Every once in a while, a small, delightful project surfaces to remind you why you love the genre. Case in point, Wesley Louis' The Mighty Grand Piton is currently making waves, thanks to an excellent 90-second short that will hopefully lead to bigger and better things.
Speaking to Fader, Louis described the project as, "
I don’t think we’re used to seeing animation with a mainstream aesthetic that depicts West Indian culture. I actually googled Caribbean anime and the only thing that came up consistently was Pirates of the Caribbean fan art. It’s exciting and daunting to think that TMGP could be the first."
As for how the concept first came about, Louis explained, "
I was directing a commercial for a company that featured anime-style robots, and while I had some down time I did a quick sketch with the hashtag #CaribbeansLikeRobotsToo. That was in June 2017, so it took about a year and a half for me to actually start production. I pitched the idea to my company ‘The Line Animation,’ a studio I own and co-founded with five others: Tim McCourt, Max Taylor, Sam Taylor, James Duveen and Bjorn Aschim
I also wanted to exploit an animation pipeline that we developed along with a VR company called No Ghost who we currently share a studio with in East London. Using this pipe line we implemented 3D techniques that give a hand drawn animation cell look. It was great to collaborate with them again."
Last year, Crunchyroll revealed plans to produce original anime through a different subsidiary of its parent company (AT&T) and this seems like the type of project that deserves at least a phone conference meeting.
The Mighty Grand Piton is a short film about a young British girl, Connie, who travels to the Caribbean Island of Saint Lucia for her school holidays with her family. There, she accidentally awakens a giant robot buried under the Twin Piton mountains on the south of the Island. This robot seems compelled to protect Saint Lucia but his origins are mysterious. No one knows where he came from or how long he’s been there. During the many years he’s lain dormant, The Mighty Grand Piton, became nothing more than the stuff of legend.