Kingdoms of Bonk: Volume I was a planned feature film based around the game Bonk.io and its surrounding community. The film was slated to be two hours long, with a complex military and political narrative between factions with the features of the game Bonk.io at the centre. It would have featured an ensemble cast with dozens of characters from all time periods of the community. The film was slated to be the first of three Kingdoms of Bonk films, creating a trilogy. The film's production was primarily done during 2021, with much of the script being completed along with a small portion of the soundtrack and animation. Following the disappearance of the film's animator, Bonkio Master, in December of 2021, the film's director, GreenHood, decided to cancel the film in January of 2022, announcing it on the official Discord for the film.
Early Development[]
The message in the Discord.
The first conception of Kingdoms of Bonk: Volume I began on April 25th, 2020, when Mewtwo asked his Discord whether he should remake the original Bonk.io the Movie, with the votes being unanimous, given its poor reviews. Progress continued throughout the middle of 2020, with work being done on the original script for the film and some animation being completed, which resulted in a Halloween trailer for the new film, which was released in October. During this time, GreenHood and Llama also joined the server and began contributing to the script. Bonkio Master claimed that the first act of the film's script was nearly complete in November of 2020, with work being done on a new trailer for the film.
Development Continues[]
Following 2020, GreenHood and Llama would be the scriptwriters for the film, and massive changes to the screenplay and world that the Bonk.io film was set in were made. In early 2021, work was put towards revising the story almost entirely, with a wholly new scene summary and planned script to be written. By March of 2021, the script was being constructed by GreenHood and Llama, with Bonkio Master working primarily on animation, trailers, and providing feedback to the script. Most of the old trailers, scripts, and resources were archived during this time as the story had drastically changed. Various polls were held at this time for the film, with members in the Discord contemplating specific physical changes to the Bonkers, such as eyes.
In May of 2021, GreenHood was named as director of the film, with Llama being made co-director. Preliminary work on the soundtrack also continued in 2021, with Llama creating some of his own soundtrack pieces to include within the film. By June 2021, the first act of the film was completed in rough form, and extensive work on the animation began. By the end of the summer of 2021, most of the second act had been completed, with Bonkio Master remarking that about twenty minutes of animation had also been completed. The name of the film, which initially was the same as the original, was renamed Kingdoms of Bonk: Volume I.
Later Development[]
Animation using the Blender program.
Although the initially planned date for the film was November 1st, 2021, Llama announced in September that given the state of the animation and the scripts not being completed, the film was being postponed until the first half of 2022. Subsequently, it was announced that casting for voice actors had commenced, with Llama announcing it both on Discord for the film and also in BCD. However, casting did not yield the results needed for a cast of such a large size, with only a quarter of the roles being filled. Work on the third and final act of the first film continued throughout the rest of 2021, being nearly complete by the end of 2021.
Bonkio Master also announced in October of 2021 that he would be changing the animation software from Adobe Animate to Blender, which would transition from 2D animation to 3D animation. Changes to certain copyrighted skins, such as the Pokeball on Chaz's skin, were also made at the time. With the new Blender program, however, little animating progress was made, making GreenHood and Llama realise, after some contemplation, that perhaps more animators were needed, which Bonkio Master inquired upon in late November of 2021 on the Discord for the film. By the turn of the year, the script was mostly complete.
Cancellation[]
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Following December of 2021, Bonkio Master would disappear from the Bonk community, with no attempts to contact him yielding responses. In January of 2022, GreenHood and Llama became worried about the production of the film, with Bonkio Master not responding to any inquiries, and progress has stagnated. After Bonkio Master did not reply for over a month, Llama and GreenHood decided, as the two heads of the project left, to end the film's production unless Bonkio Master returned, given the lack of an animator. On January 21st, 2022, GreenHood posted to both BCD and Discord for the film the official cancellation of the film. As of August 2022, Bonkio Master has not returned to the community.