A short film by Geoff Roberts, a 2020 graduate in animation, was chosen as “Pick of the Day” on the popular website Cartoon Brew.
“Becky doesn’t have much in the scary jungle she calls home,” a teaser for the animation states, “but she does have her beloved egg. That is, until one night when disaster strikes.”
“I had an intense desire to create something new with all that I had learned,” Roberts told Daemen Voice.
“This project has been in the works since March and I’m so happy to finally release this,” he said about the film, which will have two additional parts to be released at later dates. The cartoon was released under his “houndkidz cartoon” moniker.
Roberts also released a making-of video that takes viewers behind the scenes and demonstrates his animation process, which includes VR sculpting techniques and “for the first time, real-time rendering,” he said.
“Like every project, you learn a lot as you go, and that was no different on this one,” he said.
As a senior at Daemen, Roberts created Eye of the Terrier about a boxing dog. The short film won a bronze Telly Award and was the semi-finalist at the 2021 Niagara International Film Festival.
In early October, Roberts screened Eye of the Terrier at the Buffalo International Film Festival and soon it will play at the LA Student Film Festival.
“It’s another milestone for our Daemen animation grads,” said Mike Jones, assistant professor of animation and director of the program at the college, who has animated on such feature films as Disney’s “The Lion King,” “Pocahontas,” “Hercules,” “Mulan,” “Tarzan,” and many others.