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Halo Legends

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Halo Legends
Halo Legends Promotional poster
Directed byFrank O'Connor
Joseph Chou
Produced byBonnie Ross
John Ledford
Production
companies
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release dates
February 9, 2010
(home video)
CountriesJapan
United States
LanguageEnglish

Halo Legends is a collection of seven animated short films set in the Halo science-fiction universe. Financed by Halo franchise overseer 343 Industries, the stories were created by five Japanese production houses: Bones, Casio Entertainment, Production I.G., Studio 4°C, and Toei Animation. Shinji Aramaki, creator and director of Appleseed and Appleseed Ex Machina, serves as the project's creative director.

The idea for an anime compilation existed for years before there was momentum for the project. 343 Creative director Frank O'Connor produced story outlines or finished scripts that the production houses animated in a variety of styles. Warner Bros. will release Legends on DVD and Blu-ray on February 16, 2010. Six of the stories are officially part of the Halo canon, with the seventh, made by Toei, is intended to be a parody of the universe.[1]

Development

To oversee development of the entire Halo franchise, Microsoft created an internal division, 343 Industries, to manage the Halo brand.[2][3] Frank O'Connor, 343's creative director, said that such a move was vital: "If you look at how George Lucas held on to Star Wars, not just to make money from action figures but to control the direction the universe went in, you can see why we think it's pretty vital."[4]

Halo Legends's origins came from 2006's The Halo Graphic Novel; O'Connor said that the idea of an anime compilation existed for years before there was momentum for the project. Most of the animation studios Microsoft approached were available for the project. Most studios were "afraid" of creating their own stories, even if they were familiar with the series, so O'Connor sent them possible story treatments. Microsoft was deeply involved in making sure story details were correct and writing the scripts for the stories—O'Connor estimated that 50% of the dialogue in the final products were verbatim from the original scripts[3]—but the animation studios were given wide latitude in their animation styles.[2] "We realized very early on [that Halo] could take interpretation," said O'Connor, saying that the look-and-feel of the universe persisted even through differing artistic styles.[3] While all the stories save one are considered canon, O'Connor noted that some discrepancies were the cause of artistic interpretation.[5]

Major voice recording was done by Seraphim Digital Studios (formerly known as Amusement Park Media), the dubbing studio known for producing dubs of anime for ADV Films.[6]

Episodes

Most of the episodes were originally broadcast on Halo Waypoint on the specified date. The episodes range in length from ten to twenty minutes.[5]

Title Studio Waypoint airdate
"The Babysitter"Studio 4°CNovember 7, 2009
"Babysitters" follows a squad of four Orbital Drop Shock Troopers or Helljumpers. The squad is comprised of Private O'Brien, Dutch (from Halo 3: ODST), Master Sergeant Cortez, and Corporal Checkman. O'Brien is being replaced as the squad's sniper by Cal-141, a SPARTAN-II, and is now the backup. The squad is sent into a Covenant zone under the cover of a meteor shower to eliminate a Prophet. Produced by Eiko Tanaka and directed by Toshiyuki Kanno.
"The Duel"Production I.GNovember 21, 2009
Produced by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and directed by Hiroshi Yamazaki, with creative supervision by Mamoru Oshii follows an Arbiter named Fal who does not want to follow the Covenant religion. One of the Prophets accuses Fal of heresy. Fal will not yield and the Prophet is forced to send another Elite to kill his wife in order to drag him to a trap.
"The Package"Casio EntertainmentDecember 5/12, 2009

The Package segment is animated by Casio Entertainment, with Shinji Aramaki acting as Creative Director, and written by Dai Sato, the story is a two-part all CGI-film taking place during a SPARTAN-II raid on a Covenant CCS-class Battle cruiser using the Booster Frames.

