(The Lion) — A new animated movie about Jesus lands in theaters Sept. 5 as the first step in a global effort to reach 1 billion people with the film worldwide for Christ.
Light of the World, rated PG, is a project of the Salvation Poem Project and was directed by two veterans of the family-friendly genre: John J. Schafer, known for his work on the children’s series Superbook, and Tom Bancroft, a former Disney animator who contributed to such 1990s classics as The Lion King, Aladdin and Mulan.
The movie tells the gospel story through the eyes of a young Apostle John and ends with Christ’s death, resurrection and ascension. The Christian music duo Shane and Shane wrote a song that is included at the film’s end.
Matt McPherson, the creator of the Salvation Poem Project and the film’s executive director, said he felt God nudging him years ago to make a film about Jesus. He is best known in the musical world as the co-founder of McPherson Guitars.
The objective, he said, is to bring the film to “people that have never heard the name of Jesus.”
“Our goal is to show this to over a billion people, and we think we’ll be able to do that through ministries,” McPherson said.
First, though, the film arrives nationwide in the U.S., where faith-based animated films have been scarce in recent years – particularly on theatrical screens.
Light of the World stands out for its use of classic hand-drawn 2D animation, a rarity in a world dominated by computer-generated imagery.
Fans of films from yesteryear will notice the classic artistry in the film – popularized by Walt Disney himself but rarely seen since such 1990s films as The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and DreamWorks’ 1998 blockbuster The Prince of Egypt. Every Toy Story film, for example, used computer-generated animation.
McPherson called hand-drawn animation “timeless,” adding he believes it will give the film staying power, especially in other countries when it’s used by ministries.
“They don’t seem to ever get old, because they’re true art that has been really drawn by human hands,” he said.
Meanwhile, the film presents the Apostle John as a 13-year-old learning his place in the world – an uncommon age portrayal in biblical films but, according to producer Brennan McPherson, Matt’s son, one consistent with both Scripture and scholarship.
The choice of age also helps young audiences connect more easily with the film.
“We were doing our research, and we found that a lot of the disciples were likely teenagers,” Brennan McPherson said. “Peter was the only disciple to pay the temple tax. You pay [that] when you’re 20. So that’s a very different perspective from what we’ve seen of disciples being 40-year-old men with beards.”
John was likely the youngest of the disciples, he added. Tradition says John lived the longest of any disciple.
Schafer said his desire is for audiences to encounter Christ.
“The world we live in right now is a dark place, and people are looking for hope,” Schafer said. “I want them to take away hope.”
Matt McPherson said he prays the film helps spark a gospel movement.
“My goal and my life is to share the Jesus that I know with the world. And for me, the more eyeballs we can get to watch this, the more I feel like we have done something that has been blessed by God – because that’s all that really matters, is sharing what we believe Christ can do to the world and do for the world.”
