PRESTON MUTANGA, THE 14 YEAR OLD ANIMATION SUPERSTAR

The Amazing Preston Mutanga, a 14-year-old Canadian who captured the attention of creators Chris Lord and Phil Miller in January after releasing his LEGO blocks style remake of the "Spider Man: Across the Spider-Verse" trailer to Twitter. Preston’s incredible animation skills and creativity has sky-rocketed him to global popularity.

According to The New York Times, Preston recreated the trailer shot-for-shot using his dad’s old computers, but had been developing his animation skills for several years. “My dad showed me this 3D software called Blender, and I instantly got hooked on it. I watched a lot of YouTube videos to teach myself certain stuff.”

After posting on Twitter, the viral success of his trailer caught the attention of the right people, Lord and Miller, who were so impressed by his talents that they wasted no time in offering Preston the opportunity of a lifetime.

“We found out that it was a 14-year-old kid who made it and we were like, ‘This looks incredibly sophisticated for a nonadult, nonprofessional to have made,” Miller told The Times. “It blew us all away, including some of the best animators in the world.” When the crew decided to set a sequence in "Across the Spider-Verse" in a LEGO universe, they contacted Preston.

Although Lord and Miller directed the 2014 animated blockbuster “The Lego Movie,” and know a thing or two about creating really good animated films, they had to first get the okay from Preston’s parents.

Preston’s parents were initiallly skeptical, they weren’t sure that the offer was real. But once his parents were convinced, Preston’s dad, a medical physicist, built him a new computer and bought him a professional, high-end graphics card and Preston got to work.

Creating a masterpiece of this kind was not without its challenges. Preston faced demanding deadlines, complex scenes, and the pressure of working on a major movie all while handling the demanding schedule of a high school student. Preston worked on creating the sequence after school, on weekends, and on his spring break. Every other week he would meet with the producers to go over his progress.

Preston is still in high school, but he’s now one step closer to achieving his career goal of becoming a full time animator. He said, “I adored the first movie and was so hyped for the second one, so getting to work with the people who actually made this masterpiece was honestly like a dream.”

Preston’s remarkable journey from using his dad’s old computers to becoming an animator on a $663 million bloxbuster, at the young age of 14, serves as inspiration to other aspiring young animators worldwide. His story highlights the power of passion, perseverance, and the ability to turn a hobby into a rewarding opportunity. Through his work on “Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse,” Preston Mutanga’s name will always be a part of the Spider-Man legacy, while bringing joy and excitment to millions of fans around the globe.

THE YOUNG MOGUL, PRESTON MUTANGA!