animation
roy del espacio - deaf crocodile
IN 1983, THE THIRD ANIMATED FEATURE FILM EVER MADE IN MEXICO WAS RELEASED INTO THEATERS. iT CLOSED A WEEK LATER AND DISAPPEARED INTO OBSCURITY. THOUGHT TO be lost media, héctor lópez carmona's film was waiting to be rediscovered...
in 2023, deaf crocodile in conjunction with researcher alejandro vidal charris found ROY's camera negatives. upon scanning the original negative, about 5 minutes of unlicensed footage from the sci-fi movie "message from space" was found to be spliced into the film. unreleasable in its current state, deaf crocodile decided to commission new animation to replace the legally questionable footage.
In 2025, DEAF CROCODILE REACHED OUT TO US TO REINTERPRET the UNLICENSED footage into new animation matching the style of roy. Rather than rotoscope the footage from 'message in space', we used the footage as a roadmap, carefully translating each shot into the world of ROY Del Espacio.
over the span of a year, we animated this new footage under a downshooter with a simple multiplane using traditionally painted backgrounds, cel animations & cutouts.
coming to theaters & home video fall 2026
project credits
roy del espacio by héctor lópez carmona
2026 release by deaf crocodile
replacement footage
animation by isabelle aspin & brian smee
digital to 16mm processing by cinelab
consultant: patricia luna