
As you're probably already aware — you certainly should be if you're a regular around these parts! — the 3DS and Wii U eShops are closing for new purchases next week. The closure has got many of us wistful for Nintendo's last-gen duo and the many excellent titles they hosted — games and more specialised apps alike. Using a selection of creative tools that are still available on the 3DS eShop at the time of writing, Walt Disney Animation Studios animator Wayne Unten has created an incredible short as a tribute to the console and its software.
Wayne got in touch with us recently to nominate those apps he used for our Countdown series (look out for that later today), but we felt this fantastic 30-second short (below) — titled Toadal Disaster — deserved to be showcased separately.
Featuring the timeless Wii eShop music, it was created using Butterfly: Inchworm Animation and Colors! 3D (which we previously highlighted in our Countdown series), with a little croak from Flipnote Studio 3D (which we've also highlighted) — all of which are disappearing from sale when the eShop closes on 27th March.
Check Toadal Disaster out below in a video that shows both offscreen 2DS footage followed by the fullscreen short, and a brief 'behind-the-scenes' segment at the end.
Wayne commented on his posts that he used the 2DS in the video to create the short over a lengthy period of time:
With less than 2 weeks before the Nintendo 3DS eShop closes, this short was made entirely on my 2DS XL using apps only available through the eShop, as a love letter to those apps.
This was a slooow-burn film I worked off and on over a 22 month period to pass the time while waiting in public, like waiting at the doctor’s office, waiting for food take-out, or waiting while my kids ice skate.
Wayne's animation prowess — also showcased in, oh, a decade-and-a-half of Disney employment working on films including the Frozens, Wreck-It Ralph, Moana, and Encanto — probably has something to do with the incredible quality of this particular short. Equipped with the apps listed above, non-artists would certainly run into significant issues producing mini-masterpieces like this! We've seen incredible work along these lines before, and it's still testament to the console and software's versatility that something of this quality can be produced with such humble tools (and, you know, a shedload of talent).
As you can see from a brief look at his Instagram and Vimeo feeds, Wayne is certainly a fan of the system and Nintendo. You can check out more on the Butterfly Animation site or at animatingforfun.com, but here are some more examples to enjoy:
We're not sure about you, but these are making our little Flipnote of a stickman jumping over another stickman look a little... erm, rough. Hey, it's just a sketch for a much grander idea, okay! Give us a decade or two to polish.
Let us know your thoughts on Toadal Disaster and these fantastic little apps below.
[source instagram.com]
Comments 23
Wonderful! Really cool animations. Showcasing a system worth to live on.
Remember folks: never say "what can possibly go wrong?" because it will go wrong.
Is it weird that I think this simple 2D animated short made on a 3DS looks way more appealing and vibrant than Disney's own 3D movies as of late?
I love how fluid the animations are. The Mario one is absolutely gorgeous too and how I imagined it as a boy playing SMB3 on the NES, haha
Very impressive work.
Could of left it on the desk instead of having shaky cam.
But was a fun little video
Couldn't help but crack a smile hearing the Flipnote frog croak again; spent a lot of time messing around with the DSi version of that app in high school.
These were all so good, kudos to the artist!
Wish I could see a tutorial of Wayne Unten creating that. Being that I've never used the software, Colors 3D! or Butterfly II before, I'm curious to see how each was used.
Pretty good animation.
So maybe a little lost but do those three apps all work together? Or did they all get edited in together in a computer?
@WoomyNNYes thanks! I animate on Twitch from time to time, and did once for my toad short but not sure if that stream was saved. I might stream again soon.
Thanks Gavin for the lovely article! And thanks everyone for the kind words!
Hah that ending made me chuckle
@B_BIackNinja_N it seems to me like the backgrounds were painted in Colors, and Inchworm probably has a way to import pictures from your 3DS gallery and a way to record or import audio as well. Then the actual animation is done in Inchworm itself.
@WayneU Really love the animations, especially the witch one. Great work.
@Eel this alone just leaves me to think that we could literally be making animated youtube videos from these three pieces of software alone
@Eel yes that’s correct, I painted the BGs in Colors!3D, exported them to the SD card, then imported them into Butterfly.
@Jamie64326 thank you!
@WayneU thank you for showcasing your skill in such a unique way. The shorts look and sound amazing!
Toadal Disaster brought a smile to my face. Reminded me of Little Witch Academia.
Amazing work! Kudos to the artist.☺️
My animations always involved stick figures and bodily functions.
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