Jul 24, 2012

Trailer: "Cold Heart" by Hannes Rohr

German animation director Hannes Rohr, who animated Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven" and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's "The Earl King," is working on a hand-drawn animation of classic literature. This time, it is the fairy tale "The Cold Heart" by German author Wilhelm Hauffe.

The short story is set in the Black Forest of 19th century Germany: "Peter Munch is a poor but kind-hearted young man who longs to be rich. Seduced by the evil spirits of the forest, he trades his warm heart for a heart of stone. He becomes rich, but he has become callous and cruel. Is there still hope for him?

This 29-minute short is influenced by classic German art, including the distorted figures of expressionist woodcuts and the silhouette animation designs of Lotte Reiniger. The film also boasts color design by Hans Bacher, a veteran production designer of Disney's "Mulan," among his extensive Disney Animation credits. Both Lal and Bacher teach at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, and this project connected them.

The short received German production funding from MFG Baden-Württemberg. It will premiere later this year. Lal shared some of the color manuscripts Hans Bacher wrote for the film with Cartoon Brew: