James Baxter releases animation test for canceled MEDUSA movie and now I need it

In the simplest time of 2014, Sony Pictures announced a new animated film they were developing titled Jellyfish. It would tell the story of the monster in a new way. Medusa would just be a girl trying to fit in with her peers and when her new found popularity angers the wrong God, she’s cursed to be the snake-haired monster we know. She ends up joining a ragtag group of mythological misfits and discovers that what makes you different is what makes you strong. While the story seems entertaining though not groundbreaking, Lauren Faustthe executive producer of Friendship with my little pony is magical, had been attached to the project. Sadly, everything fell apart in the end and finally in 2019 the project was officially cancelled.

Recently though, legendary animator James Baxter released a short animation test for the ill-fated film. Although it is short, we can see a snake-haired Medusa running, jumping and interacting with the adorable snakes that make up her hair. I love the character design that we see, it is very reminiscent Hercules for obvious reasons that is a film that I love. I don’t know if the ultimate fate of this film would have been a good old fashioned 2D hand drawn or if it would have been a 3D animated film but I think we really missed out on something fun when this was scrapped. I love the little details of having each snake with its own distinct little face and reactions to things and how Medusa is clearly designed for action with her spear and her shield.

Check out the animation quiz below and let me know what you think, would you have watched this movie?