Multi award-winning animation director, Genndy Tartakovsky, best known for STAR WARS: CLONE WARS, DEXTER'S LAB AND SAMURAI JACK, has directed two more animated spots for GlaxoSmithKline out of Arnold Worldwide NY.
After the critical success of last year's animated spot for Nicoderm, Arnold again chose The Orphanage and Tartakovsky to conceptualize and carry out a new global campaign starting in three English-speaking territories.
This new two spot campaign for the US, Australia and Great Britain combines Tartakovsky's signature 2D style and adds 3D characters and environments with cavernous backgrounds and innovative use of kinetic camera techniques. Both spots will air in the US early this spring.
Tartakovsky said, "I thoroughly enjoyed the creative process of conceptualizing the way nicotine scientifically affects the brain. It was a great to have the opportunity to further develop the characters that we created in the first spot and it was also great fun to work in 2D again."
Inspired by the tagline "Tame the Beasts," Tartakovsky's direction of the two 30-second spots feature nicotine brain receptors represented as dozens of tiny monsters that live inside a smoker's brain who control human behavior, starved of nicotine they furiously rebel, but when the nicotine product is administered they become happy and tranquil. The product appears, sending out calming beams of light, which put the receptors at ease.
The GlaxoSmithKline nicotine product is known as Nicoderm and Commit in the US, as Niquitin in the UK and as Nicabate in Australia. The 3D character animation for the spot was created under vfx Supervisor Corey Rosen and Animation Supervisor Nathan Fariss of The Orphanage.
Animation fan and Arnold Executive Producer, Eric Herrmann said, "The idea of a brain filled with monsters directing your desires was so successful worldwide, we couldn't wait to bring the campaign back to Genndy and The Orphanage and have them run with it. I am convinced these spots will be even more popular."
Orphanage Commercial Productions (OCP) began production in 2003 and hit the ground running. Since its inception, under the leadership of Grimshaw, the division has created spots for agencies worldwide for products as varied as Toyota, Comcast, Xbox, HP and Sony PlayStation, to name a few.
Orphanage Animation Studios, a new CG animation studio helmed by Tartakovsky, is currently developing a slate of television and feature projects. Following the model of the top animation studios, OAS grew out of The Orphanage and brings together The Orphanage's expertise in visual-effects and computer animation and our creative storytelling vision with a proven creative leader to oversee the team of in-house creative talent to develop future projects. Supported by a multi-million dollar equity fund, OAS is poised to become a leading force in CG animation.
Founded in 1999, The Orphanage's state-of-the-art vfx post facility in San Francisco's picturesque Presidio Park continues its steady growth from boutique shop to a facility capable of handling studio tentpoles. They include recent hits DIE HARD 4, FANTASTIC FOUR 2, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 2 and 3, NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM, SUPERMAN RETURNS and HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE.
The award-winning Orphanage Commercial Productions (www.theorphanage.com/ocp) has created dozens of commercials for the top agencies and brands worldwide. In the past couple of years, the division has experienced significant growth; recent clients include Lexus, HP, Toyota, BMW, Comcast, Toshiba, and IBM/Lenovo.
