The result is an anomaly: a collective effort by Pendleton Ward (adventure Time), Rebecca Sugar (steven universe), Patrick McHale (over the garden wall), and Ian Jones-Quartey (ok ko! let’s be heroes), proving that they can still be awe-inspiring and deliver life lessons that work just as well in adulthood as they did in childhood.
In this special event, lasting just over 20 minutes, viewers join forces with the creators who have no idea how their project will come together. After all, just because you have favorite foods doesn’t mean they’ll match well as a meal, regardless of your own vanity. same way, Elephant In short, western animation legends are playing telestation On a grand stage.
On paper, the risk of failure seems uncertain – of course, the weight of its creative is no small factor. Still, if their viewpoints weren’t successfully reconciled, the result could collide rather than gel into a visual peanut butter and jelly sandwich that audiences (and, more tellingly, corporate overseers) would bite down on. Hence, why experiments of this nature usually emerge in tentpole franchise compilation projects, where artists don’t necessarily have to nod to each other’s work.
The special not only brings together the aforementioned creators, but also sees Rudo, Dinamita, and Titmouse, three animation studios in Vancouver, flexing their artistic muscles in a jam-packed experimental narrative. At the literal level, Elephant It follows an unnamed protagonist who is trapped in a mysterious factory by strange accident and embarks on a journey of self-discovery and agency. Meanwhile, the setting of said trip kaleidoscopically changes from sci-fi video-gamey backdrop to soft, painterly little golden book‑ Genre illustration and beyond – each trippy locale change materializes on a dime as part of its adventurous protagonist’s internal and existential odyssey.
Besides being a clever play on the “Blind Man and the Elephant” parable, in which three blind men who have never come across the gentle animal try to figure out through touch what it is, Elephant It boasts all the charm typical of its creators’ past works, including some disarmingly funny bits of profanity that never feel out of place – after all, the generation that grew up with these voices are now adults. Along the way, the special finds a way to guide its unnamed protagonist—the elephant—through lessons that speak directly to creativity and agency.
Here, new-age adages feel real: picking up a pencil and letting one’s imagination run wild, rather than outsourcing creativity to an AI to mechanically create hallucinations for you to play with; discovering value in oneself beyond the constraints imposed by others; And daring to ask more about life. It’s all quite heady, yet the collage message of its skillful creators is a clever, decadently illustrated approach to moral storytelling – concise, unreservedly playful, yet not preachy while being organically didactic.
what makes Elephant What’s remarkable, however, is that it works. It is also noteworthy that it even exists. In an age where animation is treated less like the museum tapestry of a streamer’s catalog and more like appendages split up and moved around by companies in a rights-holder shell game, this unreservedly playful project feels truly unheard of. ElephantIts existence as an uninterrupted art form is especially prescient given recent developments surrounding Adult Swim’s parent company and its historic string of masterful gambits, with creative shows under its own banner being cut from the lineup.
Elephant It comes off as a rare act of creative confidence and freedom to play, which is as metatextually inspiring as its overall moral about agency is powerful, even when presented in three acts with no idea how they’ll all integrate into a single, complete work. A beautiful anomaly that emphasizes that animation is at its most beautiful when it is an experimental collaboration built on trust, whose existence is fueled by a tried-and-true enterprise for a soul-stirring narrative, not corporate inventory.
Elephant It will premiere ad-free on Adult Swim on December 19 and stream on HBO Max the following day.
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