If you have the QuickTime plug-in, you can view three of the Cartoon Network interstitials by simply clicking the image.

Animal Logic created a series of :60 interstitials for Cartoon Network, which take viewers between shows. Above is Hide and Seek. Cartoon Network interstitials and 3D animation and environments by Animal Logic. © Cartoon Network.

When Cartoon Network (U.S.) wanted to create a series of :60 interstitials to complement its recently introduced on-air look, it turned to Animal Logic, a vfx firm based in Moore Park, Australia. The two companies had worked previously on the network’s 2004 rebrand, with Animal Logic creating IDs, promotions and other elements. The bumpers — Hide and Seek (previously titled 28 Days Later), Street Cred, In the Bag, Laundry Day and Good Car Day — take 2D-animated characters from many of the network’s catalogue and integrate them into a 3D environment that reflects the style of the rebrand.

Not surprisingly, each interstitial tells a humorous short story.

Grant Freckelton of Animal Logic had marching orders to make the interstitials as visually sophisticated as possible, infusing them with cinematic sensibilities, as opposed to simply producing a cartoon for kids.

“The interstitials were pitched to us as being comedic, one-minute-long shorts involving characters from different shows, interacting within the `Cartoon Network Universe,’“ explains Grant Freckelton, Animal Logic’s vfx supervisor and lead art director. “So in that respect, we approached the project as if we were making a series of animated shorts.”

Sophistication and Attention to Detail
Cartoon Network charged Animal Logic with creating high quality, smart and sophisticated visuals to match the scripts it provided. “Pete Johnson [Cartoon Network’s on-air creative director] and Kevin Fitzgerald [the network’s art director] were very much into the idea of making [the interstitials] as visually sophisticated as possible, using a 16:9 format and asking us to board them with cinematic sensibilities, as opposed to simply producing a cartoon for kids,” continues Freckelton. As a result, the house brought in storyboard artists and animation directors with experience in animation and film to board out the scripts. It also made sure it delivered 3D animatics to Cartoon Network as soon as possible, so network executives could get a feeling for how the lensing and timing would look in 3D.

Animal Logic’s artists were more than happy to provide added detail and production value. One example: “We pimped Scooby’s wagon,” offers Freckelton. “One of our 3D artists took the Mystery Machine model we had built for the reface and added extra detail on the exterior and interior. Eventually we had a Mystery Machine that was decked out in red shag, complete with a disco ball and awesome 8-track. We had a whole lot of fun doing it!”