The Turtle and the Monkey

'The Turtle and the Monkey' is my graduation project for the De Anza College animation program. It's an adaptation of a supposedly popular Filipino folk tale. I say supposedly because I had never heard of the story before developing my adaptation of it. Hurray for cultural deprivation!

Production took place over the course of almost three years. I'm the film's director and sole animator. The animation was handled in Toon Boom Studio, while the the backgrounds were done in Corel Painter. Actually, I didn't even know how to paint before starting the production process, so I went straight into line tests and animation while spending a school year taking basic painting classes. I'm better at it, but it's still mostly witchcraft to me. 

A preliminary version was completed in time for the De Anza College Student Film Show in June 2011. I'm still tweaking it for release to film festivals as of November 2011. I'm hoping to have a final version done before the end of the year. 

The following is a trailer I made for the De Anza College version of the film: