Narrated by Whoopi Goldberg and featuring the voice talents of child actress Lilly Bartla (girl) and Alison Pill (Mom), The Most Magnificent Thing aired on YTV yesterday.
Directed by Arna Selznick (The Care Bears Movie, The Nut Job), the 22-minute project is based on a charming book by Ashley Spires which centers on a young girl who sets out to make a fantastic gift for her best friend, but soon discovers that the creative journey is always riddled with setbacks.
Canadian animation studio Nelvana’s former president Scott Dyer and creative producer Pamela Slavin contacted Selznick to direct the animated short.
The Most Magnificent Thing is Nelvana’s first CG-animated short project, which had about 150 people working on it at various stages. The teams have used a variety of animation and vfx tools including Photoshop, Toon Boom Storyboard Pro, Premier Pro (editing), Zbrush, Mudbox, Maya’s Xgen (for fur and hair), Maya (for previs), Maya (CG animation), Nuke (compositing), Arnold (lighting and rendering) and Toon Boom Harmony (general effects).