In recent years the animation industry has been through some major problems, from Covid-19 shutdowns, layoffs and pressure from production companies. This has led to the rise of independent animation studios, like Glitch Productions on YouTube.
Their newest show, “Knights of Guinevere,” is a psychological thriller set between a planet-wide theme park in the clouds and the shadows below, where a broken princess android is Frankie and Andi’s, the main characters, ticket to better lives, or the end of them. The pilot has already garnered over 11 million views on YouTube in just over a week, and junior Gabrielle Gracius is one of these many fans.
“I really liked the pilot,” Gracius said. “It kind of gave like an eerie, unsettling vibe, which is pretty nice considering it was more indirect compared to their previous shows that were really direct with the creepy aspect.”
Glitch mainly creates 3D animated projects, and “Knights of Guinevere” is their first 2D animated show.
“The quality is really good for just being the pilot, which is honestly kind of insane,” Gracius said. “I’m excited to see, based on how much merch people buy, how much improvement will go into the animation of the show.”
The pilot was co-created and directed by Dana Terrace, the former director for Disney’s “The Owl House.” The show has the typical Terrace elements: smooth animation, unique characters, well-crafted humor, and some elements of gore and horror.
“It looks like ‘The Owl House’ but kind of better because it’s a lot more fluid. I feel like there’s a lot of attention to detail,” Gracius said. “It’s a really nice style. It’s easy on the eyes, so there’s not a whole lot going on that kind of distracts from the focal point of each scene.”
Because of Terrace’s experience with Disney during her directing of “The Owl House,” she decided to leave entirely to pursue her own ideas independently.
“I know ‘Knights of Guinevere’ is a direct hit at Disney because the show’s creator had a lot of problems with getting her story across with Disney,” said Gracius. “I feel like a lot of people turn towards indie shows because the creators can actually do what they want.”
Elements in “Knights of Guinevere,” is seemingly a call out to Disney and other production companies. “Park Planet,” the setting of the show, is controlled by an entertainment company who is destroying the planet in their desire for money, from giant theme parks to mass-produced merchandise. The population of the planet lives on the polluted surface of the planet, most, if not all, being unable to afford a ticket to the theme park in the clouds at all, but still having to work for the company.
“I really like the message, because Disney recently has been putting out a lot of garbage movies,” said Gracius. “I feel like it kind of shows a lot of the time Disney thinks more money rather than the actual quality of the stories.”
The rise of independent production companies is challenging the major animation companies, like Pixar, Disney, DreamWorks, or Sony, because they give the creators more freedom in their projects.
“I think for bigger companies it’s a problem because you’ll have more people turning towards indie animation studios,” said Gracius. “But I think in general, it’ll do more benefit for writers and artists and whatnot because they’ll be able to actually have creative freedom over their projects and not have it dictated by a company.”
