Stephen Curry’s ‘GOAT’: The making of roarball with director Tyree Dillihay
After 7½ years of labor, director Tyree Dillihay spoke as if R&B group Tony! Toni! Tone!’s 1993 monitor “Anniversary” was taking part in within the background. However the soundtrack in his head wasn’t nostalgia — it was celebration.
“Have you learnt what immediately is? It is premiere day,” Dillihay instructed ESPN.
Dillihay and his crew at Sony Photos began engaged on the most recent basketball animated movie “GOAT” in September 2018. The undertaking, set to hit theaters Friday, is executive-produced by Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry, who additionally lends his voice to the film alongside a number of notable previous and current NBA and WNBA stars. The thought for the movie got here collectively shortly after Curry’s manufacturing firm, Unanimous Media, closed a multiyear take care of Sony Photos Leisure.
“They had been in search of one thing that had like an underdog spirit to it,” Dillihay mentioned.
The film follows the journey of a younger goat, Will — performed by actor Caleb McLaughlin — who has a dream of taking part in “roarball” within the huge leagues with the largest, fiercest animals on this planet. However he’s usually ignored resulting from being too small.
The storyline, appropriately, was impressed by how Curry, the 6-foot-2 12-time All-Star whose remaining signature sneaker with Underneath Armour will embody an homage to the film, modified what it means to be a small guard in immediately’s NBA.
“We form of took [Curry’s journey as a basketball player] and infused it in our hero, Will, for the final word underdog story for the subsequent era,” Dillihay mentioned.
Regardless of boasting a star-studded solid of hoopers, the query stays: What does a bunch of animals taking part in basketball appear to be?
In keeping with Dillihay, it meant creating one thing that had by no means been completed earlier than.
“You’re taking the game of basketball and flip it on its head and switch the quantity as much as 11 and exaggerate it and name it roarball,” he mentioned.
Dillihay mentioned he picked Curry’s mind on learn how to make the film’s basketball scenes as reasonable as doable.
“We really sat down one-on-one — no pun supposed — and I listened to him discuss in regards to the sport; totally different little particulars, footwork, hand placement, spacing, even momentum, tempo,” Dillihay mentioned.
In roarball, the principles are bent in a different way from a traditional basketball sport. The gamers — who’re animals — can alternate between taking part in on two toes or on all fours. Gamers can even use any a part of their our bodies — from their arms to their claws, paws, hooves, tails or wings.
Enjoying environments look loads totally different, too, mixing fiction and nonfiction basketball collectively. As an alternative of a regulation-sized 94-foot courtroom, the size is stretched to 120 yards to provide animals house to stretch for full strides and is performed on 15-foot rims.
Hardwood flooring aren’t current. Relying on the area, animals can compete on pink clay — which has residing roots and vines designed to journey and ensnare gamers — or an Arctic area the place the courtroom is performed on ice (if a polar bear smashes the ice, the sport nonetheless should proceed).
The movie consists of actual basketball performs, all of which had been outlined by Curry’s former teammate, Andre Iguodala. In keeping with Dillihay, Iguodala walked him and Adam Rosette, the co-director of GOAT, by the performs within the movie.
“So not solely are they reasonable basketball performs, they could have come from a selected playbook that may have received 4 championships. I can not affirm or deny, however every of these performs really is sensible, not solely from a basketball perspective however from a narrative perspective.”
Dillihay desires viewers to remove a easy message from the film.
“Dream huge. Your desires haven’t any ceiling, sky is the restrict,” he mentioned. “You see Will’s relationship with not solely his household, however his pals and the group — they put this battery in his again to say, ‘No, your circumstances and your situations do not outline you.’
“When you work arduous sufficient, you’ll exceed your targets. Look, I am proof — I come from Inglewood, California. I am not purported to be right here. I am the fourth Black director in cinematic historical past to direct a serious animated movie. If that ain’t proof that desires do come true, I do not know what’s.”
Dillihay additionally broke down every athlete’s character within the movie, with some stars providing a scouting report of their very own. This is a information to each basketball participant in “GOAT.”
Stephen Curry
Position: Lenny
Animal: Giraffe
Dillihay describes virtually each athlete’s character as the exact opposite of their true, real-life selves. Curry is the shortest basketball participant of the solid in actual life, however he performs a personality named Lenny who towers over any opponent in roarball.
“He’s a bodily presence, a towering defender. Typically centered, typically not however he is a fantastic teammate,” Curry mentioned.
Dwyane Wade
Position: Rosette
Animal: Bull
Wade’s character, Rosette, makes many nods from his second cease in his taking part in profession. In keeping with Dillihay, the Bull is a nod to the Chicago Bulls, whom Wade performed for for a season. Nevertheless, Rosette was named after co-director Adam Rosette.
Dillihay took it a step additional, saying Rosette additionally served as a nod to Bulls icon Derrick Rose.
Gabrielle Union, who’s married to Wade and performs Jett Filmore in “GOAT,” says her character is the clear winner in a sport of one-on-one towards Rosette.
“It is not even shut!” Union mentioned on the “GOAT” red-carpet premiere.
Andre Iguodala
Position: Iggy the Ref
Animal: Zebra
As Nationwide Basketball Gamers Affiliation president and a four-time NBA champion, Iguodala’s character modifications his position on the courtroom completely. As an alternative of constructing the performs, he is making the foul calls.
“He is calling fouls and moving into arguments with the coach and all,” Dillihay mentioned. “It is humorous to place any individual able the place they have been on the opposite aspect of the desk and now you carry them over to that different aspect.”
Position: Kouyate
Animal: Crocodile
As a four-time WNBA MVP — two of which she received consecutively (2024, 2025) — it was inevitable that Wilson would get her shine within the movie. It was Dillihay’s mission. Wilson’s character was the movie’s major adversary.
“We simply needed an antagonist that had nice strains and good display screen time in order that A’ja might shine,” Dillihay mentioned.
Position: Propp
Animal: Polar bear
In keeping with Dillihay, Reese’s character is known as after Sony Animation’s head of story, Keely Propp.
“You bought a lady athlete that’s performed by a lady athlete which can be representing our womanhood,” Dillihay mentioned.
Whereas creating the movie, Dillihay allowed athletes to ad-lib their very own trash discuss whereas recording. When he requested Reese for “a few strains that you simply say on the courtroom if you talk-trash,” he recollects the Chicago Sky star excessively trying to find particular situations earlier than his thoughts was blown.
“She was like, ‘I do not discuss trash.’ and I used to be like ‘Whoa,'” Dillihay mentioned. “Angel is such a sweetheart and trash discuss is definitely not in her DNA. … From the surface wanting in, Angel is painted because the villain and he or she is much from it.”
Position: Daskas
Animal: Gorilla
Dillihay says that taking part in opposites for some characters was a should. With Love, the Utah Jazz ahead who’s generally known as a pleasant man, Dillihay made his character Daskas a trash talker.
ESPN’s Brianna Williams contributed to this report.
