Rufus and The Island

Rufus and The Island by Adam Taylor

Who?
I got to do almost all of it. The animation, storyboard, music, post and my wife, Erin, helped me make the small props and puppets.

What?
Rufus and his friend Kipp head out to the island for a camp out and quickly have their plans changed when a storm rolls in and an unexpected visitor appears.
Why? Rufus and The Island is a short film based on a graphic novel I have been writing/illustrating while doing my MA in illustration. The drawings kept feeling like they wanted to move so I finally let them.

I think I have always loved stop motion animation, even before I knew what it was. Films like James and the Giant Peach, Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, and the Nightmare Before Christmas were my favorites as a child. When I saw Coraline the love was reignited and then when Paranorman came out I pretty much decided to quit illustrating because stop motion was what I wanted to do.

I am also a huge fan of 2-d animation and have watched thousands of hours of cartoons growing up. The Misadventures of Flapjack is probably my favorite.

How?
I wanted the film to feel like a 3 dimensional realization of the drawings I have been doing so it is a mix of stop motion and 2-d. I used dragon frame, photoshop, and toonboom to animate and Adobe Premiere to put it all together.
Next Project? I am working on two projects that I hope to finish this year. One is about an Ork and the other deals with a group of lumberjacks and a peculiar beaver.

Which animated film would you like to have made?
That’s tough. It’s a toss up between James and the Giant Peach and The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Those two films still fill my dreams both day and night.