‘The Last Whale Singer’ Makes A Splash With Vibrant Trailer As Global Constellation Preps For AFM Showcase (EXCLUSIVE)

The first trailer for The Last Whale Singer, an ambitious animated feature from Telescope Animation in Germany, has surfaced online, offering a look at a family-friendly story that blends heart, humor, and adventure with an aesthetic that shows off what European indies are capable of. Global Constellation is repping the film and will present it to buyers at this week’s American Film Market (AFM).

Written and directed by Reza Memari, the film follows Vincent, an orphaned teenage humpback whale destined to become the next Whale Singer, a guardian whose mystical song can heal and protect the oceans. But Vincent’s journey to find his voice is both literal and spiritual, mirroring the struggles of anyone learning to overcome fear and self-doubt.

More than a simple invented narrative, the film’s story reflected Memari’s own journey to finish the film. He explained to Cartoon Brew, “When we started developing and financing the film, we also launched our production company Telescope Animation, so it was doubly challenging to go against the fears of failure, of hubris, or simple bad luck. But I was able to channel those anxieties into our hero’s journey, really trying to work my own way through my own perceived limitations. The Last Whale Singer is also the first film where I was the main director, so to me, the production felt like a test of what my own voice would sound like. I’m so grateful that in the end, Vincent and I found our voices against all odds.”

From the first frames, the trailer immerses viewers in a vast, bioluminescent seascape rendered with stunning realism. It introduces key characters, including Walter, Vincent’s loyal remora companion; Darya, a fearless young orca; and the film’s central threat, the monstrous Leviathan. According to the official synopsis, the story takes Vincent and his friends from the frozen Arctic to the mythical Star Pool, a realm within, where he must uncover his own song to heal the oceans and the creature that threatens them.

Produced by Maite Woköck at Telescope, with co-production partners PFX (Czech Republic) and La Boîte à Fanny (Canada), The Last Whale Singer is a truly international collaboration.

“Co-productions are an integral part of how most European animation gets made because one territory usually can’t cover the full production budget,” the director explained. “But this collaboration between countries has been very fruitful for us. We all benefit from the cultural exchanges, the transfer of experience, and networks that happen when we get together and combine our strengths to make the impossible happen. It’s all about choosing the right partners, of course, not being too far apart, language and time zone-wise, and establishing a work split between countries that caters to each studio’s strengths as much as possible.”

The trailer’s sweeping underwater visuals were created using Unreal Engine and Houdini, tools that have become hallmarks of next-generation animation pipelines. Memari and his team embraced these technologies to balance the film’s enormous sense of scale with the emotional intimacy of its central character.

“One of the things I find most fascinating about the film is how relative scale really is,” he said. “A humpback whale looks gigantic to us, absolutely enormous to a fish, but that same massive creature is just a drop of water in the endless ocean. We tried to play with that tension throughout the film, depending on what each scene needed to express.”

Still, the director is quick to note that technology alone doesn’t make a story sing. “For me, real-time is a helpful tool for iterating quickly,” he explained. “But the tech isn’t going to magically make your movie better. These tools have their own drawbacks, so it’s best to test your intended real-time workflow before heading into production.”

Beyond its technological feats, The Last Whale Singer carries the spirit of independent European animation, including a kind of risk-taking not often seen from larger, studio fare. As Memari put it, “Without the pressure of franchise expectations or massive budgets to recoup, we have more room to take creative risks and maintain a sense of ownership and authorship that I really love about our way of making these films.”

Like its protagonist, The Last Whale Singer will hope to strike a chord, only this time with audiences around the world.