37,000 hand-made drawings, 475 sets… the co-director of “Marcel Santa Claus” recounts the genesis of his film in L’Isle-Jourdain

On the occasion of the Christmas holidays, the Olympia cinema offered children and families an animated film linked to the current celebration, “Marcel Santa Claus”, a film directed by Nicolas Bianco-Levrin and Julie Rembauville to co-directing (the duo has been writing and directing animated short films for around twenty years).

For the release of the film, Nicolas Bianco-Levrin was present at L'Isle-Jourdain to discuss and explain with the public the process and the stages of making an animated film. 37,000 drawings were needed to make the 54-minute film.

From the birth of the project to the final editing, four and a half years (including a year and a half of writing) were necessary. Record time thanks to a team of 20 people. If Nicolas Bianco-Levrin had been alone, it would have taken ten years.

475 decorations

Using projected photos to identify the settings, a storyboard with the sequences and plans, the director detailed the research, the creation of the characters, the settings numbering 475, the coloring, the stages sound, the creation of drawings for the movement with transparent layers because, specifies Nicolas Bianco-Levrin, “all the drawings for the film are done by hand. There is, at no time, digital assistance”.

Modern and offbeat

Nicolas Bianco-Levrin presented the work and answered questions for an hour. He thanked the regional production of Occitanie and Xbo films in Toulouse, a creative film production structure which continues to develop thanks to the region's desire to put resources into cinema.

“Marcel Santa Claus” (and the little pizza delivery man) is the duo’s 40th film. This medium-length film is a modern and offbeat Christmas musical, co-produced by XBO films and Canal + and adapted from the eponymous tale of Merlot.

The film was released in theaters on November 24. He received the youth audience prize at PIAFF 2024 (France), the Youth Jury prize at PIAFF 2024 (France), the jury prize from the Alouette social center in Pessac and a special mention from the jury of local cinemas in New Aquitaine, Les Toiles Filantes 2024.