Pileated Pictures has completed production on three animated shorts for the Emmy Award-winning PBS series BETWEEN THE LIONS, plus nine new teasers for the show.
Working closely with the shows creators, Christopher Cerf and Norman Stiles, Pileated brought to life three childrens stories as animated books to be broadcast throughout the upcoming season. The books include PETES A PIZZA, by William Steig; THE COYOTE AND THE RABBIT; and STOLEN SMELLS, the latter two being unpublished stories written exclusively for use on BETWEEN THE LIONS. Each piece has a distinctly different animation technique resulting in three shorts with radically different art styles.
In the case of PETES A PIZZA, the books original artwork was scanned and manipulated to remain faithful to the books style and look. COYOTE utilized a classic 2D approach, while STOLEN SMELLS used an innovate style of 3D to come up with a cel-shaded look for the piece.
These three projects really showcase the breadth of our abilities, says Michael E. Levine, Pileateds president/co-founder. Working on BETWEEN THE LIONS has given us incredible flexibility to show off our wide range of skill sets and work with a fantastic team from the show.
This slate of projects is the latest in a continuing string of collaborations between the two production entities. In 2005, Pileated produced 16 animated shorts and an animated music video for BETWEEN THE LIONS .
As always, it is wonderful to work with Pileated Pictures, said Cerf. The humor and educational precision they inject into the animation they created continues to have a positive impact on the effectiveness of BETWEEN THE LIONS.
The new season of BETWEEN THE LIONS premiered April 17, 2006.
Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts-based Pileated Pictures (www.pileated.com) is an entertainment studio creating videogames, character animation, broadcast animation, concepts, stories and diverse online applications. The studio develops customized solutions for clients, including videogames for a variety of platforms, broadcast animation, music videos, online games and websites. Clients include Hasbro, Sirius Thinking, Universal Records, MCA Records, Macromedia, LucasArts Ent., THQ, D3P Publisher, WGBH, The National Center for the Learning Disabled and GTECH, as well as recording artists Nelly, TLC, Lisa Lopes, Master P, the Cash Money Millionaires and Britney Spears. Pileated Pictures founders are veterans of LucasArts Ent. and the television show, SEINFELD. The studio also creates and licenses its own original material.
