'Life, Animated' director reveals real-life inspiration behind film's animation

— -- During movie awards season, a lot of attention is given to the Oscar-nominated actors and directors. But what about the nominees whose job responsibilities aren't quite so obvious to the average moviegoer?

For a new series called "Behind the Lens," ABC News got to know the people who were recognized for work behind the camera.

Roger Ross Williams, director of the best documentary nominee "Life, Animated," opened up about how the movie came to be and why he chose to incorporate original animation and scenes from classic Disney films.

When Roger Ross Williams met writer Ron Suskind for the first time 15 years ago, he had no idea that they would one day collaborate on an Oscar-nominated film.

However, after Suskind sent him the manuscript of the 2014 book he'd written about how Disney films helped him to connect with his son, Owen, who has autism, Williams knew he had his next project in hand.

In "Life, Animated," which borrows its name from the book's title, viewers spend a year or so with Owen Suskind, a man in his early twenties who, as a child, was nonverbal. Ultimately, his love of Disney characters gave him the means to communicate with those around him and better understand his own thoughts and emotions.

"I followed Owen in this really transformative year of his life where he was about to become independent and move out on his own and he was graduating," Williams told ABC News. "I wanted to tell the story from Owen's point of view. That was the most important thing -- that I brought the audience into Owen's reality."

Given Owen's love of Disney, that meant incorporating animation into the film at every turn. Not only did Williams and his team work with Disney to license the images of some of the company's most beloved characters, but he also enlisted the help of the artists at Mac Guff studio in Paris, who created hand-drawn animations of Owen himself.

"Owen has has stacks and stacks of sketchbooks [that the artists relied on for inspiration]. Owen did self-portraits, so it's kind of the way Owen would sketch himself and the way Owen saw himself," Williams said of the style. "It was about them taking those images, the way Owen saw himself, and really bringing it to life."

Their work was well-received not just by Williams, but by Owen himself. According to the director, his subject was "amazed" by the final product.

"They really capture the essence of Owen, and him watching it -- he was just so blown away," Williams recalled. "This is someone who understands animation, and he got it. He's like, 'Yeah. This is the way it should be. This is my story.'"

On Oscar Sunday, the Suskind family will attend the show along with Williams. And while they're all excited by the nomination, the main reason, Williams said, is because it will hopefully draw more attention to the film itself.

"The Suskinds really have an important mission. They want people to understand that people like Owen are so amazing and have so much to offer the world," he said. "Owen has become a hero to many people on the spectrum and people living with autism because they say, 'You've given us a voice.'"

For more behind-the-scenes stories about the making of "Life, Animated," watch the video above.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.