Confirmed Interviewee List:

• Floyd Norman is confirmed to be interviewed!

• Directors of Cartoon Saloon & SPA Studios have confirmed their interest!

• James Baxter has confirmed his interest!
  

• Jorge R. Gutierrez is confirmed to be interviewed!
  
   

Full list here!

Everyone has beloved hand-drawn animated shows and films. They were pivotal in our childhoods. They fascinate us, inspire our hearts, and bring us iconic characters we cherish.

Recently, however, 2D animation seemed to take a back seat to the newer technological capabilities of CG animation. Potentially bringing a permanent end to hand-drawn animated features from Hollywood and perhaps the world would follow their lead...

Hand-Drawn: Documentary discovers the persistence of this classic art form since then, surviving through new styles and approaches, in efforts from independent animators to mainstream studios! The film examines what continues to draw us to this technique. With particular attention to the connections between animator and animation, and links between the old and new, to better understand why hand-drawn animation still resonates with us all.

The idea for Hand-Drawn progressively formed over recent years while following many hand-drawn animated projects, studying the art form myself, and following the growing discussion around the medium in the modern digital era. As more and more hand-drawn projects have been popping up, mostly in the indie space, such as the traditionally animated video game "CUPHEAD", we decided to pursue making Hand-Drawn a reality!


Pictured: Aidan Fantinatto, Felicity Morland, Samantha Youssef

I set out to direct and produce this film (Felicity Morland, director and producer), joined by my partner Aidan Fantinatto (associate producer). Our shared life-long passion for all things animation has inspired us to set out on an exploration to discover the universal appeal of hand-drawn animation, its history, and its ongoing adaptive course.

Our small family Canadian team is joined by filmmaker Robert Fantinatto (director of "I DREAM OF WIRES") as supervising producer.


Pictured: Claude Chiasson, Roger Chiasson

We began work on this documentary in March 2018, dedicating our time to interview talented animation professionals close by to Toronto, Canada. So far we have interviewed:

• Bill Plympton - Indie American Animation Legend ("YOUR FACE", "GUARD DOG")
• Tina Nawrocki - Traditional video game animator ("CUPHEAD")
• Samantha Youssef - Disney animator ("THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG", "ENCHANTED") and Studio Technique Director
• Nancy Beiman - Disney credited animator ("FANTASIA 2000", "HERCULES")
• Roger Chiasson - longtime animator at Disney, Nickelodeon, and many others!
  ("THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME", "ROCKO'S MODERN LIFE")
• Naseer Pasha - anime-inspired animator (Netflix's "CASTLEVANIA")

Pictured: Tina Nawrocki 

It is a must to also include the perspectives of hand-drawn animators overseas to develop a well-rounded look at today's hand-drawn animation scene.

We've invested so much to lift HAND DRAWN off the ground and now, at this stage of development, we ask fellow 2D animation enthusiasts to please consider backing Hand Drawn so that we can capture and share this story with everyone.

After the film is completed we plan on submitting it to film & animation festivals. As a Canadian crew, we're looking for funds to cover our overseas interviews & production hard costs. 
Anything raised above our minimum goal will go directly to improving production. Please read the details for our goals below (stretch goals must be reached during our main campaign).
 

Goal #1

• Raise a minimum of $15,000 for this project, this will ensure Hand Drawn is completed properly! We will be able to interview, with their participation: Walt Disney Animation animators (James Baxter, Floyd Norman and more), many other USA-based prominent hand-drawn animators/studios, Sergio Pablos and other "KLAUS" creators at SPA Studios, creators at Cartoon Saloon and any others we can fit in!

Goal #2

• Stretch Goal of $20,000 - Animator's Dream Edition, an extended director's cut will be made! More animators will be interviewed from more locations, including France's booming 2D animation scene.

Goal #3

• Stretch Goal of $25,000 - Blu-ray Edition will be produced and made available to backers of $15 or higher at an additional cost of roughly $15 (TBA) per copy. As well as MORE content included within.

Our goal is FIXED meaning we need your donations to ensure Hand-Drawn is completed!

Please take a moment to review our perks. You can choose multiple perks, as many as you like. Take your time to look through everything on offer as we have some value bundles for backers that would like one of everything.

A closer look at our Perks:

Poster (digital) / Postcard / Enamel Pin / Eraser / #2 (HB) Pencil & Col-erase Non-photo blue pencil / Sticker bundle!

Cuphead style artwork PRINTS signed by Tina Nawrocki

10 x 10" Cuphead style artist self-portrait PRINT signed by Tina Nawrocki

Signed copy: Samantha Youssef's Movement & Form Volume 1

We also have some fun things planned as our campaign reaches its milestones:

• 35% -  New clip of a Hand Drawn interview!
• 50% - Extended Interview #1 with former DISNEY animator & now STUDIO TECHNIQUE director: Samantha Youssef
• 80% - Extended Interview #2 + hand-drawn animation demonstration video with CUPHEAD Animator: Tina Nawrocki
• 100% - Extended Interview #3 featuring indie animation legend Bill Plympton with a closer look at his studio and artwork!
• 130% - ?
   

Throughout our campaign, we will be updating our progress and the confirmed list of animators to be interviewed. Also a few other surprises along the way.
 

Other notes for Backers:

• During the campaign, all perks $15 or over receive the 4K digital download of Hand Drawn!

• PLEASE NOTE: digital release date may be up to 1 year later than the theatrical screening premiere. Backers will receive their digital download at least 1 month before public release. Estimated to be released in 2020.

• You can select multiple perks but only one at a time. There's no way to select multiple perks at once on Indiegogo for now.

• Paypal donations can be sent to paypal.me/handdrawn
  (Please tick the "goods and services" checkbox. If you want to claim a perk please make note of which one you would like.)

Our main risk is not raising the funds to complete Hand-Drawn. However, we are positive our supporters who share our passion for hand-drawn animation will want to see the film happen.

The other risk is that approached animators will not be able to participate in the film, we will do our best to schedule them in. That said, we are already on track to interview many wonderful animators.

Please share our project and share often!

You can help us by spreading the word of #handdrawnfilm to your friends, family, and fellow animation lovers on social media! Here's the link to copy and post: https://igg.me/at/handdrawn

Additionally, if you have leads (ie, direct contact info) for current 2D animators that we may want to interview for the film, please send those to handdrawnfilm @ gmail . com

Thank you! We're looking forward to making and sharing this film with you!

Warm regards,
Felicity & The Hand-Drawn Team