Fwak! Blog

Well not yet. We started putting some layouts together with the hope of making this happen.  And as we have always liked books that show the rougher side of the process – sketchy thumbnails, rough pencil animation and layouts – our approach would be to show the evolution of the movie from these roughs to the finished artwork that eventually made it up on screen.

Story thumbnails and storyboard panels on the left  – with the actual finished version on the right

Rough poses for the animation

Rough poses for Mr. Profesional – and the final animated images on the right

Just a fraction of the many characters we designed for the movie!

And believe us – there is a LOT more rough artwork from where this came from!

From Jesse Justice:

Eddie, Lili,

I just finished watching Los Campeones De Lucha Libre. Wow! Wow! Wow! I loved it!

You guys did not disappoint. Artistically Los Campeones was top notch. All those character designs were great! Not only were the cast of characters wonderful, the attention to things in the background, and the environments that could have been glossed over, were a joy to discover throughout the film. The visuals put me in that Fantasy Mexico that only exists in old Lucha movies.

The characters were so creative. The costumes and character designs were grounded in things I’ve seen over and over again in the wrestling world. As characters appeared on screen I was laughing out loud. I especially loved the Graveyard fight, the death spirit, and the calaveras versions of the heroes were brilliant. The monsters at the end of the picture, cracked me up. (Was that Mecha-Hitler in the back?)

Over and over again the visuals jumped out at me and the animation was really well done. Do you know how long I’ve waited for you guys to animate a wrestling match the way you did in Los Campeones? Way too long.

The story was epic. I can’t believe you guys managed to tell a tale with all those elements, in the time you had. There was classic adventure, wrestling, monsters, mystery, and surprise after surprise. The generation gap between Father and Son, how Dragon Rojo Jr wanted to be his own man, while his father was firmly rooted in his tradition and self-importance, was a powerful part of the movie for me. Something fans have witnessed every-time a mask is handed down. I’m so glad that was part of the story.

Mr Professional was a great character for the lucha libre noobie, his lucha education was a great way to get across all the elements of what goes on in lucha libre. As was the first match where he and Dragon Rojo Jr fought their own partners. I wish I would have thought of that.

The voice acting was great, and that soundtrack was killer. I gotta get it.

Sorry to sound like I’m gushing only praise. This film was one of those things that proved Lucha Libre makes a great vehicle to tell a story without compromise or dumbing things down for the lay-person. Many projects that have had lucha libre in it, always shows their lack of exposure to it, at some point.

I really felt the genuine passion for lucha in this movie. As a hardcore lucha libre fanatic and maybe not the average cinema goer, I loved the film, but I think the film will reach even the most casual of fan as well. The story contains many classic elements, rebellion, coming of age, a little sexiness, action, and honest to goodness story-telling, all the while, having fun.

THANK YOU, JESSE!!!

P.S. There is no official US-released DVD of Los Campeones yet. We mailed a screener to Jesse Justice.  If you are a film reviewer/friend/cast or crew member who missed our screenings in L.A. and would like to receive a DVD copy, please contact us via the email addresses on the right side of this page.

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