By Ife J. Ibitayo
Like all truly great ideas, this one began in bed. I had just returned from two crazy weeks of volunteering at a Christian kids’ camp. And my brain must have still been running on soda and gummy snacks. Every night when I opened my Bible, I found myself chuckling. The Exodus was amusing, the book of Joshua was comical, and the story of David was downright hilarious.
This all came to a head one night as I lay down to sleep and immediately woke up with an idea in my head. I called it at the time the Dodgeball Bible Animated Series. (That rolls right off the tongue, am I right?) I spent several minutes penning down scene ideas: Joshua winning battles by calling down giant dodgeballs from heaven, King Ahab dressed in fishing garb and a sailor’s mustache, the nations inhabiting the Promised Land as ninjas, samurais, and juggling circus clowns. The list grew more and more ridiculous until I finally tossed my phone aside and let my weary eyes return to their rest.
Source: Art of Animation; Credit: Dreamworks
The Muses that Inspired My Bemusement
Two bodies of work inspired my percolating idea that night: The Prince of Egypt and Veggietales. First, the Academy Award winning movie The Prince of Egypt has held a special place in my heart over the years. It was both a faithful retelling of one of the most important stories in all of scripture. But it was also well-acted, gorgeously animated, fast paced, and exquisitely orchestrated. It resonated for both those who claimed the Abrahamic faith and those who did not. And few other movies in all of history have been able to effectively straddle that divide.
Second, I grew up inhaling animated movies like oxygen, and none did I devour more readily than Veggietales. I watched every one I could get my hands on from well known classics like Esther, the Girl Who Became Queen to deep cuts like Moe and the Big Exit. This collection of Bible-based movies distilled the heart behind these sacred stories and enveloped them in silly wrapping paper. It was this unique blend of the divine and the absurd that expanded my view of what it means to “stay true to scripture.”
Source: Pinterest; Credit: Big Idea
A Bumbling Beginning
A few years after this late night brainstorming session, I sat my family down at the kitchen table and told them about my dream. I said, “I want to launch a faith-based animation company.” As I began to lay out my vision and my plans to apply to MBA programs, my little brother walked away out of boredom. My older brother nodded in excitement. My mother was sold at the word “faith-based”. And my dad struggled to make sense of some of the stories I wanted to tell, but he supported me anyway. So with my family’s blessing, my bumbling journey began.