It turns out there are more than 600 million stray animals worldwide and one of the root causes is rather benevolent – gifting! It’s a sad story, but we had a noble opportunity to contribute to this issue.
We stepped in the paws of a little doggo that has been “happily” gifted to a little boy. It’s all happy until it’s not. A seemingly regular holiday season advertisement takes a dark turn towards the harsh reality of shelters. We intentionally conveyed this visual drama through extremely contrasting color schemes between the two sides of the story as well as associative montage.
A very cheerful bright beginning of this story is portrayed in a sunny color scheme to emphasize the happy start of a cute and lovely friendship. We opted for a postcard look and hand-drawn animated fairytale to establish a feeling of ultimate happiness right away.
The once cliche wonderworld takes a swift dark turn, as things turn sour. The dog and the viewer are sent on a bad trip real quick when caretakers are suddenly pissed off by the dog’s piss and chewed household items. It’s an intentionally dark nightmarish feel from the dog’s POV and it all ends up in a shelter. Sadly, that’s often the case.
We chose a ginger boy and a pretty expensive ginger-colored Jack Russell puppy for this bestie story. They are an instant match both on the screen and between the frames. Both are well-behaved and have good family trees. We could afford lots of nice styling and outfits too. Jack Russell was a good companion for our animators too with the good old cel animation! A lively fit!
Character sheets
“Pet is not a gift” also had to be portrayed in one clear, still image, for the needs of this campaign. So, for the print, online, and offline materials, we chose this uncanny feel that something’s not right, a gift that doesn’t really seem happy. We aimed for a dark image to deliver the right tone of voice and we truly hope this will get the message across.
Director
Roberts Kulenko
Executive producers
Helena Zakare-Semjonova
Elina Alaine
Laura Zavodska
Rita Steimane
Illustrations
Gosia Jeniec
Art director
Gints Gutmanis
Sketched storyboard artist
Arturs Bunts
Graphic designer
Matiss Zvaigzne
Rita Steimane
rita@panicstudio.tv
Lou Bones
lou@panicstudio.tv