A new animation project tailored to the internet age is ready to launch in Good Morning Kevin. The innovative original series is created, storyboarded and directed by Andrew Gordon, a 20-year Pixar veteran known for bringing iconic character like Mike Wazowski to life, and Alastair Webber, founder of The Other Songs record label, with the aim of melding music, animation, cultural phenoma and storytelling in a brand new way.
Synopsis: Good Morning Kevin takes audiences on an engaging and fun-loving journey through the cosmos as our hero character, Kevin, is sent into space by the nefarious CEO of Kadabra, Pete Plainer. His mission: to create viral content for the masses. But Kevin’s true passion lies in making music, setting the stage for a heart-warming and entertaining narrative.
The project will comprise over 100 short-form video clips set to original music, created by noteworthy musicians and producers (details to be announced in October), tailored in real time to viral trends on social media. The contributing talent pool behind Good Morning Kevin includes studio animators, globally recognized musicians, actors, screenwriters, songwriters and social media creators, spanning multiple demographics.
As the series kicks off, viewers will be introduced to Pete Plainer, the ominous tech lord voiced by TikTok sensation Jack Chalmers. More surprise cameos, character announcements, original songs and their writers/performers will be revealed in the coming weeks.
“During my time at Pixar, I animated some timeless characters, from bugs to monsters, from fish to superheroes, from cars to toys. In our new animated series, Good Morning Kevin, I am proud to present our hero Kevin: a bear sent into space on the orders of a tech billionaire,” said Gordon. “I have loved directing this show because it is storytelling in an entirely new format, designed for shorts on social media platforms, fusing music and animation in unprecedented ways. With the support of an ensemble of top-tier artists — from character designers to scriptwriters, musicians to animators — we’re harnessing real-time tech to redefine storytelling on social platforms.”
Webber adds, “We believe in the transformative power of art and the boundless creativity that it represents. Our mission is simple: to champion our artists and creators, offering them the platform and freedom they deserve to bring their unique visions to life. Good Morning Kevin is an industry first — it won’t just provide audiences with engaging and joyous content, it will also give artists of all mediums a new platform showcase their talent.”
Academy Award-winning animation studio Passion Pictures, known for their work on The Gorillaz famous music videos and their animated avatars, is producing the series with Gordon. To fuel Good Morning Kevin‘s rapid zeitgeist response in its animated storytelling, the studio is leveraging the real-time production power of Unreal Engine technology. The engine allows for seamless collaboration between development, animation, SFX and VFX teams, allowing the crew to work on multiple facets of production within a single platform.
“Unreal was at the centre of how we made Good Morning Kevin so quickly and efficiently with a small, nimble team,” notes David Park, Executive Producer at Passion Pictures. “The toolset allowed us to hit both a high quality-level and delivery-speed at scale.”
The series also aims to offer artists and creators a way to alleviate the pressures of maintaining a high profile on social media, offering a space to showcase their talent and a creative testing ground.
Keep up with Good Morning Kevin on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube or Facebook.
