2
Credit: The Art of Andrew ChesworthAlong with a slew of other animated entries, The Brave Locomotive by Andrew Chesworth is going toe-to-toe with the House of Mouse at this year’s Academy Awards.
Andrew Chesworth, is an accomplished animator with credits on such Disney hits as Big Hero 6 (2011), Zootopia (2016), and Moana (2016), but he also has his fair share of personal projects that could easily mesh with some of Disney’s best and brightest. However, one such project is currently in the run for an Oscar nomination.
Related: Op-Ed: Disney Animation Enters Its “Slow Burn” Era
After a season of flops at the box office, Disney is going to have to work some serious magic if the studio hopes to take home any sort of prize at this year’s Academy Awards. Along with Chesworth, the studio is currently competing against 13 other projects for Best Short Subject, as Best Animated feature is seeming further and further out of the mouse’s reach.
The Brave Locomotive (2023) is Chesworth’s passion project about a plucky little locomotive and his friendly engineer told through an Andrews-sisters-inspired song similar to the “Little Toot” segment of Melody Time (1948). The short is an endearing film well worth the accolades it has received, and it will definitely keep Disney on its magical toes.
Chesworth is one of many animators, including some of Disney’s old guard, that have branched out to demonstrate exactly what the medium can do. In a display of traditional animation techniques, a love for classic Disney cartoons, and a lively musical adventure, he’s turning his passion into art with this short-but-sweet animated film.
Andrew Chesworth Goes Full Throttle on The Brave Locomotive
The enchanting animated short film (seen above) wears its classic Walt Disney Animation influences on its sleeve, and Chesworth has paid more than a bit of an homage to its influences. The award-winning project is practically a love letter to the foundations of the animated medium made so famous by Walt Disney and his original team, and no Disney fan should let it slip under the radar.
Last weekend, I personally reached out to the director and animator about The Brave Locomotive, and he was kind enough to share his experience on bringing the film to life. When asked for a comment or further information on the film, he had plenty of insightful things to say.
Any Disney fan worth their salt can see several familiar themes that the short uses to its advantage. Notes of Little Toot, Casey Junior, and even Disney’s adaptation of John Henry can be seen throughout the film.
When asked about the project’s influences, Chesworth shared,
“I grew up very much a train lover, with that affection initially fueled by Dumbo and The Brave Engineer from the Disney Channel, the books of Bill Peet, and even Thomas the Tank Engine as well (and although I wasn’t as endeared by their interpretation of anthropomorphic trains as much as Disney’s, I absolutely adored the narration and the way the models were filmed.)”
“I wanted to make an ultimate passion project inspired by the first animated films I ever remember seeing, with Melody Time and The Brave Engineer chief among them in my core memories. The Andrews Sisters -style vocals were a sound I equated with those core memories and wanted to incorporate.”
“My former animation instructor Tom Schroeder connected me with composer Tom Hambleton when I pitched him the goal of the project – to recreate the music room process of the Golden Age of animation where storyboard artists and the musicians worked concurrently to shape the films. Hambleton was very familiar with the concept and was a big fan of Carl Stalling, so the pairing was a successful one.
On the conception of the film, Chesworth shared,
“The project originally began as a passion project in 2008, a year and some change after I graduated from MCAD in Minneapolis. I was directing animated commercials with an eye on working for Disney or Pixar…”
“I chipped away at the project on the sidelines over the course of about 2 and a half years, with the music and storyboards mainly coming to life in 2009 and a big chunk of the opening sequence being made in 2011. I didn’t work on it as much in 2010 because I got to spearhead some really exciting hand-drawn projects at my day job. When Disney hired me in 2011 (mainly as a result of the work at my day job), a lot of the momentum was instantly gone from The Brave Locomotive. In a sense, it had served much of its original purpose.”
“From 2012-2020 I barely touched the film, except for the occasional single little scene during a vacation week once a year. In 2015 I started to believe I would never have an incentive to finish it, so I posted the rough animation for the opening sequence on YouTube so some of the labor could live somewhere and be seen. Before long, it amassed over 8 million views and gave me the confidence to revisit the rest of the material under more organized circumstances…”“When the pandemic hit in 2020 and we were all stuck at home, I decided to start a Patreon to try and finish The Brave Locomotive once and for all. I chose Patreon over Kickstarter at the advice of indie animator Vivienne Medrano because I could work at a steadier pace with monetization defined by visibility into the process instead of swag. Two and a half years later, the film was done and about to begin its festival journey.”
“I worked at Disney as a CG animator on 5 features and four shorts from 2011-2017. I absolutely loved my time at Disney and wouldn’t trade it for anything. I absolutely gave myself to the job at a time when I could afford to (being in my 20s, unmarried, no children) but the degree to which I gave myself to the company I don’t think I could have sustained forever.”
“As far as hopes for the project, I am just appreciative that it has been doing well at film festivals and been seen by many in a theatrical venue. I am also appreciative that it’s found a large audience on YouTube where it’s been enjoyed by animation and rail fans alike. Any other success it enjoys is a gift at this point. It was a project I very much loved working on and in some ways miss now that it’s over. It’s so connected to core memories that made me want to be an animator in the first place.
