Animation Magazine's Special Cannes Issue - May 2023

world of CG animals for the acclaimed show.

Showrunner Rob Hoegee shares the joys and challenges of bringing the Frog and Toad stories to animated life for Apple TV+.

26

STEAMPUNK PARADISE

Beloved animation auteur Genndy Tartakovsky gives us the full story behind his new show Unicorn: Warriors Eternal.

ANIMATING LIFE ON MARS 8

Director Jérémie Périn and producer Didier Creste give us a sneak peek of their highly anticipated sci-fi epic Mars Express.

team behind HBO’s mega-hit The Last of Us takes us behind

THE ART OF CREATING FUNGUS ZOMBIES

The brilliant VFX team behind HBO’s megahit Last of Us takes us behind the scenes of the acclaimed series.

Genndy Tartavosky’s Unicorn: Warriors Eternal has arrived on Adult

All

brings the new feature Lendarys to the Cannes Marché du Film (May 16-24).

Animation’s Cannes-Do Spirit

This past month, as we were patiently waiting to hear about any animated films premiering at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in May, we thought about the many previous editions of the event which featured high-powered premieres of DreamWorks and Pixar titles. Former DreamWorks topper Jeffrey Katzenberg was especially fond of flying in the directors and voice stars of his studio’s movies to the Riviera for splashy premieres on the Croisette.

This year, Pixar’s CCO Pete Docter came to the rescue as the studio’s latest movie Elemental will close the festival on May 27, ahead of its U.S. release in theaters on June 16. By all accounts, Peter Sohn’s colorful new summer movie will be a great addition to the 76th edition of the French event. We can’t wait to offer you more insider stories about the making of the movie, so make sure you pick up our next month’s big Annecy double issue for our comprehensive coverage of Elemental and other hot summer movies.

You will notice that we have several stories about auteur-driven European animated features, as many of these titles are making the rounds at global film fairs such as the European Film Market, the Cannes Film Market and the American Film Market in Santa Monica. We were quite excited to talk with the talented artists behind movies such as A Greyhound of a Girl, Mars Express, Lendarys and Giants of La Mancha. I’m sure you’ll enjoy their unique perspectives on the art and craft of creating animated movies for sophisticated audiences worldwide.

We are also thrilled to feature Jennifer Wolfe’s excellent interview with Genndy Tartakovsky about his latest creation, the artistically ambitious series Unicorn: Warriors Eternal, which premieres on Adult Swim this month. Not only does the show look amazing, it’s also another testament to its creator’s sophisticated vision and talent in crafting gripping, serialized stories. Who wouldn’t want to time travel with Genndy’s new team of adventurers?

Also premiering this month on cable and streaming services is an eclectic collection of hot new animated series, ready to entertain the always-hungry toon fans. If you needed more examples that we are really living in an unusually rich period for top-quality animated content, just remember that we have Star Wars: Visions Volume 2, Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, Clone High, Frog and Toad, Mulligan and many other titles debuting in April and May. Rest assured, more series are set to premiere in the next few months as well.

That’s a lot of new movies, small-screen series and shorts to keep an eye on. It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.

VOL.

MAY 2023

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“People who’ve seen the new movie have told us that it feels like The Empire Strikes Back of the Spider-Verse franchise. It shows you worlds you haven’t seen, and it’s an emotional story that ends in a place where you need to see the third one. So, yeah: this is our Empire!”

—  Chris Miller, writer-exec producer of Spider-Man: Across

FROM THE EDITOR

1

It’s International Workers’ Day! Cheers to the hardworking unions and organizers fighting for brighter futures for animation artists, writers and production workers!

4

Animation Planner May

13

The Quirino Awards celebrate the best in Iberoamerican animation for the fifth year in Tenerife. [premiosquirino.org]

23

Follow the adventures of young Sam Wing through a magic-filled China in Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, premiering on Max.

26

It’s a busy day for animation fans! In addition to the Disney+ premieres of Star Wars: Visions Vol. 2 and the pre-k series Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, Adult Swim launches Unicorn: Warriors Eternal at midnight and Netflix debuts Larva Family

7 Get more Miyazaki magic as Ponyo returns to the big screen for three nonconsecutive nights as part of Studio Ghibli Fest 2023.

10

Hit the road with Dr. Teeth and co. in The Muppets Mayhem on Disney+.

12

Viva Kids brings the highoctane comedy-adventure Rally Road Racers to NorAm theaters. Also hitting stateside screens today is the live-action feature Knights of the Zodiac, based on the hit manga Saint Seiya Adult comedy fans won’t want to miss the new Netflix original, Mulligan, from the hilarious minds behind 30 Rock

16

The prestigious Festival de Cannes & Marché du Film bring the world of cinema to the French Riviera. Pixar’s Elemental will world premiere as the closing film. [festival-cannes.com]

The latest liveaction (but still swimming in beautiful creature animation and VFX) reimagining of Disney’s classics, The Little Mermaid starring Halle Bailey, is ready to make a splash.

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Head to Galway Bay to cheer on the winners of the 5th Irish Animation Awards Sláinte! [irishanimationawards.ie]

31

Another picturesque port town to hit this month is Pescara, Italy, for RAI’s four-day animation & transmedia festival Cartoons on the Bay. Sunshine, great food and great toons, sounds perfetto!

May Animation Festivals

Anifilm | Liberec, Czech Rep. | anifilm.cz

Chilemonos | Santiago, Chile | chilemonos.cl

FFAA | Abidjan, Ivory Coast | ffaafestival.com

Les Sommets du Cinéma d’Animation | Montreal, QC | sommetsanimation.com

Animatricks | Helsinki, Finland | animatricks.net/2023

Golden Kuker | Sofia, Bulgaria | animationfest-bg.eu| ◆

To get your company’s events and products listed in this monthly calendar, please e-mail

Star Wars: Visions (Aardman)

Ponyo

Mulligan

Rally Road Racers

Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai

The Little Mermaid

Elemental

FRAME-BY-FRAME

The Must-Have List

New Gods: Yang Jian

The second installment in White Snake studio Light Chaser Animation’s reimaginings of epic Chinese myth follows a once powerful hero on a quest to confront his past and stop his nephew from finding a dangerous artifact.

Brought to life with stunning and inventive CG animation, this follow-up to Nezha Reborn comes packaged with a mini poster and includes an interview with director Zhao Ji, animation featurette, original cast interview, arts & culture spotlight and art gallery. [GKIDS/Shout! Factory | BD $27]

Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes & Huntsmen, Part One

This cel-shaded crossover spectacular unites the iconic DC heroes, transformed into teenagers (the horror!), with Rooster Teeth’s huntresses of Remnant to defeat a superpowered Grimm! RWBY writer-director Kerry Shawcross captains this adventure where two exciting worlds combine. [WB | BD $30, 4K $40]

Cowboy Bebop: The Complete Series - 25th Anniversary

Climb aboard the Bebop with the galaxy’s favorite band of bounty-hunting misfits as they cruise the stars through 2071. From a drug bust on asteroid Tijuana to a stained glass serenade with the Syndicate, revisit the iconic anime on five discs packed with legacy bonus features plus the brand-new 25 Year Retrospective for over four hours of extras.The Limited Edition (pictured) features exclusive box art and five character art cards. [Crunchyroll | LE BD $85 | BD $65]

Best of WB 100th: The Looney Tunes Platinum Collection V1-3

Celebrate great toons, come on! Warner Bros. commemorates their 100th anniversary with Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Sylvester, Tweety, Wile E. Coyote, Road Runner, Foghorn Leghorn and all your fave cartoon slapstickers. The six-disc set collects 150 theatrical shorts, from fan favorites, one-shot classics and complete collections from Marvin the Martian, the Tasmanian Devil and more. It’s definitely rabbit season! … No, duck season! Oh why not both? [WB | DVD $30]

Disney Villains Trivia Deck & Character Guide

Got baddies on the brain? Have what it takes to outwit the wicked likes of Ursula, Scar, Yzma and Gaston? (Well, probably Gaston…) Then test your factual facility with this official card game featuring 200 questions! You can also study up with the book set and 88-page illustrated dossier about animated antagonists from Cruella de Vil to Mother Gothel. [RP Studio | $18]

W.E.B. Du Bois Souls of Black Folk: A Graphic Interpretation

Adapted and illustrated by Paul Peart-Smith, this first-ever graphic novel take on Du Bois’s seminal 1903 work about the rise of white supremacist terror and the Jim Crow laws in America combines sequential storytelling art with additional historical and cultural context about the era and its important figures, updating and reaffirming Du Bois’ relevance in the 21st century. [Rutgers University Press | HC $50, digital $19]

The Unofficial Ghibli Cookbook

Forty recipes inspired by My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Howl’s Moving Castle and more by chef/pop culture expert Thibaud Villanova. [Titan Books | $35]

Jimmy Choo X Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon

Celebrate the 30th anniversary of the OG girl-power manga with a shoe splurge! The high-heel collection ranges from $975-$1,825. For more everyday wear: the allover manga panel print Collage Diamond Light Maxi platform sneaker — just $725!

Funko / Loungefly X Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Get ready to rock ahead of the sequel’s summer release with an exclusive Spider-Punk Pop! [Funko, $15], which you can tote to opening night in the stud-embellished Spider-Punk Cosplay Mini Backpack made of vegan leather [Loungefly, $90]. ◆

Animating Life on Mars

Director Jérémie Périn and producer Didier Creste give us a sneak peek of their highly anticipated sci-fi epic Mars Express.

The upcoming French animated feature Mars Express was one of the most popular titles spotlighted at the 2023 edition of Europe’s Cartoon Movie event. The audience fell in love with the cool, sci-fi look of the movie (reminiscent of classics such as Blade Runner and 2001: A Space Odyssey) and the clever storyline which centers on a female detective (Aline Ruby) and her android partner who are hired to track down a notorious hacker … on Mars.

The film’s director Jérémie Périn (Lastman) and producer Didier Creste (Lastman, Raymond) were kind enough to give Animation Magazine an early tour of their movie, prior to its release.

“I got absolutely and completely involved

with this project from day one,” says Périn, who also worked with Creste and writer Laurent Sarfati on the series Lastman. “The initial impetus for the project was the fact that Didier wanted to continue working with Laurent and me, and we’d been talking for a long time about working on a science fiction film. Didier loved our proposal, so we dove in. I always participate in the writing of the projects and I feel completely invested in it. That means I’d do everything I possibly can to make it a successful project, which unfortunately means working beyond what’s reasonable!”

Drawn to a Beautiful Dystopia

Creste says he was thrilled by the idea of being able to produce a science fiction in animation. “I would have never been able to do

this in live-action,” he points out. “I loved being able to talk about our world and its transgressions by transposing everything to Mars. It was especially satisfying to set the film in a dystopia where humans are really too stupid to think that life on another would be better and letting all the riches of the Earth perish. What a huge disappointment for humanity. On top of it all, the movie is a great thriller with a female detective heroine. How could I resist?”

Of course, the five-year journey of making the movie was not an easy one. “It took one year to write the script, another year during which I searched for financing and Jérémie worked on the storyboard, followed by three years of production, post-production and sound and music work,” notes Creste.

The animation production was handled by

French studio Je Suis Bien Content (Persepolis, April and the Extraordinary World), which worked with the creatives on Lastman. “JSBC set up the pipeline based on regional productions to take advantage of regional funding,” says Creste. “A large part of the backgrounds and sets were done at Beaux et Bien Habillés in Lille, all of the 3D at Gao Shan Studio on the island of Réunion, part of the animation at Borderline in Angoulême, and half of the compositing at Amopix in Strasbourg. It was a 100 percent French production.”

The animation was produced using Toon Boom Storyboard for storyboarding, Animate and Grease Pencil for the 2D animation and Blender for the CG animation. Photoshop was used for the backgrounds and color research, while After Effects was employed for compositing.

Périn says one of the biggest challenges of the

project was to create a clear and believable futuristic world without having to explain everything in words. “Our film contains many every-day or technical objects that we don’t want to explain to the audience. It would take too long and slow down the pace of the film. I also wanted to describe a believable, futuristic living environment and use as little technology as possible that would look like magic. Of course, I am neither an engineer nor a scientist. That’s why we used actual astronomers, scientists, programmers and automotive designers to visually establish our narrative ideas.”

The director says he had a wide reservoir of artistic influences to draw upon. “It’s always a bit difficult to answer this question in a simple way,” he says. “Like everyone else, it’s a mix of countless influences that have shaped my

personal culture. More specifically, for Mars Express, I suppose we can go from Masters of Time to Blow Out via RoboCop, Kiss Me Deadly, Point Blank and Patlabor 2. This list only includes the cinematic references, but I could also cite video games, comic books and books. To tell the truth, I prefer not to think about it while working. Whether we like it or not, all the works are linked together in a dizzying continuum of influences. Making an animated film causes enough headaches as is, so I don’t want to add to it by sorting out my influences when I think I have an idea. Besides, when it happens to me, my reflex is to eliminate the idea, unless I don’t have a better one!”

Creste also offers a good mix of noir influences. “For me, it’s Chinatown set in the Blade Runner world. You can say it’s a combination of

“I hope our movie makes audiences realize the threat that we pose to future generations by continuing our current lifestyles and excesses on this planet. Mars Express is more or less our near future — a hell disguised as a golden prison.”

- Producer Didier Creste

MARTIAN CHRONICLE:

In Jérémie Périn’s visually stunning new movie, a private detective and her android partner are hired to track down a notorious hacker. The film’s art direction is by Mikael Robert.

Raymond Chandler and Philip K. Dick.”

Périn says he’s proudest of the fact that he is still living after finishing the labor-intensive movie. He adds, “Often animated movie audiences comment on its technical and artistic aspect. They say, ‘It was well drawn,’ or ‘The sets were very beautiful,’ or sometimes ‘The animation wasn’t very smooth!’ Of course, these points are important, but I would like them to become invisible to the point of being self-evident. I ultimately hope that future viewers of the film will be carried away by the story and the staging and that they will feel the emotions that we have tried to explore in it.”

Condemning Selfish Excess

“I’m proudest of the fact that having com-

pleted a movie that delivers far beyond its promises,” says Creste. “I hope our movie makes audiences realize the threat that we pose to future generations by continuing our current lifestyles and excesses on this planet. Mars Express is more or less our near future — a hell disguised as a golden prison.”

