Fil-Am animator Bobby Rubio blends Filipino martial arts and folklore in revisited project
Fil-Am animator Bobby Rubio revisits superhero project “Neighborhood Legend” blends Filipino martial arts and folklore | Photo from bobbyrubio/Instagram
Animation fans looking forward to a certain project from critically acclaimed Filipino-American animator Bobby Rubio can rejoice.
The “Float” animator is back to teasing details on the action-packed passion project called “Neighborhood Legend.” Rubio takes inspiration from his Filipino-American struggles and his love for Filipino martial arts and folklore. The project is still in its early stages but here’s what we know so far.
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“Neighborhood Legend” follows the story of Fil-Am Danny Reyes who’s propelled into an epic world of mystical and mythological characters on his journey to becoming a street-level superhero. Reyes, who doesn’t speak Filipino and knows very little about his heritage, inherits enchanted eskrima sticks that lead him into an incredible adventure that has him grappling with his own identity.
We’ve gotten a sneak peek of the tikbalang, kapre, and duwende characters in action. And apart from illustrations of Danny, Rubio has shown two other human characters: a girl wielding her own enchanted eskrima sticks and a lolo dressed in traditional clothing with what seems to be a machete on hand.
How much martial arts content are we in for? “Eskrima is the Filipino martial art that has been utilized in films like ‘Dune,’ ‘Black Widow,’ ‘Kick-Ass,’ ‘The Bourne Identity,’ ‘Daredevil,’ ‘The Matrix’ and ‘Enter the Dragon.’ I was inspired to create a story where Filipino characters were the practitioners of our martial art,” says Rubio who’s been practicing eskrima himself.
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“I also wanted to address issues that some Filipino Americans face. Being, to some, not quite Filipino because you don’t know all the traditions, you don’t speak the Filipino language, and you weren’t born in the Philippines. Also to some, you’re not quite American either. With the rise of Asian American hate crimes, it’s a truth that some children of immigrants deal with,” Rubio adds.
“Of course I want to infuse my story with action, adventure, comedy, and romance but I don’t want to make a project that doesn’t even attempt to be authentic,” he says. “I am grateful for the rich history that Filipino-American trailblazers created and paved the way for future generations.”
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Back in 2020, Bobby Rubio received a Peabody Award nomination for his seven-minute short “Float,” which is dubbed Pixar’s first-ever all-Filipino computer-generated imagery animated film. Hopefully, “Neighborhood Legend” gets the same amount of love when it gets released.
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