Shorty and the Legend of the Enchanted Reef
Synopsis
"An endangered ocean — three friends on a mission — the answer is in the stars." When their home reef is destroyed by a fishing trawler, three fish — energetic Shorty, his smart sister Indigo, and daring sawfish Jake — set out on a quest across the polluted ocean to find the mythical "Enchanted Reef." Tagline: "An environmentally friendly adventure!"
Pixable Role
Co-producer
Scope of Work
Asset design, creation, rigging · animation · lighting, shading, rendering · full image of the movie · pipeline
Production Partners
Softmachine Immersive Productions (lead); GEFA & Softmachine; PiXABLE STUDIOS; Keytoon Animation Studio; Experimenta Science Center; Aspekteins; GUMO INC
Client
Co-production (no external client)
Director
Peter Popp
Writers
Peter Popp; Raul Erdossy (also credited per Filmdienst: Peter Popp, Bela Huzly, Oliver Huzly)
Producer
Peter Popp (writer, producer, director — Softmachine Immersive Productions)
Key Crew
Frank Lenhard – Director of Production (Pixable). Music: Daniel Requardt, Stephan Schelens.
Cast
Denis Lyons (Shorty); Emilia Schüle (Indigo); Andreas Bourani (Jake); Dirk Petrick (Shorty — German voice); Veronica Ferres (Erzählerin Oana / Narrator); Hannes Jaenicke (Anglerfisch); Judith Steinhäuser (Bonny); Christin Marquitan (Calypso); Vlad Chiriac (Aldo); Seumas F. Sargent (Houston); Johann Fohl (Wurm); Heike Beeck (Crowds); Lucas Wecker (Crowds)
Funding
FFF Bayern; MDM (Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung), DFFF
Distribution
Reef Distribution, Alpenrepublik
Awards & Festivals
Best Full Feature Film — The First Best Of Earth Fulldome Competition 2021 (worldwide); Best Animated Fulldome Film — Fulldome Festival Minsk 2021 (Belarus); Best Narrative Film — Dome Fest West Film Festival 2021 (USA); Fulldome Award — 6th International Ocean Film Festival CINEMARE 2022 (Germany); "White Elephant" Children Media Prize — Munich International Film Festival 2022 (Germany)
Themes
Ocean pollution · ecology · environment · climate · friendship
Pipeline
Custom animation pipeline; multi-format mastering for fulldome / IMAX / DCP
Rendered in Arnold
Production Notes
- Dual-format release (theatrical IMAX + planetarium fulldome) addresses both cinema and science-center markets. - Multi-award winner across both fulldome and traditional film festival circuits. - Five-language release for international distribution. - Educational angle pairs entertainment with ocean-pollution messaging.
