Kicking off with ‘Down Under the Sink,’ the animated film series from creator Ben Kuhlmann tells the story of a Hollywood star who finds a squatter living in his vacation home, but that’s not even the half of it.
Adult Swim SMALLS has shared with AWN readers the exclusive debut of , the first of three all-new animated shorts in the series from creator Ben Kuhlmann.SMALLS features short form animated releases by up-and-coming creators from around the world, with new shorts released weekly on Adult Swim’s YouTube.
This first short begins the story of Hollywood star Steve Keester who finds a squatter living in his vacation home – but that’s not even the half of it.Created and written by Kuhlmann, was animated by Kuhlmann and Joe Taylor, with Kuhlmann, John Kennedy, Sam Lanier, Marc M, Daniela Mora, Joe Nunnink, Tom Schalk, and Chadd Underwood providing their voices.Kuhlmann also mixed the sound.
Asked where the idea for the series came from, Kuhlmann told AWN, “I wanted to make a buddy comedy about a guy living with a squatter in his house.It’s a great setup.Coming home to find someone living there is already such a ‘what the fuck?’ moment.
Taking it to the extremes by adding a tribe in the cabinets that worship the squatter is just a phenomenal middle finger to the homeowner.Now there are so many characters to introduce, stories to tell, and directions the show can go in.I love it.
Each idea organically led to the next until I and the SMALLS team felt like this show had legs.I’m very happy with it.” Noting the writing and recording phases are always the most collaborative and fun, though the “the thinnest slices of the production pie,” Kuhlmann shares, “I animated this on my own over the course of around 8 months, so breaking this down into achievable milestones was very important to avoid burnout and to stay on course.Making full storyboards and animatics, for example, made my job animating it 100x easier.” “It was a large undertaking, so balancing work between this and other projects throughout the year and finishing on time was difficult,” he continues.
“I pushed myself to cut zero corners and to improve throughout the project, which I think shows in the quality of the episodes in order.I’m very happy with how they all turned out, and I’m eager to keep working and apply what I learned.”
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
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