It is already a year ago that a Kickstarter campaign was started for funding a pilot for a Cannon Busters television series. That one brought in well over its limit of $120,000, and an ongoing funding campaign added to that as well. So, where are things now? Well, pretty damn far.
As a recap, this is what we wrote last year:
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".Last week a teaser trailer was released, and it indeed looks like Star Wars, two Mad Max films, Gurren Lagann, Trigun, and a bunch of Sergio Leone westerns had themselves some offspring.
You can see that teaser below, but LeSean Thomas was also kind enough to send us a ton of designs, storyboards, and glimpses of finished art, so we made a big, BIG gallery out of them. In it, we take a close look at the heroes, some villains, some random cool stuff,... and Bessie, the heroes' car. I'm singling out Bessie here because Bessie is seven shades of awesome, quite possibly one of the finest animated rides ever designed. Hats of to Thomas Romain, who also designed many of the crazy space-ships and interiors in Space Dandy.
As for the story in Cannon Busters, here is a 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.Check out the teaser, and click on the sides of the image to slide through the gallery. Also, clicking on the center of a picture opens a much larger version. And if you want more information, check the Cannon Busters website.
Welcome to the wonderful world of Cannon Busters, where random locals are terrorized by cyborg punks roaming the wastelands...
And below, we have the teaser. Take a look:
This is S.A.M., one of the three main protagonists. She is a Royal Friendship Droid who searches for an old friend: the lost prince of a fallen kingdom.
S.A.M. in a layout revision.
The finished shot as seen in the teaser.
This is Casey Turnbuckle, an outdated service droid who can still repair almost everything, and who takes care of S.A.M.
More Casey character art.
Casey in a layout drawing.
Casey as seen in the teaser.
This is Philly the Kid, an outlaw who's been on the run for decades and only reluctantly helps the two droids.
More Philly character art.
Philly in a storyboard sketch.
Wanted for numerous crimes, Philly the Kid is always attracting bounty hunters who like a challenge. Fortunately for Philly, his body is incapable of dying.
I bet this stings a bit, though...
The same shot (or rather, shot's aftermath...) as seen in the teaser.
The heroes' epic ride: Bessie, a huge car-camper which can change color and form.
Note: in this production, this is what they refer to as a "rough design"?! Whoa!
Bessie has a battle-mode, changing into a red raging bull.
Bessie's bull-head in a layout revision drawing.
Bessie's bull-head as seen in the teaser.
Bessie's cockpit in car mode.
Hm... wonder what the arcade coin slot is for.
Bessie's cockpit in Raging Bull mode.
Bessie's interior living quarters.
More of Bessie's interior.
S.A.M., Casey and Philly in an image board, driving around in Bessie.
An image board of Bessie in a small battle.
An image board of Bessie in a BIG battle!
The world of Cannon Busters is full of cyborgs, and here is one of them: a character called Black Claw.
Black Claw in a storyboard sketch.
Black Claw in a layout drawing, detailing the background.
Another cyborg: Tiephoyd. This one screams action figure!
Tiephoyd in a storyboard sketch.
Tiephoyd in the same scene, as seen in the teaser.
More character art.
Some exterior layout work. Check out the details...
And finally, we end up where we begin: with the header image, and here is the layout drawing of the first shot in the teaser.