When asked about the current state of French animation, both the director and the producer offer inspiring and thoughtful observations. Périn notes, “The diversity of projects is much greater today than it was when I started back in 2000. But I believe that we can do even better. We can always do better. We need to trust younger directors and also hire more diverse directors and go beyond the typical ‘straight, white males’ in those roles. This last observation obviously applies to French

society as a whole. Animation reflects the political and social conditions of our time.”

Creste chimes in, “Lastman opened the doors to adult animation in the TV landscape, just as I Lost My Body did the same thing in the world of cinema,” he says. “We saw that there is an audience for adult animation. Animation is a huge sector in the audio-visual entertainment world and there is real French know-how in this area, which must be protected at all costs. Schools need to train even more people because there is a real demand for it right now. We are seeing animation continue from childhood to adulthood, and that gives us great pleasure.” ◆

Everybody on Deck’s Mars Express will premiere in French theaters later this year. MK2 is the film’s global distributor.

SOUL OF THE MACHINE: Mars Express takes a fascinating look at the differences and similarities between humans and robots and the slowly vanishing line that separates us from artificial life.

Jérémie Périn

PHOTO: DYLAN PATRICK PHOTOGRAPHY INC

An Irish Family Affair

Acclaimed director Enzo D’Alò brings his charming vision to A Greyhound of a Girl, a beautiful animated adaptation of Roddy Doyle’s paean to family.

- By Ramin Zahed -

The talented Italian director Enzo D’Alò is best known for his beautifully crafted 2D animated features Pinocchio (2012), Lucky and Zorba (1998) and Pipi, Pipu & Rosemary (2009). This year, he returns to the big screen with a charming adaptation of Roddy Doyle’s A Greyhound of a Girl. Based on Doyle’s well-received 2021 novel, the film centers on an 11-year-old Dublin girl who shares a pivotal car journey with her mother and her ailing grandmother.

The film’s powerhouse Irish voice cast includes Oscar nominee Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin), Sharon Horgan (Bad Sisters, Catastrophe), Rosaleen Linehan (The Matchmaker) and Charlene McKenna (Peaky Blinders). The film’s script was written by Dave Ingham (Charlie and Lola, Koala Brothers) and D’Alò.

“The main theme of the book is delicate and difficult to describe, as it deals with loss,”

says D’Alò. “At first, the idea of tackling the notion of loss bewildered me a little. But then the strength of the main characters allowed me to carry on with this beautiful family story, where four generations of women entertain a dialogue between past and present, and the personality of each of them acquires more value and weight as the deep bond that unites them unravels,” he adds.

D’Alò points out that the story of his new movie is for everyone. “I didn’t approach it in

terms of a fairy tale, for I wanted to depict the ‘circle of life’ with sincerity which is a crucial moment of passage and growth that everyone. The idea of loss belongs to all of us because each of us can identify in one of the age ranges of the main characters, who love each other and clash with each other — with Roddy Doyle’s great irony — in a generational conflict in which all viewers will be able to recognize themselves as well.”

The director was kind enough to answer a

Enzo D’Alò

few of our questions about his new movie during a recent Zoom interview:

First of all, congratulations on the recent success of the movie at the Berlin Intl. Film Festival. Can you tell us how you got involved with this fascinating project?

Enzo D’Alò: It is surprising, but I had never been to Ireland before beginning work on this movie. We did three months of research on

FEATURES

the locations. You really have to research the environment, the houses, the parks, the world, the rainbows everywhere. Everything in the movie depicts the county as it really is. Roddy Doyle wrote this autobiographical story, so it was important for me to keep the real background of the movie. When you read a book, you are the director. You can imagine the faces, the music, the backgrounds. So, the work of the director is to offer a passage to that world so the audience can feel the same emotions. I had a wonderful time in Ireland, being with the Irish people and experiencing this amazing country. A friend of mine gave me Roddy Doyle’s book about 10 years ago and told me to read it because it would make a great animated movie. Then, I convinced my producer to buy the rights and we met Roddy and I proposed the project to him. We then

started to work on the script, and we gave the first version to Peter de Sève (Ratatouille; Monsters, Inc.; Tarzan; Ice Age) to work on designing the characters. Of course, it’s a long process. We have some dream sequences in this movie — there’s Emer’s dreams, directed by Marco Zanoni, which feature Peter’s drawings. We also have some sequences about the nightmares of one of the characters (Mary), which are made by Regina Pessoa (Uncle Thomas, Accounting for the Days; Tragic Story with Happy Ending). It was very interesting to introduce these two different styles in the movie.

When we started the production of the movie, the pandemic also began, which made it harder to work. We wanted to have two or three big studios with animators working inside, but that became impossible. Each animator started to work from home, so we quickly learned to communicate online and very closely. We had animators in Italy, Ireland, Germany and England working on it. Altogether, I believe we had around 250 people working on it. We mainly used Toon Boom to produce the animation.

OF MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS: After bringing Pinocchio to animated life in 2012, Italian director Enzo D’Alò tries his hand at adapting Roddy Doyle’s charming book A Greyhound of a Girl for the big screen.

FEATURES

Your film had a great reception when it premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in February. Yes, it was quite wonderful. Everybody was very touched and it was quite rewarding for us because everyone who worked on the movie formed a strong bond over the past few years. It was the first time the film had been screened in public. And one of the great things about the Berlin Festival is that a general audience attends the movies. We had a big audience made up of regular families. We had a wonderful Q&A, and I felt that the movie had touched many in the audience. Many adults and especially children expressed their joy in following the events in the lives of this Irish family. I found that very moving.

How would you define the message of your movie?

As in the Roddy Doyle book, the movie follows the relationship between a young girl, her

mother and her grandmother. It chronicles their lives, during happy times as well as dark times.

You know the grandmother is close to the young girl, she’s almost like a sister to her, while her mother feels more responsibility towards her and is worried about her future. Her grandmother encourages the young girl to follow her dreams of becoming a big chef, but her mother wants her to study hard at school. They find a way to form a better connection and to adapt their positions. I wanted to emphasize how important it is to have these relationships with our families and to be able to connect and see other generation’s perspectives in our modern world.

The world of animation has changed a lot over the past 20 years. What is your take on the state of animation in 2023?

I loved so much what Guillermo del Toro said during the Oscars, when he pointed out again that animation is not a genre, and that animation is cinema. Sadly, I think in Italy and many countries in Europe, people still consider animation is something that is only made for chil-

dren. One thing we all know is that children are not stupid. You have to speak to them just like you’re speaking to adults. Some of the most interesting feedback I get is from children. They are more honest and straight-forward.

Sometimes parents take their children to see animated movies in theaters and they are surprised by how easily animation allows them to be transported to these other worlds. Maybe they go in thinking oh, I’m doing this for the children, but then they find out that the movie speaks to them as well. I remember that was the case with my 1998 movie Lucky and Zorba. When you see drawings come to life on the big screen, it gives you an easier point of access than live action. You can tell wonderful stories with powerful messages and a mix of humor, poetry and dramatic elements. All thanks to the power of animation. ◆

A Greyhound of a Girl is produced by Paul Thiltges Distribution, Aliante, Jam Media, Rija Films, Amrion Production and Fish Blowing Bubbles, with the support of Film Fund Luxembourg, Eurimages, the Italian Culture Ministry, Screen Ireland, the Estonian Film Institute, the Campania Region and the Tuscany Film Commission. GFM Animation is handling international sales.

ERIN IMMERSION: The film’s creative team were inspired by the lush landscapes and the rich cultural heritage of Ireland. Veteran artist Peter de Sève provided the beautiful character designs.

Wizards, Outlaws and Magical Creatures

All Rights Entertainment brings the animated adventure Lendarys to the 2023 Cannes market.

Ayoung wizard, a mysterious outlaw and a very cute creature named Wowo are the colorful heroes of Lendarys, an innovative new CG-animated French-Canadian production. Directed by Philippe Duchene (concept designer on Leap! and character designer on the Netflix series Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles) and Jean-Baptiste Cuvelier (art director on Ricky Zoom, layout artist on Lucky and Zorba), the feature is produced by PM S.A., 2 Minutes and Caramel Films and represented by indie sales agent All Rights Entertainment. Lendarys is one of the hot animated properties showcased at this year’s Cannes market.

“The film’s creative team has assembled a truly extraordinary world,” says the film’s executive producer Thomas Hoff. “Lendarys is an auteur-driven film which is the result of nearly

eight years of development. We have produced the animation using the technical know-how available in three different locations — Paris, Angoulême and Reunion Island. The project began production in December 2021 and we are wrapping up animation this August.”

A Tale of Two Brothers

Hoff says one of the appealing aspects of the movie is the unpredictable adventure and the tale of two brothers who each take different paths. “They both have magical powers, and they guide us along this incredible world packed with action, joy, humor and lots of amazing magic,” he says. “We are making this film for a global audience, and want everyone to enjoy its different offerings. The film has certain aspects that are quite realistic, but it also delivers subtle, fantastical elements that sweep us away from the regular, day-to-day world.”

The production pipeline implemented on the movie is called ARTEFACT (which stands for Animation Real-Time Engine for a Creative Team). According to Hoff, it uses the Unreal game engine whose recent versions (4 and 5) make it possible to create a workstation able to manage, in real time, all the post-animation segment: final layout, lighting and rendering. The production used ARTEFACT exclusively in post, but the hope is to use the pipeline in layout and animation on future projects as well.

When asked to tell us his take on the state of the global animation scene, Hoff says he’s optimistic about the future, despite the tough couple of years the industry experienced due to the COVID shutdowns and theatrical downturns. “Due to the pandemic, cinema attendance and the difficulties of the production industry have regularly made headlines,” says the producer. “Even today, there is still concern

about the survival of our favorite art form. Less af fected by the constraints than live-ac tion filming, the animation industry has been able to face and adapt to the pandemic that paralyzed most sectors of activity.”

Brighter Future Ahead

Hoff adds, “This has been a victory for a fragile, but resilient field facing internal wars be tween distributors and creators. It’s good to remember that the sector does not lack vitality. I think we have good years ahead of us, and of course there are

direction for a very long time with various public authorities. I believe that the future is rather bright!”

When the film makes its theatrical debut later this year, Hoff hopes that families will be entertained by its sweeping action sequences and charmed by its fun and memorable characters. “I believe that the star of the film is our little Wowo,” he says. “At the end of the day, it’s the element of humor that will help our adventure-seekers. I hope we can inspire young viewers with this story which shares a message of friendship, fraternity and always coming to the aid of your friends and family in

For more info, visit pm-sa.fr/en and allrightsentertainment.com.

“I hope we can inspire young viewers with this story which shares a message of friendship, fraternity and always coming to the aid of your friends and family in times of need.”

- Exec producer Thomas Hoff

A DANGEROUS QUEST: young boy goes in search of his missing twin brother aided by a swashbuckling adventurer, a tiny furball companion named Wowo and a magical jade stone in Lendarys

A Wacky Race for the Underdogs

Writer-director Ross Venokur discusses the challenges and rewards of making the new CG-animated feature Rally Road Racers.

When writer-director Ross Venokur was growing up, he loved to watch screwball comedies like Cannonball Run, Smokey and the Bandit and It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. So, it’s not surprising that he’s the man behind the fun new animated feature Rally Road Racers (also known as Silk Road Rally). The new CG-animated feature follows the adventures of an underdog hero who wages a bet with the reigning champ of the rally car circuit to save his grandmother’s home from demolition.

“Our movie is one part underdog sports movie, like Bad News Bears, Mighty Ducks and Karate Kid, mashed up with those movies I grew up with, which are all comedies about unlikely teams racing coast to coast in a rally with the same classic rule — namely, ‘there are no rules,’” says Venokur, who also directed the popular 2018 feature Charming and wrote for animated shows such as Game Over and The Tick.

Labor of Love

Venokur wrote the first draft of Rally Road Racers over a decade ago. “Right after the writers’ strike in 2008, I decided that, for me, Hollywood

wasn’t where I wanted to be,” he recalls. “So at my wife’s urging, I reached out to John Williams at Vanguard Animation to see if he wanted to take a deep dive into indie animation together. John and I have a long history, dating back to the first pitch that I ever sold, which was a live-action feature adaptation of Galaxy High, the Chris Columbus/ Amblin animated series from back around 1986 or so — but that’s a whole different story. The point is, I’ve known John for nearly 30 years, and I knew he was always interested in cracking the indie-animation feature nut. So we made a three-script deal, and one of those scripts was Charming and the other was Rally Road Racers.”

Things started to pick up when industry veteran Williams (Shrek, Valiant, Space Chimps) introduced Venokur to producer Deepak Nayar. “That was a game changer,” says the director. “When we met, he had already produced nearly 70 films, including Bend It Like Beckham and Buena Vista Social Club. He’s a true lover of cinema, and he has always existed outside of the studio system and loves betting on his own gut. He also came up as an AD, so the dude’s not afraid of confrontation and going head-to-head with anyone. Once Deepak got involved, things came together really quickly. As

Deepak and I went back and forth on about 20 more drafts of the script, he brought in financing, and we got going. So it was a bit of a domino effect over the course of a decade — a super slow and boring domino effect, but with a climactic ending!”

Most of the film’s CG animation was produced by Montreal-based indie ReDefine, and DNEG also helped out on the production. The film’s motion graphics were handled by Prime Focus. “ReDefine is spread out all over the place though, so we did most of our front-end design and story work in Montreal, shot production was primarily handled in Mumbai and we did post in London, which is also where our amazing composer, Tom Howe, lives,” says Venokur. “For the first year or so of the film, I was still living in Ojai, California, so I was traveling a lot. But when the pandemic hit, my family took to the road for a couple of years to find a new place to live, so I probably directed the film from at least 20 different states. I’m realizing now that we should have made an Airbnb sponsorship deal!”

The movie, which took about four years to produce, was made in the ReDefine pipeline, but the team created a huge number of custom tools and processes to accommodate the unique challenges of the movie. According to Venokur, the production

used a custom version of Maya, rendering was done in Clarisse and Nuke was used for comping.

