{"id":123488,"date":"2025-09-06T04:44:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-06T04:44:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/123488\/"},"modified":"2025-09-06T04:44:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T04:44:08","slug":"a-return-to-theatrical-2d-animation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/123488\/","title":{"rendered":"A Return To Theatrical 2D Animation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This weekend, more than 1,900 U.S. theaters will screen the mostly hand-drawn 2D animated feature Light of the World, which adapts the Biblical story of Jesus through the eyes of the youngest disciple, John, reframing one of the most well-known stories in the Western hemisphere with a painterly, storybook-inspired aesthetic. By December, it will be released in 33 countries.<\/p>\n

Produced by Wisconsin-based Salvation Poem Project, a nonprofit studio, the film was funded entirely by entrepreneur and philanthropist Matt McPherson, best known for running Mathews Archery and McPherson Guitars. With a $20 million production budget, the movie is one of the largest faith-based animated projects of all time.<\/p>\n

Directors John Schafer and Disney Renaissance veteran Tom Bancroft (best known for designing Mushu in Mulan) lead a team of artists, musicians, and animators on the project. Their mission, set forth by McPherson, was to create a hand-crafted, 2D (with some Toon Boom tweeting) animated feature based on the life of Jesus. Beyond that, the film\u2019s development and production were left to the artists.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Cartoon Brew sat down with Schafer and Bancroft ahead of the film\u2019s wide release today for an in-depth conversation about how Light of the World came to be, why they believe hand-drawn animation still matters, and what it takes to release an independent feature on thousands of screens worldwide.<\/p>\n

Cartoon Brew: How did this project get started? <\/p>\n

Schafer: I had just been working for the Salvation Poem Project for a couple of months. My job was going to be producing some animated shorts, and that\u2019s really what it was at first. I\u2019d been here two months when the founder, Matt McPherson, took us out to coffee.<\/p>\n

Matt\u2019s known for creating Mathews Archery, the largest archery bow company in the world, and McPherson Guitars, a very high-end guitar brand. So that\u2019s his background. He\u2019s obsessed with quality, handcrafted work. I was working for his son, Brandon, who\u2019s the president of the Salvation Poem Project and also producer of Light of the World.<\/p>\n

We were sitting there, and Matt said, \u201cBack in the \u201990s, I felt the Lord put it on my heart to make a movie about the life of Jesus.\u201d Which sounds crazy coming from someone who makes bows and guitars. But he said, \u201cWhen the Lord speaks to my heart, I wait. If this is supposed to happen, He\u2019ll show me the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because of my background, I created Superbook at CBN, and he thought, \u201cMaybe this is that time.\u201d That\u2019s how it started.<\/p>\n

\"Light<\/a><\/p>\n

And when did Tom get involved?<\/p>\n

Schafer: Tom and I have known each other for 18 years. We worked together on Superbook. There\u2019s a level of trust, a shorthand between us. I thought, hey, this is a 2D feature. Let me call my friend, Tom Bancroft, who also has all this feature film experience.<\/p>\n

Bancroft: When John told me it was from the point of view of John the disciple as a 13-year-old, that was a huge selling point for me. Now you have a character kids can see themselves in. It becomes almost like a Disney \u201990s film, a coming-of-age story, a buddy film, with Jesus as the co-star.<\/p>\n

Why was 2D the right choice for this movie?<\/p>\n

Schafer: We really wanted it to be 2D because there\u2019s a craftsmanship to hand-drawn animation you don\u2019t see anymore. I love it; I\u2019m all about 2D. I\u2019ve been working on this for over a year now as a director, working with the team, developing the style, and it hit me how massive it all is. You see why Disney and Pixar always have two directors: the character designs, environments, props, layouts, story team, it\u2019s just huge. That\u2019s why I reached out to Tom.<\/p>\n

Can you talk about how you developed the film\u2019s style? Where did you try to stay authentic to the era and the culture of the area, and what were you willing to adapt for your audience?<\/p>\n

Bancroft: Before I joined, John had already set that mandate. Our art director, Mike Dutton, and character designer, Katie Sung Lee, even traveled to Israel. They came back with photos, sketches, and inspiration. A lot of the stylization, even John\u2019s big dandelion hair, was inspired by Hebrew lettering.<\/p>\n

\"Light<\/a><\/p>\n

We mixed that with influences from Cartoon Saloon, more graphic and European in feel. Honestly, we had to pull it together fast, but Lighthouse Studios in Kilkenny gave it consistency.<\/p>\n

Schafer: I\u2019ve traveled to over 20 countries, and I always look at children\u2019s storybooks wherever I go. No matter where, they all share that illustrated, painterly feel. So I thought, if we\u2019re retelling the life of Jesus in 2D, let\u2019s make it feel like a storybook that comes to life, something relatable across cultures.<\/p>\n

\"Light<\/a><\/p>\n

We worked closely with our production designer, Luke Lehenbauer from Epipheo Studios in Cincinnati. On the big screen, you see the brush strokes, the patchwork. It feels unfinished, like a work in progress. That felt right to me, because spiritually, we\u2019re all works in progress.<\/p>\n

And I love that in 2D, because it\u2019s hand-drawn, you see little imperfections. That makes it timeless.<\/p>\n

How are you handling distribution?<\/p>\n

Schafer: As of today, we\u2019re in over 1,900 theaters. On September 4th, it opens in Australia and New Zealand. By December, it\u2019ll be in 33 countries. We\u2019re not with Lionsgate or Sony or Angel, we\u2019re independent, because we want the freedom after the theatrical run to give it away free to ministries worldwide. Matt\u2019s not looking for a return. Whatever comes in stays with Salvation Poem.<\/p>\n

Why tell this story through John\u2019s eyes?<\/p>\n

Schafer: In our research, theologians and historians mostly agree that the disciples were teenagers. Peter might\u2019ve been the oldest at 24. John was the youngest, about 13. He was in the front row of Jesus\u2019s ministry, and he was the only one at the cross. That made him the perfect point of view.<\/p>\n

So we leaned into a coming-of-age story. And we wanted families to be able to bring six-year-olds and still handle things like crucifixion in a way that\u2019s appropriate.<\/p>\n

\"Light<\/a><\/p>\n

Bancroft: That\u2019s what hooked me. You get a flawed, young character, and it plays like an adventure, John searching for someone who can save his family from Roman oppression. Kids will see themselves in him. He doubts. He questions whether Jesus really is who he says. It\u2019s fun, it\u2019s heartfelt, and then it lands with that powerful ending.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This weekend, more than 1,900 U.S. theaters will screen the mostly hand-drawn 2D animated feature Light of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123489,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[49,48,75,337],"class_list":["post-123488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123488\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}