A beautiful, hand-drawn 2D-animated story of Jesus told through the eyes of his young friend, the Apostle John.
Some of the links on this site are affiliate links. This means if you click on a link and purchase something, I'll receive a small affiliate commission at no cost to you. Thanks so much for supporting my efforts with this blog!
Disclosure: Many thanks to Salvation Poem for providing a sample of the product for this review. Opinions are 100% my own.
I realized when this opportunity popped into my inbox that there really hasn't been a full-length animated feature film on the life of Jesus before this year!
Synopsis:
It’s AD 30 and everyone is expectantly awaiting the coming Messiah. While Jesus isn’t exactly what they imagined, there is something special about this man. Soon, John, James, Andrew, Peter, and their new friends begin to follow Jesus on an unexpected adventure.
This animated story of Jesus is told through the eyes of his beloved young friend, the Apostle John. From the beginning of Jesus’ ministry through his crucifixion and resurrection, LIGHT OF THE WORLD powerfully illustrates how Jesus of Nazareth changed the world forever and still changes lives today! LIGHT OF THE WORLD opens in theaters September 5.
Even though Gv and I were already excited to watch this movie, it exceeded our expectations! This is the first movie from Salvation Poem Project, a ministry committed to sharing Jesus with the world, and golly, did they create a winner right out of the gate!
What immediately sets this animated movie apart from others being released these days is that this film is hand-drawn, which allows for such great expressions that establish an instant connection with the characters. The director was a long-time animator with Disney who worked on blockbusters such as this classic, this one, and this title that I'm sure everyone has seen, so that explains the high-quality art in this film!
Gv and I thought this film had so many fun little touches that constantly made us laugh -- my favorite was probably the Easter Egg connected to this movie, when the disciples pulled the net of overflowing fish up and remarked, "we're gonna need a bigger boat!"
We both loved the short, fat, silly priest whose antics kept us chuckling and one big chase scene had Gv breaking into the song from this movie that I guarantee you'll have running through your head as well!
We thought it was surprising to see John depicted as a teen, but then that led to a discussion where we realized that he probably was much younger than the others, given how much longer he lived on Patmos, even beyond the fact that he escaped martyrdom.
Turns out, the film's creators deliberately wanted to portray the disciples in their late teens and 20s, because it's thought that they ranged in age from 13 to 30. It makes total sense, but I can't remember ever seeing them portrayed like that in another film, and I liked it!
This film stresses faith, family and trusting in God’s plan and it truly is a family movie the whole family will love!
Buy tickets now to go see the film when it opens in theaters on September 5, 2025! (If you have a group of 10 or more people, you can get group tickets for just $7.50 a person, so maybe drag your whole church there!)
#LightoftheWorldMIN
#MomentumInfluencerNetwork
Trailer:
"Behind the Movie" bonus material that I found interesting:
Do you appreciate hand-drawn animation like this as much as we do? I'd love to hear! Either leave a comment below or email me at lisahealy (at) outlook (dot) com.
Also, if you don't want to miss a single minute of great tips like this and all the fun around here, be sure to sign up for free updates and then look forward to having each post delivered right to your inbox.