Looking back at the experience, the director says there are so many aspects of the project that he absolutely loved. “You’re not always fortunate enough to feel that way at the end of a project, but this movie makes me happy!” says the director. “I was overcome with how joyful it is as a film, it’s just fun to watch, and you have a good time watching it.”

Venokur says it has become a real passion for him to make movies for the whole family. “I know there’s a big movement that says animation is not just for kids, and I totally agree with that. But I also think that it’s okay for movies for families to be for families, and therefore be appropriate for kids,” he mentions. “And I think they can still be high-quality, and they can still have great casts, and they can still be really funny without innuendo and a bunch of other stuff that’s totally appropriate in a different space, but just not in this space.”

He also sings the praises of the film’s top-notch cast, which includes J.K. Simmons, John Cleese, Chloe Bennet, Sharon Horgan and Catherine Tate. “They’re all great actors who brought their A-game every time,” says Venokur. “Last, but definitely not least, is the great, iconic Lisa Lu as Granny Bai. We recorded her in the middle of the

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pandemic. We sent a mic kit to Lisa’s daughter’s house, because Lisa was staying with her daughter for the lockdowns, and I recorded Lisa over zoom. Lisa was 93 at the time of the recording! I am not exaggerating when I say she didn’t blink at all. Lisa just nailed her lines, line after line. She is such a pro, it’s insane!”

Venokur says he’s also really proud of how the movie looks. “I can talk about the visuals all day, because I love them so much,” he says. “I was extremely fortunate that Tom Jacomb (President of DNEG Animation) introduced me to Alexei Nechytaylo right off the bat, and Alexei and I got along right from the start. Alexei was brought on as the production designer, but by the time the movie was done, he was also the head of layout, the VFX supervisor and one or two other things! From the get-go, Alexei and I agreed that one of biggest challenges was to create a unique look that wasn’t trying to imitate what the bigger studios do.”

Clever Designs and Funny Critters

Venokur believes that small movies have to find ways to be smart to achieve greatness. “They have to punch above their weight, as Alexei has said to me,” he says. “So, we first made a short list of elements that we knew we wanted to define

our look. We’re a comedy, so we wanted funny characters. The light-hearted and expressive character design is essential to our look. I personally love how ridiculously small all of our characters’ legs and feet are. It created a few headaches in production, but it was totally worth it, because I’ve never seen CG characters quite like ours.”

After all is said and done, Venokur says he hopes audiences will laugh and have fun when they see the movie. “I came to movies and filmmaking because of comedy,” he says. “I love laughing and I love making people laugh. I think this movie is funny, it has a lot of heart, it has fun action — so I just hope people really enjoy it. People who go to the theater and pay for a ticket to see this — or pay for four or five tickets for the whole family — I hope they feel like it was worth their time and money. As I touched on before, I’m on a mission to make movies that families can watch together. I want to make animation that is totally appropriate for kids, but that has jokes and storytelling that parents will appreciate too — without innuendo or relying on telling myself that something is fine because ‘it’ll go over kids’ heads!’” ◆

Viva Kids will release Rally Road Racers in U.S. theaters on May 12.

“I know there’s a big movement that says animation is not just for kids, and I totally agree with that, but I also think that it’s okay for movies for families to be for families, and therefore be appropriate for kids.”

- Writer-director Ross Venokur

AMAZING RACE: Helmer Ross Venokur was inspired by some of the fun, escapist movies he saw as a young boy as he set out to imagine the colorful, madcap world of Rally Road Racers

Dreaming the Impossible Dream

A sneak peek at Studio 100 Media, M.A.R.K.13 and GGVFX’s new animated feature, Giants of La Mancha.

Is it possible to spin a classic tale into a new magical adventure that is still reminiscent of the classic Don Quixote tale?

The creative teams at Germany’s Studio 100 Media and M.A.R.K.13 and GGVFX from Argentina certainly believe so, as they prep their animated feature Giants of La Mancha for the Cannes market this month.

“This movie has been a true adventure, given that this is not a remake of the world-renowned Don Quixote saga, but rather a spin-off with a new character,” says director Gonzalo Gutierrez (Aurora wanted to tell stories to children that con tain a message beyond humor or attractive images. I believe there’s something in the classic stories we read as children, where they taught us about values while we enjoyed the story. Here we have characters with as much sense of justice, honesty and ideals as Don Quixote. Those who dare to look at reality in a different way are the ones who ultimately have the ability to modify it.”

The Spirit of Cervantes

Producer Thorsten Wegener (Vic and the Magic Sword) points out that while the movie has the same heart and spirit of the classic tale, it’s also quite different from the original book. “While we kept ‘Quixote’ as the working title throughout the production, this is a movie about the giant spirit and will of the main characters, consequently settling on the new and final title Giants of La Mancha,” he says. “This is a movie for the whole family, where humor, adventure and entertainment are the basis of the story. It’s important to understand what children enjoy and want to see, while also being able to convey something from a classic book that might be impossible for a child to understand due to its old language or length.”

Gutierrez adds that the movie does include several instances where the original Don Quixote is referenced. “We hope that it will help awaken children’s interest in knowing who he was,” he says. “Someday, if they come across the book again, they may feel tempted to read it because they once saw a movie about this

character. If a child asks their parents who Don Quixote was after leaving the theater, I think we have accomplished our mission.”

The director mentions that the movie was originally conceived as a way of showcasing Latin American talent to the world. “We have been working in the animation and visual effects industry for over 20 years and felt it was time to showcase the potential of the artists we work with and the possibility of creating unprecedented products in our region,” says Gutierrez. “Although this project was born in Latin America, given that the story of Don Quixote is a European topic with global recognition, it was exciting to see Studio 100 Media and M.A.R.K.13 come on board as additional producers. With Hollywood writer Carlos Kotkin (Rio 2, The Star) attached to the script, Studio 100 Media was committed to make sure the financing and setup of the production allowed the movie to reach high standards seldom seen in independent animated films.”

The film’s art, storyboards, animatics, editing, sound and music were all done in Argentina. The animation was produced in the Canary Islands by 3 Doubles Producciones, while the modeling, texturing, lighting, rendering and compositing were done in Germany by M.A.R.K.13 Studios and Studio Isar Animation.

Embracing Unique CG Visuals

According to Gutierrez, the visual style of the CG-animated movie is quite unique. “We sought out the best artists in Argentina and Germany to get involved in the development,” he says. “For four years, we developed the visuals of the environments and characters, making sure each space was special, and that the aesthetics were something we hadn’t seen before, with a mix of miniature style within 3D animation. We are also proud of the cartoony look added to all characters to make them more humorous, satirical and dramatic. The look of the landscape and the lighting in this film are inspired by the visuals of Patagonia, where the light is soft, and it always looks like the sun is either raising or setting.”

The director adds, “Giants of La Mancha boasts an impressive visual quality thanks to the use of RenderMan, Pixar’s rendering engine. Every detail has been meticulously designed to create an unprecedented and visually stunning experience.”

Finally, Gutierrez and Wegener hope the audience will be inspired by their labor of love. “We hope they leave with many emotions, laughs and even tears,” says the director. “In a world where human ambition threatens our natural resources, this is a movie about a young child who manages to unite families, friends, and neighbors to defend their city and their heritage and to ensure justice. This is a story that tells us that there’s finally hope.” ◆

For more info, visit studio100film.com.

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A New Home for Animated Storytelling

We catch up with Sefi Carmel, the CEO of U.K.-based Creation Entertainment Media, to find out more about the studio’s hot animation slate.

Can you tell us a little bit about Creation Entertainment Media?

Sefi Carmel: Creation Entertainment Media is a production company which specializes in storytelling through film, television and immersive technologies. Our mission is to create global high-end content through collaborating with filmmakers from around the globe and facilitating international co-productions. Its credits include Legacy of Lies (Netflix) and Albion Tales (Prime Video) and animation titles including Secret Magic Control Agency (Netflix). Our partner Magic Frame Animation is an animation studio based in the United Kingdom and Cyprus which produces visually stunning stories across film, television and digital platforms. It is a full-service international animation studio made up of a team of creatives from all around the world with a passion for animation. Together we build the highest quality animated worlds that kids and families worldwide enjoy.

What types of animation projects do you specialize in?

The stories we create are based around fantasy adventures, science fiction and action-based narratives that have universal appeal. Our projects feature educational content, as well as creativity and strong, diverse characters. It’s important to us that each project reflects a completely original, imaginative and immersive fantasy world. Each story features emotional moments and characters that resonate with kids and encourages learning and emotional development, self-confidence and kindness, inclusion and acceptance.

What are some of the big titles that you are working on right now?

We have just announced the upcoming feature film Aliens FC, which is currently in development. Oscar-nominated writer Sam Morrison, as well as writing and directing duo Tim Clague and Danny Stack are attached. The film centers on a regular family who are mistaken for a famous soccer team by a pair of friendly but bumbling aliens. The film is a totally unique visual experience, the animators of the film will use AI to help create unique and spectacular imagery. The film is set across an array of incredible fantasy locations that will transport audiences to the aliens’ eccentric planet, taking them as guests on an other-worldly adventure to their exceptional universe.

We also have a new Christmas animated feature, Paul Martin and the Magic Magnifying Glass, in development. It’s based on a hugely popular Christmas book series from Georges Alexander Vagan. The films will be the start of an international IP franchise, turning the literary Christmas universe into a series of films for family audiences. The story will take the audience across many beautiful wintery locations with highly detailed animated environments, and follow compelling and diverse characters. Both films will be ready in 2025.

What are your goals for the big markets this year?

We’re really looking forward to presenting these projects at this year’s markets and meeting potential partners for upcoming projects. We’ll be

bringing Aliens FC and Paul Martin and the Magic Magnifying Glass to Cannes this year. At Annecy, we’ll be presenting these as well as animated series BuddyBots. The show follows a group of robots and two teen protagonists chronicling their adventures in a sci-fi animated world, where learning, family and inclusion are some of the most important values. The narrative encourages emotional development in its young audience, with lessons for parents and children on how to treat peers, overcome challenges by seeking support from others, and to believe in yourself. The episodes cover topics of equipment, tech and the environment.

What would you like the animation community to know about your company and upcoming movies?

We want to be recognized for our high-quality and visually unique projects. Our priorities are creating a unique visual experience with each project, and uniting talented animators and creatives from anywhere in the world to continue to build our slate of widely appealing content. Alongside this, it’s integral that each project reflect the key values that our company is centred around. This is creating entertainment that is both enthralling and imaginative, as well as thought-provoking, educational and encourages emotional learning and co-viewing. ◆

For more info, visit creationentertainment.media and magicframeanimation.com.

Sefi Carmel

BuddyBots

Aliens FC

Paul Martin and the Magic Magnifying Glass

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Independents’ Days

International indie animation producers, distributors and sales agents give us their take on the global feature scene.

This month’s big Cannes Film Festival and Market (May 16-24) event in France gave us the opportunity to catch up with some of the big movers and shakers on the international independent animation feature landscape. They were kind enough to keep us up to date with their 2023 animated movie catalogs and discuss some of their triumphs, challenges and survival strategies for the year ahead:

Sean

Feeney,

Head of Production

Amanda Kerridge, Marketing Director, GFM

Animated titles at Cannes/ Annecy: Current titles on our slate for Cannes/ Annecy are 10 Lives, Stitch Head, A Greyhound of a Girl and Sneaks, plus another title (maybe two) to be announced.

Thoughts on the market: Based on our experience at the EFM, the current global animation market is vibrant. There is a definite appetite for domestic and leading independent animation studios to license top-tier family movies if you have the right creative elements, a strong hook and audience appeal.

Big challenges ahead: For GFM Animation on the production side, the biggest challenges are finding movies like 10 Lives, Sneaks and Stitch Head that have the right story and creative elements, and are at the right budget level. With our other hat on, from a sales point of view, the

biggest challenge is securing distribution in North America. It has the biggest audience for family movies and is incredibly important, but for sure it is the most complicated; a jigsaw puzzle with many pieces that can take a while to solve.

What do you love about your slate: We are thrilled with how varied the stories are that are being told across our slate. We are working with first-class filmmakers who want to tell fantastic stories and who recognize that to do that you need to tick various creative boxes to ensure that distributors – and audiences – connect with the film.  10 Lives for example is nearing completion at L’Atelier and we are blown away by the quality of the animation, and how the story and characters have come to life under Chris Jenkins’ direction. Every ‘show & tell’ meeting we have with the production team is a joy.

On the tough theatrical market: Distributors are much savvier about how and when they release the movies they acquire. Historically, school holidays and public holidays are booked out by bigger studio features and therefore independent distributors need to be creative in when and how they release animated or family features in their territories. This can mean, for example, not simply following the domestic lead, but tailoring their release date & marketing plan to suit their local audience requirements. In terms of silver linings, we are finding that an increasing number of distributors are now more open to independent animated features than they were three or four years ago. It’s exciting

Stitch Head (GFM)

to know that because of this, more stories can be told and enjoyed by audiences worldwide.

Simon Crowe Founder &

CEO, SC Films International

Animated titles at Cannes/Annecy: There’s Headspace, a family CGI animation feature from South Africa’s Luma animation studios: It’s their first feature and they’ve done a great job. It’s fun, it’s lively and is due to be completed in April. Cannes will be its first screening. We have Dragonkeeper, a big action-adventure between Spain and China. The footage at Cartoon Movie looked amazing and we will have more footage for Cannes.  Girl in the Clouds is a France-Belgium co-production, with a great script and promo. We’ll have more news in Cannes, and production starting September 2023. Take on the global scene: The global market remains tricky post-COVID, but I’m hoping we will see optimism return from a theatrical perspective. There are a lot of strong titles on release this summer and this should bring back visitors to cinemas. Then, I hope we can deliver theatrical animation films by the end of 2023 and 2024. Families will always want to be entertained, and there is nothing better than a trip to the cinema. I am also hoping for the re-emergence of China. FILMART was held as an in-person event, and allegedly 330 distributors from China were in attendance. That’s surely a positive sign for the future. Biggest challenges: We have some great stories, but funding is difficult whilst the audiences have not returned to the cinema – hopefully this year. And I’d love streamers to start buying independent animated films again. All streamers need more family-friendly titles. On the 2023 slate: I believe our job is to find movies to entertain the largest audience possible. Each film has a unique story and with animation, a happy ending. Dragonkeeper is on an epic scale and who does not love dragons! Headspace is a fantastical story about miniature aliens invading Earth, and Girl in the Clouds is about a girl saving Earth from environmental catastrophe, aided by a talking (and very funny)

guinea pig.

