Michael Arias of Softimage initiated the project as a brief CG exercise, which subsequently caught Morimoto's attention, leading him to agree to collaborate on the project using Softimage 3D software. Several months later, Visual Director Wilson Tang and Animation Supervisor Lee Fulton presented a pilot to the Softimage team, created entirely on computers by a crew of just 12. This pilot received the Excellence Award in the Digital Art Division at the 3rd Japan Media Arts Festival.