Walt Disney’s first real VR animation, Cycles, won’t be its last.
Cnet reports that Disney is working on another “top secret” VR short film. Word comes by way of Cycles director Jeff Gipson, who will also direct the new project. Cycles is on display this week at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival in Utah.
The piece will apparently be three to five minutes long. Perhaps more excitingly, though, Nicholas Russell, Head of Disney’s professional development program, said that the VR team is being allowed to explore project with existing Disney characters. No other details were provided though, according to the article, Cycles itself was made in just four months. That might mean that we get to see this new project in the not-too-distant future, too.
Cycles itself is about building a home and what transpires within them. It’s a nice idea for VR, a medium which has a knack for rooting you in one particular space. We haven’t seen the movie for ourselves just yet, though.
Of course, films are far from the only place that Disney is exploring VR. Over the past few years the company has released several games and experiences including apps like a Coco tie-in movie and the Oculus Rift exclusive Marvel: Powers United VR. Last year we also saw the launch of a Wreck-It Ralph location-based VR experience. The studio even has its own VR animation tool, though we doubt it’ll ever be released to the public.
As for a possible home release for Cycles? No word yet though, apparently, the studio is open to the idea. Hopefully we’ll see it soon.
