Bilby (film)

Bilby is a 2018 computer-animated short film written and directed by Liron Topaz, Pierre Perifel and JP Sans, and produced by DreamWorks Animation. The film centers around a bilby trying to protect an albatross chick from the dangers of the Australian Outback.

A product of DreamWorks' newly-created shorts program, this short was based on the studio's cancelled feature film Larrikins.

Plot
In the Australian Outback, a timid bilby tries to search for food while surviving the harsh environment and evading the deadly predators that live in it. One day, the bilby comes across an abandoned baby albatross turned on its head. Taking pity on the chick, the bilby flips over the chick, which grows attached to him. The bilby wants nothing to do with the chick, but he can't help but abandon his mission to find more food in order to save the chick from all kinds of predators. Time and again, he tries to leave the chick in a new environment, only to find himself constantly trying to survive a wide variety of dangerous situations.

Finally, the bilby and chick stop at an extremely high and steep cliffside that frequently experiences gusts of rising wind. The exhausted bilby decides to leave the chick there, especially since he believes it's ready to fly on its own, only for it to get snatched by a hawk. Fearful for his new friend's safety, the bilby gains the courage to jump from the cliff and attack the hawk. During this battle, the chick falls from its talons, leading the bilby free-fall through the air and clutch it. The bilby tosses the chick safely onto the cliff's edge, while he keeps falling and gets blown back up by an updraft. The two friends embrace, and the chick is happy that she can finally fly. The film ends a flash-forward to the now-grown albatross landing on the cliffside, where she and her friend now live with an ample supply of food.

Voice cast

 * Dee Bradley Baker as Baby Albatross
 * David P. Smith as Bilby

Production
The film utilizes characters from DreamWorks' Larrikins, a planned animated feature that was cancelled in March 2017. Bilby's three directors had worked together on the Larrikins animation team; Perifel served as head of character animation, Topaz as a lead animator, and Sans as a character supervisor.

Bilby proved to be a testing ground for various new animation softwares, including Moonray, a light rendering engine that will be used on DreamWorks' feature films beginning with How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World.

Release
Bilby had its world premiere on June 16, 2018 as part of the closing ceremonies for the 2018 Annecy International Animated Film Festival. On December 21, 2018, the short was released on DreamWorks' official YouTube channel.

Reception
Bilby has received the Jury's Choice Award at the 45th SIGGRAPH conference, as well as the Audience Award at the Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films.