Yves Geleyn rescues a scarecrow character (designed by fellow Hornet director Renaud Lavency) from the failed pitch graveyard with the addition of expressive choreography by animator Matt Corsillo.

Yves Geleyn: “In the 20 years I have spent in this industry pitching and (sometimes) losing, so many of my original characters have disappeared into oblivion, never to be seen or heard from again. It’s always so heartbreaking to leave behind the amazing work we do during the pitch phase, as it’s during this chaotic time really exciting ideas are born.

“During a recent pitch, I got to create a really fun cast of characters with the super talented designer and fellow Hornet Director, Renaud Lavency. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the job and all our work was about to become a distant memory.

“The scarecrow character was the most developed character from the pack, and it was much harder to let go. It felt only right to keep him alive and thriving.
 

“The scarecrow was originally designed by Renaud to be a puppet, so in keeping with this intention, we built a pretty rigid rig reflecting the range of motion for a character made up solely of wooden sticks and hay.”

 
“After scrolling through some silly TikTok dances, I had the idea for him to perform a real classic dance routine, paying homage to Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, and the Nicholas Brothers.

“Matt Corsillo, one of Hornet’s talented staff animators, and I started looking at old tap dance videos and theatrical set designs from the 1940s. Our goal was to challenge ourselves with a choreographed dance number where our hero comes to life for just a short moment, almost like an old animatronic or string puppet.

“The scarecrow was originally designed by Renaud to be a puppet, so in keeping with this intention, we built a pretty rigid rig reflecting the range of motion for a character made up solely of wooden sticks and hay. Getting the tap dancing right was hard enough, but adding to that a character that could barely keep themselves upright, was super fun to explore.

“I’m happy we were able to see this side project through. It was a great way to get our Hornet team involved in between the daily grind of jobs, and it lays the groundwork for repurposing more of the great pitch work that gets lost along the way.”

Original pitch character designs and style frame:
 

 
Frame from the final Scarecrow film:
 

 
Production: Hornet
Director: Yves Geleyn
Managing Partner: Hana Shimizu
Head of Production: Karen Lawler
Head of Creative Development: Kristin Labriola
Production Supervisor: Dez Stavracos
Associate Producer: Theresa Peterson
Storyboard/Choreography: Matt Corsillo
CG Modeling/Rigging/Animation: Matt Corsillo
2D Background Design: Hannah Kim, Valerie Yan
CG Background Design: Natalia Perez
2D Character Design: Renaud Lavency
Compositor/Lighting: Rocky Lin (Jingbin)
Senior Editor: Anita Chao
Assistant Editor: Cole Bannick

Sound Design: Carmen Borgia
Original Music Recording: Stefano Ligoratti