Lindsey Olivares Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Karen Idelson Several of this year’s biggest animated films wanted to take bold stylistic risks that would set them apart from what audiences had come to expect from modern CG animation. On their quest to take the next leap forward, they turned to a style known for its warmth and imperfection — 2D animation.“The Mitchells vs. the Machines,” “Luca,” “Raya and the Last Dragon” and “Flee” — all nommed for the animated feature Oscar — found something they needed for their stories in 2D.

For Netflix’s The Mitchells vs. the Machines, produced by Sony Pictures Animation, the idea of “Katie Vision” was bounced around for a bit, until production designer Lindsey Olivares got her hands on one of their animation tests. Director Mike Rianda said, “One weekend without telling anyone, she just stole some animation and drew on the screen and made it just with the crappy Photoshop she had on her computer. It was so exciting to see basically the super-expensive animated movie that some teenager had graffitied all over.”

As Mike Rianda and Jeff Rowe were writing the story for The Mitchells vs the Machines, they realized that all of the people they knew who inspired Katie Mitchell were queer. In discussing this with LGBTQ+ members of their crew, the decision to make Katie open about her queerness was obvious.