Silver linings: The big challenge is to make the films theatrical in story and quality. If the films are compelling, distributors will release theatrically and then we are onto a winner. Home entertainment is always strong for animation, but we need the theatrical market back across the world. Silver linings, hopefully China and a growing market in Saudi Arabia.

Michael Favelle Founder

& CEO, Odin’s Eye Entertainment

This year’s slate: Our lead animated title is Shimmy: The First Monkey King, which was written and directed by Dick and Ralph Zondag. We also have Alebrijes, from Mexico’s HuevoCartoon and hopefully a few other movies which are almost ready to formally announce.

My favorite thing about Shimmy is that unlike a few Monkey King animations in the past, this one has a very likeable (but cheeky) protagonist, and the film also has some of the best character animation I’ve seen in an independent animated feature. Alebrijes is a fantastical dive into the colorful and creative world of chimeric creatures each with a distinct personality that mirrors that of their human counterpart which opens the door for a lot of conflict and humor.

On on the global animation market this year: I think it’s incredibly difficult, at the moment, to package and close finance. Streamers have not been actively buying in recent years as they have been focusing on their own projects and consolidation in the PTV/FTV sectors have complicated matters further to the point where distributors do not have the same level confidence in being able to secure a partner to help cover increasingly expensive dubbing costs and P&A. While some territories have largely recovered, there are some where the theatrical animation market has not returned outside of anime (e.g. South Korea). Major challenges: In terms of features, there is definitely not as much equity finance ‘out there’ as there used to be and it’s becoming ever more challenging to close finance. The theatrical scene has not fully recovered

Headspace (SC Films)

Shimmy: The First Monkey King (Odin’s Eye)

and in some cases, grandparents for example (in some countries) are not yet comfortable in bringing preschool age children into cinemas. But it’s clear that audiences will come out for the right kind of movie. Look at the incredible success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, for example. While that is a beloved outlier IP, I do believe that great characters with compelling and original stories can be executed in the indie space, and we hope to bring to market the next Shrek or Finding Nemo soon.

Silver Linings: We’ve been doing business with companies who traditionally have not released animation. As an example, we sold HeuvoCartoons’ Little Eggs to Alba in France who has released the film on 300 screens, and to Dazzler in the U.K. which has released the film on a few hundred screens. That said, our regular distribution partners remain dedicated to animation, but are certainly becoming more selective and want to see more of each film before committing to a prebuy.

Julia Weber, Head of Intl. Sales & Acquisitions

Klaus Rasmussen, Senior VP, Intl. Sales & Acquisitions Global Screen

Cannes and/or Annecy titles: We are excited to present first scenes for Niko – Be-

yond the Northern Lights – our new fantastic, animated feature. After the global success of the first two Niko movies sold to over 120 countries, the creative team from Animaker Inc., Ulysses Films (The Amazing Maurice), Moetion Films (Ooops! Noah is gone…) and A. Film Production (Luis and the Aliens) have joined together and are working on this heartwarming holiday adventure, under the direction of Kari Juusonen with co-director Lerdam, Jørgen. It’s a pleasure for us to work with such a talented team.

We’re also presenting The Last Whale Singer, an epic adventure about self-confidence, the power of collaboration and finding your inner voice. Whale Singers have protected the oceans and their inhabitants with their mystical songs, which granted them magical powers such as healing. They visit exotic, faraway places and encounter fascinating marine creatures. The film shines a light on environmental threats while maintaining a message of hope and activism. It’s created entirely in Unreal Engine massive, shared universe with an interwoven story that includes an upcoming video game, an episodic series, AR/VR projects and more, each created using the same assets designed for the film.

On the global animation market: We are seeing more and more interest in animated titles and now more than ever, distributors are also looking for the commercial family entertainment films, although they may not have considered this type of film before. In this segment, IPs, in particular, play an important role.

Animation is no longer considered as a “genre” but cinema, a powerful medium to tell universal and timeless stories”. It fascinates not only children, but also teenagers and adults. In times where is being difficult to attract the audience into the theaters, animated features have a special international potential and offer diversity. All people can relate to these stories, no matter where they are from.

Biggest challenges: Distributors are being very cautelous and picky with their selections and it is becoming harder to bring the films into the cinemas unless they are of high animated quality. Many animated projects are being produced these days and the challenge is to get hold of the crème de la crème. The production process for an animation film takes a long time and we, as a sales company, are very cautious to work with well-established producers and animation studios who can deliver on time as planned.

Thoughts on this year’s slate: The variety of our lineup allow us to meet the big spectrum of the market demands. Precisely, this diversity and the balance among our titles, is what we most like about our slate.

Silver Linings: The difficult situation of the arthouse worldwide market has pushed even more the demand for high-quality animated movies that still can bring a wider audience into the cinemas.

Niko — Beyond the Northern Lights (Global Screen)

Rodney Uhler Director of Acquisitions & Development, GKIDS

On the global animation market: The international animation market in 2023 is as robust and exciting as any in the past. GKIDS is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, so it is a natural point of reflection for us, looking in all directions: past, present and future. You cannot dispute the influence and impact of anime, not just with this generation of filmmakers, but with a booming global audience and its broader cultural impact beyond animation. What’s particularly exciting is the ripple effects of that influence. In production, you have filmmakers outside of Japan who are putting their own unique spin on that anime style of art and storytelling. With audiences you have a huge demo, who perhaps entered animation through anime, but are now open to different styles of animation like Alberto Vázquez’s Unicorn Wars or the exciting work coming out of China like the most recent Light Chaser film New Gods: Yang Jian The GKIDS 2023 slate: We should probably claim more credit for how our slate shaped itself to be particularly relevant for our anniversary year, but in mostly coincidental ways it has become a great reflection of what GKIDS has stood for over the past 15 years.

When everyone in the film world is highly anticipating a new Hayao Miyazaki film, it is a natural fit for celebrating his past films and the work of Studio Ghibli. We’re putting all his past Ghibli features into theaters over the course of the year. Ernest and Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia will be released later this year. We’re also proud to be releasing releasing Keiichi Hara’s Lonely Castle in the Mirror, which is based on the acclaimed novel by Mizuki Tsujimura, this summer. Silver Linings: Many of the issues facing the theatrical landscape in the live action film industry are being felt in animation as well but it has given GKIDS a good moment to think creatively about how to best share our films. We’re finding everyone is a little more flexible on windowing which has allowed us to not force films into a predetermined release time-frame and be more strategic about when and where audiences are able to see the film. We’ve seen huge success with event

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releasing on a large theatrical footprint.

What remains though, is that GKIDS has given films theatrical releases for every year (including 2020 and 2021) of its 15-year history and we do not foresee that commitment changing in the future.

Tania Pinto Da Cunha VP/Partner, Pink Parrot Media

Animated titles at Cannes/Annecy: We are announcing two new acquisitions, The Bottanix, which is in financing, and Norbert which is now in production and will to ready in 2024. The Bottanix is a new project developed at CarpeDiem Film & TV in Montreal, our mother company. We are launching it in Cannes, with a great script and beautiful and funny promo. Norbert is a new acquisition from Capitán Araña in Spain, which offers a unique approach to value the importance of nature against aggressive consumers. Another family title which is quite special to us is Colorland, which helps promote the value simple things in life, nature, friendship, and empathy. All this conveyed with unusual characters full of great spirits, happiness and music.

We will also be making some announcements regarding the singers we have signed for the songs of Butterfly Tale, which we are delivering this year, with a Premier in Canada most probably this October 2023. “Something Big” by Shawn Mendes and “Anywhere with You” by Johnny Orlando. We may be bringing two more titles, and some surprises will come most certainly.

On the global animation scene: It is blooming again. We have had some difficulties to get to the sales we used to before COVID affected all of us, but it feels now that things are really coming back. Animation is still a format that works very well in theaters which is the business we are focusing on. There will be great independent animated movies coming out this year, which will find their place among the big studio ones. I strongly think there is room for both to survive. ◆

Lonely Castle in the Mirror (GKIDS)

Steampunk Paradise

Beloved animation auteur Genndy Tartakovsky gives us the full story behind his new show Unicorn: Warriors Eternal.

- By Jennifer Wolfe -

FFresh off of the second season of his groundbreaking series Primal, fivetime Emmy winner Genndy Tartakovsky is at it again. The famed creator of Dexter’s Laboratory and Samurai Jack is back with a new show aimed at an adult audience that isn’t afraid to wear its heart on its sleeve.

Tartakovsky’s long-awaited, supernatural 2D-animated action series Unicorn: Warriors Eternal follows a team of heroes who cycle through eternity, periodically reawakening in the bodies of unsuspecting hosts to battle an ominous force. Accidentally reawakened in Victorian-era London in the bodies of teenagers, the heroes must find a way to protect the world while also coming to terms with their new, adolescent selves. Our heroes — the powerful sorceress Melinda, the cosmic monk Seng and the warrior elf Edred — are assisted by Copernicus, a spherical, steam-powered robot able to transform into just about any conveyance imaginable.

Welcome to a Fantastic World

The steampunk fantasy narrative is produced by Cartoon Network Studios and animated in France by Studio La Cachette, which also provided the animation for Primal. The idea for the series came to Tartakovsky nearly 20 years ago, as he was preparing to exit Cartoon Network and wondering what he would do next. “We’ve always talked about doing things cartoony, but still dramatic,” he tells Animation Magazine during a recent Zoom interview.

“One of the things that we did through Dexter, Powerpuff and Samurai, and really everything, was this combination of action and drama and comedy. We were relying on the comedy more through the action while trying to do everything in one episode or story. I thought, well, I’d love to do something that’s pushing that even further, but more on the drama and emotional action, with comedy taking a slight backseat.”

Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs also

provided some of the inspiration, Tartakovsky shared. “I always point to the funeral scene in Snow White where you have this really emotional scene and everybody in the audience is crying, but the dwarfs are these big, giant-nosed, goofy cartoon characters, and you still totally buy into it.”

The first drawing Tartakovsky completed for the project was a rough version of the characters “chasing and fighting this fire spectral train that was alive,” he recounted. “And that kind of sold me that there’s something there.”

But for years, Tartakovsky had trouble finding a buyer for his concept. “Because the story also wanted to be episodic, which back then was a dirty word in television,” he explains. “Because it’s a big idea, a little bit more complicated than anything that I’ve done. And so I couldn’t sell it, and it was really hard. I went through it with Cartoon Network a little bit around maybe 2009 or so, and we did a storyboard, and that gave me even more excitement about it because, oh my

God, there’s something here that’s so great! But they didn’t agree and we actually ended up doing Sym-Bionic Titan instead. And then finally something clicked — this time, the planets aligned and we got a chance to make it.”

Infused with Fleischer-era curves and loops, the show’s bold, graphic visuals also channel the enlarged eyes and stylized cinematic camera moves of Osamu Tezuka. They were brought to life by longtime Tartakovsky collaborator and Emmy winner Stephen DeStefano, who has designed characters for Mickey Mouse, The Looney Tunes Show, The Cuphead Show! and a slew of other iconic properties, including Sym-Bionic Titan.

“When I’m working with a designer, I want the show or the movie to look the way that person draws,” says Tartakovsky. “And so Dexter, I wanted it to look like Craig McCracken’s drawings. Samurai was a mixture between Craig Kellman and Paul Rudish. Titan with Stephen and some of Paul’s stuff. And Unicorn, I wanted it to look like Stephen’s drawings.”

DeStefano says he and Tartakovsky “speak a very similar language” that has deepened their collaboration. “I can look at one of his boards and say, ‘Oh, the X-Men,’ and he’s like, ‘Yeah.’ So I thought, particularly with Unicorn, but also with

the early Primal, ‘Oh, Genndy’s sort of seeing a Tezuka thing going on here.’ And that means a lot to me. I love Tezuka, and I love all the things that informed Tezuka.”

Tartakovsky insists the style of the new series is all DeStefano’s, pointing out that he hadn’t even read the Astro Boy comics until the early 2000s, when he was hired to write a script for the film. “For all of the ‘90s, I was focusing on more graphic stuff like Dexter, Powerpuff, Samurai, and this was a whole new world. And he, of course, is influenced by Disney and Fleischer of the ‘30s. So, there’s this incestuous pool of style, but it really spoke to me and there was a simplicity to it that I really loved and a complexity at the same time.”

Unicorn was the perfect fit for DeStefano’s

style, says Tartakovsky. “He really knows the classic way to draw, which is a rarity these days,” he continues.

“Samurai Jack looks nothing like Dexter, which looks nothing like Primal, which looks nothing like Unicorn,” DeStefano agrees. “I feel like I should mention the name that should not be mentioned, which is the Popeye movie, because Genndy and I were having a great time on that, and there is still a little nucleus of the Popeye movie in Unicorn. We kept pushing this Fleischer idea and this old-time traditional cartooning, and that didn’t get very far, but all that energy that we were putting into the Popeye movie had to go someplace.”

Tartakovsky wanted Unicorn: Warriors Eternal

"It’s really a really fun cartoon, first and foremost. I mean, I’ve never drawn so many zombies in my life.”

— Creator Genndy Tartakovsky

CARTOONY CRAFTSMANSHIP: Tartakovsky drew inspiration from the works of Max Fleischer and Osamu Tezuka, describing the look of the new show as an “incestuous pool of beloved characters."

to “be more cartoony, in the old sense, than anything that I’ve done before,” he said. “The concept is you take this old aesthetic, but you bring it into this contemporary filmmaking story and the way we tell the story that’s very contemporary, and it hopefully will become something new or its own unique thing.”

Melinda, says DeStefano, was particularly fun to draw. “Unicorn is kind of a strange amalgamation to me,” he continues. “It's all those things we were talking about, Popeye, the Fleischer Studios, Tezuka. But I would get a board from Genndy and be like, ‘Oh, there’s Genndy’s Jack Kirby drawing.’ And there’s a lot of that with Melinda. There’s a lot of Marvel Comics in her, and she’s completely black, so I would need to compose her as well as I could so that she still reads. She’s dynamic, but she

still looks like she pops out of a 1930s cartoon.”

