Lucy Liu's Strange World Character Was Originally Much Different Than The Final Iteration [Exclusive]
In Walt Disney Animation's "Strange World," viewers will visit a land set in the center of a seemingly impassable mountain rage. But Jaeger Clade (voice of Dennis Quaid) is a grizzled old explorer whose life's mission is to see the other side of those mountains, and nothing will stop him from accomplishing that goal. Not even his teenage son Searcher (voice of Jake Gyllenhaal) can stop him when the latter discovers some plants called Pando that bring electricity to the land. No, Jaeger is too determined to be the first to cross the range, and he ends up leaving his son, the Pando, and the rest of the team behind.
25 years later, Searcher is a farmer of Pando, married to Meridian Clade (voice of Gabrielle Union), with a teenage son of his own named Ethan (voice of Jaboukie Young-White). The marriage is happy; Ethan has a lovely crush on a local boy and parents who good-naturedly tease him about it whenever possible. However, when the Pando starts to fail, Callisto Mal (voice of Lucy Liu), the leader of the community, comes to find Searcher so he can go on a mission with her to find out why. The entire family ends up on an adventure into a strange world inspired by pulp magazines and early sci-fi stories.
/Film's own Vanessa Armstrong recently spoke to producer Roy Conli about the character of Callisto and how much she changed from the initial character the filmmakers came up with. Callisto is a no-nonsense sort of leader, who is on personal terms with the Clade family, but seems to be well-respected by her crew. She's passionate about her decisions but she can be reasoned with, unlike the pater familias Jaeger, who is stubborn and difficult to change.
'Not only is she an explorer, but she's a leader'
According to Conli, Callisto originally had a much different type of characterization — one that Liu seemed to gel with in the early days. As Conli told /Film:
"She was much more of a Jaeger type of character at first. We thought, 'Oh, god, it's too much ...' And we had pitched [Lucy] that, and then we went back to her and said, 'Listen, we're thinking of changing this character.' And she said, 'Well, let's see what it is,' because she really wanted to embrace that character.
"We went back to her twice because we wanted to work with her so badly. She totally embraced that. I mean, that's an amazingly subtle character, Callisto. Not only is she an explorer, but she's a leader."
You can see glimpses of what she was in certain comments Callisto makes, but it does seem as if two strident characters like that would have been too much. Instead, Callisto is very clear about what she wants and doesn't mind letting anyone know when she disagrees — sometimes a bit forcefully. However, when it's made clear that she's wrong, she's quickly willing to admit it and change her mind, even though she's the one who will bear the brunt of the repercussions.
It's interesting to note that in Greek and Roman mythology, the nymph Callisto — who served the hunter goddess Artemis — is changed into a bear after an encounter with Zeus and placed in the sky as the constellation Ursa Major. The bear does seem to be a big part of this Callisto's personality. She's powerful, physically imposing, and protective of her cubs (her people).
Journey into a "Strange World" when the film hits theaters on November 23, 2022.