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India has established itself as a powerhouse in family and children’s animation, but with Wolf King, the industry is boldly venturing into new territory: dark, epic fantasy aimed at young adults. In partnership with Netflix, Lime Pictures, and Jellyfish Pictures, Assemblage Entertainment has developed a groundbreaking animated series inspired by Curtis Jobling’s Wereworld novels, bringing his imaginative universe to life through cinematic storytelling and stunning visuals.

For Curtis Jobling, the author and creator of the series, witnessing his characters and richly crafted world animated for a young-adult audience has been both thrilling and fulfilling. He expressed, “It’s always a tremendous thrill to see my characters and stories come to life. I’m in the storytelling business, whatever the medium—film, art, publishing—and my Wereworld novel series has always been very dear to my heart. Seeing it adapted, animated, and hitting Netflix as Wolf King has been one of the highlights of my colorful career,” in an interview with Animation Xpress.

In a detailed discussion with the Assemblage Entertainment team, we explored the creative journey and collaborative efforts that brought this genre-defining series to fruition.

• Ground-breaking new genre and tone: The challenge of creating dark, young-adult fantasy animation is not typical for Indian content. This project allowed artists to expand their creative skills while meeting the high production standards of a platform like Netflix.
• Creative collaboration: Working with director Tom Brass and the creative teams at Jellyfish Pictures, the Assemblage team appreciated Brass’s clear vision and collaborative approach. His visit to their studio in 2023 helped deepen their understanding of the characters’ emotional arcs and narrative purposes.
• Global production pipeline: Wolf King stands out as a successful co-production, showcasing the effective collaboration between Netflix, Lime Pictures, and Jellyfish Pictures. The producers maintained clarity through regular meetings, ensuring a smooth workflow across all aspects of production.

The visual style of Wolf King draws heavily from Jobling’s storytelling, with the artistic direction led by the teams at Netflix, Lime, and Jellyfish. The goal was to translate the essence of Jobling’s world into 3D while retaining the depth of his designs. The team shared, “We leaned into hand-painted textures, stylized lighting, and graphic silhouettes to ensure the show felt like his artwork had come to life, enriched by the motion that CG allows.”

To enhance the stylized tone of Wolf King, the creators opted for animating on twos (12 fps), which added a unique “flip-book” effect to character movements. This choice not only aligned with the series’ tone but also established a distinct visual identity, setting it apart from traditional hyper-fluid CG animation.

However, animating on twos presented challenges, such as the risk of losing subtle nuances in character performances. The team addressed these issues through research and development, adopting a hybrid frame-rate approach to maintain fluidity where necessary. Chetan Tahshildar, animation director at Assemblage Entertainment, noted, “Animating on twos sounds simple, but it’s like a balancing act; you want that handcrafted, stylized feel without making the movement look stiff.”

For animation and look development, the team primarily utilized Maya, while also implementing a USD-based pipeline to ensure seamless collaboration with global partners. This approach significantly improved efficiency and reliability across the production.

Another challenge was integrating 2D effects into the show’s stylized aesthetic. To overcome this, Assemblage Entertainment trained an internal team in 2D FX, ensuring that the hand-drawn elements felt organic alongside the 3D characters. They also employed Houdini for specific 2D FX, blending procedural workflows with handcrafted artistry.

As the team navigated these technical challenges, they relied on a mix of industry-standard tools and their own creativity. Vidit Kundra, CG co-head at Assemblage Entertainment, emphasized, “The real magic came from the team’s artistry; the tools just helped us bring that vision to life.”

According to the Assemblage team, the excitement surrounding Wolf King at India’s premier animation event, the Animation and More (AM) Summit and Ann Awards, highlighted the audience’s appetite for such content. Many were surprised to discover that a show as dark and visually ambitious as Wolf King was produced in India.

Arjun Madhavan, CEO of Assemblage Entertainment, remarked, “Wolf King is a bold leap for us, bringing young adult dark fantasy to life at a cinematic scale. It’s a testament to the extraordinary talent in our region and the trust global partners like Netflix place in us. We’re proud to push boundaries, elevate genres, and redefine what Indian animation stands for on the world stage.”

The second season of Wolf King premiered on Netflix last week, and Assemblage Entertainment has an exciting slate of upcoming projects, including Stitch Head, an adaptation of Guy Bass’s book set for theatrical release in Halloween 2025, and Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie, a DreamWorks Animation production hitting theaters in September 2025. They are also collaborating with global studios on several unannounced projects, reinforcing their mission to elevate India’s animation industry into a new era of creativity and scale.

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