The award-winning director’s newest adult animated feature, described as ‘Bambi meets Apocalypse Now,’ makes its U.S. premiere at Fantastic Fest in Austin later this month; the film makes its U.S. theatrical debut this Fall.
GIKDS has acquired North American distribution rights for award-winning director Alberto Vázquez’s latest adult animated feature, Unicorn Wars, slated for its U.S. premiere this month at Fantastic Fest in Austin. Featured in competition at the 2022 Annecy International Animation Film Festival and the film is a selection in the upcoming 2022 BFI London Film Festival.
Unicorn Wars will be released theatrically domestically this Fall, followed by wider release in early 2023. The deal with Charades, who represents the film’s international sales, follows previous deals by GKIDS on local distribution rights for past Academy Award nominee Mirai and the popular animated feature Belle. It also marks the next collaboration between GKIDS and Vázquez, following GKIDS’ local distribution of the director’s Goya Award-winning feature Birdboy: The Forgotten Children and short film Decorado.
“There is nobody on Earth who could make a film like Unicorn Wars except Alberto Vázquez,” said GKIDS’ President David Jesteadt. “We are proud to partner again with this exceptional filmmaker on his richly layered and darkly funny new film about cute characters doing horrific things. It continues to haunt me.”
In Unicorn Wars (synopsis provided by GKIDS), it’s “Bambi meets Apocalypse Now” in a provocative and strangely beautiful horror-comedy using an outrageous candy-colored premise to explore religious zealotry, the tortured legacies of military fascism, and the depths of the soul.
For ages, teddy bears have been locked in an ancestral war against their sworn enemy, the unicorns, with the promise that victory will complete the prophecy and usher in a new era. Aggressive, confident teddy bear Bluet and his sensitive, withdrawn brother Tubby could not be more different. As the rigors and humiliation of teddy bear Bootcamp turn to the psychedelic horrors of a combat tour in the Magic Forest, their complicated history and increasingly strained relationship will come to determine the fate of the entire war.
The film is directed and written by Vázquez, who does the art direction. Chelo Loureiro, Iván Miñambres, and Nicolas Schmerkin serve as executive producers. The animation director is Khris Cembe; backgrounds supervisor is Leire Acha; lighting supervisor is Martín Romero; compositing supervisor is Joseba Hernández; and heads of production are Laura Aguado and Fiona Cohen.
Production managers were Iván Miñambres (SP) and Shanti Bourse & Emilie Chaulet (FR); 2D animation supervisors were Pamela Poltronieri (SP) and Elsa Boyer & Chloé Roux (FR). Léo Silly-Pelissier served as 3D animation supervisor, ink & paint supervision was by Arkaitz del Río, editors were Iñigo Gómez and Estanis Bañuelos with sound supervisor by Iñaki Alonso. Additional music was by Victor García.
Source: GKIDS
Debbie Diamond Sarto is news editor at Animation World Network.
