Julien Neaves, Caribbean Head Writer
Full disclosure, I have not done a trailer review in years. Why, you may ask? For one, they are not exactly evergreen. After the actual film or TV show comes out nobody gives two hoots about the trailer, especially years after the fact. And secondly, nobody was reading the RMR trailer reviews. If you have a million subscribers maybe a trailer review could get some traction, but we are not clocking those numbers yet. Hope springs eternal though.
So why on earth am I doing a review of a trailer for a planned animated series that came out (the trailer, not the series) two-and-a-half years ago? Is it that slow a news day? Okay, smart Alec, just watch The Mighty Grand Piton trailer for yourself (see below) and then we’ll talk some more.
Isn’t it awesome? I love everything about this trailer. The vibrant, gorgeous animation, the sweet soundtrack which goes from folksy to pumping soca, and then the idyllic island scenes which morph into high octane giant robot action. It’s 80s retro but fresh and modern and I am totally sold on it. I also adore the design of The Mighty Grand Piton and I am salivating to see him in action. And his robot voice is just so cool. I’m getting flavours of Gigantor and the Iron Giant here but with a distinctly Caribbean flavour.
And for those outside the region the name of the titular giant robot comes from the Pitons in Saint Lucia. Petit Piton and Gros Piton are twin volcanic spires that are synonymous with the island and have been declared a world heritage site. #themoreyouknow
For more on the projecthere’s the synopsis from YouTube:
The Mighty Grand Piton is a short film about a young British girl, Connie, who travels to the Caribbean Island of Saint Lucia for her school holidays with her family. There, she accidentally awakens a giant robot buried under the Twin Piton mountains on the south of the island. This robot seems compelled to protect Saint Lucia but his origins are mysterious. No one knows where he came from or how long he’s been there. During the many years he’s lain dormant, The Mighty Grand Piton, became nothing more than the stuff of legend.
The Mighty Grand Piton was written and directed by Wesley Louis and the plan is to get funding to turn it into a series. Imagine Caribbean kid stories mixed with intrigue and giant robot-on-robot action? That would be simply amazing! No, not just amazing. Thirteen flavours of awesome sauce!
If you’d like to support the project you can purchase the digital art book by clicking the link here. And Mr Louis, if you run a Kickstarter or a GoFundMe I would definitely be down to put my money where my mouth is. Now if you will excuse me I am going to go jam down to the trailer again. ♫ He’s the Mighty Grand, Mighty Grand Piton! He’s the Mighty Grand, Mighty Grand Piton! ♫
So what did you think of the trailer? And you can check out more great animated content from the Caribbean below:
Julien “Editor Jules” Neaves is a TARDIS-flying, Force-using Trekkie whose bedroom stories were by Freddy Krueger, learned to be a superhero from Marvel, but dreams of being Batman. I love promoting Caribbean film (Cariwood), creating board games and I am an aspiring author. I say things like “12 flavours of awesome sauce”. Read more.