BEHIND THE CURTAIN: An Animated Musical Extravaganza

✪ ✪ Song available for purchase on all major platforms! ✪ ✪

Download all Behind the Curtain assets for FREE:

And when the credits roll, we'll be lookin' close to see...

Directed by:

Dramaturg:
Monpian

Animation Supervisor & Modeler:

Storyboards & 2D Animation:
Hailey Lain

3D Technical Artist

3D Animators:

Music Written & Composed by
Hailey Lain
Jessica Sheffield

Musicians

Voices:
Hailey Lain as The Angel

Vocal Direction by Jessica Sheffield

TRANSLATIONS
Brazilian Portuguese translation provided by @Anonymous529_BR
Turkish translation provided by @mebiyu

[KeyBlackStudios]

BEHIND THE CURTAIN

Now you've hung your hat, and you've seen the writing on the wall
Just sit back and relax, we'll tell you all about the fall
Of the greatest mind, the ol' director pulling at the strings
Who thought the fool was Abel, and the wiser man was Cain

It's the Big, Bad, Clinically Mad, the greatest show you've ever seen
Yeah, we're Deep, Down, Below the Ground, where only projectors gleam
A world of Black and White, a place of magic putting life into your dreams
And when the credits roll, we'll be lookin' close to see
WHO'S BEHIND THE CURTAIN?

"Just a pencil and a dream, " a modest proclamation of his goal
But no-one saw when it was spinnin' out of control
Every soul, every wish, all for one man's bliss
'Cuz all the good intentions don't mean a lick
In the pursuit of it, you still wind up down below

Well, the pipes they got a-pumpin', the beat of a creator's heart
Or that's what he had told them: just a "sacrifice for art"
And the walls, they turned to paper, and the ink began to fill our veins
Oh, it's easy to rationalize pain to the insane!

Oh, it's the Big, Bad, Clinically Mad, the greatest show you've ever seen
Yeah, we're Deep, Down, Below the Ground, without a hope to be redeemed
The only Man Who Saw the ego twisted behind the scenes
Was the one who set the whole production in full swing
WHO'S BEHIND THE CURTAIN?

What's the use of a hero without a monster to be slain?
And is he a man, who makes a deal that others have to pay?
"Every note, every take, every drawing you make,
Should be a fitting price, it's only you at stake, "
He made a living hell out of the wishes the maker made

Now, it's easy to see how one could be so charmed
By the draw of fame and success
But you'd think that the price would be cause for alarm
When an inky heart is all that's left! Oh!

It's the Big, Bad, Clinically Mad, the greatest show you've ever seen
Yeah, we're Deep, Down, Below the Ground, where only projectors gleam
A world of Black and White, a place of magic putting life into your dreams
And when the credits roll, we'll be lookin' close to see

Oh, it's the Big, Bad, Clinically Mad, the greatest show you've ever seen...
Take a Wild Guess who the hero of the tale is gonna be...
A world of Black and White, where it don't matter why you left or where you been...
You gotta be a man, and take the credit for co-writing the scene...
WHO'S BEHIND THE CURTAIN?

[inthebackground]

I love this interpretation of Bendy. He's mad at Henry but genuinely does not want him to get hurt at the same time, its cute.

[VivianRuddiger]

Alice’s voice is so powerful. Definitely adds a lot of character to the song, and that’s all without mentioning the phenomenal animation.

[riverbecomesastorm]

I won't lie. My favorite part is Henry's flashback to finishing Bendy's original art design with a smile on his face...before getting a note telling him do it over again. He just looked so proud that the subsequent falling out he had with his boss hit that much harder. It's a sharp contrast to the grumpy gut old man he's been portrayed as in both animatics.

[nextombz]

This is giving Betty Boop, Marilyn Monroe and Jessica Rabbit all at the same time

[MrTobi]

It's so wonderful to see the Bendy fandom is still alive and kicking!

[drunk_racoon_]

THE WAY HE BLUSHES AT HIS OWN DRAWING 😭

[flamgoscrashpad]

I had a BLAST watching the livestreams of the draft animatic being made, and I can just tell by the trailers that it's going to be more than worth those 2 years.

[marykateharmon]

Poor Bendy. Angry with his creator for leaving, yet hates to see him hurt. A toon becoming a monster and scared of what's happening.

