Review by C.J. Bunce
“No living thing is insignificant.”
It’s a solid theme for a dystopian sci-fi journey for kids–and adults. It’s explored in the three-season animated series WondLa, adapted from the 2010s books by Tony DiTerlizzi. As most recent maintream efforts at sci-fi prove, it’s all been done before, and WondLa has its share of tropes pulled from across sci-fi past. You may find callbacks to Oblivion, Orbiter 9, and I am Mother, or classics like Planet of the Apes, and it’s rooted in fairy tale fantasy, especially Peter Pan and The Wizard of Oz–all aimed at kids of this century raised with modern technologies. With a foreword by DiTerlizzi and commentary by Skydance exec John Lasseter, WondLa: The Art and Making of the Limited Series (now available here at Amazon) takes readers to one future via the art and creators who adapted the books into animation.
WondLa is the story of Eva 9, a curious teenager being raised alone by a robot caretaker called MUTHR in a state-of-the-art underground bunker. On her sixteenth birthday she emerges onto the Earth’s surface, discovering that aliens now inhabit the planet. Hoping to find other humans, Eva 9 sets out on a journey to find out about who she is and the world around her.
In WondLa: The Art and Making of the Limited Series you’ll learn about each main character and how concept art was used to flesh out character traits and build each personality into the version that made it to the TV screen. Rovender Kitt was inspired by John Wayne’s Rooster Cogburn. Otto was a giant, lovable tardigrade based on a family dog. The villain Besteel incorporated features of a T-Rex. Queen Ojo had Art Nouveau influences.
Colonization is a theme of the story and set pieces may conjure the home in The Jetsons. For fans of future noir, the section on the Sanctuary features some great visual ideas.
But it’s the flora and fauna of a future Earth readers and viewers will remember from the series. How Michael Crichton reminded us that “life finds a way” and the Earth will hopefully adapt and move on regardless of what happens by way of mankind. Flying whales? Why not?
Virtual reality was used extensively in developing environments. You’ll find animation artists from across the spectrum who contributed to the show, including Torbin Bullock, Neysa Bove, Tony Cosanella, Bobs Gannaway, Andy Harkness, Josh Gerrig, Simon Baek, Julie Chan, Chris Ables, JJ Song, Marc Gabbana, Richard Lee, Joy Ngiaw, Michele Graybeal, Maliheh Rahrovan, Armand Serrano, Kalina Murat, Nobuteru Sasagawa, Kuba Kozlowski, Roy Santua, Saira Vargas, and Yuri Senoo.
Look for plenty of concept artwork, sketches, 3D models of the characters, creatures, and locations and a thumbnail color guide.
For fans of the books and the animated series and the latest in sci-fi animation, order WondLa: The Art and Making of the Limited Series now here at Amazon.
