Richard Mitchelson writes in to tell me about a new ad that he animated in Flash for Christian Aid Week. Though created before any of the recent natural disasters, it’s unfortunately very timely at the moment because of the tragedies in Myanmar and China. The spot was directed by 2AM’s PAM (Paul, Anthony, Malcolm), designed by graphic collective Eboy, and composited in Flame by Jason Watts of Finish. I really like this spot; not only is it well animated, but in a commercial world of rapid-fire cutting and dizzying camera angles, it’s refreshing to see a static isometric-shot for an entire 30-second commercial.

There is nothing particularly special about the two Kelloggs’ Froot Loops commercials posted below, except that my colleague Leslie Cabarga designed and painted the backgrounds in them.

I had asked Leslie, best known for his underground comics, The Fleischer Story, his illustration work and font design, if he ever made an animated cartoon. He handed me a fading 16mm reel with these commercials. He said they were produced in San Francisco, at Jeff Hale’s studio Imagination Inc. in 1975, about the same time The Fleischer Story was published. Leslie recalls Rudy Zamora Jr. being the director. This was his only professional work in animation.

And yes, that’s Paul Frees as the voice of Toucan Sam.

Apparently, all the important causes that a corporation could pretend to care about have already been snatched up, so ice cream manufacturer Haagen-Dazs got stuck with saving honeybees. The operatic CG spot that promotes the campaign was created by Psyop:

Great music can be a roller coaster of emotion, both figuratively and literally. This new CG spot for the Zurich Chamber Orchestra is a conceptual winner. Watch a quality version on No Fat Clips. Wasn’t able to find production company credits for the commercial but the agency is Euro RSCG Switzerland.

A 1982 mini-doc about how the impressive CG-less HBO intro was made. The entire spot is shown at the end of the film. Apparently it’s all stop-motion and old-school in-camera optical effects. (via)

Motionographer offers up two colorful Genndy Tartakovsky-directed TV spots for Niquitin, the UK-branded version of Nicorette. Genndy had also created a Nicorette spot in 2006, produced through The Orphanage.

PandaPanther is, hands down, my favorite new commercial studio. Once you see their work, you’ll understand why. This young NYC-based outfit, operating for a little over a year now, is injecting a big whopping dose of artistry into computer animation, and dragging CG out of its literalist photoreal ghetto. It’s headed up by directors Jonathan Garin and Naomi Nishimura, and producer Lydia Holness.

Garin and Nishimura’s CG feels tactile and handcrafted. Their work looks unmistakably digital yet also retains a strong illustrative quality. They also seem to mix techniques quite well, as some of their projects appear to employ “stop motion” sets, like the Zune Arts and Yo Gabba Gabba! ones. Below are a few of their recent projects that I’ve enjoyed, though I recommend checking out everything on their site PandaPanther.com.

Mika’s Marshmallow Train, an animated short for Yo Gabba Gabba!

Nokia “Rock ‘n Roll Decadence”

Tale of the Cheshire Tree

Interstitals for MTV Tr3s. Full credits and brief interview with the filmmakers on this site.

Underwater Jungle Disco

A nice introduction to the history of French animated commercials by Mark Webster. There’s an exhibit about animated French advertising in Paris right now, but it closes on April 6 so get there quick if you want to see it.

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