Award-winning director and author of the indispensable Animation Survival Kit, Richard Williams is a household name to any animator. Throughout his career, he worked on a variety of projects in commercial and film animation, and through his work, sought to challenge the field and those developing within it. His final opus, Prologue, is no exception.

Originally conceived as part of a feature adaption of Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, under the title A Call to Arms, it follows a gruesome battle between four ill-fated Greek soldiers skillfully rendered in pencil. “He planned to animate the film alone, using only pencil and paper. The film was to be one continuous shot – he would draw the camera moves. This was to be the culmination of a lifetime of work and study” writes Imogen Sutton, William’s longtime partner, collaborator, and co-author of In Adventures in Animation: How I Learned Who I Learned From and What I Did With It.

I’ve never particularly been a fan of battle or fight-sequence animation, though I recognize the skill it takes to choreograph and create. Yet this film, absolutely fascinates me. His pencil work is flawless, and like his characters, deeply expressive. We feel the anticipation of war, the pain of defeat, the terror in its witnessing. And once again, in the midst of developing a new project, where I too yearn for that shot - that beautifully executed flowing sequence of precise but natural movement - I find myself returning to it. It may be indulgent, but where John Wick is a film for stunt actors, Prologue is a film for animators; showing true skill and a love of the craft.

As I hold no copyright over these spotlighted works, links may break from time to time, but where this is the case, I ask you - seek them out. It’ll be worth it.

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