Blush: release date, cast, storyline, trailer release, and everything you need to know.

Blush is an animated science fiction short film from 2021 that was executive produced by John Lasseter, David Ellison, and Dana Goldberg, and was written and directed by Joe Mateo. It is based on a true story. The short film, created by Skydance Animation, is on an astronaut who falls in love with an alien on a little planet. Mary Ann R. Mateo passed away from breast cancer, and the movie was dedicated to her memory. On October 1, 2021, Apple TV+ launched it.

Science fiction, also known as sci-fi or SF, is a subgenre of speculative fiction that focuses on fantastical and future ideas such advanced technology, space travel, time travel, parallel universes, and extraterrestrial life. It has several subgenres and is connected to superhero, horror, and fantasy literature. There has long been disagreement over its precise definition among writers, critics, academics, and readers.

Science fiction has gained popularity and influence throughout a large portion of the world in literature, cinema, television, and other media. It has been referred to as the “literature of ideas” and has occasionally been defined to foresee future scientific and technology advancements or as an investigation into the possible effects of scientific, social, and technological developments.

Plot

An unidentified astronaut is shown in the opening scene of the short video growing a garden inside his spacecraft, not realizing that a meteor is headed straight for the spacecraft. His spacecraft consequently loses control and crashes on a tiny, uninhabited rock planet. When he transplants the plants from his garden to the planet, they wither away without water or air in a matter of hours. Later, he sees another spacecraft collide with the planet, leading him to surmise that there may have been a passenger. His plant unexpectedly swells into a huge tree, and he discovers a pinkish-haired female alien with ribbon hair at its base, which is causing the tree to grow. The alien sprints to his spacecraft, takes out the other plants, and plants them on the planet, turning much of it into a huge garden. When the extraterrestrial takes off the astronaut’s helmet, they fall in love right away, but not before the alien creates oxygen for the astronaut to breathe.

A few months later, when they spend time together, the astronaut teaches her some new skills, like how to eat mangos. The couple’s connection grows over time, and it is evident that they have two daughters: an older girl who has her mother’s color of hair but fine strands like her father, and a smaller girl who has her father’s color of hair but mother’s ribbon hair.

Later, it is apparent that the alien is weakening to the point where she is unable to walk or eat. The planet gradually withers as a result, and she finally passes away in the astronaut’s arms amid a dazzling aurora, at which point the astronaut begins to suffer from hypoxia once more. When he awakens, though, he discovers that his daughters have inherited their mother’s ability to instantly bring life back to the world and can also give him air, allowing him to breathe once again.

In the post-credits sequence, the astronaut watches a second (human) spacecraft crash into the planet while he sleeps beneath a tree with his daughters and a pet alien dog.  He goes to investigate the ship with his daughters out of curiosity, but what they find makes him flush.

Progress
Story artist Joe Mateo, who lost his wife Mary Ann to breast cancer four and a half years ago, came up with the idea for the movie. He was having a panic attack, and his girls were his air. Later, the movie was revealed to be the first production/project by Skydance Animation to launch with distribution from Apple Studios. This made it the first Skydance movie to be available on Apple TV+. Blush, the director Joe Mateo’s first short film based on a true story, was published by Skydance Animation on October 1, 2021. It debuted on Apple TV+ as a part of their multi-year subscription service.

Animation
After Skydance acquired Ilion Animation Studios, Skydance Animation Madrid supplied the animation, which was produced in Los Angeles as well. During COVID-19, remote production was carried out.

Spanish animation studio Skydance Animation Madrid, formerly known as Ilion Animation Studios, is situated in Madrid. It is a division of Skydance Media that produces computer-animated movies for theaters through Skydance Animation. They rebranded as Skydance Animation Madrid after being acquired by the company in 2020 after collaborating with Skydance since 2017.

References
John Hopewell (June 19, 2021). “Joe Mateo Bows ‘Blush,’ the First Short Film from Apple Original Films, Skydance Animation”. diversity. taken from March 12, 2022.
Dudok de Wit, Alex (September 29, 2021). “Watch The Trailer for Apple TV+’s ‘Blush,’ The First Film from Skydance Animation”. Cartoon Mix.

