Crowdfund This: A Pilot For A CANNON BUSTERS Animated Series

Writer-director LeSean Thomas is primarily known for his work on famed animated series The Boondocks (which he co-directed), as well as working on Legend of Korra and Black Dynamite: The Animated Series.

Now, he wants to make an animated series based on his own graphic novel Cannon Busters, described as "What happened if The Wizard of Oz met The Hidden Fortress with influences derived from Escaflowne, hip-hop, and classic RPGs".

Taking the official story synopsis:

Follow the adventures and exploits of S.A.M, a high-end, royal-class friendship droid who's joined by a quirky, discarded maintenance robot and a brash, deadly fugitive. Together, the unlikely trio embarks on an unforgettable journey in a fantastic and dangerous world in search of S.A.M's best friend, the heir to a powerful kingdom under siege.

Making such a pilot is an expensive thing to do though, so the plan is to start with an 8-minute pilot episode. What's piquing my interest is the team assembled around this project. Besides LeSean Thomas there is also comic book legend Joe Madureira (Uncanny X-Men), and vehicle designer Thomas Romain (Space Dandy) attached, amongst others, including Japanese animation studio Satelight (Bodacious Space Pirates). The designs and characters look eclectic and neither typically American nor typically Japanese.

To finance all this, a Kickstarter campaign has been started a few weeks ago, and with eight days left they are currently at 95,000 USD out of the 120,000 USD needed to get this ball rolling. So... will they make it? Time (and you) will tell...

You can find more information in the video below, and on the Kickstarter page (link here).