Much has been said about the revolution that the Miles Morales saga is creating for the animation films of the major Hollywood studios. According to writers and producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the ambitious sequel required the efforts of more than 1,000 entertainers. But what if we told you that among all this world-class talent, there is a boy just 14 years old who is responsible for one of the most spectacular sequences of? Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse?
In a fun tribute to the great Lego adventure (2014), co-directed by Lord and Miller, at one point the film briefly shifts to a dimension where everything is made out of Lego bricks. However, this scene was not the product of the work of experienced animators, but of child prodigy Preston Mutanga, who currently resides in Toronto, Canada.
It looks like I can officially confirm it now-
Yes, I animated part of it #AcrossTheSpiderVerse! It has honestly been an incredible journey and collaboration @philiplord, @chrizmillr, @CSteinberg9, and the rest of the Spider-Verse team was a dream come true. You guys are absolutely awesome pic.twitter.com/QnSZrcOf99
— LegoMe_TheOG (@FG_Artist) June 7, 2023
“Looks like I can officially confirm it now! Yes, I animated a part for it.” Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse! It was honestly a fantastic ride and working with Phil Lord, Chris Miller, Christina Steinberg and the rest of the team spider verse It was a dream come true. You guys are absolutely amazing,” Mutanga wrote on his Twitter account.
How did a 14-year-old boy get involved in a scene? Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse?
Born in Minnesota to Cameroonian immigrant parents, Preston Mutanga showed enormous creativity from an early age. The self-taught teenager has been honing his skills for several years by creating computer-animated Lego short films. In October 2021 he decided to open his YouTube channel. LegoMe_TheOG — who currently has 90,000 subscribers — to share his hobby with the rest of the world.
“My father showed me a 3D software called Blender and I was immediately hooked,” the teenager explained in an interview with The New York Times. “I watched a lot of YouTube tutorials to learn certain things.”
What Preston never imagined is that a project that began in December 2022 would lead him to a dream collaboration. He recreated the trailer using his father’s old computers Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, shot by shot, Lego style. Its handcrafted quality quickly made it viral on the internet. The material eventually found its way to Lord and Miller, who had just decided to record a section set in a Lego universe.
So, Christina Steinberg, another producer of Across the spider versehe contacted Mutanga and asked if he would be interested in cheering for him.
“We found out it was a 14-year-old boy who had done it and we said, ‘This looks incredibly challenging for someone who is not an adult and is not a professional to do it,'” Miller said. “It surprised us all, including some of the best animators in the world.”
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Theodore and Gisele Mutanga, Preston’s parents, thought it was a joke when Hollywood first contacted them. However, when they confirmed that Sony Pictures Animation’s offer was legitimate, they decided to give their son their full support. Theodore, a medical physicist by trade, built her a new computer and bought her a state-of-the-art graphics card so she could render her work much faster.
Preston thus worked on the Lego scene Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse For several weeks. First during spring break and then every evening after she finishes her homework. Every two weeks, he met Chis Miller via video call, who reviewed his progress and provided detailed feedback. The end result speaks for itself.
Though still in high school, Preston already has a clear career goal: to become a full-time professional animator and director. A dream that now seems more tangible to him than he or his parents could ever have imagined.
I loved the first movie [Spider-Man: Un nuevo universo] and I was really looking forward to the second one, so working with the people who actually created this masterpiece was really like a dream,” added Mutanga.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse It is already showing in cinemas across Mexico.
