After recreating the trailer for “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” in LEGO, this 14-year-old young man was hired to animate a scene from the animated film currently in theaters!
Preston Mutanga’s name might not ring a bell, but everyone who helped make Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse a box office hit got to see his work on the big screen.
As reported by The New York Times (via Variety), Preston Mutanga is a 14-year-old from Toronto who was called in to work on a scene in Marvel’s latest animated film after recreating the trailer for the feature. , plan for plan, with LEGO. He then posted his “remake” on Twitter on January 2 (see post below).
The producers of Across the Spider-VersePhil Lord and Chris Miller then saw the clip and were impressed – not to mention the two know a thing or two about creating LEGO-inspired footage since they’re the directors of 2014’s The Great Lego Adventure. So when they decided to add a LEGO scene in Across the Spider-Verse, they contacted Preston Mutanga. Chris Miller told the New York Times:
We found out it was a 14 year old who did it and thought, ‘This looks incredibly sophisticated for a non-adult and a non-professional’. It blew us all away, including some of the best animators in the world.
Young Preston Mutanga meanwhile said he started animating as a child after his father introduced him to the Blender software which he “immediately got hooked on”. The teenager added: “I watched a lot of YouTube videos to teach me some things.”
A DREAM COME TRUE
Remotely from Toronto, the young man therefore spent several weeks animating a LEGO sequence for the second part of the adventures of Miles Morales and his companions. While he had regular online dates with Chris Miller to track his progress, he said he mostly learned how much things can change during the creative process.
“The LEGO Movie is inspired by people making movies with Lego bricks at home“, added Phil Lord. “That’s what made us want to make the film. Then the idea in Spider-Verse is that a hero can come from anywhere. And here is this heroic young person who is inspired by the film that was inspired by people like him.“So the circle is complete.
Still in high school, Preston Mutanga is now well on his way to achieving his career goal of becoming a full-time entertainer: “I loved the first film and was so excited for the second, so working with the people who actually made this masterpiece was honestly like a dream.”
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is currently on view at your nearest movie theater.