The animation team behind the new movie sa国际传媒漇pider-Man: Into the Spider-Versesa国际传媒� knew it had to be different.

sa国际传媒淚 think we all knew that the first question wesa国际传媒檇 be asked out of the gate is why are we making another sa国际传媒楽pider-Man?sa国际传媒檚a国际传媒� said Joshua Beveridge, head of character animation at Sony Pictures Imageworks, with a laugh.

sa国际传媒淲e wanted that to be visually obvious, because theresa国际传媒檚 all kinds of things you can do in animation you cansa国际传媒檛 do in any other medium.sa国际传媒�

After six live-action movies in 15 years featuring the webbed crusader, the team felt the new offering needed to look completely unique. A fresh animation style also suited the story, which centres on Miles Morales, a Brooklyn teen of African-American and Puerto Rican heritage who gets bitten by a radioactive spider.

The animators, largely based in Vancouver, ultimately came up with a creative technique that is drawing praise. They used computer-generated animation to craft an esthetic that looks like a mixture of traditional hand-drawn animation and CG, even figuring out a way to do hand-drawn line work on top of three-dimensional characters.

sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檙e just aesthetically combining that mixed-media feel,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淚 think a lot of the ingredients we used have existed in other places, but this combination is new.sa国际传媒�

Beveridge, 36, is based in Culver City, Calif., but the majority of the 180-person animation team on this film worked out of Vancouver, he said.

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sa国际传媒淭hatsa国际传媒檚 where the muscle and the heart is. Thatsa国际传媒檚 where the whole team is. Thatsa国际传媒檚 where the movie was actually made,sa国际传媒� he said.

Vancouver is booming as a graphics hotspot with about 60 animation and visual effects studios. It helps that the city is diverse, has strong art schools and is an attractive place to live, said Beveridge.

The movie pushes boundaries with its content as well as its style. Based on comic book characters created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Sara Pichelli, the film follows Morales as he develops superpowers including camouflage, sticking to objects and incredible hearing.

But when criminal mastermind Kingpin develops a nuclear supercollider that opens up a portal to other universes, different versions of Spider-Man are pulled into Moralessa国际传媒檚 world. An older Peter Parker appears alongside a number of new spider-heroes, including anime-inspired Peni Parker.

Beveridge said there are dramatic moments in the story that help elevate animated movies as a genre.

sa国际传媒淎nimationsa国际传媒檚 always been somewhat relegated to the kiddie table, in feeling like itsa国际传媒檚 a movie just for kids, and because Spider-Man transcends that expectation sa国际传媒� hesa国际传媒檚 someone that more people are just aware of to begin with sa国际传媒� we got to make our performances slightly more mature, and make it even more for everyone.sa国际传媒�

The film won rave reviews ahead of its release on Friday. Beveridge said hesa国际传媒檚 relieved after feeling nervous about how it would be received.

sa国际传媒淲e knew we were taking risks. We wanted something different and when yousa国际传媒檙e living with those decisions for so long in secret, you end up having doubts that yousa国际传媒檙e living with as well,sa国际传媒� he said.

sa国际传媒淥ne of the lessons Isa国际传媒檓 walking away with after completing this project is: In art, if yousa国际传媒檙e living in fear, that probably means yousa国际传媒檙e onto something.sa国际传媒�

Laura Kane, The Canadian Press

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