A Reddit user claiming to be a developer on a mysterious new Crash Bandicoot cartoon allegedly went rogue this week, posting a thread online containing detailed information and clips from a now-cancelled project. The links included a development bible and two high quality animations depicting Cortex creating Crash for the first time.
The footage leaked via Reddit user PertKelly, but their account appears to have since been deleted. Comments from users in the original thread indicate the tone of the post was quite hostile, with Alphard428 quoting PertKelly as saying, “You guys don’t deserve this show / I still think you all suck”.
Users on Twitter and YouTube salvaged the footage, posting the two clips alongside the hashtag #ResurrectCrashCartoon.
According to the original poster, these test animations were from a Crash Bandicoot cartoon adaptation in development between Amazon and Activision. Allegedly, the cartoon was cancelled over disputes with the script.
The two clips show Cortex manufacturing Crash in a lab, and the titular marsupial breaking out via high speed shenanigans. Both versions differ slightly in cadence and movement style. The animation is extremely well done and could very well have belonged to the rumoured show, but the origins of the clips have already been questioned.
As pointed out by Reddit users and others online, the exact nature of this cartoon is unknown.
The development bible included alongside the test footage has since been taken down, but several Reddit users noted inconsistencies in its presentation including ‘bad’ formatting that wouldn’t have appeared in a legitimate bible. They also note the major legal troubles the leaked footage and information would have caused, and the strange nature of the original poster’s outbursts.
While the bible itself has been pulled, pages from it are still doing the rounds. Here’s an excerpt, courtesy of Twitter user WumpaGem:
These story premises sounds so fucking good!
PertKelly was right, we do not deserve this show! ????#ResurrectCrashCartoon pic.twitter.com/zv8kxsmLAS— WumpaGem (@WumpaGem) January 13, 2021
As of writing, the footage and page extracts have yet to be pulled from YouTube or Twitter, indicating there may be something else at work here. It’s possible the clips are hoaxes developed by very talented fans, but the level of effort and fluidity in the animation here is genuinely impressive. It would take a crack team (or an excellent animation studio) to pull off such a feat.
If it turns out these clips really are part of a now-cancelled Crash Bandicoot series, the shuttering of the project will be a major shame. There’s great potential here, and clearly the fans feel the same way. The hashtag #ResurrectCrashCartoon is filled with love for what could have been.
Until we hear more, the leaked files are the only clue we have about this potentially-cancelled series.
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