in entertainment in recent years. What made him right to voice Finn?
PH: Jacob is an extraordinary talent. Finn’s age is never specified. We wanted a young actor who could be a ball of energy one moment, and adrift in his thoughts the next. We felt that he embodied everything we had imagined about the character, and he brought both an incredible energy and joy to his role, along with a very moving portrayal of self-doubt and confusion where we needed it – as he learns that even the littlest things can make a big difference.
JM: Chris O’Dowd and Ruth Negga are terrific as the parents. They’re assuring and upbeat and funny – what you’d want parents to be. What does being a part of this short mean to them?
PH: Chris was our first choice for Finn’s dad from the very earliest discussions with Oliver. He nails the character of an enthusiastic father, who is nonetheless aware of the enormity of the whole ‘parenting’ thing. Chris had been reading Oliver’s book to his own children when the part was offered to him, and we could not be happier with the heartfelt warmth and humor he brings to the role.
We wanted Ruth based on our love for her previous work, and also as Ruth brought a gentle wit and a compassionate tone to her role, playing someone who is always a few steps ahead of her family, looking at the bigger picture. “Here We Are” may be the story of Finn and his dad finding their way, but it’s the mother who guides both throughout. The chemistry of the on-screen family is beautiful, and we hope that’s what families around the world will feel as well!
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