Tartakovsky has reached a point in his career where he says he loves storyboarding. “In my early days, I loved it, but it was so hard because I couldn’t draw well. And I had people like Paul Rudish and Craig McCracken around me who drew so well. I felt so inferior. I could tell the stories, but the drawings were incredibly tasking for me to do it. And now I’m much more comfortable with my drawings and the way I draw and there’s more confidence.”

A Brilliant Storyteller

As the director of Sony Pictures Animation’s Hotel Transylvania franchise and the forthcoming adult animated comedy feature Fixed, as well as his work on television series from Dexter’s Laboratory to Primal, Tartakovsky has more than proven his ability to create engaging sto-

ries for audiences of all ages.

“This one landed in this more emotional, conflicted, slightly more mature themes range. That’s what felt right for it,” he said. “It didn’t feel like we needed the violence that we had in Primal. It wanted to find its own tone. So, it’s more dramatic and emotional.”

Tartakovsky also says this series is the most complex story he’s ever undertaken. “That was very challenging and interesting, and I think it’ll be fun to watch this style. So, I want people to fall in love with the characters. I want them to enjoy the style. I want them to enjoy this type of animation.”

But in the end, “It’s a really fun cartoon,” he says. “And it is a cartoon. That’s one of the things that’s great about it. It’s got a lot of heart — a lot of depth to it. It’s got a lot of human drama. But first and foremost, it’s a really fun cartoon. I mean, I’ve never drawn so many zombies in my life.” ◆

Unicorn: Warriors Eternal premieres on Thursday, May 4 at midnight on Adult Swim and the next day on HBO Max.

"I feel like I should mention the name that should not be mentioned, which is the Popeye movie, because Genndy and I were having a great time on that, and there is still a little nucleus of the Popeye movie in Unicorn."

— Character designer Stephen DeStefano

L-R: Storyboard by Ian Higginbotham, layout by Studio La Cachette, reposing by Genndy Tartakovsky. Top: final by Stephen DeStefano.

ECHOES OF THE PAST: Genndy Tartakovksy and character designer Stephen DeStefano were both inspired by Tezuka’s beloved Astro Boy manga and Hayao Miyazaki’s movies as they set out to create the world of Unicorn: Warriors Eternal.

Fun with Jedi Younglings

Young Jedi Adventures delivers a colorful Star Wars series for the preschool crowd.

By Jeff Spry

George Lucas’ original Star Wars trilogy was conceived as a nostalgic, family-friendly space opera appealing to 12-year-old kids, or at least the sci-fi-loving child inside us all. Later prequels and sequels skewed towards an older audience, especially in the animation corner of that universe with Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels and Star Wars: The Bad Batch

Now with the launch of Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures on Star Wars Day (May 4), preschool children finally have a little piece of the Star Wars galaxy to call their very own. The aim here is to deliver a fun, brightly-hued series using relatable Star Wars stories to introduce children to the IP’s imaginative worlds and inhabitants.

Glory Days

Young Jedi Adventures takes place in The High Republic period centuries before the Skywalker saga, when the Jedi Knights were at their zenith as galactic guardians of peace and justice. It centers on a group of Jedi younglings studying the mystical ways of the Force under the tutelage of Master Yoda at a temple outpost on the planet Tenoo. The new aged-down series delivers 25 animated episodes of outer space escapades offering Jedi-making themes of friendship, compassion and teamwork while being

instilled with a genuine Star Wars spirit.

Produced by Lucasfilm Animation for Disney+ and Disney Junior in partnership with Wild Canary, Young Jedi Adventures is executive produced by Lucasfilm’s James Waugh, Jacqui Lopez and Josh Rimes. Michael Olson (Puppy Dog Pals), a 20-year veteran of children’s television, is the show’s writer, showrunner and co-executive producer, alongside Elliot M. Bour (Elena of Avalor), who serves as supervising director.

Bringing these fresh characters to life are vocal stars Jamaal Avery, Jr. as Kai Brightstar, Juliet Donenfeld as Lys Solay, Dee Bradley Baker as Nubs, Emma Berman as Nash Durango, Jonathan Lipow as RJ-83 and Piotr Michael as Master Yoda.

During the project’s infancy, Waugh hoped to organically create the right young Star Wars animated expression.

“We veered into a place we hadn’t before and knew we were taking a risk and a big swing because the aspirational quality of Star Wars animation is so important,” he says. “Over 2018-2019 we incubated a new era in publishing called The High Republic that allowed for the promise of the Jedi at their height. That’s what we needed to unlock this, to see younglings and Jedi at their height, not a dark dire circumstance facing a galaxy in change. Michael Olson’s take felt like a perfect marriage of our Star Wars expertise and his

experience writing for that demo. It ended up becoming a great fusion.”

Waugh, with Bour and art director Madi Hodges, then began the process of taking concept art from acclaimed illustrator Joey Chou and translating those designs into 3D.

“In talking with Kathy Kennedy about the show, we started reading a lot of kids’ picture books. I had a book on my shelf called Monster & Son, which is Joey’s book! We found out he’s done work for It’s a Small World and tons of things for Disney. We loved his 2D shape language and graphical style and bright colors — shapes that felt like you were stepping into a storybook.”

Animation duties fell upon Canada's Icon Creative Studio, and it’s their artistry and ambition which helped bring Young Jedi Adventures into fruition.

“Icon’s first pass test was lightyears above the others that we got in,” Waugh recalls. “It felt like their dedication to all aspects of what was on the frame, from rough textures to the animation quality and attention to detail, made it an easy decision. They’ve been a terrific creative partner and they’re always pushing their quality bar. Icon wants this to look as beautiful as we do and they understood the creative challenge of Star Wars and had great solutions.”

Michael Olson reveals that getting to make Star Wars characters destined to belong in the vi-

brant canon of Star Wars was a huge challenge and opportunity.

“I felt a tremendous responsibility because I wanted these characters to feel fresh but also familiar,” he tells Animation Magazine. “So that when kids are being introduced to Star Wars through this show and they progress to the next shows and the movies, they catch similarities between these characters and those in the rest of Star Wars

“Kai Brightstar, who is the lead of the show, I made him for my younger cousin Stefan, who is half-Norwegian and half-Haitian and a massive Star Wars fan. He’s never seen a Star Wars character lead a show or a movie that looked like him.”

For the spunky character of Lys Solay, Olson patterned her after his own daughter. He recalls, “I had this incredible opportunity to make a Star Wars show and she’s now nine, but when I was developing this she was five and six. My daughter

has a big heart, she’s very funny, but she’s also someone to be reckoned with. She’ll defend and protect just the way a Jedi would.”

To create the gang’s space pilot Nash Durango, Olson conjured her up for all the gearheads and rebels out there, because she’s a rebel at heart.

“George Lucas was a big gearhead and I really wanted to honor that spirit,” he adds. “For our audience who are just being introduced to Star Wars, they don’t know all the lore or what the Jedi are or what the Force is. Nash provides that opportunity to have a character in the show ask those questions and have them explained in a way that connects with kids.

“And then Nubs, I just wanted to see an adorably fierce blue teddy bear swinging a lightsaber. He’s a really fun character, but he also speaks to the younger end of our audience because he wears his heart on his sleeve and is very expressive.”

Adding to the memorable droids in the Star Wars universe is Young Jedi Adventures’ RJ-83, the domed robot companion to Nash Durango that also transforms into a cool backpack.

“Part of Star Wars is that your pilot character has a sidekick like with Han and Chewie. Knowing that Nash was a gearhead and she’d be working on her ship, it felt right for her to have a droid who was small, but had a big personality. The two of them have a fun dynamic together where she’ll want to do crazy stunts and he’ll roll his eyes at her, but then go along with it. He’s the Jedi’s biggest champion and is always there to help them out in a pinch.”

Balancing Light and Dark

Regarding the new planet of Tenoo and its sacred Jedi temple, Olson was inspired by an old illustration by legendary Star Wars artist Ralph McQuarrie.

“I wanted the temple to represent the communion between civilization and nature,” he notes. “It’s a balance of light and dark and felt like a big treehouse from a kid’s perspective. You can see roots and branches growing inside as you walk around. It’s the best hangout a kid could ever want! There’s a history that we explore a bit in the show. We discover it’s an ancient temple with secret places long forgotten that the Jedi may or may not uncover.

“We’re trying to make a show that’s an introduction to Star Wars that’s passionate and optimistic and colorful,” Olson concludes. “Parents are excited to have something they can finally share with their kids. To be a part of that, there’s no greater gift.” ◆

Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures arrives on Disney+ and Disney Junior on May 4.

"I felt a tremendous responsibility because I wanted these characters to feel fresh, but also familiar. So that when kids are being introduced to Star Wars through this show, they catch similarities between these characters and those in the rest of Star Wars.”

— Exec producer and showrunner Michael Olson

MANY LESSONS YOU WILL LEARN: Set 200 years before The Phantom Menace , Young Jedi Adventures follows the younglings as they study the ways of the Force and help citizens and creatures in need.

The Force Goes Global!

Star Wars: Visions Vol. 2 offers an international ensemble of animated excellence on Disney+.

By Jeff Spry

With its makers untethered by canonical restrictions, Lucasfilm and Disney+’s exhilarating anthology series Star Wars: Visions is back for a second season of bite-sized sci-fi films from a galaxy far, far away.

Unlike Star Wars: Visions’ Emmy-nominated debut season in 2021, which was crafted by a collection of Japanese anime masters, this next volume of new Star Wars shorts hails from an eclectic assembly of nine animation studios chosen from around the planet.

Lucasfilm’s James Waugh (Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures) is again on board as executive producer for Star Wars: Visions Vol. 2, alongside producers Jacqui Lopez and Josh Rimes. Waugh and his team methodically selected these nine Star Wars-inspired shorts to provide a truly international canvas for this sophomore season. Each animated gem offers unique cultural perspectives, specific styles and intriguing interpretations extracted from the diverse worldbuilding that forms the foundation of Star Wars mythology.

Putting the Best Visuals Forward

“It’s such a spectacle of different animated

styles and so many fascinating talents at play,” says Waugh. “In many ways, seeing it come together has been a dream come true. I have to give Kathy Kennedy a lot of credit for that, because we loved the expressions of anime at the time, but it was still a matter of what’s the best way to do it. She really encouraged us to take swings, to try different ways to add animation and explore the IP, and that’s what kicked it off originally.”

Studios participating in Visions Vol. 2 include: El Guiri (Spain), Cartoon Saloon (Ireland), PunkRobot (Chile), Aardman (United Kingdom), Studio Mir (South Korea), Studio La Cachette (France), 88 Pictures (India), D’ART Shtajio (Japan) and Triggerfish (South Africa).

For the second outing, Waugh and his Lucasfilm co-producers got to a place where the unique cultural vision of Japanese filmmakers and animators was something that inspired them all.

“The other thing we picked up was how that perspective of their culture helped shape the stories they tell, and how they approach Star Wars specifically,” he notes. “We saw Visions as a framework where we could explore different expressions of Star Wars and do things you wouldn’t

normally think of with Star Wars. The thing that was really powerful to us with the first volume was that these unique perspectives opened new doors to us that we weren’t thinking of.

“With the rise of streamers, there’s been such a renaissance in the animation space. There are so many incredible animation studios across the world that are doing great work, and we realized that maybe we can expand this canvas even broader. Let’s go to the different regions and see how people interpret Star Wars through their own cultural lens.”

Visions always had bold ambitions to eventually expand beyond anime, and Waugh was fortunate enough to entice a number of admired studios like Aardman, Cartoon Saloon, Triggerfish and PunkRobot, who were all thrilled to hop on this crazy Lucasfilm ride.

“Part of the role of a good producer in this position is that you have to be aware of what’s happening in the industry,” he adds. “You have to be aware of the interesting talent and voices out there. Great work inspires more great work, so

we’re always watching everything. Many of these studios we were already huge fans of and had a list of animators we wanted to approach.”

Waugh’s creative crew hoped to obtain a proper balance of storied studios involved, like an Aardman or Cartoon Saloon with all their Academy Award nominations, but they also wanted to shine a spotlight on up-and-coming talent from varied territories to add to the colorful mix.

“The good thing about Lucasfilm in particular is that the studio people are really passionate about the content we make and the medium we work in,” says Waugh. “People came in and had pitches and the next phase was figuring out what’s the best Star Wars story out of these pitches. In our heart, despite all the big spectacle and effects and battles, Star Wars is at its best when it’s about people, their lives and changes, and that’s what we were looking for with all the studios.”

El Guiri’s Rodrigo Blaas is one of the lucky few joining this consortium of compelling cartoons. The Emmy-winning director is best known of his work with Guillermo del Toro on Netflix’s acclaimed animated series Trollhunters and Pixar projects such as Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille and WALL•E, and the Oscar-nominated short La Luna. In 2021, Blaas formed El Guiri Stu-

dios with Cecile Hokes. Now, the veteran animator is diving into the Dark Side with his new Visions Vol. 2 segment, which is simply titled Sith

“The initial concept I had was, ‘What if the Force, that’s used for fighting, is used to create art?’” Blaas tells Animation Magazine. “That’s the basic idea of the Sith short. I wanted to push the boundaries of what CG animation can look like. I think animation is in a great creative explosion of different styles and I love what’s happening with other projects out there. We’re definitely pushing different looks that are very linked to the storytelling.”

One expression of Blaas’ story was an incident occurring right after the pandemic where he and his nine-year-old daughter were going outside and she insisted on wearing her flip-flops.

“As a father I’m very strict and was telling her, ‘No, we’re going to go with sneakers.’ She looked at me and told me no, she’s going with her flipflops. In that glance, I saw her grow up. That first challenge I saw in her eyes was a little bit of an inspiration for what our character, Lola, went through in the short. It’s a basic idea of an apprentice Sith and a master that’s looking for her.”

Blaas points out that the essence of color is a major component of Star Wars: Visions and an important driver of the storytelling process in Sith

Viva España!

“We wanted to explore influences from the abstract painters like Miró and Picasso and abstract expressionism in the United States by artists Sam Francis and Joan Mitchell,” he explains. “Rooty Toot Toot was another inspiration for me and how to translate those stylistic choices that they made on those old UPA shorts into CG. It’s connecting with many visual cues and references to the culture of Spain and that was important because we were given free rein.”

