The just-unveiled Max streamer and Cartoon Network have greenlit a new animated rendition of Peter & the Wolf, featuring music and narration by Gavin Friday, and artwork based on original illustrations by Bono. The special transforms Sergei Prokofiev’s symphony with contemporary visuals into a tale that touches on themes of growing up, loss, courage, transformation and our relationship with nature.
The short film is scheduled to premiere later this year and is part of an ongoing relationship with Irish Hospice Foundation.
The project is led by musician and composer Gavin Friday and saw him narrate the reimagined classic tale with The Friday Seezer Ensemble performing Prokofiev’s score, newly arranged by Maurice Seezer and Friday. The artwork seen throughout the film is based on original illustrations by Friday’s longtime friend and collaborator, Bono, from his book of the same name.
Featuring a juxtaposition of traditional hand-drawn 2D animation combined with a physical set-built world, this reimagined classic follows a grieving 12-year-old Peter, who is in the care of his grandfather after enduring the loss of a parent. Upon hearing stories of a wolf on the loose, Peter decides to explore the vast meadow and forest nearby to try and find the wolf himself. Along the way he encounters creatures who help him on his quest while contending with hunters aiming to win a prize for capturing the wolf.
“The messaging of vigilance, bravery, and resilience that were core to the original symphony are still echoed throughout our interpretation, but we spin a traditional fairy tale into a unique adaptation that also incorporates the topic of loss, redemption, and recovery,” said Gavin Friday and Bono. “It’s our hope that this Peter & the Wolf becomes a balm for any child dealing with loss, alongside exposing and captivating them into the wonderful and musical world of Prokofiev.”
The short was originally developed in 2003 by the creative duo in support of Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF), a national charity supporting those facing dying, death and bereavement. IHF began with the aim to extend availability of hospice services across the country and has now grown to develop programs in education, research and bereavement services. The Peter & the Wolf team have worked closely with Irish Hospice Foundation on this project, with IHF advising on how best to represent the story’s sensitive themes of bereavement and loss with authenticity and thoughtfulness.
In the film, Peter is introduced as an angsty adolescent, but over the course of the story, a lighthearted side emerges along with his resourcefulness and determination to uncover a thoughtful and very human side of him. Each character in this telling of Peter & the Wolf represents different aspects of Peter, with the Wolf embodying his relationship with grief and the unknown, his grandfather representing his connection to family and the forest creatures who capture the comedy, naivete and carefree elements of childhood.
“The emotion and artistry that Gavin has created in this modern retelling of Peter & the Wolf brings a sense of fearlessness and style this story has never seen before,” said Michael Ouweleen, President, Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, Discovery Family & Boomerang. “We think this slightly punk rock version of the timeless classic fuses beautifully for every audience, and we are honored that Bono and Gavin have entrusted us as the home to share such a personal journey.”
Blink Industries developed the mixed media approach to the production of Peter & the Wolf that captured Bono’s original illustrative designs while creating a tangible, immersive and atmospheric monochromatic world for Peter and his cohorts.
Working with their extensive team of model makers, directors Stephen McNally and Elliot Dear built and filmed all the environments as miniatures in their studio in London before seamlessly compositing the 2D hand-drawn character animation into the physical set world, using the interplay of light and shade to blend the animated characters into the model-made environments.
Peter & the Wolf is produced by BMG and Blink Industries and executive produced by Alistair Norbury & Stuart Souter for BMG, Benjamin Lole & James Stevenson Bretton at Blink Industries. Blink Industries’ Dear and McNally are directors, and the producer is Adriana Piasek-Wanski.
Created by Prokofiev in 1936 for the Central Children’s Theatre in Moscow, Peter and the Wolf has previously been adapted to animation by director Clyde Geronimi in the acclaimed Disney short narrated by Sterling Holloway (1946), sand animation pioneer Caroline Leaf’s first film (1969), a hybrid ABC special designed by Chuck Jones (1995), the Annecy Cristal and Oscar-winning British-Polish stop-motion version directed by Suzie Templeton (2006), as well as episodes of Muppet Babies, Tiny Toon Adventures, Angelina Ballerina and Sesame Street.
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