Feb 4, 2014

Watch a clip of "The Dam Keeper" by Pixar's Dice Tsutsumi and Robert Kondo

It has been almost a year since we told you about a short film project by Pixar artists Dice Tsutsumi ("Toy Story 3" Art Director) and Robert Kondo ("Monsters University" Art Director / Set Design & Shading). This 18-minute film, "The Dam Keeper," has been completed and will have its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival next Tuesday, February 11.

Pigg will do anything to protect his town. He tirelessly walks up and down the stairs, moves heavy levers, and makes sure the windmills keep turning. Only by doing so can he keep the black smoke from engulfing everything in its path. In between, Pig rushes to school and hurries back to the dam each day. The townspeople continue to ridicule him, and he sits alone in the back seat of the bus. Everything begins to change when a new classmate, Fox, joins Pigg's class.

A clip of the film can be seen on the Berlin Film Festival website. The film's painterly look is not achieved through CG, but through a combination of TVPaint, Photoshop, and amazing technology. (This making-of video seems to imply that some of the shot blocking was done with CG models.) Other Pixar artists contributed to the film, including animator Eric Oh and visual development artist Chris Sasaki. Danish actor Lars Mikkelsen ("Forbrydersen," "Sherlock") narrates the film.

For news and behind-the-scenes coverage, visit the film's Facebook page or TheDamKeeper.com.

Update (2/6/14): the official trailer for the film is now available: