Back in July, but I just found out about it.
In case you didn’t know, The Primevals was a labor of love by animator David Allen. He’s been working on it since the 1960s. In 1978 it looked as if it was finally going to be a “go”, and it received coverage in several issues of the magazine Cinefantastrique, including one cover issue
Alas, the film production faltered. Allen kept plugging at it, but he died on cancer in 1999.
A group crowdfunded the project, however, and the film was finally released by Full Moon productions at the Fantasia Film Festival in Canada on July 23 of this year.
Here’s the trailer:
In a world of CGI productions, this looks like top-notch old-school stop-motion animation in the style of Ray Harryhausen at his best. Reviews are that it’s not the greatest, especially when it comes to the script, but that it;'s visually impressive and played very straight.
Can’t wait until this becomes available via streaming or DVD.