Ratatouille Artist Spent 14 Years Hand-Animating a Feature, and Reddit Is Stunned

One word keeps showing up on r/movies this week: dedication. Fans are stunned by a trailer for a feature film that one artist says took him 14 years to animate by hand.

The film is The Saga of Rex. The trailer, posted on YouTube by animator Michel Gagne, carries a title that doubles as a pitch: “I Spent 14 Years Hand-Animating a Feature Film.” Fans on Reddit say he worked on it essentially solo and hopes to release it in 2027.

The Résumé Behind the Rex Obsession

Gagne is no newcomer. Fans have been passing around a list of his credits as an animation and effects artist, and it reads like a tour of modern animation history.

• An American Tail (1986) and The Land Before Time (1988)
• The Iron Giant (1999) and Osmosis Jones (2001)
• Ratatouille (2007), where he created the taste-to-color-and-shape synesthesia sequences for Remy
• Brave (2012) and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
• Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021)

That history is a big part of why the trailer landed so hard. This is an artist who spent decades helping other people’s films look magical, and he has now spent 14 years on one of his own.

But admiration wasn’t the only thing in the replies.

Awe, Side-Scrolling Shots and the Great “Is That CGI?” Debate

Plenty of fans are simply captivated. Some say they’re marking the release in their calendars. Others call hand-drawn 2D a lost art with a charm CG can’t copy. One commenter argued the timing is poignant, with AI tools promising to do this kind of work from a typed prompt. In their view, there’s no joy or feat of talent in that.

Then the skeptics arrived. One viewer pointed to what they saw as 3D or CGI moments in the trailer, including the spaceships and some smoothly moving balls. They also asked what “hand drawing” even means these days.

Another fan stepped in with an explainer. Hand-drawn doesn’t have to mean pencil and paper, they said. It means the artist draws each frame as a character moves, rather than building a rigged 2D puppet on a computer and dragging its joints around.

Another worry was whether shortcuts like rotoscoping or software in-betweening were involved. One fan said the trailer makes clear that isn’t the case. Another hoped it wasn’t, while adding it would be understandable if it were.

Not everyone is sold on the filmmaking itself. One critic called it impressive but found the direction lacklustre. They said many shots feel like a side-scrolling video game, with the action either far away or close up, always in side view. A few others were blunter and just wanted to know whether it’s any good.

The Question Hanging Over 2027

That last question can’t be answered from a trailer. For now, the story is the effort. Fans keep returning to the sheer length of the project, and several say they’d back it just for the passion on screen.

Whether The Saga of Rex reaches theatres is still the open question. Gagne has put 14 years of frames behind it. Fans are already lining up to see whether the finished film earns them.

FAQ

What is The Saga of Rex?

It's a feature film by animator Michel Gagne, who says he spent 14 years hand-animating it. An official trailer is on his YouTube channel.

When will The Saga of Rex be released?

Fans on r/movies say Gagne hopes to release it in 2027. A distribution plan or theatrical release hasn't been confirmed in the trailer's title.

Who is Michel Gagne?

He's an animation and effects artist whose credits include An American Tail, The Iron Giant, Ratatouille, Brave and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. On Ratatouille he created the synesthesia sequences for Remy.

What does hand-animated mean here?

According to fans explaining it on Reddit, it means the artist draws each frame as a character moves, rather than moving a rigged 2D model on a computer.

Sources

• I Spent 14 Years Hand-Animating a Feature Film — THE SAGA OF REX | Official Trailer (YouTube: Michel Gagne)
• Discussion on r/movies

Featured image — Image: Michel Gagne / YouTube