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Louis Gonzales’ work with “Nona” debuts on the streaming service as part of the “SparkShorts” series.  Nona is a heartwarming 6-minute tape allowed him to imagine how his late grandmother would get along with her youngest daughter, had he gotten to know her.

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Nona Synopsis: Nona follows a grandmother who plans to spend her well-deserved day off but shutting out the world to watch her favorite show, E.W.W. Smashdown. That’s right this grandma is a wrestling super fan. But her plans are interrupted when her five-year-old granddaughter Renee is dropped off. Nona is now caught between wanting to spend time with her granddaughter and watching her show. There is only one way to settle this, so they have a showdown of their own, which leads to a lot of laughs and a loving compromise. 

How did you develop the character “Nona?

Louis: This character’s a lot like my grandma Pearl. She has a big personality, is a strong individual, and I love her to death. I was kind of afraid of her when I was young, because I was kind of a shy kid. But here’s the important part, she loved wrestling. And that was the time that me and her bonded. And I was like, oh my goodness, I have the coolest grandma.

How did your daughter inspire the granddaughter in Nona?

Louis: She’s had a strong mind about what she wanted since she came out of the womb. I mean telling us when she needed her diapers changed, what kind of bow she wanted to wear. And so on.

What was the level of excitement that you had for creating this short?

Louis: I started just waking up at 4 o’clock getting in by 4:30 and drawing until I needed to take a break. And I did it mostly in my sketchbook and I love that because it was like my journal.

How Louis made this short a “team” effort.

Louis: When I watch this short, I don’t really see me or what I’m trying to do. I actually see us. I see Team Nona. I see what we made. And despite being my first short made during the pandemic, working from home, it was a blessing. Every day I was surrounded by passionate and brilliant people I was happy to call Team Nona.

The premiere of “Nona” coincides with Hispanic Heritage Month, which is celebrated in the United States from September 15 to October 15. In terms of representation, it also comes months before the premiere of the feature film “Encanto” by Disney Animation Studios, set in Colombia, and a few years after “Coco” by Disney-Pixar.

Gonzales, whose credits include “Monsters Inc.,” “Finding Nemo,” “Ratatouille,” “Cars 3,” “Brave,” and “The Incredibles,” began his career in 1996 at Warner Brothers Animation and has worked at Pixar since 2000. Animation, where he currently works as a story supervisor.

Nona will premiere on Disney+ September 17