Pete the Bookbindery Guildmaster wrote a release-day post for the animated film and I'm just now getting around to sharing it with you. Here's how it starts:
When Andrew Peterson and Chris Wall began talking about turning the Wingfeather books into an animated series, I remember thinking, Wow, that’s a great idea—but let’s be serious guys…Two years later, here we are premiering the animated short film (both pilot and proof-of-concept) and it’s everything I hoped it would be and more. The team could have set out to make something simpler, like a Saturday morning cartoon, and while I know they could have managed that, I’d have been disappointed. The simplicity of that kind of animation wouldn’t have lived up to my inner-eye’s picture of the world and the characters, and while it would have been a fine accomplishment, it might have fallen short of its real potential.On the other hand, they might have chosen to chase the Pixar-style (of animation) with its wildly expensive sheen of cinematic perfection that requires hundreds of people and gazillions of dollars. If that had been their tack the result might have looked like a good try or a noble effort visually, and the story, no matter how good, might have been missed in the comparison.But part of what makes this film so special is the vision the team has developed and stuck to. It’s neither a cheap cartoon, nor a fully-CGI Pixar-knockoff. It’s something entirely other. And by daring to be different, it becomes something wholly its own.
Thank you so much for your endorsement, Pete. To read the rest of his article, click here.
This week, Madame Sidler is reading chapters 31-34 of On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness. Check back on Friday for an excerpt and discussion, and meanwhile, head to the forum to connect with fellow readers. We've got some fun conversations going on. :-)Bonus: Andrew just released an EP and has a new full-length album on the way. Here's an interview he gave recently where he talks about those two projects.