Animation Highlight: Dear Basketball

One of the many perks of working at a major animation studios is that the company more often than not will provide various animation and film screenings during our lunch breaks or after work throughout the year.

The Animation Show of Shows has "selected the best in animated short films from the world’s most renowned animation festivals and presented them at the major animation studios to inspire their animators and directors

Ron Diamond created the annual Animation Show of Shows as a way of bringing the year’s best shorts, selected from festivals around the world, to industry professionals who might not otherwise have an opportunity to see them." - As stated on the Animation Show of Shows website.

This week I was able to see the Kobe Bryant short animated film "Dear Basketball" when the Animation Show of Shows was screened at my job. Animated by the infamous Glen Keane it is is visually captivating. The movements are rhythmic, the transitions are fluid. Paired with the music of composer John Williams and the narration from Kobe himself this was truly a beautiful and poetic short film. 

The film is Kobe's ode to basketball and I believe many boys, Black boys, Black men will hear and see parts of themselves in this visual representation. Check out the video below where Kobe narratates in front of a live orchestra while the film is screened for the audience. You'll be able to see come clips of the short. 

*UPDATE 5/28/19*

Due to copyright’s the clip I mentioned was taken down however I was able to find the full film to include here as a replacement.