Riding a wave of dramatic, documentary and commercial television productions that continue to flow its way, Digital Kitchen displayed its technical artistry this fall in the New Line Cinema motion picture "Secondhand Lions." Digital Kitchen developed and produced the film's distinctly vibrant and evocative main title sequence that appears in the form of an animated short at the film's end. Written and directed by Tim McCanlies and starring Haley Joel Osment , Michael Caine and Robert Duvall, "Secondhand Lions" is a story about the bonds that develop when a shy and cynical boy visits his two eccentric great uncles one summer in Texas.

Using original artwork from 1987 Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Berkeley Breathed ("Bloom County," "Outland") as a template, Digital Kitchen imported a variety of images -- from comic strip ink to paint -- and assembled them into titles with seemingly magical 3D effect. The whimsical and yet artfully sophisticated sequence, just over two minutes in length, is unique in that the foundation from which the credits appear is the actual "work space" of Osment's character, "Walter," as a grown up. The transformed, animated piece effectively becomes another scene in the movie, serving as a postscript to events within the film.

According to director McCanlies, Digital Kitchen's reputation for being innovative and bold in their creative choices helped convince him that they were the right team for this project. "My editor had worked with Digital Kitchen before and said great things about them. I, of course, was a big fan of their work from 'Six Feet Under.' We talked to several title houses, and DK seemed to think the most 'out of the box.' They came up with a wealth of fun, creative ideas. I had 'mandated' the use of Berkeley Breathed's drawings, used in the film, and DK delivered with a wonderful -- and cost effective -- approach."

Digital Kitchen executive producer Don McNeill said that the artwork from Breathed provided a key starting point for their design work. "As soon as we knew we could use the 'Walter & Jasmine' artwork from Berkeley Breathed, we immediately started developing solutions that combined shooting live action and/or stills, stylized 3D and traditional cartoon drawings. The challenge was developing a visual solution that communicated the storyline of the main character's profession, forming an original and dynamic title sequence that reflected the humor and tonality of the film. The film is so unique and the performances so dynamic, the project deserved a title sequence with the same level of originality."

The 10.5MB Secondhand Lions End Title Sequence by Digital Kitchen with a temp soundtrack