Adventures in Odyssey Movie Remains Unhinged
December 10, 2025, my first article covering the upcoming Adventures in Odyssey movie: “It wouldn’t surprise me if, in the next few weeks, Focus launches a Kickstarter-like campaign to help finish the film and get it released.”
March 2, 2026, Focus on the Family email I regrettably get in my inbox: “Shamus, I’m writing to ask you to join our Journey into the Impossible Launch Team with a gift to help finish production and release the film in theaters. Right now, you can DOUBLE YOUR IMPACT through a $1 million match opportunity provided by generous friends of the ministry!”
Fucking called it.
It’s been five months since Focus on the Family announced the AIO movie and I’m not surprised to inform you that the entire release strategy, marketing, and story of the film continue to baffle. Information about the film’s haphazardly scattered across podcasts, the “Odyssey Studio Insiders” page, and emails from Focus on the Family. I’m going to try and make sense of it all here.
The Fundraising
The first update I saw about the film since the initial announcement was that Focus fundraising e-mail. What will the money be used for? Supposedly it’ll “cover the final stages of production”¹ and, according to a Focus email written by film co-writer Dave Arnold, “get this animated feature film in theaters across the country.”
This sort of fundraising is typical for Focus on the Family, whether it be for their own organization or the various causes they support. The current one with a massive banner on their front page is about, what else, saving unborn babies. Classic. At least that fundraising page gestures at how the money will be used. The money being raised for AIO is far more vague.
What still needs to be completed on the film? How much will it cost to get the film in theaters? Why wasn’t that money considered in the initial budget? Were they always planning to ask for donations? They claimed that April 24th was the last day to donate so why are they still taking money as of this writing?
None of that matters because Focus presses its built-in audience that, by giving to the film, they’ll be helping “bring the Gospel to 7 million kids.” Where did they get that number? Why so specific? Do they really believe 7 million non-believer kids will go to see this movie? Shut up. Focus CEO Jim Daly KNOWS that, “the culture seems bound and determined to draw our kids away from the Christian faith.” Without this movie? Women will want to get JOBS! Your children will move to CALIFORNIA and become dirty hippies! Your loved ones could join an “atheist society” (an actual plot in a recent AIO episode.) Help Focus, as Dave Arnold puts it, “reclaim the hearts and minds of our youth — for God and God alone.” None of it will be used so Focus leadership can (allegedly) fly first-class and dine at expensive restaurants. If you set up a monthly donation you’ll get the very first AIO album totally free, including the fan-favorite episodes where Whit beats his grandson! ACT NOW!
Odyssey Studio Insiders
The most consistent place to get insights into the film (at least until they ran out of material at the end of March) was the previously advertised “Odyssey Studio Insiders” page. Each video covers a different part of production and are still reusing clips we’ve already seen in the intial announcement video. They’re all introduced by Focus’ “Podcast Marketing Specialist,” Emma, who painfully reminds me of the women I worked with at Christian summer camp who loved God so much they refused to kiss before marriage. I too would look like I was reading off a teleprompter under gun point if I grew up listening to AIO, got a dream job at Focus on the Family, only to discover everyone who works there’s a monster but I shove that thought down as deep as I can because if I even consider it for more than a moment? My entire moral and spiritual worldview would come crashing down around me. I would lose everyone who, supposedly, loves me and I’d be left in the cruel light of the secular world to do such wicked things as have a personality that isn’t about God! To adapt a cut joke from Eve’s recent guest blog, this woman will have an amazing ex-vangelical podcast one day. #FreeEmma.
To preserve the haphazard nature of how these videos doll out information, here’s a list of what we learned in the order it was released.
1: Dave Arnold admits he (and thus, most likely, the rest of the AIO creative team) reports to “corporate team members”² at Focus on the Family. Corporate is more important than the Lord.
2: Arnold reveals he wanted to create a live-action AIO series but this was shot down because, if that series ran as long as the audio show has, the actors would “age out” of the roles.³ This either means kid actors maturing past the characters ages or actors dying, as has already happened to a good chunk of the AIO cast.
3: No mention is made of the live-action Hindi-language AIO series that was created for India.⁴
4: Arnold refers to the film as a “new generation of Odyssey” and says the film won’t be “positioned” within “the time frame of the audio series.” This is immediately contradicted by Focus’ VP of Marketing & Content, Jennifer Arthur, who states that the film will “give a backstory” to the audio series.⁵ This is, perhaps, a mangled way of explaining the film won’t take place within the current story lines of the audio show.
