What was so fun about this project and the two smart, confident and collaborative directors of it, was the freedom and amount of individual creativity they asked the board artists to bring to their work. They knew that given a framework for the sequences and idea of where the characters need to line up, that the artists drawing up the sequences would bring an entirely other level to the story content.
For this battle, the Pig Air Force had not yet been designed so Fergal Reilly, my director gave me the freedom to design as much crazy shit as I could, using the classic Hanna Barbera series, Stop That Pidgeon!...or it's real name: Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines, as my reference point for insane flying machines. Here's the link to that show opening sequence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj6-LG5VpGk
Again, keeping it focused on character and how the balance of power keeps shifting within the sequence, I was encouraged to go as crazy as I could with the design, humor and action.
Ahhhhhhh, what a joy as a story artist to get THAT kind of support and that kind of trust from your directors.
