Editorial Staff
The producers of “The Hero of Color City”, a new animated feature coming to theaters and On Demand this fall, announced today a new partnership with Crayon Collection, a global initiative that repurposes gently used crayons to elementary schools and organizations that help children in need.
Owen Wilson and Jessica Capshaw are supporters of the Crayon Collection, and have joined the cast of “The Hero of Color City”, which also stars Christina Ricci, Rosie Perez, Wayne Brady and Craig Ferguson. Wilson and Capshaw lend their voices to characters in the film and a special PSA to benefit the charity that will appear at the end of the film and in marketing initiatives, with the hopes of raising national awareness and to further expand the program across the country.
An imaginative animated tale for the pre-school/kindergarten set, “The Hero of Color City” chronicles the adventures of a diverse band of crayons that come alive in a little boys room when he drifts off to sleep. Yellow (Ricci), a timid and fearful crayon, inadvertently awakens two unfinished drawings that threaten to take over Color City. Wilson plays the role of Ricky the Dragon, who Yellow encounters on an adventure that leads her to discover inner strength and courage she never knew she had.
Magnolia Pictures will be releasing the film day and date, in theaters, on iTunes and On Demand on October 3rd. THE HERO OF COLOR CITY was directed by Frank Gladstone and produced by John D. Eraklis and Max Howard.
The Crayon Collection’s mission is to collect as many crayons as possible via different channels and directly donate them to kids in need, without altering the crayons in any way. The charity was founded by Sheila Michail Morovati, and has successfully been collecting crayons from restaurants nationwide and donating them to Title I impoverished schools that cannot afford their own.
Millions of crayons end up in landfills every year instead of in the hands of children. Crayon Collection has implemented an extremely sustainable system whereby schools and restaurants are paired up so that millions of crayons are prevented from being discarded. This is particularly “green” because the crayons are being directly donated from the donor to the recipient, who are usually less than 2.5 miles apart. Crayon Collection relies on volunteers around the globe, and uses this process of repurposing gently used crayons as a relatable tool for teaching young children the benefits of recycling, reusing and reducing waste.
“Our partnership with the Crayoncollection.org is a dream come true. We have always hoped to educate and inspire young people with this film and now we have the opportunity to directly benefit those in need,” said John D. Eraklis Sheila has done an amazing job building this organization and to bring the incredible voice talents of Owen and Jessica to the table should help us take this initiative to a whole new level”
“The Crayon Collection spreads the joy of crayons across America in hopes that one day we reach our goal, that all crayons will circulate among the hands of children until every part of a crayon is used to facilitate a childs artistic vision. Thank you to THE HERO OF COLOR CITY for helping us widen our reach and for educating people across the nation that this goal is in fact very possible.” – Sheila Michail Morovati founder Crayon Collection
