Atomic Cartoons on animating The Last Kids on Earth

What do you do when zombies and monsters invade your hometown? Team up with your friends to survive the chaos, of course! This is exactly what a scrappy 13-year-old orphan named Jack Sullivan does in the series, The Last Kids on Earth.

The team at Atomic Cartoons produced and animated this action-packed Netflix series; based off of author Max Brallier’s New York Times bestselling books. A 66-minute special to launch the series debuted in 2019, followed by two 10-episode seasons in April and September of 2020. In spring 2021, Atomic Cartoons announced an interactive special, Happy Apocalypse to You, leveraging Netflix's technology which allows viewers to make choices to advance the story. This special gives fans a chance to immerse themselves even more in The Last Kids on Earth setting. 

Made using cutout character rigs in Harmony Premium, the series won the 2020 Daytime Emmy Award in Outstanding Special Class Animated Program as well as four Leo Awards! We caught up with producer, Joel Bradley, and head of 2D animation, Nadine Westerbarkey, to learn about Atomic Cartoons and the process behind The Last Kids on Earth. 

To start, could you tell us about Atomic Cartoons? 

Joel: Atomic Cartoons was formed in 1999 by four artists who wanted to create a studio that would have an artist-first mentality. Since then, it’s grown into a much larger studio, with around 1200 people and three locations. We have a location in Los Angeles that covers pre-production and development, production in Vancouver; and a smaller 2D studio in Ottawa. 

Atomic Cartoons works on everything from 3D and 2D to hybrid shows, and a lot of our shows are done in Harmony. Right now we are working on expanding into doing more of our own shows.

Can you share a bit about the series The Last Kids on Earth, and how Atomic Cartoons got on the project? 

Joel: Matt Berkowitz, who is the president of Thunderbird Entertainment and CCO of Atomic Cartoons, found the original book and linked up with the writer, Max Brallier, who agreed to work it into a series. At that point there were already three books. All of us at the studio loved the story. We felt the opportunity to work on a show that would have so many different monsters and characters would be a fun challenge. 

We were super excited to work with Max, and that he was willing to trust us with his creative. From there, it sold to Netflix. We’ve since made two seasons of ten, 22-minute long episodes, as well as an hour-long special and an interactive episode. 

We decided to work on The Last Kids on Earth in Harmony so that we could really push the capabilities of our rigs, and incorporate some CG as well. It’s a huge show with so much scale. So there was a lot to consider when it came to how we approached making it. And of course, working on it with Netflix was exciting. We appreciated how much Netflix trusted us to get the show to where it needed to be. 

Can you tell us about the team behind the series, and what the production timeline was like? 

Joel: We needed a big team for The Last Kids on Earth. I think we likely had around 180 people across different departments who touched this show, over a span of two years. We linked up with an amazing showrunner, Scott Peterson, in LA. He worked closely with Max, Matt, and the writing team to develop each one of the episodes. He was instrumental in translating this written story into the cartoon world, and pushing the storylines to make them as heartfelt as they could be in animation format; replicating what the books had done. 

On the creative side, we worked with Alexia Tryfon, who was the art director on the project. She played a big role in translating written characters into animated characters. That’s something that is always easier said than done. There’s always preconceived ideas of what a character should or will look like in animated format. Alexia helped to make sure the characters were not just appealing, but animatable with a long-lasting design aesthetic.

Nadine: The way we hire our teams of artists not just for The Last Kids on Earth, but for most of our projects at Atomic, is to strike a balance. We usually aim to have a mixture of junior, mid level, and senior artists. This creates a great team dynamic and a natural environment for mentorship. Our senior talent is able to share their expertise and experience. And our junior talent brings fresh perspectives. Overall, we find this encourages multi-directional learning. 

This balanced team dynamic is especially important for complex character rigs like we have on The Last Kids on Earth. We made sure to have senior talent who were highly experienced and familiar with the Atomic Cartoons workflow. That built a strong foundation for the team and the larger project.

The Last Kids on Earth was animated using cutout character rigs in Harmony Premium. How did your team approach rigging characters for the series? 

Joel: We knew that we would need a dynamic feel because the show is very cinematic. So we wanted to build out the character rigs quite a bit. A lot of expressions and angles in our rigs was essential. But we also wanted to have some flexibility to hand draw a little bit where needed. We take the approach that any time we can hand draw something, we should, because that helps to push the show a little further. Overall, I’d say the show is about 90% rigged. 

Nadine: What was interesting about The Last Kids on Earth was that we knew we’d be blending 2D and 3D. For example, the character Big Mama was 3D. So being able to achieve that blend in a natural way was a priority. We also knew that the storytelling of the series was very action focused — which meant dynamic cameras, shifting perspectives, and characters who rotate properly. We also wanted to focus on a fuller animation style rather than snappy animation.

All these factors meant that we were working on a very complex build that would rely on envelope deformers and allow us to fully tween between angles. We started by building out the structure. The animation director worked closely with our build supervisors to identify the general hierarchy structure. The focus here is on finding the right balance of build performance and weight. From there we went into the testing stages.

One interesting part about the rigs for The Last Kids on Earth: A lot of the pieces were fully built out and had envelope deformers. We built out pieces like shoes and other elements, that we usually would draw in, because we wanted to make sure the artist would be able to fully tween every part of a character. Especially with camera rotations being such an integral part of the project.

What was the most challenging part of rigging the series’ characters, and how did you overcome that challenge?

