Universal's Babe helped bring the "talking animal" theme center stage in 1995.© Universal City Pictures.

As a guest to this publication and, for the most part, the world of animation, I hope I offend no one by stating the obvious. A lot of people in this business have been very busy making real animals look like they can talk. I actually like some of the commercials, but as I've been thinking of what animated commercials I've seen over the past year, it's sort of creepy how many talking animals are out there. I can now laugh at a friend's campaign that uses talking dogs because, as he recently mentioned, he could. And why not? The, `Everyone is doing it so I'll do it too to make fun of them,' rationality is delightfully sarcastic if you ask me. Of course, this also means that the talking animal animation genre has reached a point where it will soon be over. Slowly but surely in boardrooms across the country, clients will look squarely into the agency's eyes and say, "The talking animal bit, don't you think it's a little familiar?" The world sort of works like this. You try to do something different. Then everybody else joins in. So you move on.

Gimmicks Get Old Quick
Of course jabbering critters aren't the only trend we seem to be stuck in. We've also entered the frozen zone. You've seen it, right? You're watching the ad, the picture freezes, the camera appears to move around the subject as everything remains motionless. Suddenly, everything unfreezes and action continues. I have to admit, it looks really cool. I even went out and wrote a script that used the technique after the first time I saw it. We presented the idea to the client and everything. Thankfully it was killed.

I guess I don't like being on the popularity wave of a style or technique. They tend to dictate the idea and can easily be duplicated. The chances of being the first one to use it seem slim. That's probably why I don't write many commercials that call for animation. Famous cartoon characters? Uh, no thank you. I used to live by an old rule -- never use a pun. I'd like to make another one. Never use a Warner Bros. character in a commercial. The first few times was fun...but that was eight years ago. I'm starting to get tired of watching my Saturday morning pals hocking mayonnaise and phone companies. Besides, Sid and Marty Krofft had it all over the other programs and they didn't even use animation, just guys dressed up like stupid dragons and stuff.

Coca-Cola's "Delivery Truck" ((Colossal)/Edge Creative) is an innovative blend of computer and traditional animation giving the spot a unique look of its own. © (Colossal) Pictures.