Global animal welfare organization FOUR PAWS has launched the “Be Their Voice” campaign. Partnering with specialist creative agency Catsnake and South African production and animation company Bewilder, the campaign sheds light on a cruel practice called live lamb cutting. The film aims to raise awareness and inspire international action, urging fashion brands and policymakers to ban this inhumane practice by 2030.
The stop-motion “Be Their Voice” film follows a PhD student, Jesse, as he tries to perfect his sheep translation software with the help of a young sheep called Sunny. The initially heartwarming story takes an unsettling turn as Sunny discovers what is soon to happen to her on the farm.
Catsnake felt that the best way to capture the true horror of live lamb cutting was to focus on storytelling that would engage the audience emotionally. Catsnake creative director Rowena Wyles said, “A lot of animal rights campaigns rely on sharing shocking visuals of cruelty, but we know that tends to stop a wider audience from engaging with the issue. Instead, we wanted to draw people in with humor and heart before delivering the shocking truth of the practice.”
Working collaboratively with Bewilder, the film was brought to life with a mixed-media approach; recreating the look and feel of stop-motion with the flexibility of 3D animation. The sets, props and lighting were all made in Bewilder’s in-house studio, and the 3D characters were placed in afterwards.
Ruan Vermeulen, creative director at Bewilder, explained the process: “We built a ‘realistic’ miniature farm setting with stylized and lovable CGI characters. Combining a vast range of skill sets, with a multitalented creative team, our goal was to create an animation video that is not only visually captivating but also deeply moving and educational.”
Catsnake knew that Bewilder’s attention to detail and unique style would bring depth and emotion to the story, Wyles commented, “There is a real-world solidity in stop motion that makes the characters feel more real. It also allows us to recreate the textures of wool, which is so important for the storytelling. The craft and care that goes into stop motion also gives it a human warmth that makes the twist at the end of the film all the more gut-wrenching.”
The campaign has garnered celebrity support from Australian actress Danielle Macdonald and U.S. actor Scott Evans, who lent their voices to the animated protagonists.
Rebecca Picallo Gil, Animal Welfare in Wool campaign lead at FOUR PAWS, said, “Every year, over ten million lambs endure unimaginable pain and fear when brutally cut, which equates to a heart-wrenching 19 lambs every minute. Australia remains the sole nation clinging to this inhumane practice. The pain of live lamb cutting lasts for days, wounds take weeks to heal, and the scars last a lifetime.”
