Albert 't Hooft on the story behind The King and the Thief

Albert 't Hooft is a Dutch writer and director known for numerous productions as well as his animation studio, Anikey. Currently Albert has been developing a feature film called The King and the Thief with il Luster Productions. The film’s story is based on a short Middle Dutch epic poem, Karel & Elegast. The author of the poem is unknown, but scholars believe it is a prototype of the Robin Hood story and may have been an influence Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

In July 2024, Albert and his team released a teaser for The King and the Thief, which you can see on YouTube. He and his studio are using the teaser to drive interest in the project, and help secure funding to make the teaser into a 2D feature film. We met with Albert to hear about the origins of the project, the teaser’s visual style, and the next steps for the film’s development. 

Albert, can you introduce yourself, share a little bit about your path into animation, and your animation career so far?

Albert: I’m a writer and director from the Netherlands. Back in 2007, I set up my own 2D animation studio, Anikey Studios, in The Hague. I had attended Willem de Kooning Academie’s animation program in Rotterdam, and graduated in 2005. When I graduated, I had a storyboard that I wanted to develop into my first short film. This is how Anikey Studios came to be. 

I set up a studio with a partner, and we developed my storyboard in a film called Paul and the Dragon, an animated film for children with cancer. The film is a 22-minute short movie about a young boy and his ordeal with cancer, which is played out in his imaginary world. The film is used by foundations and organizations around the world as a piece of support for families that are facing the horrible ordeal of childhood cancer.

Over the years Anikey Studios has worked on various animated series, shorts and features. but we’re now very much focused on feature film production. We have a couple of feature films in development, one of which is The King and the Thief, which I’m currently writing and directing.

Tell me about The King and the Thief. From what I understand, you’ve been developing the film for years. What inspired it?

Albert: After Anikey Studios’ first feature film I was thinking a lot about what to do next. I came across an old Dutch tale called Karel and Elegast which is a short Middle Dutch chivalric poem about the historical figure Charlemagne. In the story, Karel is visited by an angel who commands him to become a thief. This story is well-known in The Netherlands because it’s actually one of the oldest existing Dutch texts. Most Dutch students learn about it in school. 

What captured my attention about this story is that in it, we have a famous historical figure, Charlemagne, teaming up with a mythological figure called Elegast. This is part of what drew me to adapting the story into an animated film. I wanted to dig into our own Dutch culture, and represent it in animation. This particular story stood out from other dramatic folktales and lore because of its morality. The story emphasizes that who you think is your enemy may end up helping you in the end. 

The story of Karel and Elegast has been developing with a great art direction team. We've developed the script based on the original story, with liberties taken. It’s action-focused, with a Shakespearean feel. 

What has been the process for developing the original text into a feature film? 

Albert: The original text is an epic poem. Over the years, scholars have expanded the story, and various adaptations have been created. For our adaptation we did take liberties. In the original poem a lot of strange things happen that would be confusing to watch in a film. To avoid confusion, we made some changes that would make the story work better in the animation medium. We did hold onto the original poem’ characters and main themes, though. 

You notice that in every adaptation the character Elegast is portrayed differently. In the original, he is an elf who talks to animals. In some versions, he is portrayed as the outcast, akin to the Black Knight. While in others, he takes on the role of a wizard. 

For our adaptation, we contemplated what kind of individual this character might have been if they truly existed. We ultimately decided on a pagan forest dweller, which would serve as an antagonistic force for Charlemagne, especially considering that Charlemagne was known for his efforts in Christianizing medieval Europe. 

What stage of production is the film at now?

Albert: At this moment the focus is on finding partners and co-producers for the film. So far, we have funding through the Dutch National Film Fund. The plan is to apply for funding through countries around Europe. 

Most of the countries in Western Europe share some heritage with this old story, like Germany, Belgium, France, and parts of Scandinavia. Given this, it would be logical to have a European co-producer. That said, we are totally open to co-production partners from North America, too.

We hope the teaser provides a better sample of the film’s potential, and it’s also a great test case for the animation pipeline. The goal is to network and secure all our funding in the coming year, and start production by the end of 2025. 

What kind of team will you be putting together for the project? 

Albert: The film will be mostly hand-drawn 2D animation, and so we will put together a team of primarily 2D animators. The size of the team will be dependent on how much budget we have. Our goal is to put together a budget of 5 to 6 million, which should be a doable budget for this project – I believe in lean and mean.

We’re making The King and the Thief in 2D because honestly,we love the artisan craft. 2D animation has a wonderfully organic feel that’s challenging to replicate with a computer. You can clearly see and feel the hand-drawn quality in every frame, which brings an artist's touch that keeps the animation fresh and engaging. Ultimately, it feels much more human.

What is one of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in producing The King and the Thief, and how have you overcome it? 

Albert: The biggest challenge so far has been time. Projects like this can stretch out over years so it's important to be patient. So far it’s been very stop and go over the years, so it feels like such small steps over a long period of time. 

The financing is tough too. The bureaucracy of applying for funding, it's a lot of up and down. Once the funding and team is in place, The King and The Thief will be a full-time project for Anikey Studios, and we will most likely be working on it for 1 to 2 years.

Can you describe the visual style of The King and The Thief, what inspired it, and how you’ve achieved the look (what animation techniques have been used)?

Albert: I worked with a studio called Moldybyrd to develop the artistic style. They are talented illustrators and painters. They have a great understanding of the fundamentals of painting, layout, and design. I wanted a minimal focused look, without extraneous details. 

For inspiration I looked at Tyrus Wong from Disney, who did the Bambi backgrounds. I’m a big fan of Maurice Noble's work too. We tried to apply their philosophy of background and design to this project. We also tried to have expressive backgrounds and see with how little detail we could get away while also supporting the story or scene. 

David Bradshaw is the lead animator on the project, and he comes from an anime background. I thought, ‘What would happen if we merged these two styles together?’ It has an anime influence, along with a darker tone. We looked at Pagan costumes and history as well. We threw all those ingredients into a sandbox to play with. 

What do you anticipate may be the most technically challenging aspect of The King and the Thief? 

Albert: I think that it will be challenging to set the standard of the animation style. We need to make sure everyone is on board and aligned with the visual style, and it will be a learning curve for the artists. 

The animatic for the film was built in Storyboard Pro, so we will follow the pipeline of using Storyboard Pro and Toon Boom Harmony. It’s super handy that these two programs work together. We’re aiming to do everything in Harmony, from the animation to the compositing.

How has the reception of the teaser for The King and the Thief been so far?

Albert: Reception of the film’s teaser has been more than I expected. I was excited to see that Guillermo Del Toro reposted the teaser on X, for example. On YouTube, there’s been a lot of great comments and reception has been very positive. I think it’s generating some buzz. 

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• Interested in seeing more from Albert 't Hooft and the crew at Anikey? Be sure to visit Anikey's website and follow the the studio on YouTube.
• Are you ready to get started on your own independent epic fantasy adventure? Artists can download a free 21-day trial of Toon Boom Harmony.