Summary
Game Rant can exclusively reveal aMars Expressbehind-the-scenes clip featuring director Jérémie Périn tacklingAnother World, an Amiga classic that influenced a number of prominent game designers, such as Hideo Kojima. The video offers insights into the kind of art that informed Périn’s directorial style, consequently permeating his upcomingcyberpunk animated film.
Jérémie Périn is a French animation veteran known for his work on theLastmanprequel series,Co2, andLike, Share, Die, among other shorts and shows.Mars Expressis his feature film debut that premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival in May 2023. NYC-based distributor GKIDS subsequently secured the movie’s distribution rights, with plans to release its French original and English dub in May 2024.
Game Rant can reveal an exclusive behind-the-scenes video featuring Périn revisiting and reminiscing aboutAnother World, also known asOut of This Worldin North America. Widely touted as one of thebest cinematic platformers ever made, this 1991 classic has inspired a number of seminal video games, ranging fromSilent HilltoIco. Shortly beforeMars Expresshad its Cannes premiere, Hideo KojimanamedAnother Worldas one of four games that influenced him the most, along withXevious,The Portopia Serial Murder Case, andSuper Mario Bros.
How Another World Influenced Mars Express
The video sees Périn reveal that he first playedAnother Worldonthe original Amigain his early teens, having recalled how he was “struck” by its cinematic qualities at the time. Elaborating on that point, theMars Expressdirector highlighted how the French game designer Éric Chahi managed to combine clean animations with an efficient art style that exemplifies the “less is more” mantra, something he has admired ever since. The filmmaker was also impressed with howAnother Worlddepicted characters and environments realistically, at least relative to the early ’90s tech, despite being heavily stylized, as underlined by its minimalist linework and flat colors.
This balance between style and austerity is something that all of Périn’s works in animation sought to achieve.Mars Expressis no different, with its otherworldly setting even being vaguely reminiscent of the Amiga classic. However, in terms of story, themes, and characters, the animated feature film is much closer to iconic cyberpunk works such asBlade Runner, not least because it tackles topics like the impact of rapidly developing technology on human civilization and the resulting loss of humanity that such advancements can bring.
Ditto for the film’s inclusion of androids and its mesmerizing tech-noir world, which have helped it secure four award nominations and one accolade in the form of the Best Animated Film honor at the latest Paris Film Critics Association Awards.Mars Expressis scheduled to hit stateside theaters on May 3.