This is incredible!! Looking forward to what comes next.

[AMAutoHalMossTau]

"I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way"
-Jessica Rabbit

[ManniVandepoele]

The detail in this is awesome. I'd say my favorite part is at 3:55 when you can see Henry call out Norman's name, and Norman recognizes it. I found that cool.

[mariogarciadanimation]

It has been both a privilege and a really fun experience animating for this project and being part of the team👍

[b_blox]

I love how bendy tries to scare the projectionist by doing the finger wag since for him it seems to work with everyone else

[jackojoyfox]

The little bits are what really get me. The sketch drawings of Bendy, the models and how well animated they are, not to mention… Alice was a hoot! I can’t wait for more! Wish I could save all those little sketchy doodles for reference. I’d love to draw Bendy again!

[loganentertainment]

I like Bendy in this video. He’s bad, but he’s more driven by his anger and hatred. He wants to hurt Henry, but he doesn’t want to kill him. Even when Bendy kills Norman/The Projectionist, he genuinely looks like he regretted killing him.

[fleeting_persisting_figment]

i love how abundantly clear it is that you've taken inspiration from the movements and gestures of older cartoons and animations for Bendy and "Alice's" animation styles. like the slow and suggestive (for lack of better word) movements of "Alice" make me think of Jessica Rabbit, Meg from Hercules, Betty Boop, heck, probably a bunch more I haven't seen. even if i can't name 'em all, it's very obvious what your intentions were with animating "Alice" from start to finish. like, her closeups and singing on each TV screen, all the way to her movements on the big screen. you've probably taken inspiration from other actual female singers/actors from the past as well. for both the movements and singing. ("Alice" in quotation marks cuz that's definitely Susie Alice.)

i've also liked how the Welcome Home leitmotif starts (exclusively) playing at 2:49 and reaches a crescendo (i think) at 3:01 after Bendy starts smiling. and how at 3:16 both the animation and the lyrics are implied to be kind of elaborating on or alluding to some of what Bendy was singing about in that song. you could even hear a bit of it right before Bendy grabs Norman.

"Take a Wild Guess who the hero of the tale is gonna be..." with ink bendy in massive distress over what he's done to Norman and seemingly being ashamed of himself looking and being like that in front of Henry, knowing that it's not at all what Henry created him or wanted him to be like (hence the flashbacks)...

...that shit hurted. 😔😔

man, i just gotta say. i've been looking at your Bendy art and story for like, years (on tumblr). before BATIM was complete and chapters were still being made and you were still making up your own little rendition of the story as the game progressed. i'm really looking forward to seeing what you have in store for us now that the game's complete and you now have a much better idea of how you wanna mesh the game's actual story with your own.


bonus tidbits i've caught:

3:55 - 3:59
Henry: "Norman?!" _Henry stares at Norman in disbelief of what he's become, or if it even IS him_
Norman: "...?" _Norman stares back, almost entirely unable to remember that mentioned name and this man he's about to kill_

Bendy: "Well, well, well! If it isn't Henry?"
Joey: "Well, well, well. If it isn't my dear old friend."

Bendy: "Don't be such a stranger, old buddy."
Joey: "Don't be such a stranger, old buddy."

i love how you're paralleling these two. to me, it's very likely implying that Bendy is starting to become the very thing he TRULY hates, but has no idea. he sees Henry as Joey (not literally, yk), but is becoming more like Joey himself. it's crazy.

in the actual game, Joey's tapes are often found in places/areas closely relating to the Ink Demon. so that's another reason why i think it's cool you're still paralleling them here.

remember when so many of us thought Joey was Ink Bendy? haha, those were the days.

[peygamingandanimation]

I love how Sammy was terrified of bendy and he could probably kick him across the room and how bendy was stomping like he was a giant XD

[treeportal-ue]

The way Alice was designed and animated for this reminds me of Jessica Rabbit 😄 I think that’s really cool!
Overall the production for this song, storytelling, and the animated music video feels like a large improvement when compared to the song about Bendy 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼😄

[aCreativeName]

I cannot explain how excited I am for this song to release- Thank you again Hailey and your team for another amazing song!!!

[UndeadDoodles]

I'm dying at the fact that Henry is like: 😳