When will Wednesdays with Gramps release? Details revealed for the new DreamWorks animated short film

DreamWorks' latest animated film, Wednesdays with Gramps, is already circling Oscar buzz, as the short film has managed to wow audiences with its animation style and a heartfelt, emotional setup.

Directed by siblings Chris and Justin Scopeland, the film leans into glitchy and comic-book-inspired animations, which many have compared to Sony’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. At the center of the film is Gramps and the teenage boy's love for gaming arcades, as the pixels on a screen become their way of bonding with each other. The Copeland's Chicago upbringing influenced the film and its themes of generational gaps.

When will Wednesdays with Gramps release in theaters?

Poster for Wednesdays with Gramps (Image via DreamWorks)

As of now, there is no confirmed release date for Wednesdays with Gramps, although the film was screened in September at the Nashville Film Festival and will also be screened next year in September at the Detroit Film Festival, where it is also being awarded the Best Animated Film award. Apart from that, the film has also been screened at the Palm Springs International Film Festival and the Chicago International Film Festival.

The trailer, which came out in October, brought the film immense praise and excited audiences who were looking forward to catching the film on the big screens or streaming sites. As of now, no such date has been revealed, but keep checking this space for more!

More details about Wednesdays with Gramps

As of now, Wednesdays with Gramps is being discussed as an Oscar contender after it received praise at film festivals. It will be a worthy entry for the Short Film category.

As for the inspiration behind the film, the Copelands sat down for a chat with Cartoon Brew, where they talked about the inspiration behind the short and said,

"We thought that it would be cool if a grandpa were really good at old school video games, and that this was a connection point between him and his reclusive grandson. Once we found the emotional hook, it was all about finding the coolest path possible. We were born in the ’80s and were around when all of the cool stuff began to come on the scene, which influences a lot of what we create on a daily basis. This is a love letter to those things!"

At its heart, the film follows a teenager who dutifully visits his grandfather every Wednesday at an assisted-living home. The routine feels banal. But then the grandpa’s hidden past as an arcade champion surfaces, and everything shifts. The gray reality pulsates with neon, 8-bit energy floods the frames, power-ups pop up, and the visitor and the elder become co-players in a world where imagination and memory collide. The trailer signals that what starts as “just another visit” turns into an emotional level-up.