Kahlil Gibran’s 1923 book of philosophical poetic essays The Prophet has been turned into a very unique animated feature film and has now been picked up for distribution by GKIDS. The film will be released in New York and Los Angeles on August 7 with other cities to follow in subsequent weeks. A new trailer has been released, too.
Long before I knew it was him, Nik Ranieri has been entertaining and inspiring me with his character animation. Nik is a talented artist whose bold personality has translated into Lumiere, Hades, Kuzco, Buck Cluck, Lewis Robinson, Charlotte La Bouff and my dad’s favorite animated character, Meeko—all characters he supervised. I first heard Nik on Clay Kaytis’ Animation Podcast and I have been an ardent fan of this passionate animator ever since. I asked him if he may be game for an informal interview over Facebook about various topics related to the state of animation today and he very kindly agreed. Nik is such a kind person, yet he will not sidestep the truth to appease popular sentiment. It was an absolute pleasure getting to interview one of my heroes.
Animation Fascination 