Elevating Human Stories through Animation
Animation allows us to craft multi-layered worlds, transforming personal accounts into unique immersive stories. We’ve selected a handful of projects below showcasing the transformation from spoken word into enveloping visual worlds. From Jimmy Page’s heady days of the late 60s and Rashida Jones’ colourful childhood to Patrick Mahone’s stellar career as a Kansas City Chief.
Smith & Foulkes | Fender | Jimmy Page
When legendary guitarist Jimmy Page met the Fender Telecaster, rock history was made. As part of Led Zeppelin’s 50th anniversary celebrations, Smith & Foulkes created this Annie Award winning, animated short by immersing themselves in the heady days of the late 60’s. The pair creatively expanded on Jimmy’s own words about his relationship with the iconic guitar to focus on what happened when these two creative energies collided.
Watch the full film here.
Robertino Zambrano | TED-Ed | Denice Frohman
Fusing animation and spoken word, the animated film features a poem written and performed by the talented Denice Frohman, in celebration of her mother’s Puerto Rican accent. Robertino was invited by TED-Ed to turn Denice’s singular poetry performance into animation that conveys the energy, soul and rhythm of Denice’s performance.
Watch the full film here.
Lucas Zanotto | Wimbledon | Gordon Reid
Take a journey through Wimbledon’s rich 140 year history of charitable work through a blend of line-drawn illustrations, 2D animation and stop-motion. Narrated by Gordon Reid, two-time wheelchair Grand Slam winner, Lucas collaborated with Annie Atkins, known for her prop work on Grand Budapest Hotel and animator Mustashrik on the project, using more than 600 tickets, lined up and motion-controlled against constant millimetric camera movements to tell this intricate and beautiful story.
Watch the full film here.
Robertino Zambrano | CommunityAmerica | Patrick Mahomes
Robertino uses his trademark illustrative style to tell this heroic story of hope, collective ambition and the power of rising up as a community. The voiceover and hero portrayed is Patrick Mahomes, star of the Kansas City Chiefs, the local team to the CommunityAmerica headquarters. This isn’t just his story though, it is the collective story of the rise of every small business owner, delivery man, parent, whose lives are all intertwined in a collective hope to build something big together as a community.
Watch the full film here.
Jack Cunningham | Google Play | Rashida Jones
A short film about and narrated by Rashida Jones growing up in the 70s in LA, from living in a household full of artists, directors and musicians to owning a computer before they were cool. The animation is part of the California Inspires Me Project, a collaboration between The California Sunday Magazine & Google Play.
Watch the full film here.