5: “Pieces” of the film will tie-in to the Young Whit novels, following Whit as a kid, with Arthur stating “you’ll get to see young Whit and some of the people that are in his story.”⁶ This contradicts everything we’ve seen of the film, which features an adult Whit.
6: The film will “reach a little bit of an older audience.”⁷
7: The story will be set in the aftermath of the death of Jerry, Whit’s son, who died in Vietnam. It’ll also cover what happened when the Whittaker family first came to Odyssey. It’ll show what Whit and Jenny’s marriage was like, what Jason (Whit’s other son) was like at 15, and how Whit became a mentor to the Odyssey community.⁸ Yet again no mention of Jana, Whit’s daughter. I’m sure that has nothing to do with Jana’s previously established heavy involvement in anti-war protests.
8: Arnold encourages fans who have grown up on the audio series to, “come in with no expectations and wait and see what happens.”⁹ A very confidant way to market your film.
9: The script for the film was written by Dave Arnold and longtime writer and AIO showrunner Marshal Younger.¹⁰
10: The creative team can’t stop showering praise on animator John Pomeroy and his involvement with Disney and Don Bluth animated films. Arthur states that, “there were some doors that closed that allowed that opportunity for John to become the art director.”¹¹ Ominous. Pomeroy shares some of his biggest credits, including Rock-a-Doodle. This means there’s a non-zero chance he animated Goldie, a bird lady who was drawn to be so sexy that mothers at test-screenings were offended by her “outrageous proportions.” Shots of her had to be redrawn to cover her “proportions.”¹²
(Photo: Left, the original version of Goldie. Right, the redrawn Goldie. Goldcrest Films.)
11: Pomeroy reverently recalls, after first becoming a believer, attending a Christian retreat. A speaker there emphasized how you should “surrender” your “skill level” to the lord. Once he became, “obedient to that idea the wheels started turning for Kingdom purpose.”¹³ No mention is made if this happened before or after drawing the sexy bird lady. I want to believe it’s before and every Sunday he still begs forgiveness for drawing bird boobies.
12: Pomeroy describes his work on the AIO movie as a “vessel” to lift God up to “an unsafe world.”¹⁴ Christ, these people remind me just how exhausting being around Evangelicals is. Every good thing you’ve worked for in your life is all because of GOD. NOTHING gets to be yours. Except all your sin, of course.
13: I swear to Lord Jesus Almighty that if these people (and the industry in general) keep referring to art as “content” I’m gonna LOSE IT.
14: Savana Pictures aka Savana Animation & VFX, based out of Jakarta, are animating the film. Jamie Mitchell, founding partner of the company, is directing.¹⁵ His main credits include directing Disney Junior series Fancy Nancy and Sofia the First. Savana’s LinkedIn profile tries to commit a slight of hand where instead listing any credits of their own they instead last the past credits of the people who work there.
15: A brief glimpse at a storyboard appears to show Jerry about to be shipped out to Vietnam.¹⁶
16: Arnold admits, “I’m the least qualified person to be doing this” but “God put me in the chair.””¹⁷ Very confidant, my guy.
17: Emma, self-esteem crumbling under the shackled weight of the promise ring on her left hand, observes, “it’s amazing to hear how God lifts us up and supports us when we can’t do it ourselves. Which is, honestly, pretty much all the time.”¹⁸ What did I fucking say? NONE OF YOUR TALENT IS YOURS. You need God for everything, idiot.
18: Concept art for Jenny’s shown off, including her in a Rosie the Riveter outfit.¹⁹ A woman with a job?! Maybe this movie’s more sinful than I thought.
19: Arnold promises that the movie, “is so different. It’s not like anything else that you’ll see on the big screen in an animated movie.”²⁰ Of course! The real intended audience for this film isn’t allowed to watch anything made by the secular world. It’s doubtful they’ve seen many, if any, animated movies.
While these videos contain all the buzzwords and mentions of God required for Evangelicals to allow themselves a feeling one could call happiness, they’re bad. They aren’t doing anything to welcome in those supposed 7 million new fans this film will generate. They just play the hits for the fans. A fitting indication of the real audience for the film. Those fans are taught to never actively engage with critical thinking about media (outside of saying media is “too woke”) so they won’t notice how poorly delivered this all is. Nor will they wonder why behind-the-scenes videos about a film that’s going to bring so many new people to Christ can barely crack 1000 views.
Absent from these videos are any talk or promise of a trailer, which, for a film supposedly coming this year, is puzzling. Wouldn’t it have been better to announce the film with a real trailer?
