Celluloid Studios recentlycompleted three different animated spots for the card game UNO, byway of agency FCB/Chicago and client Mattel Games. The threecommercials (30-, 20- and 15-seconds), titled "Everybody UNO," willair worldwide. New York illustrator Kirsten Ulve provided the retrocharacter design for the spots, which was animated in a minimaliststyle to complement the design. "You can do just about anything withanimation, but sometimes there's a tendency to do too much,"explained Celluloid Studios director James Wahlberg. "In UNO's case,we felt restraint was the better approach." In the spots, a familygathers around a table to play UNO. Emotions build as each vies forvictory. Celluloid Studios' goal was to develop the personality ofeach family member in his or her pursuit to win. The simplistic, yetedgy design allowed the animators to showcase each character'spersonality and the resulting spots reflect the fast-paced fun andspontaneity of the card game. Specializing in commercial celanimation, Denver, Colorado-based Celluloid Studios has animated suchcharacter icons as Cap'n Crunch and the Keebler Elves, and producedthe pilot episode of SOUTH PARK. The company was acquired in April2002 by Vinton Studios.