Bill Desowitz (October 4, 2021). “‘Blush’: How the Debut Animated Short from Apple and Skydance Found its Own Circle of Life”. obtained December 30, 2022.
“The Touching, Personal Journey of Joe Mateo’s ‘Blush'”. World Network for Animation.
“Apple and Skydance Announce ‘Blush’ Animated Short”.  World Network for Animation.
“REVIEW: Blush”. Feminist First UK.
“Hollywood Music in Media Awards Honor Billie Eilish, Hans Zimmer, Nicholas Britell, Rufus Wainwright and More”. November 19

Award Category Recipient(s), Date of Ceremony, Outcome 
Outstanding Achievement for Music in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production: Annie Awards, March 12, 2022Joy Ngiaw Was a nominee
Nominated for Best Short Film: Blush, Hollywood Critics Association Film Awards, February 28, 2022

Media Awards for Hollywood Music, November 17, 2021 Joy Ngiaw’s original score for the short-animated film “Blush” won a Music + Sound Award in 2022.Joy Ngiaw and Joe Mateo’s Original Score for the Short-Animated Film “Blush” won

Music

Chinese-Malaysian film composer Joy Ngiaw, who is composing music for her first animated short film, provides the soundtrack.

Born on November 23, 1994, Joy Ngiaw is a Malaysian film and television composer. Her soundtrack for Blush, the first animation from Skydance and Apple TV+, was nominated for an Annie Award and won the Best Music Award from Hollywood Music in Media. She also designed the first studio logo for Skydance Animation. Other recent endeavors include the TV series WondLa from Skydance Animation, Glamorous from Netflix and CBS, Short Circuit: Jing Hua from Walt Disney Animation Studio, and Rescued by Ruby from Netflix.

‘Blush’: How the Debut Animated Short from Apple and Skydance Found its Own Circle of Life

The semi-autobiographical short about love, loss, and healing is now available to stream on Apple TV+.

The semi-autobiographical short film “Blush,” from Apple Original Films and Skydance Animation, is directed by former Disney story artist Joe Mateo (who created the Emmy-winning “Prep & Landing”) and is about love, grief, and healing. A brilliant, gregarious monster that appears and causes the world to bloom with succulent plants saves a horticulturist-astronaut who crashes upon a barren dwarf planet and fights for survival. Everything is going well until a tragedy occurs.

Mateo stated, “It was difficult for me to return to work after my wife, Mary Ann, passed away from breast cancer four and a half years ago. But I was gasping for air the night I lost her. I had never had a panic attack before, so I had to phone a friend of ours who is a doctor. And I am glad my kids were with me at the time.

Mateo’s inability to breathe due to the panic attack inspired him to consider using animation and his relationship with Mary Ann, which is in space, as artistic outlets for his pain. Following his departure from Disney, Mateo reconnected with John Lassetter, the head of animation at the recently established Skydance Animation—a branch of Skydance Media, owned by David Ellison. They have a partnership with Apple and purchased their own animation studio, Skydance, which was formerly known as Ilion Studios. The facility is in Madrid.

Before transferring to Skydance, Mateo says, “I had a meeting with John, and during that meeting, my short idea came up, and I only told him my reason for doing it.”

Mateo assembled a group of his former Disney collaborators, artists, among them Nathan Greno, director of “Tangled,” who will produce the animated film “Pooko” at Skydance. Heather Schmidt Feng Yanu, producer of the “Cars” trilogy, produced the short. Almost all the collaboration took place over Zoom during the pandemic. “It was an entirely different experience, but it was beneficial to occur during a period when we were confined to our homes,” Mateo remarked. That we were still creating animation gave us optimism and a semblance of normalcy.

The story artist is happy to be starting over at Skydance, which is co-managed by President Holly Edwards and Lasseter. The first two films scheduled for release in 2022 are female-driven and directed by women: Vicky Jenson’s fantasy musical “Spellbound,” which is directed by women and features songs and a score by eight-time Oscar winner Alan Menken (“The Little Mermaid”), and Peggy Holmes’ “Luck,” which is about the unluckiest girl in the world and is directed by women (“Secret of the Wings”).
Mateo remarked, “Skydance is creating a very inclusive space.” “And I needed to feel safe in order to make a short like this, and Skydance gave me that safety net. I enjoyed expressing it because it is a necessary step in the process of moving on and I am in a happier place today.  I hope that this brief may help families have a conversation about the grieving process.

You may stream “Blush” on Apple TV+.