What connects everything together for Blaas is a clear and simple mythology that’s helped Star Wars thrive and endure over the decades.

“It’s a fertile mythology that you can bring different types of storytelling and influences from different cultures to,” he says. “Because I was a 10-year-old kid who grew up with Star Wars, I could fill a design bucket list of things I thought of. I wanted to design and create an original lightsaber or speeder, my version of the X-wing or a droid. We were able to create all those things, but make it live in a Star Wars world. Not canon, but at least be a part of cues that the audience and the fanbase will get some thread of connection to the mythology of Star Wars.” ◆

Star Wars: Visions Vol. 2 arrives exclusively on Disney+ on May 4 (Star Wars Day).

“Because I was a 10-year-old kid who grew up with Star Wars, I could fill a design bucket list of things I thought of. I wanted to design and create an original lightsaber, or speeder, my version of the X-wing or a droid.”

— Rodrigo Blaas, director of Sith

James Waugh

INTERNATIONAL JEDI: The eclectic shorts in the second volume of Star Wars: Visions were created by El Guiri (Spain), Cartoon Saloon (Ireland), PunkRobot (Chile), Aardman (U.K.), Studio Mir (S. Korea), Studio La Cachette (France), 88 Pictures (India), D’ART Shtajio (Japan) and Triggerfish (S. Africa) in collaboration with Lucasfilm (U.S.). Above: Studio La Cachette’s The Spy Dancer

Defrosting Historical Figures (Again)

We chat with showrunners Erica Rivinoja and Erik Durbin about the much-anticipated, revived Clone High series on Max.

- By Ramin Zahed -

Who could have predicted that more than two decades after Phil Lord, Chris Miller and Bill Lawrence’s animated show Clone High was canceled by MTV after only one season on the air, the cult fave would make a miraculous comeback? That’s right — Abe Lincoln, Joan of Arc, JFK, Cleopatra and some new second-generation figures (Harriet Tubman, Frida Kahlo, Confucius) are back to experience high school in a new version of the show on Max this month.

Set in a high school for clones of historical figures, the series finds the clones thawed out after 20 years on ice to resume the experiment with new clone classmates — as they deal with the madness of adjusting to new cultural norms and highly dramatic teen relationships! Produced by MTV Entertainment Studios, Clone High executive producers include Lord,  Miller, Lawrence, Erica Rivinoja (South Park, Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm) and

Erik Durbin (Last Man on Earth, American Dad!). Returning stars include Will Forte as Abe and Nicole Sullivan as Joan, Phil Lord as Scudworth and Chris Miller as JFK and Mr. B, Christa Miller as Candide, Donald Faison as George Washington Carver and Judah Miller as Scangrade.

New Faces and Voices

“When they reached out to me to be the showrunner, I was genuinely very excited to work on this new show,” says writer-producer Rivinoja, whose impressive credits include South Park, Last Man on Earth and Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm. “I used to write on the original show 21 years ago, and now we had the chance to add new characters and bring it back alive into this world. I had to leave at some point to direct the upcoming animated movie adaptation of Cat in the Hat (2024), so we needed someone else to shepherd the project. That’s when my friend Erik Durbin, with whom I’d

worked on Last Man on Earth, who was also a big fan of the original show, joined the project. We kind of shared the baton on the series.”

Both showrunners point out that they love the new characters and situations they encounter in the new 2023 project. “We have a whole bunch of new characters and they are much more representative, diverse, unique and weird,” says Rivinoja. “It has been really a lot of fun to have them all and get new people involved. In the original series, I was the only woman in the writers’ room. No offence to EriK, but it has been really nice to have more women around. The hardest part has been trying to do what Chris [Miller] and Phil [Lord] did, and that one season is so beloved. I felt a lot of pressure trying to live up to that.”

Durbin agrees. “The great part about it is you’ve got these other characters who can, you know, show a broader range of the world that we live in. We have to do right by these characters, so the challenging aspect is making sure like their

Erik Durbin

personalities and points of view mesh into this beautiful little show that flew high with three main character. Now, we have seven central characters and a bigger core of friends, so it’s important that we make them all feel interconnected.”

One character that is not returning to Clone High is Gandhi, voiced by comic Michael McDonald in the first season of the show. Rivinoja points out that that character was the reason the show was canceled. Many viewers were offended by the depiction of the Indian national hero as a party animal and a womanizer. At the time, many politicians, including Gandhi’s grandson, held a hunger strike in front of the MTV India offices during a visit by the then-head of Viacom.

“We all love Gandhi, but he was the reason the show went off the air in the first place,” says Rivinoja. “So we just didn’t want to touch that.”

“It’s been nice to have characters who represent a larger swath of our world and they each bring their own backgrounds and heritage,” says Durbin. “They each have different ways of being dramatic and funny. You have someone who is carefree like Confucius. We also have these great comedians portraying characters like Harriet Tubman and Cleopatra. It’s been so much fun to work with them.”

“I also just love our new character Topher Bus (voiced by Neil Casey), who is actually a clone of Christopher Co-

lumbus, who is trying hard to rebrand himself since Columbus has been justifiably canceled,” adds Rivinoja. “He is really awful, but it’s really fun to poke fun at the idea of people trying way too hard to be cool and relevant, which is in fact what every teenager tries to do.”

She adds, “One of the things I love about the new characters is that I feel the initial characters really fitted into the classic tropes of the time, like the jock, the nerd, the popular girl. Life has evolved in the past 20 years, so our new characters don’t fit those tropes so much. In a way, it made our job a little bit harder, but it has also made the show more interesting.”

The 2023 version of Clone High is also faithful to the original show’s visual aesthetics, which came from industry heavyweight Mike Moon, a former Disney and Netflix exec who is now heading the Moonlight label at Illumination. The animation production is handled by L.A.’s ShadowMachine (Tuca & Bertie, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio) and Ottawa’s Jam Filled (A Tale Dark & Grimm).

“The original show had this wonderful homemade feel to it because it was actually done on the cheap,” says Rivinoja. “Of course, animation has come a long way the past two decades, so it was really important to us to make sure that it still held on to all of the hand-crafted qualities. Mike Moon’s original de-

signs were really forward-thinking and quite unique. We never wanted the new show to look too sleek, and it was really important for us to maintain the essence of that first year.”

Creative Spirit

When asked about his favorite episodes of the new season, Durbin says a clear standout is one written by Rivinoja, which explores the backstory of the Mr. B., principal Scudworth’s loyal robot butler, vice principle and dehumidifier. “It’s a really outstanding episode, and the storytelling is just super fun and different,” he notes. “We hope Guillermo del Toro will be proud of us. There’s also a musical episode which is really fun.”

The showrunners are hoping that audiences tuning in the new show this month will be able to relate to the stories and the experiences of the new class of high school clones. “We hope they’ll find some laughs at how seriously these kids are taking their lives and their attempts to just be teenagers,” says Durbin.

“That’s exactly what I was thinking, too,” says Rivinoja. “I hope people will see themselves and their pain and drama on the screen. I mean, high school wasn’t great for any of us … I am guessing that anyone who is reading Animation Magazine didn’t have a great time in high school either!” ◆

The new Clone High premieres on Max on May 23, with two new episodes debuting each Thursday. A second season is already in production.

“Thanks to Mike Moon, the design of the show was really forward-thinking and quite unique. We never wanted the new show to look too sleek and it was really important for us to maintain the essence of that first year.”

—Exec producer and showrunner Erica Rivinoja

NEW TARGETS: The 2023 version of Clone High features a new Harriet Tubman and introduces Frida Kahlo and Confucius. Above, the Gandhi character, which led to the cancelation of the show after its first season, is definitely not coming back!

Digital Animal Rescue

How the VFX team behind Apple TV+’s Jane created a world of CG animals for the acclaimed show.

- By Ramin Zahed -

We’ve learned to expect excellence when we see Jane Goodall’s name attached to a project. That’s certainly the case with the new Apple TV+ series Jane, a charming and informative series inspired by the work of world-renowned expert on chimpanzees and beloved conservationist and animal welfare activist.

Produced by Emmy winner J.J. Johnson (Dino Dana, Ghostwriter), Sinking Ship Entertainment and the Jane Goodall Institute, the series follows the adventures of a young girl named Jane Garcia (actress Ava Louise Murchison), her best friend David (Mason Blomberg) and a stuffed monkey named Greybeard, to help protect wild animals all over the globe. The show uses a clever blend of live action and CGI to bring Greybeard and the animals featured in each episode to life.

We had the chance to chat with the show’s four-time Emmy-winning producer Matthew

Bishop about the rewards of working on such a challenging and inspiring project. “Jane has been kind of a culmination on the last decade of live-action CGI shows that we’ve been doing at Sinking Ship,” says Bishop, who is based in Toronto. “J.J. Johnson, who’s my business partner, created the series and is the brain trust on so many of our live-action/CGI series, such as Dino Dana and Ghostwriter. All the work we’ve done led us to this show, and J.J. wanted the CG animals to be as close to photoreal as we could do, so I was excited and terrified at the exact same time because it’s all done in house.”

Learning Locomotion

Bishop points out that, at times, close to 150 artists and animators work on the show’s demanding CG effects. “We have had to create over 33 animals for the first season (10 episodes). On average, each half-hour episode has about 140 VFX shots. We’ve been working

closely with biologists to learn all about the muscle structure of all these different creatures. We actually studied the gait and the locomotion of each of them, and we took the animators to the zoo to observe the animals up close. Animal locomotion experts helped us understand how different animals like wolves and lions and tigers move. Overall, it was really exciting to build on our previous experiences and create this world for kids to see things they hadn’t seen before and to get them excited about the content as well.”

Jane’s VFX team relied on Maya, as well as ZBrush and Substance on the asset side. They also used Ziva VFX for the muscle simulation, and the final render was done in Arnold. The final comp was done in Nuke. “We also have a great shader and render team to pull off the amount of shots we need per episode — not to mention, it’s all 4K and Dolby Vision with ACES (Academy Color Encoding System) color space,” Bishop points out.

To create the CG-animated version of the main character’s chimp doll, the animation team observed the original David Greybeard, the first chimpanzee studied by Goodall. Then, they built all the muscle structure, tissue and the ligaments. Scientific consultants were also used to build a full facial system, based on humans and chimpanzees, to bring him to life. “It took a village to put this together because we utilized a lot of newer technologies — even technology that’s used for autonomous cars to scan our locations so that we could have our Greybeard interact in the real world,” says show creator and producer J.J. Johnson. “And then, of course, every time Greybeard touches something, we’d have to build it.”

Bishop agrees. “Graybeard is kind of everywhere,” he says. “We really tried to lean heavily into the facial movements. Chimpanzees are the closest living relatives to humans, so we were lucky to have experts to kind of deal with human and chimp’s muscles and facial movements. We tried to add as much detail as we could within the TV timeline and budget. I’m just so proud of our team, and a massive hats off to our VFX supervisor Gary Bradley, who always strikes that right balance.”

Bishop says there are some episodes which have been more challenging than others. “We

had underwater CG environments where we featured blue whales,” he recalls. “Then there was a scene with 37 sharks. Everything is kind of over-the-top crazy, but we love it because it lets you lean into that childhood imagination. It lets our audience experience what it would be like to be chased by sharks in the ocean.”

One of the most demanding episodes was the first half hour, which features the kids tracking a polar bear in the arctic circle. “It definitely required a lot of work and we had to send a team up the west coast of Canada to secure the plates and get the right angles for the shots. We had to simulate an entire avalanche and on top of it we have a CG polar bear running in the avalanche. Every time that character is running through snow, they’re kicking up the CG snow, so we really had to dial it up to make sure everything looks as realistic as possible.”

According to Bishop, everything had to come to life for the first season in about seven months. “That was a really tight timeline, and during that time we were developing all the characters. But everyone just rallied together because Jane Goodall is considered an icon by me and everyone who worked on the show. The fact that the show is pushing Jane’s positive messages about wildlife made everyone rally behind it. We’re not doing another zom-

bie movie — we’re trying to make things better and get kids excited about the future. That’s what helped us put together such an amazing team, because I don’t think we’ve seen this level of visual effects in the kids’ TV space before.”

Praise from the G.O.A.T.

Bishop says one of the biggest proofs that the show’s visuals are outstanding came from Goodall herself. He recalls, “We showed her one of the CG renders, and she said it looked nice, but she thought it was actually a photograph. If you can fool Jane, who is the Greatest of All Time, then you know you’ve done a good job!”

Beyond the show’s cool visuals, Bishop hopes Jane will get kids excited about what they can do in their own backyard and community to help endangered animals and the planet. “Our goal with all our shows is to excite and educate them about things they can do to make an impact,” he says. “Hopefully, we will create some new environmentalists and get them pumped about animation in the process as well!” ◆

The first season of Jane is currently streaming on Apple TV+. A second season of the show is currently in production.

ANIMAL ATTRACTIONS: Each halfhour episode of Jane features about 140 VFX shots on average. These include CG versions of most of the animals, such as the lead character’s chimp doll which comes to life.

“The show is pushing Jane Goodall’s positive messages about wildlife. We’re trying to make things better for these animals and get kids excited about the future.”

— Producer Matthew Bishop

A Gentle Celebration of Friendship

Showrunner Rob Hoegee hopes Apple TV+’s Frog and Toad series will spark a new interest in the classic book property.

- By Ramin Zahed -

“I am very happy. This morning when I woke up, I felt good because the sun was shining. I felt good because I was a frog. And I felt good because I have you for a friend. I wanted to be alone. I wanted to think about how fine everything is.”

— Arnold Lobel’s Days with Frog and Toad: Alone

Arnold Lobel’s charming tales of friendship between two gentle amphibians have captivated audiences ever since the first volume of the Frog and Toad stories was published in 1970. The world created by the beloved American author and artist has inspired a wonderful new animated series, which debuted on Apple TV+ in April.

