The Nine-Year Journey of Creating The Curious Incident of Everett Wilder and Its Cultural References

Creating a film involving visual effects is a complex process that often takes years to complete. For The Curious Incident of Everett Wilder, the journey stretched over nine years as the effort to bring the computer animated jackalope to life. This post explores the development period, the animation challenges faced, and the references that shaped the film’s unique style.

Actors Nate Ruth and Ripley Dresser between takes

How it Began

The film originated as a project in Tom Richmond's cinematography class at the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema. Initially, the scenes of the boy at a birthday party encountering a jackalope were intended to be nothing more than a sketch. However, over time, a story began to form, and due to the dynamics of film school, it evolved quite significantly.

The story was initially intended to center on the older version of the character Everett Wilder and his mission to capture the elusive jackalope. There were plans to construct a set of his apartment and film in an older library in Brooklyn. The film was supposed to conclude with him stepping through a door and transforming back into a child, symbolizing that he would finally experience the childhood he missed due to his obsession. However, because of changes in how the projects were to be managed, the story had to be altered, shifting the focus to the younger versions of the characters. The final phase of production and new scenes were filmed during the winter of 2016-2017. The last significant change involved moving a scene where Everett [Nate Ruth] meets the Lucy Hayworth [Ripley Dresser] from a schoolhouse (which was expected to have arctic temperatures in January) to a playdate setting in Lucy's room––where they do the bunny hop together and Everett learns the key to finally reaching the jackalope.

Fortunately, the decision-makers agreed to include one final scene that presented the story from the viewpoint of the older characters. We filmed at the House of the Redeemer in Manhattan, featuring the older Lucy recounting the tale of the boy who disappeared in 1952, while envisioning a spectral version of Everett as if he had matured.

Long Road of Post Production

Shooting the film ended up being a relatively simple task in the end, and despite the threat of blizzards. The challenge really came down to bringing the jackalope Everett is trying to catch to life––and do so on a very limited budget. We fundraised on Kickstarter and earned enough to get the animation done––or so we thought.

The first real challenge was finding someone who could complete the work, which turned out to be very complicated given we required a digital furred creature to be interacting with uneven surfaces and human characters. Collecting data from the set was also something that didn't happen making the lighting and compositing more of a challenge. There were several false starts, but ultimately we found two animators––one who tackled the jackalope shots and one who tackled the digital world needed at the end of the film––who got the job done alongside collaborators in color and sound.

The film was filmed and edited before the end of 2017, but the finalization of the animation, post-production, and assembling all the components wasn't completed until the fall of 2025. Numerous animators generously shared their experiences and opinions about how overwhelming the task was to manage this small collection of shots. It was an incredible and challenging learning experience.

This story required the same perseverance as the protagonist to accomplish the impossible, and at times, it was reminiscent of being part of Lost in La Mancha. We endured a pandemic, extreme weather, and numerous human mistakes to reach the final outcome. In many respects, it seemed as though there would be fireworks and something spectacular after investing so much time and effort—but ultimately, it was very quiet and modest, and that felt appropriate.

The References

The film turned out to be an unusual blend of various elements. As if managing a digital jackalope wasn't challenging enough, it was supposed to be a period film—kind of. All of this was done on a very limited film school budget. We had to achieve a lot with minimal resources, which resulted in some more creative solutions than might have otherwise occurred.

Visual Style

Color Palette and Set Design

The film's color palette became closely associated with Technicolor, and our colorist, Sanjit Majumdar, did an outstanding job of making those colors stand out. I always aim to focus on and enhance one aspect with each new film, and this time I truly wanted to create a thematic color palette. I've long been inspired by Guillermo del Toro's films and his discussions about the creative process. His method of color-coding characters and developing palettes that narrate the story through color was something I wanted to incorporate into this project. It wasn't just about having beautiful images, but about conveying the story on the most fundamental level with the colors. Blue and yellow emerged as the dominant colors. These hues appear in the sets and Everett's costumes. The blue is closely linked to the jackalope (which disappears in a puff of blue smoke/light early in the film), while yellow represents Everett. When they unite in the jackalope's world at the film's end, the air is filled with yellow lights, but the world has a very blue tint.

The sets ended up luckily being mostly wooded areas, and we also shot in old victorian houses that created the right atmosphere and also gave us that vintage feel. The film is set in 1952, but it's visually much less clearly 50s.

Costume Design

Similar to the color palette and settings, specific rules and themes were distinctly established through the costumes. The characters are dressed in styles typical of the 1950s and 60s, including button-up shirts, cardigans, and pleated pants. These costumes effectively transport viewers to that era and enhance the film’s nostalgic atmosphere. The older actors appear in the 60s, and we were fortunate to have Sarah Bieber, a talented costume designer, source some authentic bespoke pieces. Older Everett [Ry Armstrong] wears a grey suit and blue vest that align with what he wears when meeting Lucy as children. Similarly, Lucy wears a cream dress and soft blue coat to create a blue/yellow contrast. We also gave older Everett the same clip-on bow tie that younger Everett wears when meeting Lucy.

Everett, portrayed by Nate Ruth, is the film's main character, and his costumes are where the colors truly shine. These costumes needed to convey the character's old soul, and they are somewhat theatrical. Early on, it was decided that each costume would include key elements: a bow tie, a sweater vest, shorts, and knee socks. It was clear from the beginning that this character does not wear casual clothing, even though boys of that era would typically dress more casually. Keeping Everett very formal was a deliberate choice to emphasize that he's a child from a different era, especially since there were no old cars or other obvious period markers in the film. Additionally, we didn't have access to authentic vintage pieces for him, unlike with the adults.

The other rules that were established ended up being more focused on details. We knew Everett would wear a tie in each scene, but the choice between a Windsor knot and a bow tie was resolved with the bow tie being a quirkier option, giving Nate a more professorial look reminiscent of Matt Smith's Doctor Who. Another rule was that the character only wears suspenders, not belts. All the sweater vests are argyle, featuring variations of the blue and yellow combination. When the jackalope is heavily on Everett's mind, he is seen in a blue sweater vest. When Everett is not engaged in jackalope-related activities, his vest is predominantly yellow.

One of the key inspirations for Nate's costumes was an early episode of Leave It To Beaver, where Beaver stands out at school in a vintage suit with knee socks. Although we don't see Everett at school, the concept was that he would visibly stand out among his peers, as if dressed by his mother (named after Beaver's Aunt Martha). As the film progresses, his shorts and knee socks, more reminiscent of British 50s attire than American, transition into pants as he gets closer to capturing the jackalope, symbolizing the rite of passage known as breeching. By the film's end, when he encounters the jackalope in the other world, he's wearing the same outfit as in the first scene, with the shorts replaced by pants of the same color.

Jerry Mathers as The Beaver in Beaver's Short Pants