On board a cloaked human ship, a group of Spartans (John-117, Frederic-104, Kelly-087, Arthur-079 and Solomon-069) are briefed by an intelligence officer about their mission. A Covenant fleet is momentarily trapped in the system, and is carrying an important "package" the Spartans must retrieve. The ship decloaks and deploys the Spartans in small ships called Booster Frames. Solomon detects the package on one of the ships, but discovers too late that it is a ruse; Solomon is killed when the ship is destroyed. John deduces that their target is actually in the Covenant flagship. Arthur is killed trying to cover Kelly during the battle, and the rest of the Spartans board the Covenant ship. Making their way through thick Covenant defenses. John manages to recover the "package"—human scientist Doctor Catherine Elizabeth Halsey, founder of the SPARTAN-II Program, in cryo-hibernation—and the two escape via a Covenant escape pod. The remaining Spartans are recovered by the stealth ship and leave the system. Once they are aboard, John says he needs to be stronger.
"Origins"Studio 4°CDecember 5/12, 2009

Part I begins aboard the Forward Unto Dawn where Cortana and Master Chief were stranded on after the events of Halo 3. Cortana begins by musing of her seven years of existence and that she has learned a great deal more about the Forerunners that was previously known. The story then shifts to a Forerunner planet before the invasion of the Flood, and then leads up to infection of the planet and it's eventual orbitial bombardment. As the war develops to its inevitable conclusion, we see for the first time Forerunners battling the Flood on the ground with troops wearing the "combat skins" mentioned by Guilty Spark on the first Halo; how the Flood spread from planet to planet and the development of the first Gravemind;

and the continuosly drastic actions to stem the tide of infection. However, the Forerunners realize the futility of their actions and it is next shown the building of the Halo network at the Ark and their dispersal throughout the universe. After the cataloging of all sentient species (of which an early Elite, Brute, Jackal, Grunt, and Human society are shown) The Forerunners activate the Halo rings and wipe out all traces of themselves and the Flood. The story ends with keyships leaving the Ark and spreading life again throughout the Universe and a surviving Forerunner locking away its armor on a planet that suspiciously looks similar to the planet that can be seen at the end of Halo 3.
"Homecoming"Production I.GTBA

Part I begins aboard the Forward Unto Dawn where Cortana and Master Chief were stranded on after the events of Halo 3. Cortana begins by musing of her seven years of existence and that she has learned a great deal more about the Forerunners that was previously known. The story then shifts to a Forerunner planet before the invasion of the Flood, and then leads up to infection of the planet and it's eventual orbitial bombardment. As the war develops to its inevitable conclusion, we see for the first time Forerunners battling the Flood on the ground with troops wearing the "combat skins" mentioned by Guilty Spark on the first Halo; how the Flood spread from planet to planet and the development of the first Gravemind;

and the continuosly drastic actions to stem the tide of infection. However, the Forerunners realize the futility of their actions and it is next shown the building of the Halo network at the Ark and their dispersal throughout the universe. After the cataloging of all sentient species (of which an early Elite, Brute, Jackal, Grunt, and Human society are shown) The Forerunners activate the Halo rings and wipe out all traces of themselves and the Flood. The story ends with keyships leaving the Ark and spreading life again throughout the Universe and a surviving Forerunner locking away its armor on a planet that suspiciously looks similar to the planet that can be seen at the end of Halo 3.
"Prototype"Studio BonesTBA

The story is focused on a Marine who is sent to a distant planet to destroy a prototype powered armor. Upon his arrival, he finds the planet is still inhabited by humans who are under the control of the Covenant. With the suit the only means for survival for the people the Marine disobeys orders and keeps the suit to be used for the good of the people.

Animated by Studio Bones, Directed by Tomoki Kyoda Yasushi Muraki, featuring production designs by Shinji Aramaki.
"Odd One Out"Toei AnimationTBA
Animated by company and directed by Daisuke Nishio, Odd One Out is a parody story of Halo universe and is not canon.

Release

The Halo Legends is to be released by Sumthing Distribution on February 9, 2010.

References

  1. ^ Goldstein, Hilary; Erik Brudvig (2009-07-23). "SDCC 09: Halo Panel Live Blog". IGN. Retrieved 2009-07-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ a b Fritz, Ben (2009-07-22). "Video game publishers Microsoft, Ubisoft invading Hollywood's turf". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
  3. ^ a b c Hryb, Larry (2009-12-09). "Show #343: Interviews with members of 343 Industries about Halo and more". Major Nelson Radio. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
  4. ^ Fritz, Ben (2009-07-23). "Video game companies move onto Hollywood's turf". Los Angeles Times. p. 2. Retrieved 2009-12-27.
  5. ^ a b "Frankie's Halo Legends Q&A Session". Halo.Bungie.Org. 2009-07-23. Retrieved 2010-01-23.
  6. ^ "Former ADV Dubbing Studio Voices Halo Legends Project". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2009-11-08.
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