This 2022 feature-length animation was released in parallel American rapper Kid Cudi’s album of the same name: Entergalactic. Produced by Netflix Animation and released on their streaming platform, this romantic-comedy musical was widely acclaimed for its story, music, and animation and visual style.

Originally planned as a television series, Entergalactic eventually became a television special made in partnership between Netflix Animation, DNEG Animation and Cudi’s production companies Mad Solar and Khalabo Ink Society. Founded in 2018 by Netflix – which had started making animated content five years earlier in cooperation with third-party studios – Netflix Animation now has a library of increasingly praised work. It secured its first Academy Award in 2023 for Guillermo del Torro’s Pinocchio (2022).

Creating a Story

Kid Cudi’s visual album, Entergalactic, was the rapper’s eighth studio release and was announced by Cudi in parallel with the animated feature in 2019. Visual albums have been credited to Beyoncé who popularised the format with her first virtual album in 2013. These albums are essentially long-form music videos. They usually feature multiple songs, and act as extended cinematic work or films based around music. They’ve been created by artists from Fall Out Boy to Janelle Monáe.

Arguably the first instance of this medium was Yellow Submarine (1968), an animated feature that took its name from the album and song of the same name by The Beatles. Created by animators Robert Balser and Jack Stokes, the psychedelic style of the film reflects the dreamy nature of the album and the bright pop-art colours made a memorable splash. 2D animation is utilised to support the song’s narrative, as well as the film’s overall narrative of The Beatles travelling through an underwater paradise. Unlike modern visual albums, however, these could only be watched in cinemas and limited re-releases.

Musicians have used animation from the 1980s onward in the creation of their music videos. The artform is an excellent way to strengthen a song’s narrative, reflect the personality of the artists and capture their audiences’ attention. With the rise of YouTube and streaming platforms, musicians can now return to the feature-length medium of Yellow Submarine while keeping their work as accessible as a music video was on 1980s MTV.

Entergalactic was the collaborative product of four production companies – Kid Cudi’s Mad Solar and Khalabo Ink Society – Netflix Animation, and DNEG Animation London. 

In the five years since Netflix Animation was created and Entergalactic’s debut, it had already released nineteen animated television shows and eight animated feature films including Klaus (2019), Over the Moon (2020), Arlo the Alligator Boy (2021) and American: The Motion Picture (2021). Early on, back in 2019, Netflix had also created an animated 40-minute special for another musician – the country singer Sturgill Simpson – called Sound & Fury. They had planned to make another animated feature in collaboration with the band Gorillaz, but this was cancelled in 2023.

Animation Style

Developed by Kid Cudi (who also voiced the main character) and Keyna Barris, and directed by Fletcher Moules, they tasked DNEG Animation with adapting their portfolio of concept art into a 3D animated production that looks like it’s 2D animated. According to the director:

“I looked at films like I Lost My Body, which is very similar in the fact that it’s a very adult story told through animation. I wanted to make something that felt handmade, that felt like an art film. When an artist releases an album, an artist is expressing themselves, they’re putting it out there, creating an emotional response; love it or hate it like any piece of art. I felt like the visual component had to be the same.” Fletcher Moules

It wasn’t an easy feat. DNEG Animation’s Visual Effects Supervisor Archie Donato said: “When I first saw the artwork, I almost fell off my chair. I spent 17 years at DreamWorks, and while I loved working there, there was very little experimentation with the push look. I was genuinely craving not only the artistic freedom, but also the challenge of, ‘How the heck are we going to do this?’”

The joint Netflix-DNEG Animation production needed to create something that would showcase Cudi’s music and reflect his artistic brand, but also stand independently as a solid story with a captivating plot and realistic characters. Cudi developed Entergalactic as a story first and an album second. This enabled the love story to develop naturally, instead of being forced to weave through the album’s tracks.

Entergalactic has an eye-popping look, with strong character designs accented by striking colours and bold silhouettes. The concept portfolio shaped this, but it’s also something that can be seen in DNEG Animation’s other work including Ron’s Gone Wrong (2021) and Nimona (2023). Nimona was released on Netflix but fully animated by DNEG Animation who took over from Blue Sky Production who was originally tasked with the project before their closure. 

We’ll be diving into the creation of Nimona later in this series, which was picked by Video Producer Lesley Ovington as her favourite animated film.

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