Since the rise of indie cartoons has been booming since the development of Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel, the industry has got artists in all ranges and experiences and creators wanting to tell their own stories. I would love to start with the popular favorites and a few of my favorites.
Also, please check out this genre website where friends at Not Dead Yet Productions and Jax (director of The Heros of Tomorrow) have helped the indie creators and friends.
Link of Indie Catalogue:
Lumi and The Great Big Galaxy: Evan B.
Unsurprisingly, Lumi and The Great Big Galaxy are loved and adored by many. It follows the lost star Lumi (Heidi Tabling), with the help of their friends, to get their way back home. Siona (Kai Hauser), one of the cast, is the lovable autistic alien with a particular affinity for anything paranormal, ranging from cryptids to humans. She has an interest in anything strange and unusual. Her best friend, Davin (Michael Kovach), usually accompanies her. This show is adorable, and Evan's love and passion for it seem to have put a lot, especially with them being their OCs.
Siona reminds me of my younger brother, who has an autistic spectrum disorder. Growing up, he tends to have many interests, ranging from Cars to Lego Mario. As I write this, my family (former Seventh-Day Adventists) are not religious, yet he has been listening to Spanish hymns. It's strange and unusual, but he talks about how music feels to him, and he listens to it while we go out on trips. I see Siona in him. I can't wait to show this fantastic cartoon to him; maybe he can relate to Siona, maybe or not. Time will tell.
Evan B is the creator of Lumi and The Great Big Galaxy. They're an illustrator, artist, and animator. They love aliens as well; no surprise! Evan B has been very supportive of indie animation, so I am excited to see what they have to tell about Lumi and The Great Big Galaxy. So with that patience, I will give my review when it comes out.
Follow the crew and cast on LATGBG:
The Lovers: Studio Heartbreak
Oh my gosh, I have so much to say about this short. Even with nothing much to show, the film has directed so much potential and talent by the talented artists and animators on Studio Heartbreak. I wouldn't be surprised if it will be popular when the trailer releases on May 9th. The Lovers follows the possible seemingly tragic WLW (women-loving women) tale of the seafood chef, Sarah Baylon, and the siren named Sirena. The setting of this story takes place in the Philippines. The studio on their Instagram story has said the language will be Taglish (Tagalog + English)
I recommended this to my college best friend, a webcomic creator. They're also non-binary lesbians, so I hope they like this (at the time of writing, they have been moving a lot and have a bad connection, so no comments yet, shame.)
The team is chock full of exceptional talents. Honestly, when I first saw the trailer, I was so floored. The animation? Muah. The art? Muah. The character designs? Slay. Colors? I'm deceased. I would love to watch this one since the premise hooked me, and the art style stunned me. The artists producing this amazing magic are around my age? College students? Sign me the f*** up; I would love to learn from them. And they did help out with the indie animation industry with the free production templates. They're doing so much for us, and honestly, I won't be surprised if Studio Heartbreak becomes that indie studio that is recognized.
I will be publishing my review when the trailer is released on this blog, so if you're interested in my thoughts, stay with me.
Studio Heartbreak is a studio that operates remotely worldwide, mainly in the United States, Canada, Europe, Philippines. As said in the Instagram story, the studio might plan to do more projects they like in the future.
Follow Studio Heartbreak:
Tallyho!: SkullHareStudios
Want a story about outcasts, mishaps, and strangers? Tallyho! does exactly that; it follows the wayward vampire child, Atom Beiti-Wyndord (Shou Tuzi), while discovering himself crosses paths with Pearson Wyndford (Austin Lee Matthews). This somewhat questionable and odd salesman was brought up by an affluent family. Both develop the parent-child relationship while building the monster rehabilitation center in the center of Ringford, an island where invention, mystery, and corruption reside.
Shou Tuzi, a Taiwanese-American artist, and Jim R Surname have striven to tell the story of gifted children under immense societal expectations and pressures. I think it's imperative to tell the story what it means for the writers, as Tuzi and Surname say it relates to them. The story has its struggles and hardship, something the crew isn't afraid to show.
It's pretty rad of them because there's so much happening in life, and it might be a fantastic feat if the audience relates. The crew also mentions that there's a steampunk element. They comment that they want to bring that genre back to the consciousness and expand that concept that changes people's idea of what it means and understand the concept of steampunk.
