TAKE TO THE SKY…

Introduction

INTO THE CLOUDS is a stop-motion animated feature film in development, co-created by Francisco Escobar and Rob Asaro. The screenplay is complete, and casting is in tentative development. At its heart, the film is a visually inventive and emotionally grounded exploration of childhood grief — told through imagination, engineering ambition, and relentless hope.

The Story

Six-year-old Jason Applesmith loses his grandfather shortly after the film begins. In an effort to soften the blow, his parents gently explain that “Grandpa has gone to heaven.” Jason responds with the only question that makes sense to him: “How do we get there so we can visit him?” When they explain that heaven is “in the clouds,” the reassurance has the opposite of its intended effect. If heaven is in the clouds, then reaching it becomes a matter of problem-solving.

The Mission to Reach the Clouds

With the help of his imaginary companions, Jason devises a series of increasingly elaborate — and seemingly foolproof — attempts to reach the sky. What begins as small-scale experimentation grows into full-scale engineering ambition.

He climbs a playground swing set for extra height. He leaps from a bouncy castle, convinced rebound equals altitude. He stretches dangerously from a second-floor window, arm extended toward open sky. Each attempt escalates: a towering ladder erected at the highest hill, a carnival ride shaped like a spaceship, a roller coaster engineered for vertical ascent, a trampoline experiment designed to break gravity, and finally, a commandeered hot air balloon discovered unattended at the state fair.

Each plan is airtight in theory. Each plan fails. Some collapse spectacularly. Others end in quiet realization. But every attempt reveals something new — about physics, about limits, and about what Jason is truly searching for. The repetition becomes ritual. The failure becomes lesson. The ascent becomes metaphor.

The Imaginary Collective

Jason does not grieve alone. Each of his imaginary companions originates from an object in his bedroom — familiar, safe, entirely his. When loss destabilizes his world, these objects animate into fully formed personalities.

They are not fantasy for fantasy’s sake. They are projections — facets of Jason’s psyche externalized into dialogue, debate, and invention. Together, they create a refuge where grief can be rehearsed, challenged, and slowly understood.

Character Profiles

LIMONE is born from a paper mâché lemon sculpture made in art class. Fast-talking, persuasive, and endlessly confident, he is the spark behind every “foolproof” plan. Limone represents optimism — Jason’s refusal to accept impossibility.

ROLLER RENNÉ glides straight out of a bedroom wall poster, perpetually in motion and cheerfully unstoppable. She believes speed solves everything. Renné represents momentum — the instinct to keep moving rather than sit still in sadness.

MISTER SNOW emerges from inside a shaken snow globe as a nervous, overworked middle-management type who always sees problems ahead. He drafts contingency plans for contingencies. Mister Snow represents anxiety — the awareness that gravity, both literal and emotional, cannot be ignored.

WILMORE, once Jason’s stuffed alligator toy, now lives as a neurotic and trepidatious presence with obsessive tendencies. He checks knots twice. Then three times. Wilmore represents vulnerability — the fear of losing something again.

MISTER GEEGLES is different. Constructed from clothes found in the back of Dad’s closet, he is Jason’s own invention: tall, gangly, with a giant yellow ball for a head. Unlike the others, who emerge from preexisting objects, Mister Geegles is assembled. When Jason first brings him to life, he explains with total sincerity: “I made you because you are tall and you can help me reach the clouds.” The line is literal — and revealing. Mister Geegles begins as a tool for elevation but becomes the conscience of the story. Wide-eyed and earnest, he asks the questions Jason cannot yet articulate. He represents integration — the first signs that Jason’s understanding is evolving beyond physical ascent.

CAPTAIN OUTSTANDING is a bombastic, overconfident superhero with exaggerated musculature who overcomplicates everything. His plans are grand. His logic is flawed. He represents bravado masking insecurity — the uncomfortable realization that strength alone cannot solve grief.

LENA, a cockatiel reminiscent in spirit of Woodstock, communicates in a series of chirps that only Jason understands. While the others debate and design, Lena observes. She represents intuition — the quiet understanding that arrives before language.

Psychological Framework

Each character embodies a facet of Jason’s inner life: optimism, momentum, anxiety, vulnerability, conscience, ego, and intuition. Together, they create a safe architecture for processing loss. The imaginary world does not distract from grief — it metabolizes it. As each attempt to reach the clouds fails, the goal slowly transforms. The clouds shift from destination to metaphor. What begins as a mission of physical ascent becomes an emotional descent into acceptance.

Visual Language & Tone

Rendered in tactile stop-motion animation, INTO THE CLOUDS balances whimsy with emotional gravity. The physicality of handmade sets and characters mirrors Jason’s hands-on attempts to solve the impossible. Wood, rope, fabric, cardboard, and mechanical contraptions reflect both childlike ingenuity and fragile determination.

The sky itself evolves visually across the film — first soft and distant, then monumental and unreachable, and finally transformed by understanding. The handcrafted emotional texture aligns with the tradition of psychologically resonant stop-motion storytelling, where material form deepens character and theme.

Development & Rights

The screenplay for INTO THE CLOUDS is complete. Casting discussions are ongoing, with visual and character development actively underway. The project is fully copyrighted and registered with both the Library of Congress and the Writers Guild of America. All rights reserved.