By Kayla DeKraker
Director Brent Dawes admitted that creating his latest movie, the animated flick DAVID from Angel Studios, was a challenge, but he wouldn’t change anything.
“It was a real challenge, but it was also a joy,” Dawes told Movieguide®. He said that originally, they thought about doing it as a live-action movie, but when they landed on doing an animation, “that’s when it opened up the idea for it to be a musical, to be to really be fun, adventurous, challenging, inspiring, you know?”
He continued, “And like you said…there’s so many ingredients in the story of David. There is just the purity and sincerity of heart but also the challenge of a king who’s jealous and, you know, these battles. There’s so much that goes into it.”
The movie released in theaters on Dec. 19, but the creative team faced some difficulties during production.
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Dawes explained, “It was a story challenge rather than technical challenge, but it allowed a lot of opportunity to condense. What we really tried to make sure we did was keep the original intent and heart and themes from the Bible but condense things to tell them in a more succinct way, which was a challenge but I feel we wove our way through it pretty well.”
Christian singer-songwriter Phil Wickham lent his voice to the character of David.
“He reached out to us, and we hadn’t found out David yet, and we’re like, Okay, well, we’re gonna audition him in the same way that we auditioning everybody else,” Dawes explained.
“He just brought such a wonderful innocence and energy, a humility. And we put that voice to the character we designed, and they married, and it’s like, okay, he’s right, you know? And from there, Phil just had a blast just bringing David to life. It was wonderful.”
Wickham celebrated the release on Instagram.
“I still can’t believe I’m saying this, but I got to play the voice of ‘Adult David’ in the animated feature film DAVID now in theaters,” he said. “Even though I’m one of the main characters, I honestly played such a small role in this incredible film…This film is truly amazing, and has brought one of my favorite Bible characters to life in a brand new way. Praying that this film and these songs remind you that God fights our battles and that when He is on our side we don’t have to be afraid.”
Since its release, DAVID has seen incredible success, earning the title of “the biggest opening weekend in history for a faith-based animated movie, beating Angel Studios’ previous 2025 feature THE KING OF KINGS, which starred Oscar Isaac as Jesus Christ,” Screen Rant reported.
Movieguide®’s review of DAVID reads, “DAVID is an epic animated musical adventure depicting the biblical story of David. It centers on Goliath and David’s early conflicts with King Saul. David does the impossible by God’s grace. David starts as a young shepherd.”
Movieguide® notes, “DAVID is an entertaining, stirring, heartwarming biblical tale of David as he matures. Displaying a powerful biblical worldview, DAVID is a shining example of Scripture filmed artfully for the big screen, with next-level animation and engaging music. The story sticks to the Bible, often honors God, and has Christian allusions.”
You won’t want to miss this incredible movie.
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