Renegade Animation has produced a fully-animated 30-second television spot for Target, Nickelodeon and The Martin Agency, Richmond, Virginia, featuring the popular Nickelodeon cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants. The commercial, titled New Home, casts SpongeBob as the newest employee of an underwater Target store as a means of promoting kids merchandise related to the character. The assignment required Renegade Animation to recreate the look and attitude of an existing cartoon series with a very distinct style. "There is nothing else on the air like SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS and we wanted to be faithful to the style of the animation and the personality of the characters," said director Darrell Van Citters. "While the animation is charming, and clearly aimed at kids, it's neither simple nor juvenile. It's clever enough to appeal to everyone." Animating licensed characters for television spots is one of Renegade's specialties. The animation house has recreated such familiar characters as Warner Bros.' Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Yosemite Sam and Marvin the Martian; Disney's Mickey Mouse, the Little Mermaid, Cinderella, the Beast and Peter Pan, and Paramount's Mighty Mouse.
