What is the film about?

The diligent soldier Mr. Pete does everything to meet the high standarts of his baroness. To satisfy her insatiable lust for speed he shovels madly on her new iron horse`s voyage.

What influenced it?

We were mainly inspired by the cartoons from the 1930s, such as “Steamboat Willy” (Walt Disney, 1928) and “Koko the Clown” (Fleischer Studio, 1918-1929). These were purposeful for the design, as well as for the animation, such as the “Double Bounce”. They were also an important inspiration for the sound design and the film music. We tried to tell the story of the train’s acceleration through “big band jazz” and sound design, to create a balance between the image and the auditory layer.

A little background information...

The origin of my idea for “Mr. Pete & the Iron Horse” lies in the topic of acceleration in our society. I was preoccupied by the fact that, especially in business, we strive to achieve more in ever shorter time intervals. According to the motto “Harder, Better, Faster”, maximum economic performance is to be achieved particularly efficiently according to the minimum principle. This has conspicuously large effects on the workers, who are exposed to ever greater burdens for the increase of the profit.