By Mallory Mattingly
The INSIDE OUT characters are lacing up their skates for the INSIDE OUT CLASSIC!
“We are live on Hockey Island inside Riley’s mind to bring you the first ever INSIDE OUT CLASSIC. Get ready for an emotional showdown as Joy, Sadness, Anxiety and the rest of Riley’s emotions team up with the Washington Capitals and the New York Rangers for an NHL game unlike anything you’ve ever seen before,” ESPN commentators Drew Carter and Kevin Weekes said in a commercial for the event.
The INSIDE OUT CLASSIC sees a “real-time, animated NHL telecast” of the Washington Capitals vs. New York Rangers matchup on Sunday, April 5, at 7 p.m. ET.
“ESPN+, Disney+, Disney Channel, and Disney XD will present the real-time, animated telecast, while the traditional telecast will be available on ESPN. In 2023, the NHL BIG CITY GREENS CLASSIC featured the Capitals vs. Rangers and was the first-of-its-kind real-time volumetric animation presentation in sports,” the press release read.
“…the Mind Workers are really working hard to get this place ready. Imagine real-time animated NHL hockey set in the mind world of INSIDE OUT. Learn about the great game of hockey and the emotions that help shape the game,” the commentators continued in the commercial.
The classic will feature “virtually created real-time animation” of the Capitals and Rangers through “tracking technology,” which will see characters from Pixar’s INSIDE OUT skate alongside animated versions of the players.
Tracking technologies like “NHL EDGE positional data (NHL Puck and Player Tracking) and Sony’s Hawk-Eye Innovations’ optical tracking” make the telecast possible, creating “more dynamic player and character movement to help fans better visualize detailed limb and stick movement and mannerisms.”
Additionally, through the use of “Sony’s Beyond Sports’ Virtual Commentator technology, the ESPN commentators calling the action on the animated telecast – Drew Carter, Kevin Weekes and Arda Öcal – will wear virtual reality headsets for motion capture, immersing them in the animated environment of Hockey Island in Riley’s Mind.”
This event will be the third ESPN/NHL real-time animated presentation.
“In a really short window, it kind of exploded. At one point, we were just thinking of doing something a little small,” David Lehanski, the NHL’s EVP, business development and innovation, told ESPN at the time of the presentation of BIG CITY GREENS. “Then it quickly grew and grew because of the buy-in from Disney.”
You and your children won’t want to miss the INSIDE OUT CLASSIC on April 5!
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