Next summer (on August 12, now), Seth Rogen and his crew will unleash Sausage Party, an R-rated animated comedy, to a general public that still carries the notion that animation is for the tiny crowd. But, until that time, another studio will take a swing in this underutilized corner of feature animation. What’s more, it won’t be long until we get to see what the film will look like.
According to Animation Magazine, ShadowMachine’s R-rated, stop-motion animated indie comedy Hell and Back will debut its first trailer on Wednesday (roughly two days from now).
The trailer will arrive a week before the ShadowMachine crew (directors Tom Gianas and Ross Shuman, producers Corey Campodonico and Alexander Bulkley, and actor Nick Swardson) holds an August 21 panel at this year’s Wizard World Comic Con in Chicago to discuss the film.
Hell and Back will mark ShadowMachine’s feature film debut after making a name for itself in adult-oriented TV animation. From 2005 to 2012, ShadowMachine produced Adult Swim’s Robot Chicken. It also produced Moral Orel, Titan Maximum, and Mary Shelly’s Frankenhole for the same network. Even now, ShadowMachine currently works on two shows: TripTank for Comedy Central, and BoJack Horseman for Netflix.
On the film side, ShadowMachine is working with the ever busy Guillermo del Toro to develop his stop-motion take on Pinocchio and an adaptation of Adam Kline’s self-published picture book Lucy and the Anvil.
Here is the plot synopsis for the film:
‘Hell and Back’ tells the story of best friends Remy (voiced by Nick Swardstrom) and Augie (T.J. Miller) who set out on a mission to rescue their friend Curt (Rob Riggle) after he is accidentally dragged down to Hell. With the help of a beautiful half human, half demon named Deema (Mila Kunis), the determined duo navigate run-ins with an emasculated Devil (Bob Odenkirk), a sassy angel (Jennifer Coolidge) and a mythical man (Danny McBride) for one hell of an underworld adventure.
Hell and Back will bow in theaters on October 2.
What do you think? Would you see an R-rated animated movie?
Edited by: Hannah Wilkes