Kobe Bryant to Release ‘Dear Basketball’ Animated Short Film on SI.com
By Eric Yee
Early Thursday morning it was announced that Kobe Bryant and Sports Illustrated would be teaming up for the Black Mamba’s first official project post-retirement
Just less than a month removed from playing his last game in the NBA, Kobe Bryant has moved on from the game of basketball rather quickly, filling his time with various projects including a “Dear Basketball” animated short film that is set to premier on SI.com.
Alongside Kobe Studios, Time Inc. and Believe Entertainment Group, per Sports Illustrated the project will feature a plethora of well known artists in the process.
In an exclusive email the team revealed,
"The collaboration includes the world premiere of Dear Basketball the animated short film on SI.com as well as a series of exclusive SI Films mini documentaries taking viewers behind the scenes of the animation process. Dear Basketball is targeted to premiere in the fall on SI.com."
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More over that the short film will feature the work of Gary Keane, the animator behind Disney classics, “Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Tarzan and Tangled,” and music by composer John Williams, famous for “Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones series, E.T., Jurassic Park, the Harry Potter films and Star Wars.”
Kobe himself was extremely excited for the prospect of working with some of the biggest names in film making.
"“Dear Basketball is the perfect tribute to something I’ve loved for so long. Glen and John are two legends in their industries, so to partner with them on the creative process is a dream come true,” said Bryant. “Working with Sports Illustrated on this special project is an amazing opportunity to hopefully inspire fans all over the world.”"
Sports Illustrated is said to be working on the behind the scenes portion of the creation of the project that will be released on SI.com in a variety of forms — interviews, videos, text reports etc.
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Until then, stayed tuned for specifics about when the red carpet premiere will take place, reportedly sometime in the fall.