Animation Guild | We are 839 Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1313527
D E PA R T M E N T 29 KEYFRAME WINTER 2020 29 Image courtesy of DreamWorks Animation. IN THE FIRST CROODS MOVIE, IT SEEMED LIKE THE CROODS' WORLD WAS ENDING. BY THE TIME OF THE SEQUEL, THE CROODS: A NEW AGE, IT SEEMED LIKE OURS WAS. this page: A visual development painting by Production Designer Nate Wragg of the sleep pile. In an inverse of the plot of DreamWorks Animation's 2013 hit about a prehistoric family surviving in a hostile world after their home cave is destroyed, the spread of COVID-19 drove the film's crew out of the studio and back into their home office caves. The remote scenario forced a range of sudden creative and logistical adjustments even as new technology made advancements in collaboration and design possible, which is not a bad description of the story arc in The Croods sequel. In A New Age, we pick up the first family—Grug, Ugga, Eep, Thunk, and Gran—as they believe they've finally stumbled upon the perfect new home: a gorgeous paradise with functioning agriculture and high protective walls. Unfortunately, a more evolved family called the Bettermans already lives there. Phil, Hope, and teenaged daughter Dawn offer to share their elaborate treehouse and other modern inventions with the primitive Croods, but it's not a smooth arrangement. Tension rises between the two clans—one cohesive, chaotic, and close, the other independent, unburdened, and isolated—until they are forced to work together to deal with an unexpected threat. "The longer we worked on this movie, the timelier it became," says first-time director Joel Crawford. "One family has figured out the modern comforts and built walls around themselves, but they essentially built walls within the walls and lost their connection. The Croods have no home and no walls." The Crood family mantra—"the pack always stays together"—could be the same for any feature animation crew, where the workflow among departments must be smooth for the magic to take shape. So what happens when a pandemic makes the crew disband? What happens when the pack can't stay together?