OREO WONDERFILLED – ALADDIN

Role: Creative Director
Studio: Hue&Cry
Agency: The Martin Agency

My wish was granted the moment we were awarded “Aladdin” at Hue&Cry. Seriously. I knew it was an amazing opportunity to reinvent the classic Middle Eastern folk tale for Oreo’s Wonderfilled universe. With the Sorcerer-centric song as a guide, our team developed an original cast of characters and layouts to support the story, set in motion with the campaign query: "Wonder if I gave an Oreo…"

The development of our swirling transitions was undoubtedly my favorite phase of production and achieved through studio-wide collaboration, using a series of whiteboard exercises I’ve picked up along the way. 

From there our team of cel animators brought it all to life, one frame at a time. Using Arabic as a lead language was a first for the campaign, which initially launched in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Egypt, Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE, Oman and has since spread across Asia earning over 8 million views on YouTube and counting. Yep, it worked like magic…

PROCESS

Oreo Wonderfilled – WOLF, SHARK, VAMPIRE

The Oreo Wonderfilled campaign launched to critical acclaim back in early 2013. The now iconic cel-animated anthem by Barcelona-based Martin Allais and Studio Animal featured the Big Bad Wolf, a blood-sucking vampire, and a killer shark over :90. Three years later, The Martin Agency approached us in hopes of giving each character their own :30 spot. It was an amazing opportunity, but an even greater challenge. The Hue&Cry team and I were tasked with developing original shots to visualize the new lyrics while reusing as much of the existing animation as possible.

The approval process (through countless international clients) was one of the most challenging of my career, but I’m quite proud of what we were able to accomplish. We created :18 of new animation for Wolf, :14 for Vampire, and :12 for Shark which seamlessly integrates with some of the hallmark moments of the original. Possibly the greatest compliment was being awarded the Wonderfilled Aladdin animation above, due in no small part to our efforts on these :30 spots.

PROCESS

  • Animation Company: Hue&Cry

    Executive Creative Director: Magnus Hierta

    Animation Director: Jeff Boddy

    Technical Director: Andrew Prousalis

    Executive Producer: Joe Montalbano

    Senior Producer: Whitney Green

    Associate Producer: Moira Mahoney

    Production Coordinator: Megan Monticone

    Storyboards: Stephen Loveluck, Timo Prousalis

    Character Design & Illustration: Matt Deans, Timo Prousalis, Stephen Loveluck, Liam Ward, Shannon Rollins, James Harper

    Cel Animation: Matt Deans, Timo Prousalis, Stephen Loveluck, Liam Ward, Shannon Rollins, Andrea Garza, Saxton Moore

    Composite: Timo Prousalis

    Flame Artist: Chris Hagen

  • Animation Company: Hue&Cry

    Executive Creative Director: Magnus Hierta

    Animation Director: Jeff Boddy

    Technical Director: Andrew Prousalis

    Executive Producer: Joe Montalbano

    Senior Producer: Whitney Green

    Associate Producer: Moira Mahoney

    Production Coordinator: Megan Monticone

    Storyboards: Matt Deans, Stephen Loveluck, Timo Prousalis, Ricardo Villavicencio

    Animation: Matt Deans, Timo Prousalis, Stephen Loveluck, Saxton Moore

    Composite: Timo Prousalis

    Flame Artist: Chris Hagen

    Animation Company: Studio Animal

    Animation Director: Martin Allais

    Producer: Maria Soler Chopo

    Storyboards & Illustration: Martin Allais

    Animatic: Pere Hernández, Javi Vaquero, Matt Deans

    Animation: Pere Hernández, Javi Vaquero, Pablo Navarro, Dani Alcaraz

    Tracing & Color: Ezequiel Cruz, Macarena Ortega, Eva Puyuelo, Joel Morales

    Composite: Santi Justribó, Martin Allais