Glen Keane's New Short 'Duet' Premieres at Google I/O

You might remember that little over two years ago, legendary Disney animator Glen Keane left Disney to “explore new territories in animation.” And today, we finally learned what those new territories are.

Today at the Google I/O, the annual developers conference, it was revealed that Keane he has been working with ATAP (Advanced Technology and Projects) on a revolutionary short using new technology that will change how mobile users interact with animation. His short is the third in ATAP’s Spotlight Stories, which are interactive short films made exclusively for mobile devices.

The short–Duet–is animated in its entirety by Glen Keane himself, which consists of over 10,000 drawings. Duet tells the story of “Mia and Tosh and how their individual paths in life weave together to create an inspired duet.” The full short will be viewable on an app that allows mobile users to follow the journey of either of the characters from birth to adulthood.

Watch the full short below:

The short is absolutely beautiful. The drawings have that distinct Glen Keane look and feel that are completely captivating. The animation is fresh, lively and exciting and draws emotion from the viewer in a way that not many CGI films can. It’s also wonderful to see that Keane is continuing to explore and make advances in 2D animation, which recently has become a lost art by many of the major animation studios.

The stories in the Spotlight Stories series “blend world-class artistry with innovative rendering and interaction technology for mobile to create a new canvas for the next generation of storytelling.” Duet is the first of these films to be traditionally animated and gives us a glimpse as to what’s possible on mobile devices: “a rich, modern canvas for creative expression and immersive works of art and technology.”

DUET will officially debut later this year and will be available on all capable devices that are on Android 4.2 or higher.

If you want to see more footage, descriptions, and behind-the-scenes footage, you can watch the full keynote here. Also, check out more stills and production art below.