Nadine: The design complexity with the dynamic angles we wanted to accomplish in animation, especially for monster characters, were definitely challenging. The monster characters were very complex and we really wanted to showcase them in the best possible way. Initially our focus was to allow for those characters to be able to do anything; which sometimes made it more challenging for artists to redraw pieces. To overcome this our teams worked very closely together to find the best balance between details that needed deformers versus elements that would be easier to redraw and drawing swap. The focus was to build towards 80% of what we see in shots, and then provide special pose builds for scenes that require something unique.

Another key element was to strike a good balance between build and comp modules. Tones and lighting overall was something we implemented in our comp workflow. The teams were able to accomplish very unique and in-depth comp modules to achieve the look of the show. This allowed the character animators to work with lighter files during the animation phase.

Sizing was another challenge because there was such a variety of different characters. Sizing the human characters versus incredibly large monsters is always tricky. What our team does to overcome this challenge is to evaluate where the majority lies in terms of size. Our team won’t base their sizing off of the first main character that’s developed. Instead, they base sizing off of a mid-sized character so that they are able to have a wider range. 

What makes a good character rig?

Joel: There are smart choices you can make in the design of a rig that allows your animator to have more flexibility. It’s a lot about shape language and how you’re technically approaching that. There’s so many different ways that you can build out a character, and so understanding the goals of the animation really should play into rigging decisions. 

Nadine: I think what is really important for a good rig is consistency of structure. It helps when a build supervisor establishes a specific structure for each type of character, because then that same structure can be followed repeatedly. Following build templates is very important. 

I also think that to make a good character rig it’s important to ask lots of questions and collaborate with your team. I always encourage artists to communicate actively with their colleagues and connect closely with the build supervisor. This helps everyone to be on the same page when it comes to structure, and understanding what choices are made. It is also very important for the build teams to connect closely with other departments. Collaboration between design, builds, character animation and comp is essential for the success of a project.

Lastly, I think a good character rig balances animator needs with flexibility. Sometimes I find that there’s a desire to build rigs that will service 100% of the animation needs. To be honest, that type of build will be very, very heavy. Instead, we want to cater to 80% of the animation needs. That means we have a build that can do the broad requirements needed for the animation, but with the space to tie it into a special post-build. Or to open a build up that allows animators to draw pieces when needed.

In spring 2021, Netflix released an interactive special of The Last Kids on Earth. In the special, viewers use their remote control to make choices for the characters of the series. Can you tell us about the technology that used to create this interactive special? 

Joel: The technology credit really has to go to Netflix. They have an established system that we were able to use and work with. The way that the interactive special was written was quite different from the writing for a series, of course. Included in the writing was between 70 and 100 choice points. Each one of those choice points needed to be written independently and also connect to the main story of the interactive special. Then those choice points were animated as their own sequences, rather than as a full episode. It felt like creating many mini series within the greater series. Scott Peterson deserves a lot of credit for the interactive special, because he was at the forefront of making sure the story worked with all the different narrative combinations. 

How was animating the special different from animating the regular series?

Joel: Working on the interactive special was definitely different than working on an episodic series. The interactive special allowed us to stretch our strategy brains and keep things super detailed all the way through. For example: Our editing process needed to be dialed into the 10th of a second in order for us to make sure a scene was going to transition correctly to the different choice points. 

Another difference was that there were so many sequences to animate. And because this was new for us, there was a lot more pre and post-production planning, as well as strategy, that had to be confirmed before we moved forward with animating. Some of the specifics about how detailed each scene and sequence needed to be for the technology to work was really important for us to figure out and get right. 

Do you have any advice for artists who are looking to work on a series like The Last Kids on Earth?  

Joel: I don't think there's ever been a better time to be in the animation industry. There are tons of opportunities to work on shows that are doing cool and interesting things. And, this has been an industry that’s been able to continue working throughout the pandemic. 

For artists who are looking to work on wide release series, I’d recommend focusing on the technical aspects of animation, without forgetting the core draftsmanship of it. The foundation of animation is drawing, and so it’s important to draw, draw, and draw more. Practicing drawing by hand really plays into how you can make Harmony work for you best.  

Nadine: I think it’s important for artists who are new to the industry to reach out to artists who have been part of a series that they are interested in. You can reach out to them through LinkedIn, social media, even email, just to learn about their experiences. Building connections with artists who are already working on the types of projects you’re interested in can help create opportunities. Learning about multiple departments can be incredibly impactful too. For anyone interested in builds it is very useful to have a strong understanding of character animation. Knowledge about design and comp is incredibly helpful, too.

Once you are part of a studio workflow, I think it’s important to be very open about what you would like to learn. The best way to keep up with technology and continue growing is to be vocal about what interests you. In this industry, you want to stay on top of emerging technology, because new innovations help us to level up our animation. For example: Weighted deformers right now are such a game changer for all of us!

Do you have tips for artists starting out with Harmony?

Joel: I always point people towards online tutorials that cover Harmony. There are tons of free tutorials available, and they are a really great jumping off point for wrapping your head around how to use the software. 

Nowadays you can really push [cutout animation in] Harmony to feel and look hand drawn, which is incredible, but it does take a lot of experience and experimentation on the platform. So, don’t be afraid to break stuff and fail! Learn Harmony by making mistakes. 

Can you tell us about any exciting projects that Atomic Cartoons has coming up?

Joel: We just had a new series drop on Netflix called Dogs in Space, which was animated in Harmony. A huge shout out to Jeremiah Cortez, the creator of the series. We had tons of fun working on it and we’re excited for people to watch the episodes, which are available now!

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• Interested in watching The Last Kids on Earth? The animated special, both seasons, and Happy Apocalypse to You are now available to stream on Netflix.
• Do you have what it takes to join the team at Atomic Cartoons? Find listings for their Vancouver and Ottawa studios on their careers page.
• Ready to get started on your next animated project? Download a 21-day free trial of Toon Boom Harmony.