Here’s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media & culture: 08/13/25

Drawing on the the Bible. The family-friendly theatrical film Light of the World (in theaters Sept. 5th) uses classic hand-drawn animation to bring the story of Jesus to life from the unique POV of the apostle John, the youngest Apostle. The brainchild of John Schafer and former Disney artist Tom Bancroft (The Lion King, Mulan, Aladdin), the film presents the Apostles as being younger than we tend to think of them. As noted in our conversation, some biblical historians suggest that some of them may have been teenagers when the encountered Jesus. The duo also bring their very personal faith experiences to the biblical story. Ticket are on sale now.

JWK: So, how did the concept for Light of the World come about?

John Schafer: I work for the Salvation Poem Project. We really wanted to create an animated film about the life of Jesus. We had an idea of wanting to approach it from a young child’s perspective. Instead of (telling the story from) Jesus’ point of view, we wanted it to be a young character following Jesus. We thought, “Hey, it makes perfect sense to make it John, the youngest of all the apostles. So, what we really wanted to do was create a story made for everyone. When I say that, I mean people who have no concept of the Bible and no concept of Jesus. How can we introduce Jesus to that audience?…Also we wanted to make it feel like a children’s storybook come to life…We knew the only way to achieve that look and feel was through 2D animation. That’s why we went that direction.

JWK: How did you and Tom come together for this project?

John: Back in 2006, I used to work for the Christian Broadcasting Network. My job at that time – I worked for (CBN President) Gordan Robertson – was to reimagine the Superbook series from the eighties. We were hunting for a director to be involved in that. So, I got connected with Tom and we’ve been on the journey. We worked on the pilot episode together. He was a director on that series. I was a producer. Tom’s task – and his partner at the time Rob Corley – was to recreate the entire universe of Superbook — all of the characters from the modern-day time, the characters from the biblical time and kind help tell this story. I’ve worked with Tom for, man, over 15 years we’ve worked together in some for or capacity. So, when I was working on Light of the World, I had been on the film for about a year and realized, man, I really really need help. Now, I see why Disney and Pixar always have two directors on their films. So, I reached out to Tom.

JWK: So, you both co-directed the film? 

John: Yes.

JWK: So, Tom, other than John’s involvement, what drew you to the film?

Tom Bancroft: I’m a believer. This was the dream I never knew I was dreaming, honestly. God put this into my heart and to come and, slowly-but-sure surely, fall in love with this movie and the story of John. What was great about it was I got to use all of my experience and the things that I learned at Disney and now apply it for God, for my Lord. I can’t tell you how much that meant to me, to be able to be a part of this project. I really am praying and hoping that people across the world feel the same way (about the film) when they see it.

JWK: So, you chose John as a focus because he was the youngest apostle?

Tom: In the research that we did, we discovered that many of the biblical researchers and historians said John was the youngest of the apostles – and that, unlike a lot of the very famous Renaissance paintings that we see, all of the apostles were pretty young. Peter, probably being one of the oldest, was in his twenties. So, therefore, John being the youngest could be about 13 or 14 which is about where we landed for the movie.

John: To add to that, we don’t state in the film that he’s 13 but internally that’s what kept him at. At 13 in the Jewish culture, he’s coming into adulthood. So, this is kind of a coming-of-age film. Here he is trying to prove stuff to his father, trying to help his father…So, we thought this is kind of that really classic storytelling where a child in the audience can much more resonate with John. And then adults…are seeing (Jesus) through a child’s eyes. So, that was kind of our very unique approach of how to do it.  When you this film, you watch this little boy who has a misconception of who the Messiah is based on stories told to him. By the end of the film, you see this boy who is going to become the man to write (some of) the Gospels. We really feel we completed that story arc.

JWK: So, when John first meets Jesus in the story, is this before he comes an apostle, like when he’s a child?

