♪ Man: A few years ago, I had this dream.

In that dream, the words "Special species" just kept repeating over and over and over again, and I always felt like I was meant to do something with this.

Special species are animals that are close to being endangered.

They're not yet protected, but we have a special concern for their ecosystems.

Woman: Since we're going to be in the Natural History Museum, we did specifically choose animals on the California Special Species list that can really hit home with the kids because it's really cool to think, like, "Oh, if they see that animal in the scene, they can also potentially see it in their backyard."

So I guess today, what do we want to accomplish?

If we think that we can... My name is Yesenia Prieto.

I'm a piñatera from Los Angeles, California.

Animals... A piñatera is someone that makes piñatas, so I was kind of born into this family business growing up, and since then, I've been trying to elevate it and not only just been making piñatas but installations and experiences, props, and other fun things like that.

When Jason reached out to me, he was like, "Oh, do you want to be a part of this project for the Natural History Museum?"

I was like, "Oh, my God, yes."

RFX1: And then I told them about my dream, and then Sen was like, "Oh, wait.

"The founder of the alebrijes also had a dream exactly like that."

♪ Alebrijes are Mexican folk art spirit animals that are made from wood, usually painted with very intricate patterns.

♪ Prieto: Pedro Linares, he was a piñata maker from Mexico.

In 1936, he was on his deathbed and he had a fever dream.

♪ In this fever dream, he saw these fantastical creatures.

They were all whispering and chanting, "Alebrijes, alebrijes, alebrijes."

♪ When he woke up, he was, like, miraculously healed.

He attributed his healing to these animals.

Started painting them on wood and crafting them from wood.

It became a huge thing that's celebrated in Mexico.

This one's no good.

This one's good.

RFX1: We're definitely not using the typical techniques of alebrije making.

Prieto: We're trying to represent alebrijes, but we're actually using piñata techniques.

One thing that's really interesting about the craft is that it's often overlooked.

A lot of the times, people will say stuff like, "Oh, why does this have value if it only lasts for 5 minutes?"

Or "Why is this an artform if you're just gonna break it?"

And what happens when things are overlooked, they can essentially be lost, and that's what's happening in the piñata world right now is that makers are giving up the craft or struggling with the craft, and the same thing can be seen with these species.

If you overlook them and you don't appreciate them, then what happens is they disappear.

3, 4... And honestly, I think there's a lot of things that people might overlook in their regular life that makes you kind of realize things are really connected.