The Skydance Media studio (“Top Gun Maverick”) has unveiled exclusively for the Annecy Festival 2022 the first images of its very first animated film “Luck”, expected on the AppleTV + platform for next August.
Certainly, the American studio Skydance Media is on all fronts! Leading the world box office thanks to Top Gun Maverick, the company is already preparing for the future with the launch next August on the AppleTV+ platform of its very first animated film, entitled Luck. This new film by Peggy Holmes (Tinkerbell and the Pirate Fairy) follows the adventures of Sam, a former orphan who has never found an adoptive family, considered the luckiest person in the world. However, his life will change following the meeting of the black cat Bob and the discovery of the marvelous world of the Land of Chance.
A panel organized around the film by the Annecy Festival 2022 notably brought together director Peggy Holmes, screenwriter Kiel Murray, producer David Eisenmann and even the director of the Skydance animation department, Yuriko Senoo. An audience of great talents, therefore, to accompany the revelation of the first images of Luck.
The feature film takes its inspiration from artists adept at body comedy, such as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Carole Bennett. For the film team, it was essential that the bad luck at the heart of the film not be confused with any form of clumsiness, but also that the story be rooted in reality. Thus, screenwriter Kiel Murray went to meet orphaned adults to discuss their experiences, and how the absence of a family has become a strength for them as well as part of the identity they have built for themselves. .
Significant prep work was also required to pace sequences involving Sam’s extraordinary bad luck; director Peggy Holmes, previously the choreographer of many successful films (Wayne’s World, Hocus Pocus…) but also a director of music videos and commercials in the 80s, was thus able to draw on her past experiences to bring the necessary authenticity to the project and to put themselves at the service of the physical humor of the film.
Skydance Productions Who said black cats are bad luck?
Many Broadway personalities lend their voices to the characters in the film, starting with Eva Noblezada (Miss Saigon), chosen to camp Sam; in the French version, the latter is interpreted by the singer Louane. Also note that Bob is played by Simon Pegg, while Jane Fonda and Whoopi Goldberg complete the voice cast of the film.
Although absent from the panel, it is also worth mentioning John Lasseter. Back in business five years after his ousting from Pixar studios due to inappropriate behavior, the American producer and director was indeed appointed by the founder of Skydance David Ellison as head of the studio’s animation department.
Strongly contested by spokespersons for #MeToo and Time’s Up, his appointment had notably led to the resignation of Emma Thompson, originally chosen to lend her voice to one of the characters in the film. Refusing to discuss the accusations against the latter, director Peggy Holmes, however, told the panel that she sees Lasseter as an ultra-creative mentor, “capable of finding the solution to any narrative problem”.
Luck, the very first animated film by Skydance Media studios, will be released exclusively on the AppleTV+ platform on August 5th.