Toadal Disaster
Image: Wayne Unten

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]