It’s a really big deal. The folks at Swaybox Studios, a New Orleans-based animation production company, just got the go-ahead to create a full-length, big-budget motion picture for DC Studios and Warner Brothers.
The plot of the movie, titled “Dynamic Duo,” is the coming-of-age story of Batman’s sidekick Robin, who was named for Robin Hood. Actually, it’s the backstory of Batman’s two sidekicks, Dick Grayson and Jason Todd, both of whom fought crime in the red-breasted guise of Robin, according to comic book lore.
Theresa Andersson, a co-founder of Swaybox, said she can’t reveal the budget of the film, but that the studio will employ 240 people in various capacities during the approximately three-year project. Andersson said the movie will provide the studio with “incredible exposure, world-wide.”
The style of the film, Andersson said, may revolutionize future animation. The creative team at Swaybox has perfected a form of animation that combines elements of live puppetry, stop-action, and computer-generated effects. Andersson said that the style, called “Momo animation,” has never been seen before in a full-length movie.
A high-tech puppet version of football player Marshawn Lynch, created by the New Orleans-based Swaybox Studios for an NFL commercial to air during the Super Bowl LVI broadcast on Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022.
The world got a preview of Momo animation in 2022, when the company produced a short comic video celebrating the popularity of NFL football, which was first broadcast during that year’s Super Bowl. The high-energy clip featured caricatures of superstar players, including Peyton Manning, Michael Strahan and Marshawn Lynch, all of which started life as small gray sculptures at Swaybox’s workshop.
Andersson began her career in entertainment, as a popular New Orleans singer-songwriter. Her husband and Swaybox co-founder Arthur Mintz was a drummer with the band World Leader Pretend. They made their mark in live puppetry 14 years ago, with a decidedly low-tech production of Roald Dahl’s the “The Fantantic Mr. Fox,” staged in a rambling environment of human-size fox tunnels and dens, made entirely of plain brown cardboard. The show was a smash.
“The Fantantic Mr. Fox” later moved to Shreveport for another successful run. There, in 2013, Andersson and Mintz teamed with artist/puppeteers Chris Armans, Noah Scruggs and Thomas Woodruff to found Swaybox and take a stab at the big time. “We decided to make ourselves a business,” Andersson recalled, “but we were artists first.”
Theresa Andersson performs at the Gentilly Stage on Thursday, May 2, 2013 during the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
Having returned to New Orleans a few years back, Swaybox now occupies an enormous warehouse and office space in Elmwood.
Andersson said that Swaybox has been working on the “Dynamic Duo” project for years, keeping their fingers crossed that it would someday be “green lighted,” but recognizing that they had a “1 in 10 million chance.” The studio had to bide its time during last year’s Writers Guild and Actors Union strikes.
But recently they made a presentation of their “Dynamic Duo” concept to Warner Brothers. They were rewarded with a standing ovation.
William Baddour, left, and Brooke Howell, fabricators at Swaybox Studios in Elmwood, paint tiny footballs used in the production of a commercial featuring puppet recreations of NFL players, coaches, and officials that will appear in this Sunday’s Super Bowl LVI broadcast.