Bilby (film)

Bilby is a 2018 American computer-animated short film written and directed by Liron Topaz, Pierre Perifel and JP Sans in their directorial debuts, and produced by DreamWorks Animation. The film centers around a bilby trying to protect an albatross chick from the dangers of the Australian Outback.

Bilby
Film poster
Directed byLiron Topaz
Pierre Perifel
JP Sans
Produced byKelly Cooney Cilella
Jeff Hermann
Written byLiron Topaz
Pierre Perifel
JP Sans
Based onCharacters
by Harry Cripps
StarringDee Bradley Baker
David P. Smith
Music byBenjamin Wallfisch
Edited byMichelle Mendenhall
C. K. Horness
Production
company
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • June 16, 2018 (2018-06-16) (Annecy)
February 22, 2019 (Home video release with How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World)
Running time
8 minutes
CountryUnited States

A product of DreamWorks' newly-created shorts program, this short was based on the studio's cancelled feature film Larrikins.

Plot

In the Australian Outback, a timid bilby (some sources claim his name is Perry[1]) tries to search for food while surviving the harsh environment and evading the deadly predators that live in it. One day, the bilby comes across an abandoned baby albatross turned on its head. Taking pity on the chick, the bilby flips over the chick, which grows attached to him. The bilby wants nothing to do with the chick, but he can't help but abandon his mission to find more food in order to save the chick from all kinds of predators. Time and again, he tries to leave the chick in a new environment, only to find himself constantly trying to survive a wide variety of dangerous situations.

Finally, the bilby and chick stop at an extremely high and steep cliffside that frequently experiences gusts of rising wind. The exhausted bilby decides to leave the chick there, especially since he believes she's ready to fly on her own, only for her to get snatched by a white-bellied sea eagle. Fearful for his new friend's safety, the bilby gains the courage to jump from the cliff and attack the eagle. During this battle, the chick falls from its talons, leading the bilby to free-fall through the air and clutch her. The bilby tosses the chick safely onto the cliff's edge, while he keeps falling and gets blown back up by an updraft. The two friends embrace, and the chick is happy that she can finally fly. The film ends in a flash-forward to the now-grown albatross landing on the cliffside, where she and her friend now live with an ample supply of food.

Voice cast

Production

The film utilizes characters from DreamWorks' Larrikins, a planned animated feature that was cancelled in March 2017.[2] Bilby's three directors had worked together on the Larrikins animation team; Perifel served as head of character animation, Topaz as a lead animator, and Sans as a character supervisor.[3]

Bilby proved to be a testing ground for various new animation software, including Moonray, a light rendering engine that was used on DreamWorks' feature films beginning with How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World.[3][4]

Release

Bilby had its world premiere on June 16, 2018 as part of the closing ceremonies for the 2018 Annecy International Animated Film Festival. On December 21, 2018, the short was released on DreamWorks' official YouTube channel.

Bilby, along with Bird Karma, was included on home video releases of How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World on May 21, 2019.[5]

Reception

Bilby has received the Jury's Choice Award at the 45th SIGGRAPH conference, as well as the Audience Award at the Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films.[4][6]

gollark: Said "NEVER".
gollark: 1 day, 13 hours, 33 minutes, 48 seconds.
gollark: SquidDev being annoying, and let me check.
gollark: Pjals works in mysterious ways.
gollark: Yes, but they killed me.

References
  1. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8013970/
  2. Failes, Ian (March 7, 2017). "Dreamworks Kills Tim Minchin's 'Larrikins'". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved December 23, 2018.
  3. Failes, Ian (August 13, 2018). "EXCLUSIVE: Dreamworks Directors On How They Made 'Bilby,' And On The Studio's New Shorts Program". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved December 23, 2018.
  4. Wolfe, Jennifer (December 10, 2018). "VIDEO: DreamWorks Animation Short 'Bilby' A Testing Ground for New Production Tools". Animation World Network. Retrieved December 23, 2018.
  5. "How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World 4K Blu-ray". Blu-ray.com. March 26, 2019. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
  6. Giardina, Carolyn (July 11, 2018). "SIGGRAPH: Animated Short 'Hybrids' Wins Best in Show". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 23, 2018.
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