Netflix/Sony Pictures Animation has just released a brand new trailer for The Mitchells vs. The Machines ( previously titled Connected ), the CG animated film that I worked on at Sony Imageworks between 2019/2020. Check it out below ! –

Synopsis : Katie Mitchell is accepted into the film school of her dreams. Her whole family drives Katie to school together when their plans are interrupted by a tech uprising. The Mitchells will have to work together to save the world.

Directed by Mike Rianda ( Gravity Falls ) and produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, The Lego Movie), the film has a very painterly, hand drawn aesthetic that is informed by the many techniques that were first used on Spider-Verse. It takes quite a bit of compositing work to get that polished, refined look, but I think it looks amazing !

Here are a couple of twitter threads by both the director Mike Rianda and producer Christopher Miller elaborating more on the concept art/lighting/animation work that went behind the making of the shots featured in the trailer –

I’m going to point out some details you may have missed in shots from #TheMitchellsVsTheMachines trailer to show how @michaelrianda & team created a film with such groundbreaking visuals. A thread! pic.twitter.com/hxNv2oGMLQ

— Christopher Miller (@chrizmillr) March 31, 2021

Trailer Shot Breakdown & Artist Celebration Party!
? A Thread! ?
?See Secret Art and Amazing Artists Below ? pic.twitter.com/GOWUw1MRSH

— Michael Rianda (@michaelrianda) March 31, 2021

Working on The Mitchells vs. The Machines is kinda a unique experience for me among all the other past films that I’ve done at Sony Imageworks because it’s the first film that I delivered while working from home since March 2020.

By the way, there is an official art book for the film ( out on May 18th ) which I will certainly be picking up for review –

The Mitchells vs. The Machines will be out on Netflix on April 30th. Do check it out and I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did working on the film !