Commercials

SimEx helps the Keebler Elves enjoy "real" cookies. Courtesy of SimEx Digital Studios.

Seeing Spots: Animation and visual effects house, Celluloid Studios, and live-action production company, Visitor, helped Anheuser-Busch christen their new Bubble Boy Hockey League campaign. The 30-second "press conference" spots feature Hall of Fame hockey legend Wayne Gretzky as the first commissioner of a new league consisting of the Bubble Boys —- those tabletop hockey players found in many bars and dens around the world. Celluloid created the blend of 2D animation and digital manipulation that brought life to the stiff, plastic Bubble Boy hockey players. The Denver-based animation house also transported Gretzky to the tabletop rink to play along with the Bubble Boys. The producers for the spot were Visitor’s Kelly Amato and Celluloid’s Kristi Westphal. Directing the animation was Brian Larson and Jeff Jurich. Handling the live-action direction was James Wahlberg. The spot was produced for ad agency Fusion Idea Labs of Chicago, Illinois. . . .SimEx Digital Studios teamed up with Duck Soup Studios to combine live-action with animation in the new Keebler Elves spot. Promoting Chips Deluxe Cookies, the commercial entitled "One Upsman Chip" pits various elves against each other in a bake-off. SimEx wove together the animation from director Sam Cornell with live-action cookies. Animation director Jean Perramon of SimEx helped add a 3D touch to the backgrounds of the spot. The commercial was produced by Carolyn Bates at Duck Soup and Christina Cox at SimEx. SimEx and Duck Soup created the spot for Chicago-based ad agency Leo Burnett. . . .Helium inflated the new Relenza ads for Santa Monica, California-based design firm FUEL/Razorfish. The 30-second spot for Relenza’s anti-flu prescription medication features 3D animation of the process in which a viral infection develops in the lungs. Animations were also created to demonstrate the inhalation of the particulate medicine and for the spot’s closing title sequence The animation team consisted of John Scheafer, Helium’s Creative Director and Miles Vignol, technical director, along with animator Suzi Hammon and producer Karin Rainey. . . .Sweden-based animation studio Filmtecknarna F. Animation has produced eleven 30-second, 2D animated spots for Oxygen Media entitled "Mom's On-line." The commercials are based on actual advice on childcare that mothers have posted on the Oxygen Web site. Commissioned by Oxygen Media’s Bee Murphy, the spots were directed by Jonas Odell and produced by Leila El-Zein. Filmtecknarna produces commercials for the international market, as well as short films and TV series. Their spot for the British beer "Boddingtons" was currently nominated for the British Animation Award. Moreover, their Cartoon Network "Shortie" Atom Ant, also directed by Odell, received wide praise when premiered.