Animal Crackers: An Interview with Co-Directors Scott Christian Sava and Tony Bancroft - Tooned Up #15

On this very special episode of Tooned Up, Mike and Cameron interview the directors of Netflix’s hit animated film, Animal Crackers! Scott Christian Sava and Tony Bancroft discuss their influences, the production of the movie, and some of the trials and tribulations they faced behind the scenes, especially regarding the distribution of the film. Hit that play button and enjoy the episode!

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This episode is really fun and engaging, so I won’t fill up too much space with my rambling. What I will say is that both Sava and Bancroft have an interesting history that spans decades in animation. The former (Sava) has worked in the field for over 20 years, including stints at Sega of America and Atari in the early 1990s, when he was also illustrating Star Trek comics! In 1995, he worked on his first feature film, Casper the Friendly Ghost, and five years later, in 2000, he formed his own animation company called Blue Dream Studios. For the first couple of years of its life, Blue Dream worked on such storied franchises as Star Wars, The X-Files, Spider-Man, and Alien vs. Predator. In 2002, the studio began work on its own projects, including Hyperactive, Pet Robots (to which Disney purchased the rights in 2006), and My Grandparents Are Secret Agents. Moreover, Sava published his creator-owned webcomic, The Dreamland Chronicles, online, where it has seen massive success (over 29 million readers) and is a phenomenal story! Animal Crackers is Sava’s directorial debut with Bancroft, and he says he is “living the dream!”

Tony Bancroft’s career in animation has lasted over 16 years and includes time spent at such world-renowned studios as Walt Disney Feature Animation, Sony Pictures Animation, and his own company, Toonacious Family Entertainment. At Disney, he worked on such feature films as The Rescuers Down Under, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and he was responsible for the creation, design, and animation of Pumbaa the warthog in The Lion King. Later, he was the Supervising Animator for the character of Kronk in the 2000 film, The Emperor’s New Groove, and two years prior (in 1998), he co-directed Disney’s wonderful animated version of Mulan, for which he earned an Annie Award for Best Director, the animation industry’s highest honor! Moreover, at Sony, he served as Animation Director for the summer 2002 feature, Stuart Little 2, and in 2003, he was the voice director for the English language version of Hayao Miyazaki’s Porco Rosso, which was released domestically through Disney. Currently, Tony is the Executive VP/Creative Production at Toonacious Family Entertainment, and his work continues on with the release of Animal Crackers on Netflix.

Wow, what astounding pedigrees! Both of these legendary animators have been responsible for some of my absolute favorite things in the world, and I must say that Animal Crackers is truly charming! I finally had the chance to watch it, and I highly recommend it! The voice cast is phenomenal, and the animation and character design is impeccable! I eagerly await the next projects from Sava and Bancroft, whatever they may be!

Until next time, my fellow Renegades, be kind to each other, and be safe out there! Wear your mask, wash your hands, maintain your social distancing, and don’t lose hope! One day things will return to normal! And most of all, thank you for listening to the RPC Podcast Network!