The Implications of the Beautifully Oil-Painted, Crowdfunded Loving Vincent

In 1995, Pixar Animation Studios changed animation in film forever with the world’s first computer-animated feature-length film, Toy Story. Released by Disney, the film took the next giant leap in the studio’s long history of animation that began seven decades earlier with cartoons like Steamboat Willie. Since Pixar’s debut there have been plenty of small innovations in how people animate movies, but very few substantial changes that have never been done before. Now, director Dorota Kobiela has taken another leap.

Loving Vincent is a film about the life of painter Vincent Van Gogh whose struggle with mental illness and untimely death have landed him a spot as one of the most intriguing artists in history. The film is also the first feature-length film to be completely animated using oil paintings. Over 70 painters have been specifically trained to mimic Van Gogh’s style for the project that will tell the artist’s story based off of 800 letters he wrote. His own paintings and the characters in them will be used to investigate the artist’s life in a way that has never been done before.

56,800 paintings will be created for the film, with 12 of them passing by every second. This roughly calculates to an 80-minute picture, over twice the length of the painted Blade Runner animation that surfaced several years ago.

Who would fund such an ambitious project? On top of Oscar-winning Breakthru Films and Trademark Films, Kobiela and producer Hugh Welchman turned to 796 Kickstarter backers who collectively pledged £13,292 more than the project’s £40,000 goal. That converts to a total of over $76,600. Hot on the heels of Charlie Kaufman’s Kickstarter-funded Anomalisa, Loving Vincent reveals an interesting trend in the expensive, time-consuming world of animated film.

The introduction of these types of crowdfunding platforms has been something of a miracle for many filmmakers, inventors, artists, musicians, and more. Not only does it make it possible to avoid corporate investments while still covering the costs of a project, it gives the creators an idea of the response their completed product will receive. If enough people are excited about the project before its creation, you can assume the excitement will spread once it has come to fruition. If people aren’t interested in the beginning, it may be a sign that the project isn’t worth the effort. Crowdfunding brings the business discussion to the public.

“Sometimes it’s useful to ask non-experts what they think,” explains Hugh Courtney, dean of Northeastern University’s School of Business.

“Most companies – including the movie studios in Hollywood – over-rely on basic tools like discounted cash flow and net present value. These tools are great if you’re working in a stable environment, with a business model you understand,” he continues, “but if you’re on unfamiliar ground – if you’re in a fast-changing industry, launching a new product, or shifting to a new business model – they can be downright dangerous.”

Still, some view reliance on crowdsourcing as the more dangerous move. As USC’s Daren Brabham tells Wired, ““If you want to cut funding to something, what better way is there than to point to a Kickstarter that made it and say, ‘If the people really want it, they’ll pay for it’?”

Will the crowdfunding successes of Loving Vincent and Anomalisa alone convince studios to stop funding ambitious projects that try something new and unique? Probably not. But they may be indicative of a trend that is already in place. As studios rely more and more on adaptations, sequels, and reboots of pre-existing material, it may be up to the public to enable innovative films like Loving Vincent to be made.