Description:

Our team was challenged to create a 4-minute animation that would appeal to a wide audience, using an artistic visual style not commonly seen in kid-oriented animation. The animation needed to bring to life a conversation between multiple enthusiastic 7-9 year-olds trying to solve a riddle.

We responded by developing a distinctive mixed-media aesthetic using a combination of graphical block shapes and pencil line work which aimed to transport the viewers into a world of a fun Arts & Crafts session. This concept gave us the flexibility to play with elements and assemble them to form distinguishable characters and environments, reveal visual clues, build suspense and create tension to complement (or even mislead) the story as it unfolds.

To give our mixed media aesthetic a more tangible quality, we introduced various analog animation techniques for example, hand tearing paper craft to mimic fluid movement and shaping cotton balls into low-tech VFX smoke and farts.

Our final product was an enthralling 4-minute animated short film using a visual style that is both unique and refreshing in its execution. The result is a quirky and light-hearted animation that encourages curiosity and instills a sense of wonder and imagination.