Well, what if I told you the trailer is available, just not on the official Adventures in Odyssey YouTube channel. Or publicly available to search for. That would be too simple. After all, God wants us to seek his word through a world of sin, or whatever. The trailer, or “first look” as they call it, is only available buried in a marketing email from Focus on the Family I had to aggressively keyword search to find in my inbox. Excellent marketing, team.
The Trailer
My biggest takeaway from the trailer? We finally see Jana. She exists, though she’s only visible at Jerry’s funeral and in family photos. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s “out of town” for the whole movie. After all, this movie’s supposed to be about a good Christian family and Jana always had problems with Whit. Can’t have that pesky woman ruining that!
The trailer’s all over the place. There’s a plot line seemingly about Whit and a fellow adult friend (with a cute animal mascot, for some reason) working on a government NSA mission where they discover a portal beneath Odyssey. That friend delivers the groan-worthy line, “it’s a leap of faith. Good thing we’re both men of faith.” Jason’s on his own youth-focused adventure that deals with a sketchy guy who teases that Whit could have somehow saved Jerry’s life but didn’t. Does that have something to do with the ghostly hand reaching out of the portal Whit discovers? (Of course not, because Ghosts are of the OCCULT. Just like D&D.)
What appeal does any of this have outside the existing fanbase? Why should any of those 7 million new kids viewers care about Whit? Wait, he’s an NSA agent? Why do they name drop the Fillmore Recreation Center? Oh, they’re praying in the trailer? We get Evangelical pandering lines like, “seek and ye shall find”? Maybe there’s a reason they buried this trailer in a marketing e-mail. They know it won’t work for anyone who isn’t already bought into Focus on the Family propaganda.
It’s telling I had more to say about the baffling behind-the-scenes videos than the actual trailer for the movie.
There’s no release date attached to that trailer but, of course, buried in the Official Adventures in Odyssey Podcast, it’s confirmed the film will be coming out in the fall.²¹ This podcast came out in January, so it’s anyone’s guess why a simple as “Fall 2026” wasn’t added to the trailer. Speaking of that podcast though...
Jennifer Arthur’s Interview
Arthur, raised by parents who regularly listened to Focus on the Family broadcasts, came to the company from working in fiance and products at Amazon. Now working on “Marketing & Content” she’s played a key role in the AIO movie and reveals why now was the time to make the film.
“Coming out of COVID there was such an aggressive movement to bringing political agendas even into children’s content. Our abilities as parents to have trustworthy content for our children was getting more and more limited.”²²
Bring in the Dog Police, boyz, ‘cause we’ve got so many dog whistles in just 35 words.
1) “Coming out of COVID” obviously speaks to such horrible oppression as “wear a mask” and “please don’t gather and spread a horrific contagious disease.” Which to these people meant, “YOU DON’T WANT US TO WORSHIP THE LORD!”
2) “Aggressive movement” zeroes in on the Black Lives Matter protests. Not the EVIL DEI!!!!!
3) “Political agendas into children’s content.” If they really think children’s content was only getting more diverse after COVID than you know they’re such losers they haven’t even heard of Steven Universe. Guess they don’t know former AIO actor Zach Callison played the titular role.
4) “Trustworthy content for our children.” Now that Evangelicals are getting so much of what they want thanks to Trump’s presidency, especially tighter control over abortion, these fuckers need a new boogie-man to keep their audience riled up and giving money. DEI’s a new favorite talking point, with these wierdos losing their shit over a Lesbian couple in 2022’s Lightyear. One writer for Premier Christianity lost his shit at a Lesbian couple having a child, which he decides to interpret as meaning LESBIANS don’t need MEN?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!!
5) “Getting more and more limited.” What the fuck are you talking about? Christian movies and TV shows are astroturfing themselves all over the place. But these people NEED to feel oppressed in some way so sure, let’s just tell lies. God has never had anything to say about that, right?
Jennifer Arthur continues the interview by talking up a massive revelation she discovered while researching studies about media consumption habits these days. Brace yourselves for this mind-blowing insight.
“The highest type or format of content that is consumed by actually every single generation that is alive today is video content.”²³
Sweet Lord Baby Jesus, it can’t be! She can’t mean… People of all generations like to watch…Videos?! I hope Focus on the Family paid millions to figure that out, it would prove just how out of touch they are. No shit, I don’t need a study to tell me that. I have eyes. This is how you know Arthur’s a marketing person, she treats obvious facts as if they’re the deepest insights imaginable. Now give her all that donated money that’s totally going toward the movie!
