How Richard Linklater Made His Animated Fantasy ‘Apollo 10 1/2’ Feel So Realistic: ‘Everything Is a Magic Trick’

“You’re so pulled into the specifics that seem so personal that you buy the fantastic element that makes it seem real,” director says of film premiering at SXSW

Apollo 10 1/2 Richard Linklater
Courtesy of Netflix

Richard Linklater’s “Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood” is so nostalgic, personal and picture-perfect in imagining Houston in 1969 that it feels like it must be an autobiography of the Texan director. But Linklater explains that, like all his films that feel effortlessly conversational and natural, it’s all carefully constructed to bring you into that fantasy.

“You’re so pulled into the specifics that seem so personal that you buy the fantastic element that makes it seem real,” Linklater told TheWrap. “There’s still tricks you can do as a storyteller to lull the audience and pull them into a headspace.

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