There's not much new to show with Tallyho! But the crew has released the pitch deck, so we can see that the story is well-developed and rich with lore. I can't wait to see what Tuzi and Surname bring to follow Atom and Pearson's journey.
Follow SkullHare Studios:
Defenders of Alodia: Naya Fae and Shockwave Animation
As a sci-fi lover myself, it was amazing when I discovered Defenders of Aloida. It follows the young, stubborn girl and her widowed father, Rebecca Winstead, and William Winstead. Following their mother/wife's death, they moved to the smaller rundown house in William's family for generations. Rebecca seems caught up in a different world and must find her way home.
As the project was announced, I found myself drawn to the colors and designs that Naya and the team have developed. But some things have changed as I read the materials for this blog.
The visual development and some development doodles I have seen so far were impressive. I cannot wait to see how this goes.
I love sci-fi, so I cannot wait to see how the Shockwave Animation team will employ its elements while having magical and fantasy aspects involved in this world of Alodia. Naya has written on her Twitter page that DoA has inspiration derived from Amulet by Kazu Kibiuishi. I see references such as William Winstead as the widowed parent, similar to Amulet's Karen Hayes (Emily's mother), and the rundown house as Silas Charanon's (Karen Hayes' grandfather) house.
As a fan of Amulet myself in middle school, I cannot wait to see where Naya has put her influence in this animated series.
Speaking of Amulet, my reading teacher gave me the first comic, so it was big for me, and I had a collection up to the Prince of Elves until I entered high school, so I thought it would be fun to ramble a bit about. Either way, I hope I get the chance to work on this project, but I don't expect much!
Follow Naya and Shockwave Animation on this series:
Fighting All Odds: Robert J. Preston
This is the last major indie production I will write for today's post. Don't fret, but here, I had the honor to assist with some aspects of the production. Fighting All Odds follows the deaf spunky teenager named Jackie learning how to balance and learning how to be a superhero.
As I assisted the production, I realized that Shou Tuzi's Tallyho! and Robert J. Preston's Fighting All Odds have focused on disabled characters and neurodivergent characters, and I think it's fantastic that the creators have been going out of their way to learn the experience by the actual people who have lived through it.
As much as there's not much to share from the Fighting All Odds team, the voice cast has been announced, and I have seen the character designs, and it's a very creative and spunky take on superhero uniforms. I cannot wait to see what Robert and his team have to deliver to the indie cartoons.
Follow Fighting All Odds:
I wanted to touch on Pen Pals Forever by Marie Lum. I also had been involved with her Kickstarter, but sadly it did not get funded, and as Marie said on her Twitch stream, the project will be shelved until the opportunity arises.
I feel saddened that we weren't able to reach the success of the Kickstarter campaign, but seeing the success of catching people's hearts with three lovable girls (Linh, Tiffany, and Brianna)
Marie's OCs have come alive for us; we seemed to have grown with them during their journey to become alive on the screen. As we were in progress on funding, we added aspects to their characters, and I cannot wait for what Marie has planned for these chaotic girls when it's time.
Follow Marie Lum here: https://twitter.com/PuccaNoodles
I have such high hopes that people continue to support indie animation despite its struggles, difficulty, and drama. With everything that happened in this early year (i.e., Boldbird callout document, funding, and payment of the crew) it's easy to make fun of indie animation and look down on them. For what? Poor management? We're just starting, and it's hard. But with the support and guidance, there's no doubt that the shows I have written here can stand alone with the creators' hand on it—nothing taken from them. No surprise cancellations.
I have been personally producing Corrupted Memories with the Moving Hands Production team. I have to admit it's hard to make the animated series of the story you want to tell. It's hard to do all of the hats of the productions. Animators, storyboard artists, writers, production coordinators, FX artists, etc. It's hard. Indie animation isn't made easy to get by, and passionate artists and fans fuel it. We want to tell our story in our ways. At least, I hope that indie animation gets support while we help to change mainstream animation, Start with the fair treatment of the workers. Pay them fairly.
Don't let anyone tell you what to do. Do what you want to do. Do what you love.