Pixar artist creates short film starring Filipino-American leads

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 14) — A Filipino-American story artist is tapping into his roots as he creates the first ever Filipino-American characters for a Pixar short film.

Pixar Animation Studios story artist Bobby Rubio is delving into the director's seat with Pixar's upcoming short entitled "Float."

Rubio has revealed on his Twitter that it will be starred by two Filipino-American computer-generated characters.

The artist who has worked on animated films "Tarzan," "Avatar: The Last Airbender" series, and "Up" shared how important it is to finally have characters that represent millions of Filipinos all over the world.

"I am proud to tell our stories. I know what it means to see our culture represented on screen! #RepresentationMatters," he wrote.

"I am so grateful to tell our stories. I know what it means to be underrepresented... I’m going to do my best to tell MORE!" he wrote in another tweet.

"Float" will be a part of Pixar's SparkShorts, an experimental storytelling initiative of the American animation company. The shorts under SparkShorts will hit YouTube starting February, but Rubio's film still has no release date.

Although born and raised in San Diego, California, Rubio remains proud of his Filipino roots. He often shares Pinoy pop culture artworks on his Twitter page. One of his most recent creations? A sketch of Miss Universe 2018 and fellow Philippine pride Catriona Gray.