Once in a while, we see an animated commercial so elegant in concept and execution that we want to share it. “Planimation” is one such commercial.
The short film, which uses a hybrid of 2d and 3d, is ostensibly an advertisement for Cyramza, a drug used to treat advanced gastric cancer. But it takes an indirect approach, telling the story of a benign extraterrestrial that accidentally upsets the delicate balance of the clockwork solar system it inhabits. Watch the ad below:
The story’s symbolism works on multiple levels. It evokes the body’s subtle functions and their disruption by cancer. More to the ad’s point, it also represents the importance of planning out one’s treatment for cancer — the extraterrestrials are able to correct the mistake because they thought ahead.