If you’re looking for feel-good vibes and a happy ending, this is not your short film. But if you love satire, fearless art direction, and 1920s-influenced character design, we highly recommend watching Mr. Pete & the Iron Horse.

The project’s dark and hallucinatory bent is no surprise considering how Swiss director Kilian Vilim delved deep into insanity for his 2018 multi-award-winning student short film OOZE, and it was produced by YK Animation in Bern, who dropped the brilliant but gory hyper-revenge tale Coyote in 2020.
 
 

 
Production: YK Animation Studio
Director: Kilian Vilim
Producer: Fela Bellotto, YK Animation Studio
Co-Producer: Gabriela Bloch Steinmann, SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen
Production Management: Sebastian Willener
Storyboard: Lorenz Wunderle, Kilian Vilim
Storyboard Consulting: Thomas Ott, YK Animation Team
Layout: Lukas Pulver, Lorenz Wunderle, Kilian Vilim
Animation Supervisor: Etienne Mory
Animator: Etienne Mory, Fela Bellotto, Aira Joana, Lara Perren, Kilian Vilim
Additional Animation: Lorenz Wunderle, Ramon Schoch, Sebastian Willener
Backgrounds: Frederic Siegel
Compositor: Joder von Rotz, Lara Perren
Montage: Fela Bellotto, Joder von Rotz, Kilian Vilim

Music: Raffael Pochanke
Instruments: Michel Gsell, Benjamin Knecht, Pascal Fernandes, Raffael Pochanke
Sound design: Noisy Neighbours (Etienne Kompis, Thomas Gassmann)
Foley: Dieter Hebben
Mix/Mastering: Thomas Gassmann
Voices: Frederic Siegel, Carmela Sager, Thomas Gassmann, Raffael Pochanke, Kilian Vilim