University of Washington Professor Adam Summers Advises Pixar Animators With Disney's New Film, 'Finding Dory'

University of Washington Professor Adam Summers advises Pixar's animators on fish behaviour with Disney's new animated feature film, "Finding Dory."

Dr. Adam Summers lends his knowledge on fish behaviour to provide data for animators at Pixar about fish movement, behaviour, and attitude. The professor has been studying fish for about 20 years, Geekwire reported.

Among Summers' academic achievements, the professor graduated with a degree in math and engineering, and has worked as a diver in Australia, for which he captured fish for aquariums.

Summers' encounter with a marine biologist from his time working in Australia may have prompted the professor to pursue his curiosity with marine life, and the environment.

The professor then got a second bachelor's degree in biology. The marine expert now spends most of his time running a research lab fot the University of Washington along Friday Harbor.

Summers' specialty is bio-mechanics, which studies the way fish move. The professor cites the importance of proper movement, even for animated animal characters, according to the University of Washington Today.

The University of Washington professor shares his experience working with the animation studios where he was asked by animators to judge separate frames. Summers' was asked which of the frames are from an actual live footage of reef and which ones are generated with a computer.

Summers' hailed the skill and attention to detail the animators at Pixar posses and have commended their work during the three-year production process. The marine expert admitted that at some point he failed to distinguish the actual live footage from the computer-generated ones.

The professor's contribution to the film was more scientific than philosophical, Summers' revealed. The marine expert supervised animators on how a certain fish would behave and move around.

Summers' also pointed out that it is important that science is deeply incorporated within the film, even if it is intended for a younger audience. The professor cites that he still gets the toughest questions about his work from curious kids.