Tom: We set it up that he’s got a problem. Historically, that was the problem. The Romans were over the Jews. So, he’s living in that kind of a world. They’re not enslaved but they’re definitely under their taxes and things like that. He wants to find a solution for his family and for his people – which all of the people who are waiting for the Messiah to come. John sets out on an adventure to try and find Him, as do all the Apostles where they’ve found Jesus and now recognize slowly but surely that He really is who He says He is.

JWK: But Jesus finds them, right?

Tom: Yeah. They’re looking for Him and He’s looking for them, for sure.

JWK: Tom, you’ve worked on classic Disney animated films like The Lion King and Mulan. How would you compare the experience of working on those films with this film about Jesus?

Tom: It’s both a joke, but also the truth, as (the script was being written) we would say “We don’t have a script yet but we have the Scripture.” Scripture was honestly leading us. Every time we would run into a problem, we would pray, honestly. We would have prayer times during a meeting when we needed to. John Schafer was always great about being in the Word as we were having meetings. We could go to it and go “Okay, here are the facts that we know – and here’s the point that we are trying to get across.” We really, really were trying to stay true to every point that Jesus was making in those verses and in that part of the storyline. That became our compass. With The Lion King, Aladdin and all of those, they were fairy tales. An original story like The Lion King could go in so many different directions. (With Light of of the World), we had parameters that we had to stick to – and wanted to stick to – to get these points across (about) what the biblical truths were. So, it wasn’t like anything I’ve had ever done before because of that. It was more like we were adapting a true story. I had been involved in Pocahontas and you could say there was a little bit of true story to that. Obviously, Pocahontas was a real person – but this was more important than that. This was like we have to not just stay true to Jesus’ life but what He said and why He said those things. That made it all the more important to be a closely tethered to the Bible as we could be.

John:  I think the biggest challenge we really had was how do tell not just a true story but how do tell a story that gives personal support to so many people around the world…That is a very challenging thing…For us – Tom, the writers, all of us – what we had to do was (say) “Okay, we want to tell this story about the life of Jesus. These are the key important moments that we to make sure we understand to tell the Gospel…but also, at the same time, you want this movie to feel heartfelt – not like a checklist that we hit this, this and this. It’s gotta be heartfelt. It’s gotta have emotion. By the time that Jesus is going through the Crucifixion, the audience has to be crushed…We really have to make this a personal journey of John…like how he developed this relationship with Jesus – and how close they get. Sometimes he really trusts Jesus. Sometimes he questions Jesus. We tied our personal experiences – the challenges that Tom faced, I faced, Tony Bancroft and all the other team members. We applied those real moments that we went through…We really feel that that’s what make the emotional connection with the audience. We’re not just telling the story word-for-word. We’re telling the scriptural truth about the biblical moment. The emotion that you see in the dialogue or the way the characters performed came from a deep place in each of us with our walk with Jesus.

JWK: So, capturing the moments of faith and doubt.

John: Yes.

JWK: Great. So,why did you choose to go with old-style 2D animation as opposed to the more modern CG-type stuff that is mostly out there these days?

Jon: First of all, the biggest reason is I love 2D animation. The first (animated) movie I ever saw in a movie theater back in 1973 was Disney’s Robin Hood.  I’ve just been a fan. I love 2D animation. There’s something about 2D animation that’s very charming. It has a softness to it. Like I said earlier, we wanted this to feel like a children’s storybook come to life. You want that feel of those brushstrokes…We weren’t even thinking CGI at all.

JWK: There’s something about 2D animation that is just warmer.

Tom: Yeah. That’s my background. I had been at Disney for 12 years. We had learned through the craft of 2D animation how to bring characters to life. What expressions and poses read as angry and happy, and how to put emotion into a drawing. All of these tactics and techniques, we were able put into this film. You don’t get that with CG. It’s a lot harder to bring emotion out of a CG character – because a computer is pretty cold, right? To do it through drawing is an art form that is very, very much part of the United States, honestly. It’s part of our culture. Animation was largely created in the United States – or, at least to the point that Disney brought it to, that it has emotion. So, we’re kind of in that lineage.

John W. Kennedy is a writer, producer and media development consultant specializing in television and movie projects that uphold positive timeless values, including trust in God.