The 2014 Ken Loach movie that Pixar saved from disaster: “We’re very grateful”
Everyone knows there’s a bit of magic sprinkled through the Pixar animation studios out in California, but not too many know they’re capable of amazing real-life acts as well, like when they went from Finding Nemo to finding some vital tools of the trade for legendary British director Ken Loach.
That might seem like a slightly unlikely pairing, especially given the distances involved and the fact that while Pixar make films about toys coming to life and talking cars, Loach makes them about little Yorkshire boys whose beloved pet birds are killed by their own brothers, but there we are, such is the mysterious world of movie-making.
To explain, back in 2014, Loach, director of classics like the aforementioned Kes from 1969 and the Palme d’Or-winning I, Daniel Blake, was working on what he thought might be his last film, the historical drama Jimmy’s Hall starring future Moriarty Andrew Scott. Set in the 1930s, it told the story of an Irish revolutionary leader who returns from a period in the United States and uses his experience of communism and jazz to form an uprising against the church.
Loach had a problem after filming however, in that he still worked using original editing machines rather than moving to digital, physically cutting the film stock on a machine called a Steenbeck. Unfortunately, in order to use it, a certain film numbering tape was required, and supplies in the UK had completely run out, putting the movie’s future in jeopardy.
Loach said at the time, “We’re making a start and putting the scenes together. But we’re finding that one or two of the support services are fading, and one of those is in supplies of numbering tape. We’re scratching around to find if some numbering tape still exists so we can identify the sound and picture so the film remains in sync.”
With hopes fading fast, Loach and his producers put out a call for help via a movie website and were amazed when, from across the sea, Steve Bloom, an editor at Pixar, stepped up and offered to fix the problem. Not only did he let it be known that several staff members at the studio had personal favourite Ken Loach films, the company also sent over their entire stock of numbering tape, 21 rolls of it, accompanied by a hand-drawn sketch of Monsters Inc’s Mike and Sully surrounded by tape.
Nine of the Pixar editors had signed the picture with a message stating: “To Ken Loach and crew. Good luck from the editors at Pixar!”
In return, Loach’s company sent a message back to California with a photo of the man himself, replying: “We were delighted to know that Pixar is still in love with the same technology as us. We hope to get to meet them along the way. We’ve had a tinful of tape from a few other friends as well, and we’re very grateful.”
Thanks to the intervention from the US, the film was finished and released to positive reviews. Loach, who was in his late 70s at the time, went on to make another three movies up to 2023, his last being The Old Oak, a film about the last remaining pub in a former mining town in Ireland, the owner of which befriends a group of Syrian refugees.
