Now with 100% more Stitch: ESPN’s second annual animated NBA ‘Dunk the Halls’

Disney, ESPN and the NBA are teaming up once again to present Dunk the Halls – the second annual real-time, animated NBA game using Sony’s Beyond Sports technology — on Thursday, December 25 at noon ET, when the New York Knicks host the Cleveland Cavaliers.

We spoke with Michael “Spike” Szykowny, Vice President of Edit, Animation and Graphics Innovation; and David “Sparky” Sparrgrove, Sr. Director, Creative Animation, to learn more about this year’s lineup and its popular new addition, Stitch!

From your perspective, what makes Dunk the Halls such a uniquely challenging and rewarding project for the Creative Studio team?

Spike: Dunk The Halls is so rewarding because we get to work with the Sensational Six: Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Pluto, the original Disney IP that started it all! It is a tremendous honor to work with those characters and we strive to be respectful to the IP in every way possible. Adding Stitch this year brings a whole new meaning to the fun that viewers will experience — he’s a huge star in his own right, and the fact that we get to work with all of them is just an amazing experience!

How does this year’s execution build on what the team learned from last year’s inaugural broadcast?

Sparky: I’m excited that we are able to revisit some of the storylines we had last year and continue them in new ways. It’s like a sequel! I feel we had a LOT of ideas that didn’t make the final broadcast last year, and it’ll be great to bring some of those to life. The animation team has developed workflows allowing us to integrate the characters into the environment efficiently, and we look forward to doing even more with Stitch. 

What were your creative and technical goals going into year two?

Spike: The new goals are always to be more creative and more innovative then the year before. The tracking data is always improving which means the character movements are always improving. We are working on new experiences for the audience like the animated Halftime Christmas Float competition which will have all of the characters competing to see who can build the best Christmas Parade float! We always try and push the envelope in both areas, and this year will be no different.

What part of the real-time animation pipeline are you personally most proud of this year?

Sparky: There are a couple things I am incredibly proud of with the real-time pipeline. The first is simply how good these animated alt-casts look visually. The level of detail, lighting, and quality of the real-time representation of Main Street, USA is really stunning. The second is the quality and advancement of the Player tracking, which keeps improving, and the ability to have IP characters in the game. When everyone sees Goofy making a dunk, or Donald draining a 3-pointer, it’s pretty amazing.