Back in 2012, Robert Valley launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the printing of a second volume of Pear Cider and Cigarettes, an autobiographical graphic novel about trying to save a friend in desperate need of a new liver. It's about a lot more than that too, as Chris Sebela put it in his interview with the animator/artist himself, "Instead of meditations on relationships and jobs, Pear Cider is a whirlwind journey full of drugs, blood, sex, disease and international travel." Both volumes of the book were a success, but now Valley is returning to Kickstarter with Pear Cider and Cigarettes once more, only this time he's hoping to turn the story into a 30-minute animated short.

Even back when the crowdfunding for the second volume began, Robert Valley had an animated version of the story in mind. As he does most of his solo animating through Photoshop already, the book would serve as storyboards for the short film. It's taken four more years, but Valley's completely animated the story from start to finish. This latest Kickstarter venture is merely to help secure funding for post-production.

If you've seen any of Valley's previous work, like the Wonder Woman short he made for DC and Warner Bros., that should give you a solid idea of what to expect from the Pear Cider and Cigarettes animation. Or you could just watch the Kickstarter pitch video to see it in actual action. The voice over needs work, but admittedly, Valley calls that out in the details of the project. That's a big part of where the funding from this venture will go, though the music licensing will take up the largest chunk of the $45,000 budget.

Currently, the soundtrack hosts 18 songs, including original music from Metallica's Robert Trujillo and producer Dave Nunez (Anitek). Valley's been carefully curating the potential music since 2012, and has whittled down his hopefuls to songs from Black Sabbath, Morphine, Air, Nightmares on Wax, Cypress Hill, the Dandy Warhols, Leftfield, and most optimistically, Pink Floyd. Based on that information alone, it's easy to understand why the Kickstarter goal is so high for a film that's nearly finished.

Right now, the Kickstarter is at just above $16,000 of the $45,000 goal, with 26 more days to go to fund the film. Rewards include copies of the film and comic, as well as the chance to get original art from Valley himself, which is oh so tempting for someone who pines for the time when Tron Uprising might once again see the light of day.

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