Bird Karma
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''Bird Karma'' is a 2018 American
animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...
short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...
written and directed by William Salazar and produced by
DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios or simply DreamWorks) is an American animation studio, owned by Comcast's NBCUniversal as part of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios, Inc, Universal Stud ...
. It was the first short to come from DreamWorks' newly created shorts program, and the studio's first film to utilize only
traditional animation Traditional animation (or classical animation, cel animation, or hand-drawn animation) is an animation technique in which each frame is drawing, drawn by hand. The technique was the dominant form of animation of the 20th century, until there wa ...
since '' Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas'' in 2003. It is also the first DreamWorks Animation production to be distributed by
Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...
following parent company
NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and Trade name, doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Show business, entertainment conglomerate (comp ...
's acquisition of the studio in 2016.


Plot

On a foggy lake, a long-legged bird flies into the water and, to a musical beat, catches and eats some fish. Eventually, he sees a sparkling orange fish jumping out of the water and vainly attempts to catch it until it begins to rain. The next morning, the bird again spots the fish and gives chase, but his attention is soon diverted by the fish's ability to create rainbow trails when he jumps from the water. But despite his amazement of the sight, the bird lures the fish into a false sense of friendship and proceeds to catch and eat it. However, this meal causes the bird to grow sick, turn orange and fall over dead, after which the fish in the lake begin to devour his corpse.


Production

The idea for ''Bird Karma'' originated in the mid-1990s, when director William Salazar created a pencil test of a long-legged bird while working at
Amblimation Amblimation was the British animation production subsidiary of Amblin Entertainment. It was formed by Steven Spielberg in May 1989, following the success of ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' (1988), and after he parted ways with Don Bluth due to crea ...
in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. After moving to
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
to work at
DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios or simply DreamWorks) is an American animation studio, owned by Comcast's NBCUniversal as part of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios, Inc, Universal Stud ...
, his work laid untouched in his attic for two decades. When DreamWorks announced an internal shorts program, Salazar revisited his idea and, over a period of three months, expanded his test into a three-minute animatic and pitched it to the program. Besides Salazar, who animated over 75% of the film, other animators on ''Bird Karma'' included Jakob Jensen, Simon Otto, Kristof Serrand and Stephen Wood, most of whom had worked with Salazar since ''
The Prince of Egypt ''The Prince of Egypt'' is a 1998 American animated musical drama film directed by Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, and Simon Wells, and written by Philip LaZebnik, from a story by Kelly Asbury and Lorna Cook. Produced by DreamWorks Pictur ...
''. Salazar intended for the animation to have a "clean-rough" style; thus, the animators had to clean up their drawings on their own without a separate clean-up crew. Production designer Raymond Zibach (''
Kung Fu Panda ''Kung Fu Panda'' is an American martial arts comedy media franchise that started in 2008 with the release of the animated film '' Kung Fu Panda'' produced by DreamWorks Animation. Following the adventures of the titular Po Ping (primarily v ...
'', ''
The Road to El Dorado ''The Road to El Dorado'' is a 2000 American animated musical adventure comedy film directed by Eric "Bibo" Bergeron and Don Paul, from a screenplay by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, as well as additional sequences directed by Will Finn and ...
'') painted all the backgrounds for the film, whose visual style was inspired by the works of
J. M. W. Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbu ...
.


Release

''Bird Karma'' made its world premiere on February 24, 2018, when it was included on a program of shorts as part of New York International Children's Film Festival, and was then attached to the Japanese theatrical release of ''
The Boss Baby ''The Boss Baby'' is a 2017 American animated spy comedy film, produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox. Loosely based on the 2010 picture book of the same name by Marla Frazee, it was directed by Tom McGrath from ...
'' the following month on March 21 before it was shown as the opening program of the
Annecy International Animated Film Festival The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of June in the town of Annecy, France. Initially occurring ever ...
that June. On December 21, the short was released on DreamWorks' official
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
channel. ''Bird Karma'', along with '' Bilby'', was included on home video releases of '' How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World'' on May 21, 2019. The short can also be found on the owned-and-operated over-the-top video streaming service by DreamWorks' owner
NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and Trade name, doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Show business, entertainment conglomerate (comp ...
Peacock Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...
.


Reception

''Bird Karma'' has met positive reception. It won the Audience Award at the 2018
San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by SFFILM, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in international film and vid ...
, and was lauded when screened at
CalArts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art school in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both the ...
,
Gnomon A gnomon (; ) is the part of a sundial that casts a shadow. The term is used for a variety of purposes in mathematics and other fields, typically to measure directions, position, or time. History A painted stick dating from 2300 BC that was ...
and the
CTN Animation Expo CTN Animation Expo is an annual three day animation convention that focuses on putting "the talent" center stage. It is held at the Marriott Convention Center in Burbank, California during what is officially proclaimed by the City of Burbank to be ...
.


References

{{Reflist 2010s American animated films 2018 animated short films DreamWorks Animation short films Animated films about birds Animated films about fish Animated films without speech American animated short films