Kobe was in talks to launch animation studio

Kobe Bryant was dreaming of opening up his own animation studio and was working on making it happen before his death last month, according to the creator of the animated sitcom "The Proud Family."

Bruce W. Smith revealed in an interview with Double Toasted that he and Sergio Pablos - creator of the "Despicable Me" franchise - had dinner with Bryant about a month ago to discuss animation projects.

"Kobe is heavily invested, at the time, was heavily invested in starting an animation studio," said Smith. "So for the past six months or so, Kobe and I had been in deep talks about making that happen."

"So we're together finding artists to galvanize his dream and Kobe was, like they were saying, Kobe was beginning his second act and animation was going to play a huge part in that," he added.

Smith said that during the dinner, Bryant spoke about what animation meant to him while also listing off books he wanted to adapt. Bryant identified the roles he wanted Smith and Pablos to play in his future projects, too.

"Kobe was treating us like we were his Lakers," Smith said.

Bryant launched his production company, Granity Studios, after retiring from the NBA and went on to win an Academy Award for his 2017 animated short film "Dear Basketball."