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Edit
Storyline
On November 29, 2015 Kobe Bryant penned a letter in the Players' Tribune announcing his retirement from basketball at the end of that season. This film is the visualization of that letter, narrated by Kobe, scored by John Williams and animated by Glen Keane.
Written by
kbvsmj23
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Details
Release Date:
23 April 2017 (USA)
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Also Known As:
Dear Basketball
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Company Credits
Technical Specs
Aspect Ratio:
1.78 : 1 / (high definition)
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full technical specs »
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Did You Know?
Trivia
With his 2018 Oscar win,
Kobe Bryant became the first African American to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.
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Quotes
Kobe Bryant:
As a six year old boy deeply in love with you, I never thought the end would come, I only thought of myself running out there.
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Connections
Featured in
The Oscars (2018)
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User Reviews
Basketball superstar Kobe Bryant announced his 2015 retirement from the sport through a poem entitled "Dear Basketball". It's a sweet little poem, basically saying that the sport will always be in his heart. It's easy to imagine a short being made based on this, but harder to imagine being a legitimately emotionally affecting one.
This animated short jumps back and forth between a young and adult Kobe following his professional sport dreams, from shooting tube socks to his injuries on the court. The animation, by Disney Legend Glen Keane is done in a fluid, but delightfully sketchy style. The lovely musical score that really amps up the emotion is by the surprising, and always wonderful John Williams. Kobe serves as the narrator, reading his poem throughout. Obviously he wrote it, and it has the most meaning to him, so who else would read it. His voice is full of humility and humanity.
This is a beautifully animated, wonderfully scored short. Even for those not interested in the sport, you may find yourself invested in Kobe's emotion. This is about as good as it can get for a 6-minute long retirement announcement!
My rating: **** out of ****. 6 mins.