Seventeen-year-old Buddy has spent most of his life trying to escape the Lower East Side slums of New York City. Working as a delivery boy to support his family, Buddy wants to become an artist—a dream he’s sure will never be realized. But that all changes when a delivery job puts him face-to-face with Mister Joey Drew, the eccentric owner of an animation studio.

Mister Drew takes Buddy under his wing as an apprentice, thrusting him into a world unlike anything Buddy has ever seen before. There’s the colorful cast of the studio, from the cranky yet driven composer Sammy Lawrence to Dot, the writing intern and Buddy’s counterpart. Working for Mister Drew, Buddy starts to think that may