David (2025 film)

Development

In October 2021, after coming out of their success with Jungle Beat and Jungle Beat: The Movie, co-writer, co-director and co-executive producer Phil Cunningham and co-executive producer Jaqui Cunningham announced with a demo video that Sunrise Animation Studios would produce Angel Studios' first animated musical film about the life of David based on the Book of Samuel found from the Old Testament in the same quality and entertainment value of Tangled, Frozen and Moana which Cunningham had conceived from his childhood in Africa while reading David's story in the Bible and an quote from Acts 13:22: "I have found in David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart".^[2][3][4] Cunningham and Angel Studios co-founder Jordan Harmon stated that the intention for David was to bring back animated biblical stories for the whole world to enjoy with.^[5] Kirk Cameron informed his YouTube viewers about his support for Angel Studios and Sunrise Animation Studios in creating the film and urged them to invest in the project through crowdfunding.^[6]

In order to conduct in the research for David, the team made their flight trip to Israel where they drove around the country and were immersed in the environment with their tour guide including the pottery from David's time and a 3000-year-old juglet used for decanting oil that they purchased.^[7] The team highlighted deeper into important places relevant to their research including the original city of Jerusalem, Hezekiah's tunnel, the Pool of Siloam and the Israel Museum.^[8] They continued their adventure in Israel with a focus on the Valley of Elah and Ziklag, a local shop and concert area where they hiked to Qeiyafa (Shaaraim) which was provided with an incredible view of the battlefield between the Israelites and the Philistines.^[9] They also covered most of the scenery of Wadi Qilt, using drone footage to create a sense of scale and great space and covering their barefoot adventure around in the Roman aqueduct, the monastery, Jericho and the Dead Sea.^[10] Before long, the team were riding on camels through the Kana`im Valley in Judaean Desert from Kear Hanokdim, a oasis between the city of Arad and the citadel of Masada, to the Bedouin hospitality where they experienced local kindness and a wonderful authentic experience.^[11] They documented in the footage of the artifacts including a demonstration of how to make pots, thus showcasing incredible restorative work. They then took up swimming in the Sea of Galilee at Tiberias.^[12] Finally, they provided an incredible overview of the geography and essence of the Valley of Elah where the great battle was fought in between David and Goliath during springtime by walking through an riverbed where David would have collected the stones for his sling.^[13]

In December 2021, Cunningham, co-writer and co-director Brent Dawes and art director Lynton Levengood streamed live about the concept art, animation, set design and color keys of David.^[14]

Casting

In June 2022, it was revealed that Brandon Engman would reprise his titular role as David from Young David.^[15]

Music

Grammy Award-winning songwriter Jonas Myrin expressed his interest in providing the songs for David in order to honor Israel through the roots of the country's storytelling in Hebrew and recorded the score in Budapest alongside with music director Jason Halbert and the Budapest Film Orchestra.^[16][17][18]