Exclusive Clip: ‘Dandelion’s Odyssey’ Animates a Post-Apocalyptic Quest Across the Cosmos

A fiery cataclysm launches unusual animated heroes on a journey through space in the new clip from Dandelion’s Odyssey, shared with Animation Magazine ahead of the photoreal CG feature’s World Premiere as the closing film of the 64th Semaine de la Critique (Critic’s Week) in Cannes (May 14-22).

Titled Planètes in French, Dandelion’s Odyssey is the debut animated feature from Japanese director Momoko Seto (Planet Sigma, Octopus Love Affair). Seto also wrote the screenplay with Alain Layrac, and the film features production design by Nils Dupré. Producers are Emmanuel-Alain Raynal, Pierre Baussaron and Emmanuel Chaumet.

The non-dialog story is produced by Miyu Productions and Ecce Films (France), in co-production with Umedia (Belgium), Arte France Cinema, CNRS (France) and Reepost (France/Belgium). Gebeka Films is distributing the film in France, while Paris-based Indie Sales handles worldwide sales.

Synopsis: Dendelion, Baraban, Léonto and Taraxa — four dandelion achenes that survive from a series of nuclear explosions destroying Earth — are propelled into the cosmos. After crash-landing on an unknown planet, they set out in search of soil where their species might survive. However, they must face countless obstacles: the elements, fauna, flora, the climate.

To bring her vision to animated life, Seto and her team used a combination of techniques: time-lapse, ultra slow motion, extreme macro, stackshot photography, and robotics — all to build each image frame by frame. “Time-lapse is, precisely, the art of compressing time,” she points out. “It involves filming a very slow natural phenomenon — often imperceptible to the naked eye — over a given period. By speeding it up, we are finally able to perceive the invisible. Slow motion, on the other hand, is the art of unfolding time. Like time-lapse, the camera captures extremely rapid movements and breaks them down. The filmed subjects begin to transform into ‘something else.’ In this way, technology is not just a tool to enhance vision — it reveals what lies on the other side of the visible world.” You can read our interview with talented director in the next issue of Animation Magazine (Issue No. 350).