The most insightful comment Arthur makes in the interview is where she seemingly shares the current mission statement for AIO.
“(It’s) bringing everyday situations, answering tough and difficult questions, and all with a biblical foundation.”²⁴
This stands in sharp contrast to the show’s original mission statement, as shared by AIO writer /director/producer Paul McCusker in 2006.
“Odyssey is always about being a conversation starter between parents and kids. A chance to discuss whatever we dealt with in the show.”²⁵
AIO’s no longer a conversation starter, allowing audiences to make up their minds. I doubt that was ever really true, the show’s always been far too didactic for that, but at least they wanted it to appear that way. Now that culture’s shifted in their favor? The mask comes off and AIO’s revealed for what it’s always been. Propaganda. It gives you the “correct” way to think. It gives you all the answers you need so you’ll never have to think. (AKA Apologetics, as Tim outlined in a previous guest post.)
Don’t think. Don’t question. Don’t ask how this movie is going to reach 7 million filthy non-believer children. Just give us money so these fantasy children will fall in love with the movie and, as Arthur hopes, “get into the whole world of Odyssey.”²⁶
More people will join you, isolated and lonely AIO listener. You will have new friends who won’t question anything, just like you. Friends who smile and nod as you share how your parents beat you as a child. “I wish my parents were like Mr. Whittaker,” they’ll say, reaffirming how your hurt was a good thing. They’ll celebrate you lifting your skillset up to God and not taking any credit for it. They’ll see the value in staying in an abusive marriage because divorce is the tool of Satan. They’ll cast aside all secular pop culture and isolate themselves from the world as you have. You won’t be alone anymore. You’ll have people who support your faith. Faith that you’re told is all about supporting this movie. A movie that’s already hedging its bets with those boasts of unprecedented turn out. According to AIO Podcast host Bob Smithouser, “we’re not creating this movie to make money. We’re doing this to make an impact.”²⁷
Even if the box office is garbage, you can’t measure impact! We can grease those numbers easy! We bring 9000 children to salvation every year through AIO! We have a source for that! No, we don’t link it and you can’t Google it. Shut up. Is your faith wavering? Are you backsliding into sin? You’re the reason this movie isn’t going to make 70 million dollars. It’s on you. You’re bad. You’re wrong. Now stop showing off all that sinful skin, Emma, and introduce this AIO behind-the-scenes videos.
Note: Friendly reminder to all the readers, I have a Patreon where you can support the show! You can either pledge $1 a month or simply sign up for free to get reminders of when the blog updates in your email. I’ve also posted some exclusive mini essays, rambles, and other little tidbits there as well. Thank you for checking it out!
Sources:
Be Part of the Story: How You Can Help Bring This New Film to Life, Adventures in Odyssey Studio Insiders Blog, Focus on the Family, 2026.
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“Backstage Pass #3 - A Visual Odyssey” from the Adventures in Odyssey Official YouTube channel, 2026.
(2)
“Backstage Pass #4 - Animation”from the Adventures in Odyssey Official YouTube channel, 2026.
(3)
“Adventures in Odyssey: The Official Guide 25th Birthday Edition” by Nathan Hoobler, Tyndale House Publishers Inc., 2012.
(4) Page 611
“Backstage Pass #5 - Wait, this takes place WHEN?” from the Adventures in Odyssey Official YouTube channel, 2026.
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“Backstage Pass #6 - Assembling the Team: Writing the Script”from the Adventures in Odyssey Official YouTube channel, 2026.
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“Backstage Pass #7 - Assembling the Team: John Pomeroy” from the Adventures in Odyssey Official YouTube channel, 2026.
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“The Animated Movie Guide” by Jerry Beck, A Cappella Books, 2005.
(12) Page 233
“Backstage Pass #8 - Assembling the Team: Savana Pictures” from the Adventures in Odyssey Official YouTube channel, 2026.
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“Backstage Pass #9 - Assembling the Team: Dave Arnold & Jennifer Arthur” from the Adventures in Odyssey Official YouTube channel, 2026.
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“Backstage Pass #10 - The Look and Character Design” from the Adventures in Odyssey Official YouTube channel, 2026.
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“When is the Chairman Coming Back? What’s Next After CDs?,” The Official Adventures in Odyssey Podcast, Focus on the Family, 2026
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“Why Adventures in Odyssey Is Becoming a Movie,” The Official Adventures in Odyssey Podcast, Focus on the Family, 2026
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“The Lost Episodes”: The Official Adventures in Odyssey Podcast, Focus on the Family, 2006.
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