UPA Documentary 'Animation Mavericks' Debuts Trailer - Animation Magazine

Following the project’s announcement at a special panel event early this year, the producers of Animation Mavericks: The Forgotten Story of UPA have unveiled the feature-length documentary’s official trailer. The preview showcases the film’s blend of archival footage, interviews and stylish animated recreations as it gears up to debut on the festival circuit next year.

Founded by a gang of ex-Disney animators, United Productions of America (UPA) started out animating industrial and World War II training films, but would go down in history as a pioneering creative force that helped define “cartoon Modernism.” To this day, UPA creations such as Mr. Magoo and The Gerald McBoing-Boing Show have left an impression on the art of animation and pop culture.

Among the experts and insiders interviewed for the documentary, the Animation Mavericks trailers offers snippets from Jerry Beck, Tom Sito, Leonard Maltin, J. J. Sedelmaier and Sylvie BosRau, granddaughter of UPA co-founder Stephen Bosustow and a producer on the film.

Animation Mavericks: The Forgotten Story of UPA is created by director/producer Kevin Schreck (Persistence of Vision, Antarctic Voyage, Enongo), animation director/producer Rachel Gitlevich; executive producer Tim Finn; and producer Sylvie BosRau.

Synopsis: It was 1941. A band of ambitious, talented artists working at Disney left and told their stories their way. They became a game changer for American animation, and in the process revolutionized independent filmmaking in Hollywood forever. This is the story of the people who started a movement, changed the landscape, and what happened to them.

Animation Mavericks: The Forgotten Story of UPA draws from a treasure trove of archival materials, exclusive interviews with animation experts, and original animated reenactments to create an electrifying snapshot of an indelible moment in American art history and of the iconoclasts who shaped it.

Learn more at animationmavericks.com.