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New to the Archive
Date: 12/11/2020 15:13
Newly added to the Digital Film Archive, the Animation collection showcases a plethora of styles from some of the local pioneers in this vibrant sector. The collection comprises works from production companies including Paper Owl Films and Flickerpix, works that demonstrate technical accomplishment, artistic talent and captivating storytelling.
Ahead of the collection launch, we spoke to Matthew Bradley, Writer/Director of the Alt Animation production, Whatever Happened to the Wuzzlegumps. Reflecting on the production, Bradley describes Wuzzlegumps as, “undeniably the biggest success I’ve had in my career.” Whilst the short film represents a professional highpoint, the story itself was inspired by, “the inevitable setbacks you will experience working in the creative industries”. Bradley had been working on a pilot for a pre-school series before Wuzzlegumps which, he stated, “didn’t look like it was going anywhere”. He wondered “what would happen to a preschool show that gets cancelled, where might these characters might go?. These questions marked the starting point for Whatever Happened to the Wuzzlegumps?.
Asked to describe the overall style of Wuzzlegumps, Bradley notes that it is, “unique in the sense that it’s a mockumentary, like The Office or Parks & Recreation but it’s animated. It has a grounded format but everything taking place within that structure can be as ridiculous as you could ever imagine.
Most of the team’s experience is in working on preschool series, but Wuzzlegumps is aimed at adults so it’s stylistically very different from anything we had worked on prior to it and I think the team really delivered while working in this new way.”
The singular vision that drive the storytelling element of the film, extends to the look of Wuzzlegumps. “Visually, the world has a textured, watercolour style that we had to work out how to implement while keeping the files light enough to be manageable,” observes Bradley. “ALT Animation’s creative director, Lee McQuade devised a pipeline for how to do this using Adobe’s Creative Suite programs, including Flash, After Effects and Photoshop.”
Bradley is quick to acknowledge the input of the team that helped him realise his ambitions for Wuzzlegumps. “I was already a fan of the comedians (Emmy Blotnick, Joel Kim Booster & Guy Branum
) in the voice-cast so getting to work with them was a very surreal and exciting experience. Seeing the animation team excel while working in a new style and deliver such a polished final product was incredibly impressive. I felt lucky to be working with such a dedicated, gifted team and to see what they produced now playing in festivals around the world is a real testament to their talents. I’m very thankful to Northern Ireland Screen for selecting the project for funding.”