When I was 14 years old, I was just starting high school and was a deer in headlights. In the case of Preston Mutanga, he got to play a big part in the production of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
As it turns out, the LEGO sequence in Across the Spider-Verse was animated by Mutanga. How did he land such a gig? Well, he recreated the film's trailer shot-for-shot in LEGO style. The video of the Spider-Man trailer was uploaded to Twitter (and can be seen below) and is incredible. It's easy to see why the producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were blown away by this and the other 19 million people who viewed it.
Speaking to the New York Times about Mutanga, Miller said, “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. It blew us all away, including some of the best animators in the world.”
The Times' interview also reported that Mutanga worked remotely on his LEGO Spider-Man sequences but would meet with Miller every other week.
Preston Mutanga began animating thanks to his father who showed him Blender — a 3-D software. “I watched a lot of YouTube videos to teach myself certain stuff,” he told The Times.
With a start like being credited on Across the Spider-Verse, there's no telling what the ceiling is for Mutanga. It can only get better, and he's still in high school. It's a massive achievement and the LEGO sequence is one of the very best in the entire film.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is in theaters now.