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Light of the World is a family-friendly 2D animated feature film that recounts the story of Jesus’ ministry from the perspective of the youngest apostle, a teenage John. Releasing in Aussie theatres on 4 September, the movie is well worth a watch.

From 4 September, select theatres across Australia, New Zealand, and the wider region will begin screening Light of the World, a brand new feature-length animated retelling of Jesus’ later life, death, and resurrection. In many ways, it feels like The Chosen meets Prince of Egypt—with the creative-Biblical-story approach of the former and the visual appeal of the latter.

 

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I asked ChatGPT what a “credible” budget would be for a feature-length 2D animated film, and it gave me three categories: independent / lower-budget (USD $1–5 million), mid-range professional (USD $5–15 million), and major studio / top-tier productions (USD $20–60+ million).

By this measure, Light of the World stacks up as a top-tier production (if you disagree, take it up with ChatGPT—you’ll waste hours). 

A quick look at the film’s credits seems to back up this impression. 

For example, co-director Tom Bancroft, a former Disney animator who worked on The Lion King, Pocahontas, Beauty and the Beast, and Mulan, is the founder of an independent animation studio, Pencilfish, which involves creatives from Disney, DreamWorks and Nickelodeon and whose stated mission is “rethinking the animation industry”.

The film’s Head of Story and Animation Director, Tony Bancroft, co-directed Disney’s classic Mulan and his credits include Mary Poppins Returns and Space Jam: A New Legacy. 

Apparently (and I can only take them at their word), the creative team used world-first animation techniques in Light of the World’s creation. The film is not merely a derivative of secular art done half-baked. With Light of the World, you won’t find the stereotypical second-class storytelling and third-class animation that we sometimes expect in Christian productions. 

Instead, you’ll find out that the movie is a visual, story, and audio feat in its own right.

However, the film is not only a genuinely creative piece of art. It also represents a to-the-point and mostly cliché-free representation of the good news of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and victory over death to bring salvation to sinners.

In its intentional avoidance of unnecessary “Christianese” jargon, Light of the World is both refreshing for Christian audiences and positions it as a valuable resource to communicate the message of salvation to those unfamiliar with the faith.

While its script remains very close to the words recorded in the Gospels (although allowing for some license), the movie’s creative team has represented those words within a narrative that makes sense to someone with little to no prior exposure to the Christian story.

Light of the World is not a musical, like Prince of Egypt, although it does include a well-placed appearance of The Salvation Poem. Nor does it enjoy the scale of that Biblical animated classic.

For these reasons, I don’t think it will ever become a classic like Prince of Egypt—or achieve the spectacular cultural success of The Chosen—although I would love to be proven wrong.

Ultimately, however, it doesn’t need to achieve those heights to accomplish something significant.

What it does achieve is to present the Gospel message in an accessible, creative format to a new generation who have had very little exposure to the Christian story.

 

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Find out where the watch Light of the World on the Faith Media website.

Disclaimer: The author was provided with early access to the film for this review.

Image via Light of the World.