If you liked Coraline, you’ll probably like Calliope, a proposed stop motion film that’s a collaborations bwteen the world of designer toys (Circus Posterus’ toy designers Kathie Olivas and Brandt Peters), stop-motion innovator and Annie Awards Special Achievement recipient Martin Meunier (Coraline) and filmmaker Jon Schnepp (The Death of “Superman Lives”: What Happened). It’s currently being Kickstarted, and if it isn’t quite a Halloween thing, it certainly fits in with the mood of the season.
Based on Olivas’ classic toy character Calliope Jackalope, Calliope is a post-apocalyptic, fantasy adventure about an other-worldly girl who’s unaware that she’s actually Pestilence, one of the four horseman of the apocalypse. If funded through the now live Kickstarter campaign, Calliope will be written and co-directed by Meunier, Olivas and Peters, executive produced by Schnepp and feature artisans, animators, and fabricators that have worked on stop-motion features including The Nightmare Before Christmas. Calliope is planned as an 8-10 minute stop-motion short film and is the most ambitious project yet from the husband and wife creative team of Kathie Olivas and Brandt Peters; it will be the first production from Circus Posterus Films, the couple’s New Mexico-based arts collective Circus Posterus.
“Calliope Jackelope has been a part of my world for a long time, on paper and as a toy,” said Kathie Olivas. “Seeing her fully animated in Calliope is the best kind of surreal.”
“This is a story steeped in mysticism and the paranormal and we could not think of a better collaborator than Martin Meunier, who’s worked on Coraline, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, and Starship Troopers,” said Brandt Peters. “Martin’s on board not only as co-director and visual effects manager, but also as a contributing writer on Calliope and we could not be more excited.”
“Calliope will use stop-motion production standards often reserved for feature film,” says Martin Meunier. “There will be evocative sets, hand-built puppets, and breathtaking visual wizardry that bring the Calliope fantasy tale to life.”
Lots of great rewards at the site including these Tarot cards.
