Buckle up, because Skydance Animation and the legendary producer and director John Lasseter are lassoing the moon for the animated film industry!
Blush
Skydance Media, the studio behind hits like World War Z, True Grit, Jack Reacher, Terminator Genisys, Star Trek Beyond, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, and dozens of other feature films, has released Blush, a short animated film produced in collaboration with Apple TV+. The short had its world premiere on June 13th at the Tribeca Film Festival as part of a presentation of animated films. Skydance’s new slate of films and television shows, led by industry great John Lasseter, is aesthetically gorgeous and emotionally touching.
Blush is a charming love story set in the expanse of space. The deeper message, however, is much more than that. The central theme of this tale is the creation of a new life and the discovery of the universe’s ability to heal and save us. This delightful story features an astronaut who is also a horticulturist. By anyone’s standards, he’s a remarkable young guy. Unfortunately, his spaceship crashes into a barren world composed of unrelenting gray rock. He tries to make the most of it by using the plant he took with him as a small supply of oxygen, but it ends up dying in challenging conditions. Until a second spacecraft slams into the planet, his destiny appears to be sealed. The trapped protagonist is rescued by a female extraterrestrial aboard the new spacecraft. When she blushes, the two of them fall in love. This is a visual story, brought to life with ethereal strands of sparkling images evocative of Lasseter’s early work on Pixar masterpieces like Toy Story. With John Lasseter’s support, writer and director John Mateo conjures this extraterrestrial rescuer into life with dazzling effect.
Luck
The feature-length, animated comedy Luck explores the age-old answers of why some people seem to be naturally lucky and others are always unlucky. Premiering August 5th, 2022 on Apple TV+, this is Skydance Media’s very first fully animated film and John Lasseter’s virgin foray into an animated film separate from Disney, following his departure from all of Disney’s animation areas.
After accidentally coming upon the unseen world of bad and good luck, the protagonist, the “unluckiest girl in the world,” must work with the magical creatures in that world to discover a powerful force and turn her fortunes around.
Directed by Peggy Holmes, Luck has a cast that reads like a who’s who, including the ever-youthful Simon Pegg voicing the character of Bob, Jane Fonda voicing The Dragon, and the venerable Whoopie Goldberg in the role of voicing The Captain.
Spellbound
Spellbound is a much-anticipated animated musical coming out of Skydance Animation, headed by John Lasseter. Lasseter is previously known for his successful run with Disney and Pixar, where he worked as an animator, writer, and producer. As one of the founders of Pixar, John Lasseter is credited with much of the success there as chief creative officer. With Skydance, Lasseter is bringing his A-game to Spellbound.
Spellbound is directed by Vicky Jensen and has a release date scheduled for November 11th of 2022 on Apple TV+. So far, the cast of Spellbound is shrouded in mystery, but the plot summary is a story of a young teenage girl who must use her newfound magical powers to defend her family and her kingdom against opposing forces of dark and light.
Based on the gushing, positive reviews of Blush, the animated movies Luck and Spellbound promise to bring the best of John Lasseter’s creative genius to the shores of Skydance Animation. We look forward to these and many movies from Lasseter’s imagination that are both touching and entertaining.