August 2nd, 2022 
Jackson Murphy 
Skydance Animation’s first feature Luck premieres this Friday August 5th on AppleTV+. It’s a rare major CG animated movie to receive a G rating these days, with a story the whole family will find fun, charming and moving. Animation Director Yuriko Senoo (animator on Bolt and Tangled) joins me to spotlight how hard work contributed to Luck’s success. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)
Jackson Murphy: There’s so much green in this movie!
Yuriko Senoo: (laughs)
JM: How was it balancing the green — where it’s gonna go / all the shades?
YS: Fred Warter, our production designer, did a great job creating the world of Luck. Green is a color for good luck, and purple is a color of bad luck. When Sam hits rock bottom, the sequence colors are more dark and blue-ish gray. It’s great to see how color helps amplify the emotion of the scene.
JM: You previously worked with Peggy Holmes in the Tinker Bell world, right?
YS: Yes! She’s great. I really enjoyed working with her. She’s been a great mentor to me and gives us a lot of creative freedom. Peggy has a gift for heartwarming stories and charming characters. She’s got a great sense of timing and rhythm. And sometimes we act out the scene in front of animators. Peggy had a lot of dancing video references. Animation review is always a lot of fun with her.
JM: The movie opens with this music video vibe. Was that actually one of the first things that you worked on?
Yuriko Senoo
JM: There are some great chase sequences in this, but also a lot of intimate moments, particularly between two characters. Which kind of scene was more challenging for you?
YS: They were challenging in different ways. In the chase / action sequence, we had to show good luck and bad luck. Bob is lucky, so has this easy, effortless movement. He doesn’t even have to look where he is going because everything works out for him. His timing had to be perfect. His movement had to be worry-free and casual. On the other hand, Sam is unlucky. Everything goes wrong with her. She has one back luck after another, but she doesn’t give up. That’s what I really like about her. We tried to work out her physical comedy and tried to create cause and effect to show bad luck.
As far as emotional sequences are concerned, we actually applied the concept of “less is more” in animation throughout the whole movie. For every scene, we look for what could be simplified. We stripped off any unnecessary movement or gestures so we can purely focus on what the characters are thinking and feeling.
JM: You succeed with that. One of the key places we see in the human world is the department store “Flowers & More”. I feel like you can never go into a flower shop or a department store and look at it the same way again after working on something like this.
YS: Yeah. It was fun. That’s also a fun sequence. The story team did a great job coming up with good luck and bad luck gags everywhere in the movie. Sam’s regular day at work is a bad day. Sam’s hair gets caught on a coupon tag and as she falls she grabs onto a shelf for support, causing the shelf to buckle and sending all the glitter bottles down with her. The puff of glitter in there is so entertaining to see. And when she has a lucky penny, it’s quite a contrast. Sam can toss the return merchandise up in the air… and they land perfectly on the shelf, and it’s so satisfying to see that.
JM: When I found out that you worked on Meet the Robinsons, which was released about 15 years ago, I thought it was interesting because that movie, like Luck and the Land of Luck that we see in this, had these huge futuristic / fantastical / mechanical objects. Did working on Luck bring you back to working on Meet the Robinsons?
YS: You know, I didn’t make the connection while working on Luck, but you’re right. There are some similarities between Luck and Meet the Robinsons. The main character, Louis, grew up in a group home, just like Sam. And just like Sam, he doesn’t give up. He’s resilient. He keeps trying no matter how many times he fails. He’s relatable. And like you said, the world is fantastic, and it’s a great story that touches people. Thanks for bringing me back to that memory.
JM: Oh you’re welcome. I definitely felt that — and with some of the mechanics and the machinery. I think the quality of the technology since a movie like Meet the Robinsons (which was so cool to look at at the time) has really increased in the last 15 years.
YS: First of all, I can’t believe it’s been 15 years since I worked on that project. Boy, time sure flies. It’s kind of scary. In 15 years technology has made a lot of progress. I’m so grateful the technology was there to be able to work remotely from home during the pandemic. We were able to collaborate with our teams in Madrid and Connecticut, and some of us were in San Francisco and L.A. It was a new way of working and collaborating. In terms of animation, acting and performance is still the most important part. That hasn’t changed — by creating memorable and relatable characters, heartwarming stories. We’re inspiring and entertaining the audience. Those aspects of animation still remain the same.
JM: I love Babe The Dragon, voiced by Jane Fonda. What were your goals with that character and how you wanted her to have an impact? Her wink to Sam in her first scene is so perfect.
YS: (laughs) Right. It shows that she’s powerful. She’s a CEO of the Good Luck world, but she’s caring and a cool boss. Giving a wink to somebody she’s never seen before. The leprechauns, bunnies and pigs love and respect her. She has six legs… she can go down to all her six legs and can be more intimate with the tiny Good Luck creatures. I love that she’s full of passion and life.
JM: And then we get to the section with Rootie and his juice bar. John Ratzenburger is fantastic in this role, with this vibe and atmosphere. It’s a fun place you want to be — I wanna be there!
YS: Yes, I wanna be there too! It’s a fun place to hang out and John Ratzenburger did a great job with the voice acting. He brings so much to the character. Rootie is a fun character. We just wanted to make sure we created the feeling that the Bad Luck creatures are not bad guys or scary monsters. They’re good-natured and enjoy living in their world. Even when things break all the time and things are in constant repair, I think they actually enjoy fixing things. They enjoy their life. And they have a great sense of humor about their bad luck.
JM: I could see a spinoff with more of them. Anything particularly “lucky” that happened while making this?
YS: I feel lucky that we had really talented and nice people working on Luck. Everybody was encouraged to share ideas and contributed to plus any ideas to make the movie better. It was a supportive and positive environment where people could really shine. I feel so lucky to be part of this project. And in my personal life, my daughter just graduated from high school and is getting ready to go to college. I’m so proud of her.
JM: Wow. Your daughter must see a lot in Sam — about the same age, right? And kind of in that place in her life.
YS: Exactly. That’s why she was one of my inspirations when animating Sam and giving notes on Sam’s acting.
JM: Nice. And because Luck is Skydance Animation’s first feature, what does Luck say about Skydance, and what does the future look like for Skydance?
YS: Luck is an original story that touches people’s hearts, and I feel like it has strong messages that give us hope. Bad Luck is not what it seems. It can lead to some Good Luck. And Good Luck and Bad Luck are integral parts of each other. Bad Luck teaches you to pivot. But my favorite message is that love is more important than luck. And I hope that we’ll be able to keep telling stories that are meaningful and inspire audiences of all ages around the world. I’m so proud of the team and the movie we made together.
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