From the Film Maker

In ‘The Big Catch‘, a small boy sets out to capture a monster. He knows its size and power vastly outweighs his own, yet he is confident that he will succeed. This arrogant intention is inspired by Rubens‘s painting, in which a hunt goes drastically wrong as the men are dragged to the floor by lions. Like the painting, the film is about underestimating the power of a creature you have decided to ensnare, the switch from hunter to hunted and the realisation of your own fallibility that accompanies it. Influenced by the style of 1930s animation (in particular Betty Boop, Popeye and early Disney), the animation combines hand-drawn techniques in Flash with 3D paper backgrounds to capture the spirit of a child’s adventure. After all, there is simply nothing better than setting out with a net, a magnifying glass and some sandwiches and seeing where the afternoon takes you!

Chris Wilder

A piece inspired by Peter Paul Rubens, A Lion Hunt, about 1614-15