Julian Glander’s first feature film Boys Go To Jupiter is his goopy, neon magnum opus

Julian Glander has made a name for himself with his distinctive, colorful 3D animation style, which he’s showcased everywhere from video games to the pages of The New Yorker and even 360 degree exhibitions. He even made waves as a contestant on Jeopardy! when he recited a Lynchian backwards version of the alphabet. Now, he brings his unique aesthetic to his first feature film, Boys Go to Jupiter. It’s a visionary work that transforms the abandoned swimming pools and construction sites of suburban Florida into a surreal wonderland where the magical is mundane and the mundane magical, all made on his “little Macbook that could barely handle it”.

Something is rotten in the state of Florida. It’s the day after Christmas and the deadness of the year hangs in the swampy air. The film centers around Billy 5000, a junior at college who is slumming it in his sister’s garage whilst he desperately tries to make $5000 through Grubby, a food delivery app that orders its workers to refer to all food as “grub” and to wish all of their customers “have a grubby day!” The cosmic forces in charge of Florida have other plans for Billy. During a routine fast food dropoff, he becomes the caretaker of a bizarre Donut‑shaped creature from another world. Things spiral from there, and Billy finds himself having to make hard choices about love, friendship, and the most important thing of all: hella cashmoney.

“The isometric look has always been a treat to work with because it’s very organised and clear, which has been really helpful in my illustration career where information has to be quick and readable,” says Julian. “But the other side of it is, isometric images are often cold, technical, and distant. From a formal perspective, this is a movie about the gig economy and the way it has gamified and dehumanised all of our lives.” In one scene, Billy delivers food to a recluse who only appears as cartoony eyes floating in darkness (who may or may not have a fetish for making delivery workers chew their food for them) – it’s a hilarious and offbeat vignette of the kind of curious characters that inhabit this world, but Julian underpins it with real yearning as the rise-and-grind Billy reminds himself: “Five thousand dollars…five thousand dollars…five thousand dollars.” It is literally a thankless job, as a spokesperson for Grubby on Billy’s phone says “You don’t even need to say thank you!”

Recurring throughout the movie is a smorgasbord of deadpan characters in a goopy, neon world, a style that Julian Glander has pioneered over the past decade, bringing his geometrically mischievous style to render themes of teenage listlessness through nepo babies, fictional fruits, weirdo worms, “freak-jazz” and mysterious dolphin-related military experiments. Julian isn’t scared to include scenes of somber contemplation in the otherwise wacky flick – there is still bittersweetness, unreciprocated feelings and even death, but that’s part of Julian’s charm.

Boys Go To Jupiter channels the same loveable dorkiness as Adventure Time and also features impromptu, lo-fi musical numbers alongside a budget-savvy animation feel – like Dr Katz Professional Therapist, it makes the best of the limitations of indie animation. Like the way cult favourite animator Jonni Phillips features female voices in male roles and vice versa, Julian’s star-studded cast becomes a who’s-who, adding to the strange charm. “Truly everyone in the cast is someone I have looked up to for years,” says Julian. Apparently, “the whole movie was basically written for Jack Corbett”, who plays the workaholic main character and brings the same dry, absurdist humour from his show Planet Money for NPR. Also featured is Saturday Night Live’s Janeane Garofalo, Sarah Sherman and Julio Torres, Adult Swim’s Joe Pera, Eighth Grade’s Elsie Fisher and indie popstar Miya Folick – all culminating in a film that combines talent from comedy, alternative animation, coming of age classics and music.

Boys Go To Jupiter is filled with love, caring and attention – not just in the making of the film but inside of its twee narrative which will surely enrapture and validate young adults. Set to be a future classic for animation fans, it’s “a movie about cute aliens and kids getting locked in port‑a‑potties” for sure, but it’s also a timeless tale with a modern gloss through bedroom pop tunes and Julian’s signature aesthetics. When it comes to talking about upcoming projects, Julian fears they will become cursed, but there is this: “I did just move into a new house, so one creative project I am willing to talk about is my new garden. I’ve been thinking about topiary a lot these days.” After four years of slaving away at his exhausted laptop, he deserves to spend some time in the garden.