The show is exec produced and run by Emmy winner Rob Hoegee (Stillwater, Niko and the Sword of Light), with animation produced by Titmouse studio. Adrianne Lobel, Adam Lobel and Titmouse’s Chris Prynoski, Shannon Prynoski, Antonio Canobbio and Ben Kalina are also executive producers. The very impressive voice cast features Nat Faxon and Kevin Michael Richardson as Frog and Toad, as well as Cole Escola, John Hodgman, Yvette Nicole

Enthusiastic Adaptation

As Hoegee tells us in a recent interview, the Lobel books are personal favorites from his childhood. “Over the years, I sometimes get the question: if you could adapt any book what would it be,” he says. “For me, it was  Frog and Toad Are Friends. I adored the books when I was a kid, and loved them even more when reading them with my own children. Unbeknownst to me, Apple had just gotten the rights. So, when that came up as a possibility for me, I’m pretty sure I screamed. Fortunately, it was taken as a sign of my enthusiasm. I was then introduced to Adrianne and Adam Lobel, who are Arnold’s children, and shared with them my vision for a what series could be. Thankfully, it was what they

wanted to see in a show as well. So with their blessing, I got started right at the start of the pandemic.”

One of the reasons Hoegee was drawn to the stories was that they are beautiful examples of how much can be done with so little. “You have to remember that these were written as ‘easy readers,’” he explains. “There are easily millions of children who learned to read with these books. But behind that simplicity is a richness of both character and story that is undeniable. They can be funny, emotional, sweet, silly and profound, simply with the turn of a page. So many of the moments are relatable to both kids and adults. These are stories — and characters — that stick with you.”

One of the first objectives for the creative team was to bring on an art director who understood the books, the illustrative style and how they could be translated to animation. “We were fortunate in

Brown, Tom Kenny, Selene Luna, Margaret Cho and Betsy Sodaro.

finding Keika Yamaguchi for that role,” says Hoegee. “Not only is she a children’s book illustrator herself, her experience as a background painter really brought the world into focus. We knew this had to be ‘hand drawn’ in every sense. It had to look like the characters from the books come to life.”

Hoegee says one big difference is that unlike the books, which have very simple backgrounds (sometimes none at all), the animated version required a richer environment for the show in both color and detail. “Arnold Lobel’s style is so gestural in his characters, we would also have to capture that style as well,” he points out. “Those drawings are not easy to animate, so a lot of time was spent with character design to find a style that looks like the books, but can move like a cartoon. Supervising director Sarah Johnson was instrumental in helping with that as well.”

The production team used Toon Boom Harmony to produce the animation. “Replicating the scratchy, almost etching-like line work from the books was essential, and it was felt to be the application best suited for it,” says the talented showrunner.

Hoegee says the varying length of Lobel’s 20 original stories posed a challenge as they needed to be translated to 11-minute episodes. Some easily filled out the episode, while others amounted to not much more than a scene. “This would mean expanding those stories quite a bit,” he says. “On top of that, we would need to supplement the book stories with original episode ideas. The challenge

in both cases is making this new material read as if it came from the books. Arnold Lobel is a brilliant artist, and as a writer he is just as formidable. Getting his distinct style down was something our story editor Patrick Rieger and our staff writers Gia Godfrey and Lexie Kahanovitz worked very hard on.”

Critics and general readers have also discovered a subtle celebration of queer love in Lobel’s books, and that important quality is not lost in this translation. “We set out to make a faithful adaptation of the books,” says Hoegee. “In that sense, for someone wanting to look at the show through a similar lens, they’ll find that the optics still align. Everyone that worked on this show — and that includes a significant number of those who would identify as LGBTQ+ — brought their own interpretation of Frog and Toad in with them. It was important for me to let as much of their own personal expression through to the screen as possible. These are two characters formed from many different voices, but they still remain uniquely Frog and Toad — and exactly as we each remember them.”

Hoegee says he is big fan of the works of Hayao Miyazaki and Leiji Matsumoto (Space Battleship Yamato, Space Pirate Captain Harlock). “A serialized space opera after only knowing Scooby-Doo was mind-blowing for the 10-year-old me,” he notes. “It’s still my all-time favorite animated program. And even though most of his work is live action, I’m a huge Wes Anderson fan. His style and attention to detail really resonates with me.”

Respect and Connection

When asked about the secret of successfully adapting books to animated shows, Hoegee says loving the source material is the most import thing. “When you have a deep connection to the book you’re adapting (or comic book or old TV show) there is the added pressure of ‘not screwing it up.’” he notes. “Another important aspect is respecting the intent of the author or creator you are adapting. You have to find the core value of the material and make sure that shines through. Sometimes you are lucky and are able to go right to the source, as I did with Jon J. Muth on  Stillwater. In the case of  Frog and Toad, since Arnold Lobel is no longer with us, I was able to rely on Adam and Adrianne Lobel for insight when I needed it.”

As Frog and Toad find new fans around the world this season, Hoegee and his team are super proud of what they’ve been working on for years. “These are timeless characters loved by millions — including and especially everyone that worked on this show. Some on our crew almost came to tears when they learned that the ‘top secret project’ they were applying for was Frog and Toad. It’s that special to so many people. We hope that the audience feels the same sense of joy watching it that we had in making it” ◆

The first season of Frog and Toad is currently streaming on Apple TV+.

"These are two characters formed from many different voices, but they still remain uniquely Frog and Toad — and exactly as we each remember them."

— Exec producer/showrunner Rob Hoegee

AMPHIBIAN AMITY: Based on the book series by Arnold Lobel, Frog and Toad features Nat Faxon and Kevin Michael Richardson as the lead characters. Ron Funches, Fortune Feimster, Yvette Nicole Brown, Margaret Cho and Tom Kenny round out the cast list.

From Cel to Stage

Director John Caird discusses his acclaimed theatrical adaptation of Miyazaki’s masterpiece Spirited Away.

- By Charles Solomon -

Last month, U.S. audiences were treated to the filmed version of John Caird’s acclaimed theatrical adaptation of Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away. Caird, the Tony Award-winning director of Les Misérables and Nicholas Nickleby, talked about his first adaptation of an animated film to the stage in a recent interview conducted over Zoom.

Caird began the interview by addressing the fact that Miyazaki himself was not involved in the production.

“I offered him the chance to be involved, but he wanted to finish making How Do You Live? and had no creative time left for anything else,” the director explains. “I was very grateful that he trusted me to get on with it. I had a wonderful meeting with him where he gave me permission to do it. We talked a lot about the movie and how one would approach the difficulties in it, in terms of solving them theatrically.”

Spirited Away opened on March 2, 2022 to rave reviews, but it was definitely not Caird’s first success in Japan. “I’ve been working there

a long time; I’m deeply involved in Japanese theatrical culture,” he says. “My connection with Japanese theater started when I did Les Mis in Tokyo in 1987. Obviously, Miyazaki’s work is very, very different from the European tradition of literature and iconography. But I’m especially interested in the connection between traditional theater forms like Noh and Kabuki on the one hand, and Sumo on the other, which are sort of the embedded in the film.”

Caird worked with his production team to provide visual links between traditional Japanese theater and Miyazaki’s vision. “Designer Jon Bausor made Yubaba’s Bathhouse a Noh stage with the hanamichi (a runway used for entrances and exits) coming off it,” he explains. “It’s basically a model of a Noh theater that revolves all through the evening. He played to the greatest strengths of Japanese theater: You never feel you’re outside the world of Japanese culture when you’re on that set.”

Although Chihiro, the heroine of Spirited Away, is human, many of the other characters in the film are not: The kami (Shinto nature gods) who come to the bathhouse to be cleansed of

human pollution; Kaonashi, the mysterious “No Face;” the bizarre Radish Spirit; Kamajī, the avuncular six-armed figure who presides over the boiler room. Once again, Caird chose to combine Eastern and Western traditions, mixing Western-style puppetry with bunraku.

“Toby Olié, my puppet master, designed the puppets. Like all puppeteers, he is influenced in one way or another by bunraku, but he’s also influenced by a lot of other puppetry traditions,” Caird explains. “We don’t try to hide or black out the puppeteers. When you’ve got a character like Kaonashi, who has to be the one black void character, you can’t have other puppeteers going around in black suits pretending they’re not there because they would suddenly become much too interesting.”

“Jon dreamt up the idea that the puppeteers would all be wearing khaki-colored costumes that blend into the color of the set,” he continues. “They’re dressed in khaki, but they’re completely visible to the audience. I’ve come to feel that the more you show the audience how you’re doing something, the more magical it becomes. As soon as you fly Chihiro on a wire,

you’re challenging the audience to see how it’s done. When they start thinking about that, they’re not involved in the story. By opening your hands and saying, ‘It’s simple, this is how we’re doing it,’ it remains magical.”

When asked about his favorite characters in the show, Caird replies he’s fascinated by Kaonashi. Chihiro invites the solitary, mute figure to come into the bathhouse out of the rain. He’s grateful to her and attempts to repay her, stealing the wooden bath tokens that will help her complete her job. But he succumbs to the greed that pervades Yubaba’s realm, devouring all the food in sight, then engulfing the servers, like the personification of a black hole.

“Miyazaki told me he came on the character quite late in the creative process,” Caird recalls. “He invented Kaonashi to give a sort of creative focus to the center of the film, to give Chihiro a worthy antagonist. This creature who is behaving in such an appalling and selfish way is actually only doing it because he’s so lonely — that’s deeply affecting. Although he’s dangerous and destructive, he’s still redeemable. Zeniba takes him in at the end: You can imagine them happi-

ly sitting in her cottage.”

In a 2001 interview, Miyazaki said, “I wanted the main character to be a typical girl in whom a 10-year old could recognize herself. She shouldn’t be someone extraordinary, but an everyday, real person — even though this kind of character is more difficult to create. It wouldn’t be a story in which the character grows up, but a story in which she draws upon something already inside her that is brought out by the particular circumstances.”

Unlike Kaonashi, Chihiro resists the grasping Yubaba’s influence. The gold that the powerful river god leaves in gratitude and the gold Ka-

onashi produces don’t tempt her. As she works in the bathhouse, she discovers inner resources of strength, courage and love she didn’t know she possessed. She’s determined to rescue her parents and Haku, even if it means enduring hard labor and putting herself in danger. The sulky child who entered the bathhouse emerges empowered and confident, ready for her life in a new home and a new school.

“Chihiro becomes the perfect heroine because she’s incorruptible,” Caird concluded. “As Kamajī says, it’s all about love. It’s how deeply you love the people you love: That’s your defense against corruption.” ◆

“Chihiro becomes the perfect heroine because she’s incorruptible. As Kamajī says, it’s all about love. It’s how deeply you love the people you love: That’s your defense against corruption.”

- Director John Caird

THE CHIHIRO AND KAONASHI SHOW: Thanks to GKIDS’ Studio Ghibli Fest, U.S. audiences were able to enjoy the Spirited Away stage show, adapted and directed by Tony winner John Caird, filmed during the show’s 2022 run at Tokyo’s Imperial Theater.

An Animation Interlude in Pescara

The 27th edition of Cartoons on the Bay draws top animation figures to Italy.

Animation fans will be able to take a beautiful Italian journey prior to Annecy this year, since the 27th edition of the Cartoons on the Bay festival takes place May 31-June 4 at the beautiful seaside town of Pescara. Billed as an “international festival of animation, transmedia and meta-arts,” the event is sponsored by Italian pubcaster Rai and Rai Com.

Festival director Roberto Genovesi shares that the theme for this year’s event is “Real, Unreal, Virtual. Imagined worlds and imaginary worlds. Between utopia, opportunity and alienation.” “As always, Cartoons on the Bay aims to anticipate animation trends and understand their potential connections with adjacent worlds like comics, video games and social media,” he explains. “This includes not only economical, technical and editorial connections, but also social connections. For this reason, we are launching three new awards dedicated to the metaverse, gender and transmedia this year. We aim to focus on the ethical and moral implications of these new technological and cultural opportunities for children’s growth by rewarding those companies and personalities who have shown greater sensitivity and innovation.”

Iconic Talent in the Spotlight

Genovesi says he is proud of some of the top names that will be receiving honors and attending the event this year. “Ari Folman and Peter Lord will receive the Pulcinella Career Award. Ian Mackinnon, representing Mackinnon & Saunders, will receive the Pulcinella Award for Studio of the Year for their significant contribution to Guiller-

mo del Toro’s Pinocchio. We will have a special focus on the Cuphead phenomenon, with MDHR’s Maja Moldenhauer talking about the evolution of the IP from the video game to the Netflix series. We are also celebrating great talents of animation art like Ari Folman and Peter Lord, and having a focus on the German Industry to facilitate co-productions among our countries. Then we’ll discuss the latest trends and techniques from our industry.”

This year’s edition will offer three different programs: The Professional Program includes panels, talks and networking events dedicated to industry attendees. The Public Program offers concerts, live shows and screenings for the general public, while the Educational Program includes events for all grade school children and master classes for students from animation schools and universities. In addition, the festival will feature a special exhibit dedicated to the work of visual artist Monica Manganelli.

Forming New Connections

“I am certain that Italy is poised to be the

next big thing in the animation industry,” notes Genovesi. “Right now, everyone wants to collaborate with Italian producers, not only in animation but also in TV, movies and documentaries. We genuinely believe Cartoons on the Bay can be the best platform to get the world to better know our industry better and create new connections for exciting collaborations. I believe that Italian animation has some untapped superpowers on the international stage. I think Italian animation could and should be a shining example in a landscape where too many cookie-cutter cartoons exist.”

The festival will also have several different animation categories competing for the Pulcinella prizes: Preschool TV Show (2-4 years old), Upper Preschool Show (4-6 years old), Kids TV Show (7-11 years old), Youth TV Show (11+ years old), Interactive Animation, Live Action & Hybrid Show, TV Pilot, Short Film and Animated Feature. ◆

For more details, visit cartoonsbay.rai.it.

ANIMATED HONOREES: The 2023 festival features a celebration of the works of (from top left) Peter Lord, Maja Moldenhauer, Ian Mackinnon and Ari Folman, as well as a spotlight on The Cuphead Show!

An Immigrant’s Heart

Sarah Saidan’s whimsical short Home of the Heart offers a memorable look at a displaced man’s dilemma.

Sarah Saidan’s memorable and touching short Home of the Heart (À Coeur Perdu) has received numerous prizes, including the Oscar-qualifying Jury Prize for Animation at this year’s New York Intl. Children’s Festival. The beautifully crafted, 2D-animated short follows the misadventures of an Iranian immigrant in France, who goes back to his home country in search of his missing heart. The whimsical short was inspired by the real-life experiences of the talented French-Iranian director.

