Editing Delgo (section)

== Production ==
Fathom Studios began development on ''Delgo'' in 1999; animation work began in 2001.<ref name=variety-1 /> The movie was produced by Fathom in conjunction with Electric Eye Entertainment Corporation.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117939196.html?categoryid=31&cs=1 |title=Delgo |access-date=2008-12-11 |last=Koehler |first=Robert |date=2007-02-05 |publisher=Variety }}</ref> In a 2001 interview, Marc Adler said that the film sets itself apart from other recent computer-animated films because it is not a comedy and also because it is "a very human story told in a non-human world".<ref name=Tracy1 /> Maurer said that "the inspiration for the story really came from all of the unrest we have in society today, prejudice, discrimination, hate crimes, violence – all of those terrible things. We wanted to tell a story where our heroes overcame these things personally and facilitated change among entire peoples."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.digitalmediafx.com/Interviews/jason-maurer.html |title=dFX Interview: Jason F. Maurer |access-date=2008-12-22 |last=Tracy |first=Joe |year=2001 |publisher=Digital Media FX }}</ref> Fathom launched a "Digital Dailies" feature on the movie's official website,<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.delgo.com/dd/ |title = Digital Dailies |access-date = 2012-09-03 |work = Delgo.com |publisher = Fathom Studios}}</ref> allowing fans to follow the production as it happened. Animators would post their work daily on the message board system and fans could see the directors' and producers' input as well as subsequent changes to the scenes.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.aintitcool.com/node/14876 |title = What Is DELGO, And Why Did Moriarty Have To Go To Atlanta To Learn More?! |access-date = 2012-09-03 |author = Moriarty |date = 2008-10-14 |work = Ain't It Cool News}}</ref> Chief Animator and Artistic Director Derek Winslow went on record in the January 2001 issue of ''US weekly'', stating that "Delgo would be his finest creation" and "would outperform ''[[Shrek]]'' at the box office". According to Adler, although the original intent of the dailies was to allow the crew to "be able to offer commentary to other staff members who do not work the same hours", he also said that offering a learning experience to the public was an important reason for their creation. "By granting public access to our film as a work-in-process we are helping to educate students, burgeoning animators, and film enthusiasts about the procedures involved in the making of a computer animated movie."<ref name=Tracy1>{{cite web |url=http://www.digitalmediafx.com/Interviews/marc-adler.html |title=dFX Interview: Marc Adler (About Delgo) |access-date=2008-12-22 |last=Tracy |first=Joe |year=2001 |publisher=Digital Media FX }}</ref> Adler said that they were "contacted by professors from the many universities who use[d] the Digital Dailies in their classrooms".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.3dyanimacion.com/entrevistas/entrevistas.cfm?link=delgoen |title=fathom studios delgo |access-date=2008-12-22 |year=2002 |publisher=El Portal del 3D y la Animación |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071203201845/http://www.3dyanimacion.com/entrevistas/entrevistas.cfm?link=delgoen |archive-date=2007-12-03 }}</ref> The dailies "were receiving a half-million hits a month", and some of the crew members started to get offers from Hollywood studios (at one point Adler started hiding the identities of the crew with fancy aliases).<ref name=Ruhe />

Adler recruited main crew members locally from "[[Savannah College of Art and Design]], [[Georgia Tech]] and smaller digital outfits".<ref name=Ruhe /> Students from the drama department of [[North Atlanta High School]] acted out some of the scenes to create reference material for the animators.<ref name=Ruhe>{{cite web |url=http://www.accessatlanta.com/movies/content/movies/stories//2008/12/11/atlanta_animated_delgo.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081215070811/http://www.accessatlanta.com/movies/content/movies/stories/2008/12/11/atlanta_animated_delgo.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2008-12-15 |title=Atlanta talent creates animated epic 'Delgo' |access-date=2008-12-22 |last=Ruhe |first=Pierre |date=2008-12-11 |publisher=Atlanta Journal-Constitution }}</ref> Adler said that their team created eight main [[character (arts)|characters]], at least twenty "secondary characters", "twenty-two creatures, thirty plants, and fifty-six [[film set|sets]]", as well as numerous background characters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cgchannel.com/news/showfeature.jsp?newsid=1386&pid=3 |title=DELGO: Proof digital dreams can become reality |access-date=2008-12-22 |last=Hénault |first=Jean-Eric |publisher=CG Channel |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051204215237/http://www.cgchannel.com/news/showfeature.jsp?newsid=1386&pid=3 |archive-date=December 4, 2005 }}</ref> According to Warren Grubb, Fathom's head animation director, one of the challenges with modeling the background elements was that "We couldn't even use most of the off-the-shelf systems at the time in creating the background assets because they were based on Earthly vegetation."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=pageone&category2=&article_no=3846&page=2 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120712125059/http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=pageone&category2=&article_no=3846&page=2 |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 12, 2012 |title=Delgo and the Independent Spirit (Page 2) |access-date=2008-12-22 |last=Godman |first=Martin |date=2008-12-04 |work=Animation World Magazine |publisher=AWN }}</ref> The filmmakers put together kits with artwork and actual replicas of the stones used in the film to send to the actors, rather than just an offer letter.<ref name=Fritz1 /> Once the cast had signed on, the filmmakers had to travel to where the actors were with all their equipment rather than have the actors come to them to record their voices.<ref name=Fritz1>{{cite web |url=http://www.newsarama.com/film/120811-AniShorts-Delgo.html |title=Animated Shorts: The Story of Delgo |access-date=2008-12-22 |last=Fritz |first=Steve |date=2008-12-11 }}</ref> [[Anne Bancroft]], the voice of villainess Sedessa, died in 2005, before production finished. On the film's end credits, the film is dedicated to her. Aside from the death of Bancroft, the film had several other setbacks which delayed its release.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newsarama.com/film/120816-Ani-Shorts-Delgo2.html | title=Animated Shorts: Starting a New Animation Studio | date=2008-12-16 | publisher=Newsarama | access-date=2008-12-17}}</ref> [[John Vernon]], the voice of Judge Nohrin, also died in 2005, making this his final film. The directors acknowledge the influence of artist [[Roger Dean (artist)|Roger Dean]], specifically his [[album cover]]s for [[Yes (band)|Yes]] and [[Asia (band)|Asia]], on their backgrounds.<ref>DVD commentary track.</ref> A partnership with [[Dell]] provided Fathom Studios with the hardware required to render ''Delgo''.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/casestudies/854_2008_Fathom%20Studios_89997315_v1.pdf | title=Delgo Goes Dell | publisher=Dell | date=2008-04-15 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100331022411/http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/casestudies/854_2008_Fathom%20Studios_89997315_v1.pdf | archive-date=2010-03-31 }}</ref>

In 2004, [[Playmates Toys]] revealed in an article that they planned to make ''Delgo'' merchandise, which included dolls, action figures, play sets, vehicles and toy accessories.  Ultimately, they never followed through.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ball |first1=Ryan |title=Delgo Makes Friends with Playmates |url=https://www.animationmagazine.net/2004/07/delgo-makes-friends-with-playmates/ |website=Animation Magazine |access-date=July 1, 2004}}</ref>