The first trailer for Abominable brings a fluffy, floofy yeti to life.
Abominable is the third animated yeti film to come out within a short period of time. Unlike Smallfoot — which focused on a yeti civilization — or Missing Link — a period film, which followed an explorer — Abominable takes place in modern-day Shanghai, and the yeti is more animal-like, communicating with noises instead of conversing. A girl named Yi (Chloe Bennet) discovers a yeti, and with the help of her two friends, shepherds him back to his home in the Himalayas. They’re chased by a wealthy animal collector (Eddie Izzard) and a scheming zoologist assistant (Sarah Paulson) who wish to capture a yeti of their own. Set to Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way,” the trailer shows Yi and her friends traversing across China to help the yeti find his way home.
Director Jill Culton (Open Season) spoke to Entertainment Weekly about the importance of casting Asian actors in Asian roles and working closely with Shanghai-based Pearl Studio to strive for authenticity.
“It’s just about getting to that authentic place,” she says. “Just as an example, we set-dressed the entire city, and then we got the feedback that there are no metal trash cans in China. So we had to go back through every scene and change the trash cans to rubber.”
Abominable comes to theaters on Sept. 27.