Sony Releases Short Film The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story on YouTube
This Wednesday, March 20th, Sony Pictures Animation posted a Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse spinoff short film on YouTube. The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story was produced last year to promote mental health among the youth, and was made specifically for the Kevin Love Fund as part of its “The Hero Within” lesson plan, which uses interactive entertainment to allow students to “tell their own story through the lens of mental health awareness.” The Kevin Love Fund is a charity started by basketball player Kevin Love to spread awareness and support for those struggling with their mental health. In the short film, Miles Morales grapples with anxiety about school, family, and being Spider-Man before ultimately turning to his dad for support. Check it out here:
I like the short, and it definitely is just that: very short. But I like what The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story communicates about being open about your struggles with the people around you. It’s even harder to deal with the pressures of everyday life without someone to share with, and it’s even worse for people suffering from mental health issues. A few words of encouragement can go a long way, especially from the right person. I especially appreciate them making something so well-animated and put together available on a public platform like YouTube; the care put into The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story shines through. Hopefully, someone will find inspiration from it to seek the help they need.
But what do you think? Did you like The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story? Sound off in the comments!
Comments (2)
My bad, it’s Sony. The combination of watercolors and Sienkiewicz art style was really good though. Surprised Sony hasn’t made a move to do more with it. Seems successful.
I was mocked for asking either Pixar, XD or Sony to do ElfQuest with the amazing animation that they they are pulling off.
There are things I like about it, overall. The father and son relationship. The animation. I like the look, color and tone.
I talking about the overall Miles arc and character more than the short. It is unfortunate they include woke stuff and modern day subliminals in posters and stickers and stuff like that. The product placement of woke will take me out of it.
As far as the animation goes though, the possibilities are endless. I also liked the XD Rebels style animation. You’d think that Bob Iger would have just continued to use animation and just acquire other smaller IPs to adapt. Seems very simple and direct way to get success, instead of bending and warping things to attempt to conform to some unattainable polyglot by swapping every last character out there.