Web Animation Watch: 'Cursed', 'Mehua', 'Overwatch: Rise and Shine' and more
The Internet has been a wonderful thing for animators, making it easier than ever before for them to get their stuff out there. But in this new wild frontier how are you supposed to know where to find the good stuff? Here at AFA's Web Animation Watch, we try to make that a little easier, bringing you the best in online animation, new and old.
Have you produced something that you think we could feature in a future iteration? Or just found something you think we should take a look at? Drop us a line today!
Sonic The Hedgehog: Time Trouble
This new one from WAW stalwarts Mashed was made to celebrate the release of Sonic Mania. In the short, 2017 model Sonic The Hedgehog travels in time to visit original model Sonic to try to convince him to take a different path. It also features plenty of gags and references that will amuse anybody who is familiar with Sonic's history and some of its less successful periods. It's Directed and animated by Tobi Knitt and written by Tom Shreeve, based on an idea by Eddie Bowley.
MEHUA (NSFW)
One of a number of student films released by the Paris art school Gobelins, this is a dark and impactful story based in an ancient South-American civilization (Mayan or Aztec perhaps?). Two young women, intended for the ultimate "honour" of becoming a sacrifice to the Gods, decide to fight back. It's very adult stuff with an intense mood and violence (and some nudity, but in a completely non-sexualized context) that will make it stick in your memory for some time. Directed by Camille Aigloz, Lucy Vallin, Michiru Baudet, Simon Anding Malandin, Diane Tran Duc and Margo Roquelaure.
Overwatch: Rise and Shine
Regular WAW readers will know that we are big fans of the series of shorts videogame studio Blizzard made to tie in with their popular Overwatch game. Not for the first time, we had assumed that they had finished releasing them, but recently they surprised us with yet another of their character-focused short. As with all their Overwatch Animations, this is beautifully made, with astounding character animation that really brings their stars to life.
Cursed
This lovely slice of 2D animation features a Disney style fairy-tale villainess who finds herself with a strange and unexpected new affliction (that we won't spoil for you here). It features a lovely visual style with some wonderful textures, giving it a look that's part picture book, part classic Disney. Produced by Studio AFK a two person team made up of Merel van den Broek and Nicole Derksen. You can check out their Patreon page here and also check out a behind the scenes video here!
Thor Ragnarok Trailer Parody
There's a lot of folks making parody videos out there. Toon Sandwich have hit on the novel idea of basing their parodies not on finished movies but on trailers- allowing their spoofs to be very up-to date! Honestly, the actual gags aren't always the strongest but they deserve a lot of credit for how well they recreate the visuals in the original trailers.
