The official Pencils Vs Pixels trailer for the upcoming documentary has been released. It featured interviews of filmmakers and artists, as they discuss the evolution of 2D to CG animation.
The documentary held its world premiere at the 2023 Annecy International Animation Film Festival; it’s currently slated to be released on November 7 on VOD.
The video highlights the importance of 2D hand-drawn animation in the Disney Renaissance. During this period, iconic animated movies like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King revolutionized the way people feel about animation. It also shows the impact of hand-drawn animation today, after technology changed the landscape of animation.
Check out the Pencils Vs Pixels trailer below
“Pencils Vs Pixels is a celebration of the unique magic of 2D hand-drawn animation and an exploration of how the Disney Renaissance of the late 1980s and early 1990s led to an animation boom that was quickly upended by the computer animation revolution that followed,” reads the synopsis. “Narrated by Ming-Na Wen, the docufilm features many of the legendary artists who brought these now-classic films to life as they guide us through the last few decades of animation and into the future that’s yet to come.”
The documentary film is co-directed by Bay Dariz and Phil Earnest from a script written by Dariz. The creative team also includes editor Mike Hugo, and cinematographers Dustin Supencheck, Michael Delano, and Chris Haggerty. Executive producers are Shannon Houchins, Noor Ahmed, and Christopher Joe, with Dariz and Tom Bancroft producing. The project hails from Strikeback Studios and Hideout Pictures.