What would it look like if you stretched the idea for an animated short out to 90 minutes? Animation directors Kyra Buschor and Constantin Paeplow answer that question with the latest installment of their Rollin’ Wild series.

Created to raise awareness for World Turtle Day 2024, the feature-length Rollin’ Tortoise project cleverly extends the rotund conventions established in the short films using animation loops, time and weather cues, plus ambient supporting characaters to move the story forward at a pace that both creates anticipation and tests your patience.

Kyra and Constantin: “This project is not just a film; it’s a movement towards embracing serenity amidst the ever growing speed of the internet while we are slowing down the tempo of our typical humor to an almost unbearable level which stands in stark contrast to the fleeting nature of today’s media.
 

“We tried to incorporate a lot of variation throughout the 90 minutes, but one of the key ideas was that it should feel very different to our classic shorts, in that we wanted to take a slower, less action-packed approach.”

 
“One of the biggest challenges was organizing all the things that are happening while making sure it still feels seamless. There is a subtle time and weather shift throughout and the basic loops are changed regularly. On top of that we have new animals interacting with each other and sometimes with the turtle.

“We have a huge spreadsheet that keeps track of all these things running against each other and making sure there are no visible hiccups took quite a long time to polish.

“We tried to incorporate a lot of variation throughout the 90 minutes, but one of the key ideas was that it should feel very different to our classic shorts, in that we wanted to take a slower, less action-packed approach. This also created the additional challenge of creating a sound design that only occasionally touches the edge of annoying, as it has to carry a lot of the repetitive action.

“And, of course, we weren’t sure how entertained the audience would be! It was an experiment, and as we wanted to challenge ourselves to create a 90-minute piece and the idea of what Rollin Wild is, we explored this option with the most appropriate character.”
 
 

 
Production: Passion Pictures
Director/animator: Kyra & Constantin
EP: Debbie Crosscup

Sound Design: Nami Strack, Kyra Buschor, Constantin Paeplow