Sony once tasked Oddfellows animation studio with creating an animated short film for The Last of Us. It’s since been cancelled. Supposedly, the project would’ve served as a 20-minute rundown of the first title’s story with Joel and Ellie retelling their experiences, preparing audiences for the advent of The Last of Us Part II. Now all that remains of the animated project are a number of animation stills and storyboards that recently surfaced online.
Nerd4.life stumbled across the short film’s images a few days ago on Oddfellows’ website. While the page is no longer available to access, it can be viewed via Google Cache. (A brief clip and a whole host of the site’s images have been posted on Imgur.) According to the page’s excerpts, in conceptualizing an emotional “Previously On” video, Oddfellows proposed a short meant to “reinterpret each of the chapters of the game with a unique visual treatment.”
Oddfellows further explained that “using singular narrative device would allow us to bridge the styles and travel seamlessly between the past and present. Ultimately Sony decided not to move forward with this project.” The reasoning behind Sony’s cancelling of the project is not publicly known at this time.
For the film’s narrative, Oddfellows planned to depict Joel and Ellie on a trail “somewhere between Jackson County and their next adventure.” During their travels, the duo would find artifacts that evoked strong memories, ultimately resulting in a series of memories that retold The Last of Us’ harrowing events in flashbacks.
This project seems to have been an fascinating idea in the making. A 20-minute short would mean fans receive a creatively designed refresher with new material, while newcomers get a presumably impactful overview. We’re also left to question Sony’s original distribution plans. Would the film have been uploaded to YouTube, packaged with The Last of Us Part II, or both? We may never know. Still, there’s nothing to suggest Sony won’t produce a similar project with either a different team or in-house at PlayStation Productions.
The Last of Us Part II comes to PlayStation 4 on May 29th.
[Source: Nerd4.life via GamesRadar]