“I have lived in France for over a decade, but I remember the time that someone who really didn’t know me asked me when I planned to go home,” Saidan recalls. “It was in the afternoon, so I looked at my watch, but then, I realized he meant my home country of Iran, not my apartment In Paris. I’ve had many of these bitter but funny moments as an immigrant, but this one made me question where my real home was. I’ve never felt like I belonged in France, and when I had gone back to Iran, I didn’t recognize it anymore because everything had changed so much. The question haunted me. They say home is where the heart is, so I decided to make a humorous short based on the premise: What if you don’t know where your heart is?”

A Universal Tale

The director adds, “I think the short is, more or less, the story of any immigrant. My sister and I, we are both immigrants — in different countries — so this story is quite personal to us.”

Saidan began writing her short in early 2019,

“They say home is where the heart is, so I decided to make a humorous short based on the premise: What if you don’t know where your heart is?”

and it took about three years for the team to finish the project, which was done during the height of the pandemic years in France. “Around 25 people participated in different stages of the work,” says Saidan.

“For the animation, we had four animators for four months. The animation was done in Toon Boom, which allowed us to have a mix of 2D drawn and digital cut-out animation. It’s practical and helped us save some time on the production.”

One of the main challenges for Saidan was visualizing how difficult it is for a foreigner to learn saying numbers in French. “The main character of the short, Omid, is still not very good at numbers and he finds them strange, but he is a cashier, so it is a problem for him,” the director explains.” I had to show the weird construction of the numbers and Omid trying to remember and pronounce them in a way it conveyed this difficulty. I remember, I kept re-doing this scene until the last moment. This was literally the last scene we animated!”

Saidan made her first animated project back when she was a 21-year-old university student in Tehran studying graphic design. “We had one animation course and I made a few seconds of animation, but as soon as I saw my drawings move

on the screen, the excitement it brought me was incomparable to anything I had ever experienced! I knew I wanted to do this forever.”

Among her many influences and idols, the director mentions Michaël Dudok de Wit (Father and Daughter), Torill Kove (The Danish Poet), Hayao Miyazaki, Caroline Leaf, Yuri Norstein, Peter Lord, Wes Anderson and Michel Gondry. “I also admire the intelligence, style and humor of Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis and her comic strips,” Saidan notes. “Each time I make a film, it allows me to meet new people. On my last project, I got to know so many amazing people. Some of them have now become my good friends with whom I am making a new film together.”

When asked about the lessons she learned from the making of her short, Saidan says one of the most important things is to remember that a director is responsible for everything that happens at the studio or on the film. “You should not be shy or too intimidated to ask too many questions. You have to stay informed about everything,” she says. “Remember that you must be, at least, a little crazy to want to make animated films, but if you are, good for you! There is nothing more magical than making animated films. Do it passionately and work will come to you!” ◆

NOSTALGIA FOR A LOST HOME: Sarah Saidan’s short centers on an Iranian man who has to adjust to his new life in France with his family.

- Writer-director Sarah Saidan

The Art of Creating Fungus Zombies

The brilliant VFX team behind HBO’s mega-hit The Last of Us takes us behind the scenes of the acclaimed series.

By Trevor Hogg

HBO’s hugely popular adaptation of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us game has been one of the biggest small-screen success stories of the year. The first season of the show began with a viewership of 4.7 million, but by the time the final ninth episode aired the number had risen to 8.2 million leading to a Season Two renewal. Overseeing the production are co-creators, executive producers, directors and writers Neil Druckmann, who was also writer and creative director of the original game, and Emmy winner Craig Mazin (Chernobyl).

“I’ve got to say, from beginning to end, this whole experience has been incredibly surreal,” says Druckmann. “Craig Mazin and I were standing in front of a giant poster for The Last of Us and I couldn’t help but think back to the days when I pitched this thing to George Romero [as a student at Carnegie Mellon] and he didn’t like the idea.”

An Original Approach

Druckmann says the biggest difference between the game and the series is that in the game, there are character action loops that involve fighting things, reversals and puzzles that help to immerse the player in the world and create this empathetic link with a playable character. “Because of that, what you’re seeing and experiencing is either through the eyes of Joel, Ellie or Sarah,” he explains. “We don’t have those restrictions in the show. We can focus on other characters and humanize their obstacles and enemies. For example, in Episode 103 we tell this intimate, beautiful ‘low-key story’ about the romance between Bill and Frank that has almost no action in it, but is just as emotionally moving as the rest of the show, if not more so.”

Everything on the project was grounded in reality. Even the parasitic fungus cordyceps that decimates the human population is based on real organisms that ravage ant colonies. “We felt that given there was a science fiction aspect, the more grounded things were, the bet-

ter it would feel,” notes Craig Mazin. “We were going to be handheld almost exclusively to create a sense a realism and keep the color palette muted. For us, the beauty always came from nature and fungus. Not from, say, the wreckage that we have left behind as a civilization.”

In this world, the most vicious of the infected humans are categorized as Clickers and Bloaters. “We started with a simple notion that it would be best to have as much practical work as we could. We have to design the head of a Clicker to fit on a person, but not look like he’s wearing a helmet and enhance it with CG or build an asset based on that character. [Production designer] Barrie Gower and his team had created the design. Then, we scanned, built an asset and made 12 Clickers if we wanted, but they’re all based on a real person in a real thing. That allows the infected to be as tactile as we wanted them to be. It was a beautiful meshing of two disciplines.”

About 90 percent of the prosthetics were built by BGFX in London and shipped to Cal-

gary, where principal photography for the show took place. “We had a micro team out in Calgary for the 12 months they were going to shoot and it was headed by a chap called Paul Spateri [prosthetics supervisor] who I’ve known for 20 odd years,” explains Barrie Gower. “It was him and three individuals from the U.K. and they had to react to things like where a fungus was bursting out of somebody’s leg.”

Another big special effects highlight was the depiction of a swarm of infected which emerge from underneath a cul-de-sac in Episode 105. “We had potentially 60 characters in prosthetic makeup plus the Clickers and it shot for maybe eight days,” says Gower. “Every single day they needed a brand-new duplicate set of prosthetic appliances because it’s all made out of silicone, you remove all of the appliances and destroy them with mineral oil. The following day, the brand-new appliances had to be painted to match what they had before. It was a huge undertaking.”

Despite the overall emphasis of capturing as much as possible on camera, there were still 3,000 visual effects shots that had to be created by DNEG, Wētā FX, Distillery VFX, Zero VFX, Important Looking Pirates, beloFX, Storm Studios, Wylie Co., RVX, Assembly, Crafty Apes, UPP, RISE, Framestore, Digital Domain and MAS. “Because we follow the journey of Joel and Ellie from Episode 101 through to 109, we have ev-

erything from open city, set extensions, destruction and photoreal animals that are infected,” remarks VFX supervisor Alex Wang. “When I would go onto scouts with the director [of an episode] it was important for me to always ask, ‘What do you like about this location? Do you like the architecture of that building or this?’ It gave me an understanding. They like these surroundings, so I’m not going to have a bluescreen. I’m going to work on top of this. There is something to be said about just having our actors in a real location.”

The production also required extensive set extensions including the Quarantine Zone in Boston. “The set was amazing,” recalls Wang. “It’s a direct translation of the game as far as a world where its overpopulated so very dirty, grimy and unkept. We had to extend everything above 12 feet and created all these powerlines going everywhere like you see in third world countries. We have some amazing wide shots.”

Going for the Real Thing

Of course, shooting outdoors led to the production being extremely vulnerable to the whims of the natural elements. “In November 2021, we were in Canmore shooting the scene where Joel finds his brother Tommy in a village filled with survivors, and that was supposed to be covered in snow,” recalls special effects supervisor Joel Whist. “When we

showed up there was no snow! That was excruciating because we couldn’t use fake snow, paper or dolomite, because it had to go in and not affect the environment. It was all real snow that we had to truck in, hand dress and hand blow everywhere.”

“I thought Calgary would have more places of destruction that we could build upon like what they did with Children of Men,” reveals production designer John Paino. “Having worked in New York and Los Angeles and Atlanta, you always find some old army base or naval yard. There’s none of that. In Canada everything gets rebuilt and looks nice.”

Paino says the biggest challenge was creating the illusion of the characters traveling from the East Coast of the U.S to the West Coast, while shooting the show in one province in Canada. “We also had to provide the sense of time and seasons, which meant the greens had to be right,” he notes. “For each episode we had a big folder of textures and colors. I always tend to make look books at the beginning, but this was great because Craig was obsessed with rotting walls and textures of things as they should be.” ◆

The first season of The Last of Us is currently streaming on HBO Max (or Max as of May 23). Production on the second season will reportedly begin later this year.

“Because we follow the journey of Joel and Ellie from Episode 101 through to 109, we have everything from open city, set extensions, destruction and photoreal animals that are infected.”

— VFX supervisor Alex Wang

DIGITAL WORLD - BUILDING: The Last of Us featured many instances of digital set extensions and heavy use of screens to depict the main character’s cross-country journey to save humanity from a deadly fungus outbreak.

Autonomous Animator

How to Apply Gas Station Principles to Your Studio!

In an age where, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 70% of all startups fail within two to five years and only 25% of new businesses last 15 years or longer, how can you maximize your chances of out-pacing the competition?

The latest gas station model is a great business case study, as they have mastered the art of serving their clients far beyond the gas pump.

Get People in the Door at Any Cost

Did you know that gas stations make very little to almost no profit by selling gas? With overhead expenses, freight, credit card fees and more rolled into the price of pumping a gallon of gas, the station could be making as little as two cents of profit per gallon, sometimes even less. That being the case, even selling 5,000 gallons per day, that’s a meager net daily profit of $100.

So why bother? And how do some gas stations not only stay in business for decades but thrive based on making $100 per day? The answer is: They don’t.

The truth is, the most successful gas stations use gas simply as a mechanism to get people in the door. And once they’re in the door, that’s where the real business takes place. As one of my mentors once said, the expense is in the front end, the profit is in the back end.

The successful gas station model offers an unprecedented number of relevant and peripheral services to all of their clients, ranging from the traditional snack and beverage options to full, custom made-to-order breakfast and hot sandwiches station, freshly baked piz-

za, self-serve frozen yogurt bar and more — even wi-fi dining areas where customers can relax and enjoy their meal before heading back out on the road.

So, copy this model and do what it takes to get people in the door, even if it’s expensive. Because once they’re in the door, they’re more likely to spend more money on more relevant, peripheral services — even at premium rates.

Not All About Prices!

Surprisingly to many, it’s almost never all

considered, you would most certainly drive across town to a particular gas station because you know they offer those services and you can benefit from them conveniently.

Applying this concept to your studio, if the only reason clients come to you is because you’re the cheapest they can find, then they don’t truly value your services and/or you’re not offering them enough peripheral benefits for them to truly value your business. Success and longevity boils down to how much better and in how many more ways you serve your clients than the competition.

about the price. While price can be a factor, you can use the gas station principle to illustrate the bigger picture.

Considering that in most cities you can find gas on almost any corner, do you really drive across town to save a few cents per gallon? Maybe on occasion. And there are always going to be extreme bargain shoppers out there, but for most people, they won’t drive across town to save three cents per gallon unless there are other compelling reasons for their decision.

For example, maybe you’re hungry and a freshly made-to-order sub would hit the spot. And, oh yeah, you have that cookout this weekend and could use a few bags of ice. And that one gas station is the only one that freshly brews the coffee you like. All of these things

If all you do is provide animation, consider new ways your animation services could be utilized by your clients. For example, if you produce animation that’s used only for a client’s website, what about developing a comprehensive package where the animation could be used on social media, through email blasts, on internet ads and more — and then offer to take care of that for them for an additional fee? Suddenly, your one-shot, one-use service has increased exponentially in potential benefit and client use-value.

Make it so your clients have no need to go to anyone else for anything else peripheral to the services you offer. If you have already built trust with your clients, they will appreciate you letting them know you can help them in more ways than one. And if you promote these services from the get-go, you will have a greater chance of landing more new clients due to a wider range of benefits that clients can reap from engaging in business with you. ◆

Martin Grebing is the president of Funnybone Animation Studios. He can be reached at  funnyboneanimation.com.

- by Martin Grebing -

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie

Client Magnets: SpongeBob and Patrick know the value of promoting a variety of peripheral services to customers.

It’s always a pleasure to spend time with the lovely and brilliant President of Henson TV, Halle Stanford. The Emmy-winning pro has been super busy writing and exec producing the second season of the acclaimed series Harriet the Spy (which premieres on Apple TV+ on May 5).

My son, husband, pets, and I are all up at 5:30 a.m. – but we always seem to be smiling at breakfast. (I’m also mentally preparing to brave traffic on the way to our studio lot in Hollywood.)

Pit stop at Jim Henson’s Creature Shop – my favorite magical place to visit – to chat with two of my heroes, creative supervisor Pete Brooke (right) and fabrication supervisor Scott Johnson (left), about Wowzabout, a new project in development that I created. Having a lunchtime check in with my favorite Henson BFFs, our inhouse heads of branding and consumer products Nicole Goldman (with her dog Yofi) and Melissa Segal, respectively.

Meeting with two of my mentors and show creators whom I deeply admire — Alex Rockwell (center) and Jeff Muncy (left) to explore ways to reintroduce our beloved Pajanimals.

Our superstar interns (Isha Rajesh, standing, and Emily Vinkels, left) practice pitching their original show ideas to our creative team (me and my colleagues Gabe Monje-Paulson and Delaney Shiokari).

As everyone’s favorite amphibian tips his hat to Hollywood, I am

A quick cuddle fest on the couch with my dogs Scooter, Lucy and Bean is the perfect welcome home!

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Talking with my Harriet the Spy collaborator and co-EP, Terissa Kelton (center right) from Rehab Entertainment, and production colleague Tim O’Brien (right), and BFF/producer/puppeteer/goofball John Tartaglia (center left) about one of my favorite projects in development, The Kissing Hand

outta here!

Just putting the finishing touches on a few things from my home office before I turn in for the day.